Daily Archives: August 3, 2008

Dads Army – you know the show but who sang the song…?

Posted by Wendy on August 3, 2008 No comments

If you have just been enjoying the BBC’s 40th anniversary celebration of Dads Army then you will have loved the appearances of the surviving cast members such as Jones ( Clive Dunn ),  Pike (Ian Lavender), Hodges (Bill Pertwee ), The Vicar ( Frank Wilson ), Mrs Fox  (Pamella Cundell ) and of course the brilliant writers of the show, David Croft and Jimmy Perry.

It was a great show even though we learned that the American’s actually tried to do their own version of Dads Army – but that is something best ignored…

But there was one person who was not mentioned and I thought this was a rather sad exclusion because this particular man introduced the show each time we sat down to enjoy it with his very distinctive voice…the man who sang the Dads Army theme song.

This man was Bud Flanagan. A veteran of the English stage and screen he was born in 1896 and made his name as the partner of Chesney Allen in the comedy duo Flanagan and Allen.

He was actually enjoying his retirement, though in ill-health, when in 1968 he was asked to record a theme song for a new BBC comedy show about a group of elderly men who joined the Home Guard when it was implemented in England in 1941. Dads Army.

Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen were a very popular pre and post-war comedy duo who starred on stage, screen and eventually television. One of their biggest hits was a song ‘ Underneath the arches ‘ which highlighted their own particular style of performing – Bud Flanagan would sing the melody while Ches Allen largely narrated the lyrics. It was very effective and quite unique.

Here are some of their famous songs:

* ‘Shine on Harvest Moon’

* ‘We’re Gonna Hang Out the Washing on the Siegfried Line’

* ‘Run Rabbit, Run’

* ’Down Forget Me Not Lane’

They were also part of the legendary comedy team known as The Crazy Gang.

Bud Flanagan was asked to record the theme song by the writers of Dads Army, Perry and Croft, because the theme for the show was so like the old war-songs he used to sing on his recordings.

This song  - ” Who do you think you are kidding Mr Hitler ” –  was to be Bud Flanagan’s last legacy to the public who had loved him for so long. He died, on October 20th 1968,  soon after recording this most memorable song. Today a new and younger generation have discovered this gem of a TV series and Bud Flanagan’s name still lives on. This one song alone will always ensure this.

His longtime partner, Ches Allen, died November 13 1982 at the age of 89.

Blue Memorial Plaque on 12 Hanbury Street, Whitechapel, London where Bud Flanagan was born in 1896.

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Proms classic minus vibrato – ‘new wave’ or a big mistake?

Posted by Wendy on August 3, 2008 No comments

The Proms season has not closed yet and already there is a bit of a storm brewing regarding the performance of Elgar’s classic crowd favourite ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ or to be given it’s official title ‘Pomp and Circumstance March No 1′.

Conductor Sir Roger Norrington intends for the orchestra to play the piece without vibrato and this decision is causing much angst among traditionalists – which is usual when a long held standard is threatened with change. But personally I cannot see how this will really make any difference to the finished product and, if anything, sounds quite interesting to me.

Music camps are often divided over the issue of the use of vibrato in instrumental and vocal performance. The use of vibrato , or tremolo, was not introduced into music until the mid-18th century, towards the end of the Baroque period; music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods was played without vibrato – listen to some early Bach or Handel played on period instruments and you will note the distinctive ‘sound’ where the note tapers off rather than flourished when vibrato is applied. Opera from the time of Gluck and Purcell is also sung, or should be sung, sans vibrato. It distinguishes a particular style and time of composition.

 

Too much vibrato is as bad as too little; for example a violin piece such as Meditation by Massenet requires absolute control of vibrato - I once heard a performance of this beautiful piece completely ruined when the violinist applied a very broad vibrato to each and every note making a horrendous series of bizarre wobbles. The melody was lost and almost unrecognisable – it was not artistic license it was vandalism!

But playing without vibrato too requires great skill so that the music does not sound stale and cold. 

I am looking forward to hearing what Elgar’s classic will be like in this form, and in the hands of the superb BBC Symphony Orchestra - but again I do love music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods and I cannot see why Roger Norrington should be criticised for taking a piece of music which is almost too typecast in it’s presentation and doing something a little new and different with it. Surely with the bang and clatter of the orchestra as well as the audience participation there wont be that much difference to notice…?

Fresh and distinctive is what I am expecting from this – just exactly how all music should be.

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.