"Most books on music hall tend to focus on the really big names around at that time - Marie Lloyd, Dan Leno, Harry Lauder, Little Tich and so on, so hats off to Derek Sculthorpe who has produced a very readable volume where he concentrates on 10 names from the music hall and variety eras who deserve to be remembered but who are usually limited to a few lines at most in the majority of theatrical volumes. It really is a refreshing delight to find chapters on Charlie Higgins, Tom Foy, Alfred Lester, Margaret Cooper, Bert Errol, Vivian Foster, Norman Long and three favourites of mine: Nellie Wallace, Lily Morris and Billy Bennett.
Nellie, Lily and Billy will need no introduction to most BMHS members but the other artistes featured may not be so familiar. Charlie Higgins was a comedian who came to fame between the two World Wars. He obviously impressed Billy Bennett who wrote a revue for Charlie called Out of Work, which toured successfully in the late 1920s. Tom Foy was a sketch comic who had the ingenious idea of introducing a donkey into his act. Never work with animals is the old cry but Foy proved the naysayers all wrong, the donkey making his act a huge draw.
Alfred Lester's lugubrious countenance found favour in musicals such as The Arcadians, where he played the miserable jockey Doody, whose hit song was I've Gotter Motter; Always Merry And Bright, and revue. He was one of the stars of the WW1 success, The Bing Boys Are Here. Vivian Foster found fame as 'The Vicar of Mirth' and recorded many of his monologues, although his broadcasting career on the BBC came to an abrupt end when a few clergymen failed to appreciate his humour and complained about his act.
Bert Errol was the Danny La Rue, or possibly the Dame Hilda Bracket of his day. A hugely successful female impersonator who also had an amazing singing voice, capable of singing soprano and tenor. His speciality was singing The Jewel Song from the opera Faust. Derek points out that Errol's wife Ray was part of the act 'to emphasise his masculinity' and 'to stop any whispers about his sexuality'.
Two keyboard players complete the line-up. Margaret Cooper was a fascinating character offering humorous songs at the piano. Elegantly dressed with a delicate soprano voice she proved a success in concerts and then turned to the music halls., where, against all the odds, she was a surprise success. When Captain Scott set off for the South Pole in 1910, he took a gramophone and some records, one of which was by Margaret. Norman Long was one of the first radio stars on the BBC, offering topical satirical songs at the piano - a sort of one-man Western Brothers! One of his most well-known songs was We Can't Let You Broadcast That, a clever attack on censorship. Needless to say the BBC banned it!
This well produced volume has been thoroughly researched by Mr. Sculthorpe covering the careers of those named above, with extensive appendices offering discographies, film appearances and sheet music for each artist. A very worthwhile additon to the music hall enthusiast's bookshelf."
- Call Boy
