Music

[Harvey]

What Music do people use at the start of the show?

[Chris]

It really depends on the occasion Harvey. For Big shows, carnivals and galas, where there is lots going on and lots of ambient noise then I start off playing circussy type music, brass band marches, gallops and so forth. "The Entry of the Gladiators" is a classic of this type. This is exciting and attracts attention. Strauss can also be similarly used - "Thunder and Lightning Polka" perhaps.
If you have an actual Brass Band at the event then you need to sound different. In this case I have a collection of Circus Tunes played on a calliope. This has a quite different sound - a bit quirky. A calliope is an instrument that makes its sound by either compressed air or steam and has a very distinctive fairground sound. Search for "Clown Calliope" on Amazon Music - there is a series of CDs.
Theatre organ selections can also provide good rousing theatrical tunes. Try putting "Reginald Dixon" in your music search. He was organist at the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool for many years.
You might not want so brash an attack if you are appearing at a Vicarage Garden Party or the like, and in this case then popular piano medleys are jolly and pleasing - again for this type of music we need to go back in time - suitable names to search for "Russ Conway" , "Winefred Atwell", "Charlie Kunz" - they are sort of sing-a-long medleys without the singing. For our purposes avoid vocals.
I also have a collection of instrumental medleys of Nursery Rhymes and children's tunes and these I find useful for Nursery and Infant School Fundays.
But it is best not just to play or copy the whole CD - much better if you have the skills to make up your own selections, mix and match, to create your own selections, then burn them to a CD or create tracks to save to an MP3 player.

[Richard Coombs]

Thank you Chris for your wonderfully full and comprehensive reply to Harvey.

Id seen his question and had meant to reply , but its been hectic.
Thank You

Great info there for me too ... Ive looked up Reginald Dixon on i-tunes myself - great fun !

And you reminded me that a couple of years ago I purchased a Winifred Atwelll album .
But I had quite forgotten to add some of her stuff to my pre show playlist.

So Im rectifying that today. Its a cold and rainy day, so reorganising and refreshing the show music seems like a fitting job

Hope all is going well down in Wales , and that you are not flooded .
There is a heatwave to follow this rain apparently )

Richard

[Chris]

Don't mention flooding Richard, its a disaster. Last Saturday's Agricultural Show cancelled. When I arrived the bottom field was like a lake. Yesterday's Donkey Derby was also cancelled - the insurers insisted on Safety grounds. Will next Saturday's Carnival be rained off? I was feeling pretty good being well booked up for the Summer - now I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever get started!
Then last night an organiser of a Church Fun Day asked me to ring him. To confirm a booking for my one free Saturday I felt sure - but no, quite the opposite. He was enthusiastic but when he spoke to his vicar she had got cold feet and thought they hadn't left enough time to make all the arrangments. So its either cold feet or wet feet at the moment as far as outdoor Punch is concerned.
Can't wait for your heatwave!

[Andrew Clarkson]

Great recommendations - thank you Chris. I usually go for anything from Benny Goodman and find Sing,Sing,Sing always works well. I also find Bobby Darin’s version of Mack the Knife good for building up a crowd. I tried your suggestions of both ‘Entry of the Gladiators’ and Strauss’ ‘Thunder and Lightning Polka’ at a Steam Rally this weekend - both worked a treat.

In terms of Polkas, I’ve just found this which might work for some:


httpshttps://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Punch-And-Judy-Polka/dp/B075HDD46D

Happy DJ-ing!

[Chris]

Actally there is (or should it be are) a host of novelty tunes with Punch and Judy in the title. I made a CD of them for Punch friends at the May Fayre one year. They are interesting to us, but really they don't conjure up anything to do with Punch, they tend to just be pretty little tunes. There are also quite a number of folk songs about Punch, and a lovely song popularised by Gracie Fields and covered by many music hall artistes in the 40s - Layton and Johnson, and an instrumental version by Ambrose. I'll put a list on here when I dig out the information. Thanks for posting the Polka. I'd forgotten that one. In fact I've never heard it played on an organ, nor do I know that organist. It's very jolly.