Reginald Dixon at the Wurlitzer plays: The Woodpecker Song, When Our Dreams Grow Old & Indian Summer

Dixontime No.5 – Side One
🎹 Reginald Dixon at the 3/13 Mighty Wurlitzer, Tower Ballroom, Blackpool
📀 Regal Zonophone MR3336 | Released September 1940


Recorded during wartime Britain, this 1940 shellac disc features Reginald Dixon performing three light popular melodies on the Mighty Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ of Blackpool’s Tower Ballroom. The selection includes The Woodpecker Song, When Our Dreams Grow Old, and Indian Summer — all newly published at the time and making waves on both sides of the Atlantic.

Installed in 1935, the Tower Ballroom’s 3-manual, 13-rank Wurlitzer was co-designed by Dixon himself for live dance, broadcast, and solo performance. Known for its brilliant reeds, deep tibias, and bright orchestral colour, it became the heartbeat of Britain’s most iconic dance venue, heard weekly by millions via BBC radio.

The Music

The Woodpecker Song (1939)
🎶 Eldo Di Lazzaro | English lyrics: Harold Adamson
Originally titled "Reginella Campagnola," this Italian song gained international fame when it was adapted into English. Widely recorded, with major hits by Glenn Miller and The Andrews Sisters. Featured in the 1940 film Road to Singapore starring Bing Crosby.

When Our Dreams Grow Old (1939)
🎶 Al Goodhart / Al Hoffman
A sentimental British ballad of the pre-war era, recorded by orchestras including Mantovani and Lou Preager. A staple of wartime light music with lush arrangements.

Indian Summer (1919/1939)
🎶 Victor Herbert | Lyrics added by Al Dubin (1939)
Originally composed as an instrumental in 1919, with lyrics added 20 years later. Hit recordings by Tommy Dorsey, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra cemented its status as a standard in both the jazz and crooner traditions.


📀 Recording Information

• Label: Regal Zonophone
• Catalogue: MR3336
• Format: 78rpm shellac disc, mono
• Recorded during the summer of 1940 and issued that September
• Straight-to-disc electrical recording — no overdubs or enhancements


🛠️ Audio Restoration

Transferred at half speed for improved fidelity. Click removal, gentle noise reduction, and careful remastering applied. Presented in false stereo using a left-centre-right delay method to maintain percussive clarity and widen the soundstage.
🎧 Audio restoration by Ross McNeillie



🔔 Subscribe for more restored recordings of Reginald Dixon and Britain’s historic theatre organs
👍 Like and comment to support vintage music preservation


#ReginaldDixon
#TowerBallroom
#WurlitzerOrgan
#TheatreOrganMusic
#VintageShellac
#GlennMiller
#TheAndrewsSisters
#BingCrosby
#TommyDorsey
#VictorHerbert
#AlDubin
#HaroldAdamson
#OrganRestoration
#FalseStereo
#BritishLightMusic