British Dance Bands "on the wireless" 1940s

From 3rd September 1939 radio (or "the wireless") became a vital source of news and entertainment for the British public and armed forces. Dance bands continued to broadcast boosting morale and adapting to wartime conditions despite occasional shortages of available musicians. Here is a handful of recordings that illustrate just how good and varied these bands could be and how they retained an individual sound and didn't simply adopt a "Glenn Miller style" overnight. Put Your Arms... also proves that Van Phillips really could swing! Please note that I'm always looking for Van Phillips material so if you have anything - please do get in touch.

Most of these recordings come from ENSA / ORBS discs or BBC transcriptions. I've done the best I can with sound quality which varies from "rough" to pretty good. The Van Phillips is fairly distorted and My Heart Stood Still has a bad swish, is cracked and even has a piece missing out of the edge of the record so I had to rebuild the opening notes - quite a challenge! It was far too nice to miss out however. I hope you enjoy them.

Geraldo and his Concert Orchestra play:
• Alexander's Ragtime Band
• My Heart Stood Still (vocal Sally Douglas)
• Holiday for Strings
Eric Winstone and his Stringtette play:
• Mexico
• In the Still of the Night
• A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening (vocal Alan Kane)
• Bottle Party
Harry Gold and his Pieces of Eight play:
• I'm Confessin' (amateur sax players - listen and learn!)
Van Phillips and his Big Band play:
• Put Your Arms Around Me Honey (vocal Leslie Douglas)
Followed by:
• A Special Cinema Announcement