SIMON MATTHEWS watches Harry Secombe in an Ealing Comedy about the dying days of variety. Continue reading
Tag Archives: music hall
Edwardian Tales: The Queen of Hatchetations
ALWYN TURNER on militant teetotaller Carrie Nation, who came to Britain in 1908 and was horrified by what she found. Continue reading
Edwardian Tales: The Man with the Red Beard
ALWYN TURNER tells the tale of the man who killed himself for love of a music-hall star. Continue reading
Now That’s What I Call Music Hall
ALWYN TURNER likes Victorian and Edwardian music-hall songs. These are his favourite lyrics. Continue reading
Before It Went Rotten
ALWYN TURNER reads about the pub rock of the 1970s. Continue reading
Remembering Chirgwin
ALWYN TURNER on one of the greatest stars of the British music hall. Did he really influence Alice Cooper? Continue reading
Halloween hits: I’m the Man that Buried Flanagan
Exhumed from the vaults for Halloween, here’s a 1911 song by Billy Williams. Continue reading
Halloween hits: Brahn Boots
A Stanley Holloway classic, resuscitated for Hallowe’en. Continue reading
Halloween hits: In the Waxworks Late Last Night
A neglected 1930 song by Charlie Higgins, exhumed for Hallowe’en by ALWYN TURNER. Continue reading
The Ambling Alp in London
Italian boxer Primo Carnera got namechecked in the 1930s by PG Wodehouse and Sandy Powell. ALWYN TURNER explains why. Continue reading
Halloween hits: Bang Went the Chance of a Lifetime
An early George Robey/Sax Rohmer song, resuscitated for Hallowe’en by ALWYN TURNER. Continue reading
Imperial fiction: Black Beauty
ALWYN TURNER on Anna Sewell’s 1877 novel of good horses and bad masters. Continue reading
