Sidney
Davey was born in London
on 30th December 1903.
His first associations
with radio were in 1931
when he was working with Alfred
Van Dam
as pianist and arranger,
later joining the
Commodore Grand Orchestra
under Harry
Davidson.
He became well-known to
radio listeners in the
thirties and forties
playing duets with fellow
pianist Arthur Dulay, who
some may remember for his
Cameo Orchestra.
Sidney
Davey and his Players
emerged in 1939,
originally as a
nine-piece combination
specialising in light
novelty numbers
contrasted with popular
ballads. It was
essentially a salon
orchestra, comprising
strings, woodwind and
piano. Whilst Sidney
Davey conducted his
Players (as opposed to
directing them from the
piano), he did,
nevertheless, sometimes
join in on second piano.
This practice ceased,
however, following
producer reports that
'when a conductor leaves
his post to play an
instrument, the
orchestral balance
suffers and the
additional colour of a
second piano could be
dispensed with'. It is
not widely known that
Sidney Davey was also an
accordionist and even
broadcast in that
capacity as a soloist. It
is, therefore, not
surprising that he
subsequently included
this instrument in the
Players, together with
guitar and percussion to
suit the changing styles
of light music over the
years.
Sidney
Davey was one of the
first contributors to 'Music
While You Work'
and his ensemble provided
222 programmes in the
series. During an
orchestral musicians'
strike in 1948 he even
did one edition without
the Players, simply
giving a two-piano
recital with the
aforementioned Arthur
Dulay! Other programmes
featuring Sidney Davey
and his Players included
'Bright
and Early',
'Morning
Music',
'Music
Box',
'Music All The Way',
'Elevenses',
'Uninterrupted Music' and
many untitled programmes
for which, in those days,
the name of the orchestra
was often considered
sufficient.
Sidney
was a versatile musician,
not only arranging most
of the music for his own
ensemble, but also for
other broadcasting
orchestras. As a pianist,
he played in every style
from jazz to gypsy and
acted as accompanist in
the classical world, as
well as doing cabaret
work. If this wasn't
enough, he broadcast
regularly with Jack
Mandel and the
Banjoliers, Ralph Elman
and his Bohemian Players
and Anton and his
Orchestra, his
distinctive style of
piano links in MWYW
immediately identifying
him.
Unlike
so many of his fellow
conductors, Sidney's
broadcasting career did
not come to a grinding
halt when MWYW was axed.
It was really a case of
his being in the right
place at the right time.
For many years he had
been pianist and arranger
with Harry Davidson and
his Orchestra, performing
with them on hundreds of
editions of 'Those
Were The Days'
the long-running
old-time dance music
programme which was
started during the war
and continued until the
mid-seventies. As deputy
conductor of the
orchestra it was a
logical development that,
with the retirement of
Harry Davidson in 1966,
he should be invited to
take over the series.
Sidney had often
deputised for Davidson,
particularly in the
latter years when
Davidson's health was
failing, and it would
have been an easy task
for him to take over the
orchestra in its existing
form, using its own
repertoire, especially as
much of it had been
arranged by Sidney Davey
anyway.
Sidney,
however, did not choose
the easy option and
decided to form an
entirely new orchestra of
25 players, with less
emphasis on brass. Indeed
his brass section
consisted exclusively of
Stan Newsome on trumpet.
The BBC asked Sidney to
include more 'popular
standards' than formerly,
but he continued to use
adaptations of some of
the light music
arrangements which he had
produced for the Players,
providing that they
fitted the rhythm of the
dance in question. So a
novelty number such as
'The Portuguese
Washerwoman' could quite
easily be used as a
Mayfair Quickstep.
Whereas other maestros of
'old-time', such as
Sidney Bowman, had
adjusted the tempos of
pieces to suit the dances
in question, Sidney Davey
avoided this by selecting
only pieces that were
intended to be played at
the tempo of the dance
being performed.
For
the next ten years Sidney
Davey broadcast regularly
in 'Those Were The Days'
until, in 1976 with his
wife's health failing, he
decided to call it a day
and informed the BBC of
his intention to retire.
Sidney
Davey was a courteous and
friendly man who always
felt that his music
should 'entertain not
educate'. Nevertheless,
his music was always of
good quality and quite
delightful to hear. He
died in August 1986 at
the age of 82.
Listen
to 'Music While You Work'
played by Sidney Davey
and his Players
as broadcast on 2nd June
1966.
MUSIC
WHILE YOU WORK at 3.31
p.m. on 2nd June 1966
played by Sidney Davey
and his Players
Calling
All Workers (Sig)
Paris Bonjour
Bessie Larkin
Charlie Girl
Chicolino
Francesco
Jangle Bells
Will You Remember
Snowman's Land
Make The World Go Away
Tango Negre
Summer Holiday
Primero
To Each His Own
The Belle of Brazil
The White Hills of
Finland
Portuguese Washerwoman
Lavender Blue
Square Dance Medley:
. Arkansas
Traveller
. Turkey in the Straw
. Spitfire Reel
Calling All
Workers (Sig) |
Coates
Vallez
Agoult
Heneker/Taylor
Marland
Galbraith
Baynes
Romberg
Vogel
Cochran
Phillips
Welch
Malando
Evans
Rubach
Wiberg
Popp
Daniel
arr. Davey
Coates |
Listen
to 'Music While You Work'
played by Sidney Davey
and his Players
as broadcast on 3rd
August 1963.
MUSIC
WHILE YOU WORK
10:31 am on 3rd August
1963
played by Sidney Davey
and his Players
(Sig)
Calling All Workers
Another Opening,Another
Show
The Stroller
Wunderbar
Primero
Lonely
Zero-Zero
Ole Guapa
China Tea
Till Tomorrow
Irish Dance No. 1
Military Shuffle
Square Dance Medley:
. Arkansas Traveller
. Turkey in the Straw
. Spitfire Reel
(Sig) Calling All
Workers |
Eric
Coates
Cole Porter
Malcolm Lockyer
Cole Porter
Malando
Acker Bilk
Norin
Malando
Russ Conway
Bock
John Ansell
Geo. Blackmore
Trad.arr.Davey
Eric Coates |
BRIGHT
AND EARLY at 6.30 a.m. on
16th November 1954
played by Sidney Davey
and his Players
Marches
from Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs
Wonderful Copenhagen
Family Joke
Chinese Laundry Blues
C'est Magnifique
La Zingara
Stepping out with my Baby
Toy Shop Polka
The Peanut Vendor
Lolita |
Frank
Churchill
Frank Loesser
Eric Spear
Jack Cottrell
Cole Porter
trad., arr. Davey
Irving Berlin
Louis Mordish
Simons
Santeugini |
|