Harry Roy | |
|---|---|
 Harry Roy, circa 1934. | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Harry Lipman |
| Born | (1900-01-12)12 January 1900 Stamford Hill,London, England |
| Died | 1 February 1971(1971-02-01) (aged 71) London |
| Instrument | Clarinet |
Harry Roy (12 January 1900 – 1 February 1971)[1][2] was a Britishdance band leader andclarinet player from the 1920s to the 1960s. He performed several songs with suggestive lyrics, including "My Girl's Pussy" (1931),[3] and "She Had to Go and Lose It at the Astor" (1939) and "When Can I have a Banana Again?" (1943)[4][5][6]
Roy was bornHarry Lipman inStamford Hill,London, England to a Jewish family and after learning piano from the age of seven, went on to study clarinet and alto saxophone at the age of 16.[1] He and his brother Sidney formed a band which they called the Darnswells Dance Band, with Harry on saxophone and clarinet and Sidney on piano.[1] During the 1920s, they performed in several prestige venues, such as theAlhambra and theLondon Coliseum, in bands such as the Original Lyrical Five and the Crichton Lyricals.[1] They had a three-year residency at theCafé de Paris, and touredSouth Africa,Australia andGermany.[1]
By the early 1930s, Harry Roy was fronting his own band, the RKOlians and broadcasting from the Café Anglais and theMayfair Hotel.[1][7] In 1931, he wrote and sang "My Girl's Pussy",[8] which has since been the subject of manycover versions and remakes. In 1935, he married Elizabeth Brooke (stage name: Princess Pearl), daughter of the WhiteRajah of Sarawak, with whom he appeared in two musical films,Everything Is Rhythm (1936) andRhythm Racketeer (1937).[7] Appearing in the former film were Roy's two pianists,Ivor Moreton and Dave Kaye. They had originally been part of Harry Roy's Tiger Ragamuffins, a smaller outfit composed of members of the main band, which also included drummerJoe Daniels. Moreton and Kaye left Roy's band in early 1936, going on to a successful career as piano duettists in their own right.[9]
During theSecond World War, Roy toured with the Tiger Ragamuffins.[10] He was at the Embassy Club in 1942, and a little later, toured theMiddle East, entertaining troops with singerMary Lee.[1][11] A popular wartime song by his band was "When Can I Have a Banana Again?" (1943).[12]
In 1948, Roy travelled to theUnited States, but was refused a work permit. Returning toBritain, he reformed his band and scored a hit with his recording of "Leicester Square Rag".[7]
By the early 1950s, thebig band era had come to an end. Roy's band split up, but he still drifted in and out of the music scene. In the 1950s, he ran his own restaurant, the Diners' Club, but it was destroyed by fire. In 1969 Roy returned to music, leading a quartet in London'sLyric Theatre's showOh Clarence and his own Dixieland Jazz Band resident during the summer at the newly refurbished Sherry's Dixieland Showbar inBrighton, but he was by then in failing health. He died in London in February 1971.[7]
Roy was married twice, first to Elizabeth Brooke in 1935.[1]
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