"Army hostel in Grimsby, where he died from a heart attack in December 2000. In September 2010, a BBC Radio 4 programme, ""In Search of the Singing Postman"", was broadcast which was written and presented by D. J. Taylor. Allan Smethurst Allan Francis Smethurst (19 November 1927 – 24 December 2000), aka The Singing Postman was an English folk singer and postman. He is best known for his self-penned novelty song, ""Hev Yew Gotta Loight, Boy?"", which earned him an Ivor Novello Award in 1966, and ""A Miss from Diss"". Born in Walshaw, near Bury, Lancashire, England, the son of"
"Alvin Stardust Bernard William Jewry (27 September 1942 – 23 October 2014), known professionally as Shane Fenton and later as Alvin Stardust, was an English rock singer and stage actor. Performing first as Shane Fenton in the 1960s, Jewry had a moderately successful career in the pre-Beatles era, hitting the UK top 40 with four singles in 1961–62. However, he became better known for singles released in the 1970s and 1980s as Alvin Stardust, a character he began in the glam rock era, with hits including the UK Singles Chart-topper ""Jealous Mind"", as well as later hits such as ""Pretend"""
"was due to release his first album for 30 years and six days after what became his last show at the Regal Cinema, Evesham. He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer 18 months earlier, which later metastasised. Alvin Stardust Bernard William Jewry (27 September 1942 – 23 October 2014), known professionally as Shane Fenton and later as Alvin Stardust, was an English rock singer and stage actor. Performing first as Shane Fenton in the 1960s, Jewry had a moderately successful career in the pre-Beatles era, hitting the UK top 40 with four singles in 1961–62. However, he became better known"
"C. Hayden. ""Hayden Coffin's Book: Packed with Acts and Facts"", London: Alston Rivers (1930). C. Hayden Coffin Charles Hayden Coffin (22 April 1862 – 8 December 1935) was an English actor and singer known for his performances in many famous Edwardian musical comedies, particularly those produced by George Edwardes. Hayden achieved fame as Harry Sherwood in ""Dorothy"" (1886), which became the longest-running piece of musical theatre in history up to that time; other similar roles followed. In 1893, he joined the company of George Edwardes and starred in a series of extraordinarily successful musical comedies, including ""A Gaiety Girl"" (1893),"
"career. He also makes a living as an actor and television personality. Has appeared on many of VH1's programs, including their ""I Married..."" series, and ""HEAVY: The Story of Metal"". Former lead guitarist for The Amboy Dukes, Ted Nugent Band, and Damn Yankees, he is most famous for his solo career. Some of his best known songs include ""Stranglehold"", ""Free For All"", ""Dog Eat Dog"", ""Wang Dang Sweet Poontang"", ""Cat Scratch Fever"", ""Motor City Madhouse"", ""Great White Buffalo"", ""High Enough"" and ""Wango Tango"". Often during the show, Scott Ian referred to how much he enjoyed working with Ted, as Nugent"
"to become one of country music's most popular performers during the 1970s with hits such as ""Rhinestone Cowboy"" and the Allen Toussaint-penned ""Southern Nights"". By the mid-1970s many of the Wrecking Crew's members scattered and drifted into different spheres. Some members, such as Carol Kaye, Tony Terran, Gary Coleman, Earl Palmer and Tommy Tedesco, switched to television and motion picture soundtrack work. Leon Russell and Mac Rebennack (as Dr. John) both went on to become successful solo artists and songwriters, enjoying hit singles and albums during the 1970s. Jim Keltner went on to a successful career as a session drummer"
"Allan Sherman Allan Sherman (born Allan Copelon; November 30, 1924 – November 20, 1973) was an American comedy writer, television producer, singer and actor who became famous as a song parodist in the early 1960s. His first album, ""My Son, the Folk Singer"" (1962), became the fastest-selling record album up to that time. His biggest hit single was ""Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh"", a comic novelty in which a boy describes his summer camp experiences to the tune of Ponchielli's ""Dance of the Hours"". He is not to be confused with the songwriter Al Sherman, who, coincidentally, also died in the"
"best known recording is ""Honky Tonk"", a rhythm and blues hit of 1956 which sold four million copies (reaching No. 1 R&B and No. 2 Pop), and which he co-wrote with Billy Butler. The track topped the US ""Billboard"" R&B chart for over two months. He won the ""Cash Box"" award for best rhythm and blues performer in 1957, 1958, and 1959. He also arranged for many bandleaders and performers, including Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Lionel Hampton. As a jazz player Doggett started in swing music and later played soul jazz. His bands included saxophonists Red Holloway,"
"C. Hayden Coffin Charles Hayden Coffin (22 April 1862 – 8 December 1935) was an English actor and singer known for his performances in many famous Edwardian musical comedies, particularly those produced by George Edwardes. Hayden achieved fame as Harry Sherwood in ""Dorothy"" (1886), which became the longest-running piece of musical theatre in history up to that time; other similar roles followed. In 1893, he joined the company of George Edwardes and starred in a series of extraordinarily successful musical comedies, including ""A Gaiety Girl"" (1893), ""An Artist's Model"" (1895), ""The Geisha"" (1896), ""A Greek Slave"" (1898), ""San Toy"" (1899),"
"Andrew Smith, Jack Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Eddie ""Bongo"" Brown, Benny Benjamin, Cornelius Grant, Joe Hunter, Richard ""Popcorn"" Wylie, Marcus Belgrave, Teddy Buckner and Stevie Wonder. A graduate of Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Michigan where he studied classical and jazz trombone, Paul was introduced to Berry Gordy at Motown by a friend who had already been working there. He went on to become an uncredited trombonist on most of Motown Records' hits in the late mid 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases until 1971), and he has become regarded as one"
"all appeared around a rostrum in front of the orchestra, and we filled the stage, in Scout uniform complete with red scarf. It was the greatest thrill of our young lives. As the National Anthem was played, we faced the Royal Box and sang as we had never sang before."" For a period, Fyffe developed a successful stage partnership with Harry Gordon, playing opposite him in pantomime for many years. In 1939 Fyffe was the ninth most popular British star at the box office. He was appointed a CBE in 1942. It was when Fyffe wrote and recorded the song"
"Adam Smethurst Adam Smethurst is an English actor and writer. He has appeared in TV dramas including ""Casualty"", ""Marple"" and ""Lewis"", is the son of ""Love Thy Neighbour"" star Jack Smethurst, and is married to fellow actress Rakie Ayola, with whom he has two daughters. Smethurst is the son of ""Love Thy Neighbour"" star Jack Smethurst. During a 1998 production of ""Hamlet"" at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Smethurst met his future wife, Rakie Ayola. Ayola has stated that there was initially ""no spark"" between them, however they met again two years later during a production of ""Twelfth Night"", and went"
"including Jack Norworth, Lew Brown, and Harry MacPherson. A number of his tunes were performed (and recorded) by jazz bands and continue to be played decades later. His songs included ""The Alcoholic Blues"", Au Revoir But Not Good Bye, Soldier Boy"", ""Chili Bean"", ""Dapper Dan"", ""Don't Take My Darling Boy Away"", Honey Boy"", ""I May Be Gone for a Long, Long Time"", ""(I'll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time"", I'm Glad I'm Married"", ""I'm the Lonesomest Gal in Town"", ""I Used to Love You But It's All Over Now"", ""The Moon Has His Eye On You"", ""My Cutie's Due"
"appear on television completely hidden by a prop. In his own words, to ""not appear, to stay behind something and not come out"". He often hid behind the upturned collar of his leather jacket, or wrapped himself around, and effectively behind, the microphone lead. His best-remembered hits are ""Memphis, Tennessee"", ""The Crying Game"" (1964) and his 1965 hit ""Little Things"", a cover version of Bobby Goldsboro's Stateside Top 40 success. ""This Strange Effect"" (1965), written by Ray Davies, became a Number One hit for him in the Netherlands and Belgium, countries where he still enjoys celebrity status, having received an"
"play. Hoyt's plays emphasized individualized characters drawn from the everyday experiences of ordinary people. Most of his plays were non-musical farces. Two of the songs from the show are still known, ""The Bowery"" and ""Reuben and Cynthia."" There were many interpolations of songs into ""A Trip to Chinatown"" due to the many touring companies, the most famous being Charles K. Harris's ""After the Ball,"" which was not part of the 1891 Broadway production but became a big hit and was later interpolated into ""Show Boat"" to exemplify the 1890s style. Versions of the script can be found in the 1941"
"a distinctive mark. His comic performances included improvised exchanges with audiences, and he was noted for his rapport with working class patrons; one reviewer said that he talked to his audience ""as though he were addressing a select circle of old chums"". He interspersed his routines with topical songs of his own making, and always ended his performances by singing his signature song, ""The Blind Boy"". He became one of the most popular music hall performers of his day, and was also successful in pantomime. In 1896, he visited Australia, where in an interview he said:[I] have no prepared patter,"
"under the influence. Flavor Flav William Jonathan Drayton Jr. (born March 16, 1959), better known by his stage name Flavor Flav (), is an American musician, rapper, actor, television personality, and comedian who rose to prominence as a member of the hip-hop group Public Enemy. He is also known for popularizing the role of the hype man and for yelling ""Yeah, boyeee!"" and ""Flavor Flav!"" during performances. After falling out of the public eye for a number of years, Flav reappeared as the star of several VH1 reality series, including ""The Surreal Life"", ""Strange Love"", and ""Flavor of Love"". Drayton"
"generally more sweet. Billy Cotton had perhaps the longest fame, as he still had a prime-time TV programme until the late '60s. The fame of Ted Heath lasted until 1964. Fans tended to divide them into ""Sweet"" (Ambrose, Geraldo and Victor Silvester) and ""Hot"" (Harry Roy and Nat Gonella). Jack Hylton's band was ""hot"" until 1933, then became sweeter as their success grew. Some of the lead singers enjoyed fame on their own. Most famous were Al Bowlly and Leslie ""Hutch"" Hutchinson. Early British popular music Early British popular music, in the sense of commercial music enjoyed by the people,"
"of the time. Gay's career blossomed due to his talent for writing catchy, popular melodies in styles ranging from music hall to operetta. His most famous show, for which he contributed the music but not the lyrics, was ""Me and My Girl"". This originally opened in 1937 at the Victoria Palace Theatre, London and, after a shaky start, gained popularity when the BBC broadcast it live on radio on 13 January 1938. It starred Lupino Lane as Bill Snibson and it ran for 1,646 performances despite being bombed out of two theatres. The ""showstopper"" in that work was ""The Lambeth"
"Best Pop Male Performance), ""The Race Is On"", ""Lollipops and Roses"" (1962, Grammy Award, Best Pop Male Performance), ""The Impossible Dream"", ""Call Me Irresponsible"", ""Lady"", and ""The Love Boat Theme"". He was also the voice of Greg's frog in the 2014 animated television miniseries ""Over the Garden Wall"". John Allan Jones, the son of actors Allan Jones and Irene Hervey, was born in Los Angeles on the night his father recorded his signature song ""The Donkey Serenade"", causing him to say that he was ""practically born in a trunk"". The young Jones attended University High School in West Los Angeles"
"Flavor Flav William Jonathan Drayton Jr. (born March 16, 1959), better known by his stage name Flavor Flav (), is an American musician, rapper, actor, television personality, and comedian who rose to prominence as a member of the hip-hop group Public Enemy. He is also known for popularizing the role of the hype man and for yelling ""Yeah, boyeee!"" and ""Flavor Flav!"" during performances. After falling out of the public eye for a number of years, Flav reappeared as the star of several VH1 reality series, including ""The Surreal Life"", ""Strange Love"", and ""Flavor of Love"". Drayton was born in"
"his singles and albums. Bill Snyder (bandleader) Bill Snyder also known as William P. Snyder (November 7, 1916 – Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, May 11, 2011) was an American pianist, bandleader and songwriter of the 1950s. Snyder studied under Moriz Rosenthal in Paris and served in the Air Force during the Second World War. Snyder first had a massive hit with Lorenz Hart's ""Bewitched"" in 1950. The song reached the top position on the Cash Box list of ""The Nation's Top Ten Juke Box Tunes."" Through the 1950s Snyder was America's most recorded light music pianist with nine gold and"
"continued to use Shepherd as an arranger. In 1952, Shepherd began working as part of Bill Doggett's group. In 1956, Shepherd helped write Doggett's signature song, ""Honky Tonk"". Leaving Doggett's combo in 1959, Shepherd worked extensively for Broadway musicals and other stage productions as a performer as the house drummer at Finocchio's Club, which was, from the 1930s, a nationally famed hotspot in San Francisco featuring a drag show with female impersonators and Vaudeville-styled acts as well as occasional belly dancing. Late in his career, Shepherd switched his primary focus from drums to trombone, claiming that it was easier to"
"is difficult to resist. In the 1920s and 1930s, Rodgers and Hammerstein both became well known for creating Broadway hits with other partners. Rodgers, with Lorenz Hart, had produced a string of over two dozen musicals, including such popular successes as ""Babes in Arms"" (1937), ""The Boys from Syracuse"" (1938) and ""Pal Joey"" (1940). Some of Rodgers' work with Hart broke new ground in musical theatre: ""On Your Toes"" was the first use of ballet to sustain the plot (in the ""Slaughter on Tenth Avenue"" scene), while ""Pal Joey"" flouted Broadway tradition by presenting a knave as its hero. Hammerstein"
"songs, which increased his earning power in two ways: they added novelty to his performance; and he could earn extra by selling the lyrics. For the most part he had individual song lyrics printed on cards he called ""ballets"", but occasionally he compiled songbooks such as his 1913 compilation of six songs. Some of these were from other singers, dealing with disasters such as the sinking of the Titanic and the wreck of the FFV but two were notably personal: the autobiographical Song of the Orphan Boy, which was later recorded but not released, and the semi-autobiographical Farewell Song, with"
"as ""The Little Michus"", ""The Geisha"", and ""The Merry Widow"". He also recorded two songs from ""The Yeomen of the Guard"" (""Is Life a Boon?"" and ""Free From His Fetters Grim""). These were re-released on the Pearl CD, ""The Art of the Savoyard"". He also recorded one song from each of ""Merrie England"" (""The English Rose"") and ""A Princess of Kensington"" (""A Sprig of Rosemary""). Robert Evett Robert Evett (16 October 1874 – 15 January 1949) was an English singer, actor, theatre manager and producer. He was best known as a leading man in Edwardian musical comedies and later managed"
"When ""Downbeat"" magazine took a poll the year after Williams' death, he was voted the most popular country and Western performer of all time—ahead of such giants as Jimmie Rodgers, Roy Acuff, Red Foley, and Ernest Tubb. In 1977, a national organization of CB truck drivers voted ""Your Cheatin' Heart"" as their favorite record of all time. In 1987, he was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame under the category ""Early Influence"". He was ranked second in CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music in 2003, behind only Johnny Cash. His son, Hank Jr., was ranked on"
"Reginald Spofforth Reginald Spofforth (1769 (baptised 12 September) - 8 September 1827) was an English musician. He was born in Southwell, Nottinghamshire but moved to London around 1790. He was active as an organist, conductor and music teacher, but he is best remembered as a composer. His best known works are the glees ""Hail Smiling Morn"" (which has been described as having been ""possibly the most popular glee in the entire repertory"") and ""Hark! the Lark at Heaven's Gate Sings"", which are included in a number of recent collections of part-songs. He composed about 75 glees, also three books of"
"Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947), known professionally as Meat Loaf, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is noted for his wide-ranging operatic voice and theatrical live shows. His ""Bat Out of Hell"" trilogy of albums (consisting of ""Bat Out of Hell"", """", and """") has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. More than 40 years after its release, ""Bat Out of Hell"" still sells an estimated 200,000 copies annually and stayed on the charts for over nine years, making it one of the best selling albums in history."
"Evvy Pedder Evvy Pedder (born Thomas Redrup; June 1, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter who is best known for being the lead vocalist of the metal/murder rock band Lollipop Lust Kill. He is known for his distinctive and powerful vocals, as well as the often dark and twisted content of his lyrics. The stage name of ""Evvy Pedder"" was chosen by Redrup as a play on the term ""heavy petting"", another nod to the band's lyrical content and theme, and teasing sexual undertones. In 1996, Evvy became a member of a band known at the time as ""Candy"
"in English football's Premier League. Jack Smethurst Jack Smethurst (born 9 April 1932 in Collyhurst, Manchester, Lancashire, England) is an English television and film comic actor. He is best known for his role as bigoted socialist Eddie Booth in ""Love Thy Neighbour"". Jack Smethurst made his film debut in 1958's ""Carry On Sergeant"". This was followed by parts in the films ""Saturday Night and Sunday Morning"" (1960), ""A Kind of Loving"" (1962), ""Run with the Wind"" (1966), ""Night After Night After Night"" (1970), the big-screen version of ""Please Sir!"" (1971) and the ITV sitcom ""For the Love of Ada"" (1970–71)"
"genre with ""Høstgildet"" (the Harvest Celebration) and ""Peters Bryllup"" (Peter's Wedding). Both were composed by Johann Abraham Peter Schulz. Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse, from Altona, who was a pupil of Schulz, is remembered above all for his Danish songs, hymns and carols, which remain popular to this day. But he also composed religious music, piano pieces, and symphonies. Friedrich Kuhlau wrote ""Elverhøj"" (Elves' Hill) (1828), which contains the music for ""Kong Kristian stod ved højen mast"", a Danish national anthem. Elverhøj is considered to be the first Danish national play and has been performed in Denmark more than any other"
"James on guitar, Ray Royal on drums and Dale Corcoran on bass guitar. † - Billed as John Leyton and the LeRoys John Leyton John Dudley Leyton (born 17 February 1936) is an English actor and singer. As a singer he is best known for his hit song ""Johnny Remember Me"" (written by Geoff Goddard and produced by Joe Meek), which reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in August 1961 despite being banned by the BBC for its death references. His follow-up single, ""Wild Wind"", reached number two in the charts. Alongside singing, Leyton's acting career saw him"