Various – A Night At The Music-Hall – 4 CD

Music Hall was a uniquely British form of entertainment that lasted effectively for about 75 years, finally succumbing under the onslaught of radio, movies and its own step-child, variety. Legend has it that the story began in the Canterbury pub in London's Westminster Bridge Road, when Charles Morton opened a separate room to which men could bring their wives and be entertained as they drank. The venture was so successful that, in 1854, he had a new building erected next door, which he dubbed The Surrey Music Hall. Within a few years music halls could be found throughout the length and breadth of Britain. The advent of recorded sound just as music hall was enjoying its Golden Age meant that many of the comic turns and songs were captured on cylinders and discs. The 99 remastered tracks on this 4CD set feature the famous artists and songs of the era, such as Harry Champion ("I'm Henry The Eighth", "Boiled Beef And Carrots", "Any Old Iron?"), Florrie Forde ("Down At The Old Bull And Bush", "Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?", "Hold Your Hand Out You Naughty Boy"), Mark Sheridan ("Beside The Seaside"), Marie Lloyd ("A Little Of What You Fancy"), Gertie Gitana ("Nellie Dean"), Ella Shields ("Burlington Bertie From Bow"), Eugene Stratton ("Lily Of Laguna"), Billy Williams ("When Father Papered The Parlour")…. in fact it's a right ol' knees up from start to finish.

Track Listing:

CD1:
Harry Champion: 1. Never Let Your Braces Dangle - 2:48   Clarice Mayne: 2. Joshua - 3:57   George Bastow: 3. Captain Gingah Ot - 3:07   George Formby: 4. The Grandfather's Clock - 3:00   Harry Champion: 5. A Little Bit of Cucumber - 2:50   Marie Lloyd: 6. Revue - 3:02   Ada Reeve: 7. Foolish Question - 2:57   Harry Fragson: 8. Other Department, Please - 3:22   Mark Sheridan: 9. Old Bull and Bush (Parody) - 2:52   Vesta Victoria: 10. Now I Have to Call Him Father - 3:01   Gus Elen: 11. It's a Great Big Shame - 2:20  12. If It Wasn't for the 'Ouses in Between - 2:20   Marie Lloyd: 13. That's How This Little Girl Got On - 2:13   Alec Hurley: 14. 'Arry, 'Arry, 'Arry - 2:37   Herbert Campbell: 15. Up I Came with My Little Lot - 2:59   Madie Scott: 16. The Bird on Nellie's Hat - 4:21   Mark Sheridan: 17. We All Marching Home Again - 3:39   Harry Champion: 18. You Don't Want to Keep on Showing It - 2:45   Florrie Forde: 19. Oh, Oh, Antonio - 3:03   Marie Lloyd: 20. The Coster Girl in Paris - 3:05   Harry Champion: 21. Ginger You're Barmy! - 3:00   George Robey: 22. Bang Went the Chance of a Lifetime - 3:22   Sam Mayo: 23. Bread and Marmalade - 2:56   Bransby Williams: 24. The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God - 3:19

CD2:
Harry Champion: 1. I'm Henry the Eighth - 3:04   2. Cover It Over Quick, Jemima - 2:26   Vesta Tilley: 3. The Girls I Left Behind Me - 2:51   4. I'll Show You Round Paree - 3:12   Mark Sheridan: 5. I Wanted a Wife - 2:54   6. One of the Bhoys - 3:11   Eugene Stratton: 7. I May Be a Millionaire - 4:09   George Formby: 8. Send for John Willie - 2:52   9. Playing the Game in the West - 2:51   Ella Retford: 10. They're All Single at the Seaside - 2:59   11. Molly Molloy - 2:40   Charles Whittle: 12. We All Go the Same Way Home - 3:02   13. Play Us Another Before You Go - 3:10   Gus Elen: 14. The Golden Dustman - 4:09   15. Mrs Carter - 3:38   Louis Bradfield: 16. The First Cigar - 2:18   Henry Lytton: 17. When I Marry Amelia - 1:45   Florrie Forde: 18. Anona - 1:46   George Lashwood: 19. Riding on Top a Car- 2:43   Gus Elen: 20. Me-Riah - 2:46   21. 'Arf a Pint of Ale - 2:49   22. The Pavement Artist - 2:39   George Formby: 23. Twice Nightly - 2:55   24. Looking for Mugs in a Strand - 2:52   25. All of a Sudden It Struck Me - 2:57

CD3:
Gus Elen: 1. The Publican - 2:53   2. The Coster's Pony - 2:43   Lillie Langtry: 3. On the Margate Boat - 2:32   Herbert Campbell: 4. No Show Tonight - 2:47   Vesta Victoria: 5. Riding on a Motor Car - 2:46   Gus Elen: 6. Dick Whittington (Parody) - 3:03   7. Nature's Made a Big Mistake - 2:58   Alfred M. Gibson: 8. I've Got to Get Back to Work - 2:56   George Lashwood: 9. Oh Blow the Scenery on the Railway - 2:48   Vesta Victoria: 10. It Ain't All Honey and It Ain't All Jam - 2:34   Gus Elen: 11. Don't Stop My 'Alf a Pint O' Beer - 3:02   12. I'm Going to Settle Down - 2:53   13. Pretty Little Villa Down at Barking - 2:53   George Formby: 14. John Willie's Ragtime Band - 2:47   15. John Willie's Jazz Band - 2:57   Harry Weldon: 16. Sleuthy Dread of the Heads - 2:52   Beth Tate: 17. Billy - 2:50   Marie Lloyd: 18. Woman's Opinion of Man - 2:54   Ella Retford: 19. Molly O'Morgan - 2:37   Mark Sheridan: 20. Beside the Seaside - 3:08   Julia McKay: 21. In the Good Old Summer Time - 2:27   Gertie Gitana: 22. Silver Bell - 2:50   Harry Champion: 23. Medley: I'm Henry the Eighth / Cover It Over Quick Jemima / The End of My Old Cigar / The Old Red Lion / The Best That Money Can Buy / Boiled Beef And Carrots - 7:03   Sam Mayo: 24. The Trumpet Song - 3:04

CD4:
Gus Elen: 1. Wait Til the Work Comes Round - 2:52   Harry Champion: 2. You Can't Help Laughin' Can Yer? - 2:47   Eugene Stratton: 3. Little Dolly Daydream - 2:35   Gus Elen: 4. Never Introduce Your Donah to a Pal - 2:13   Harry Champion: 5. Wotcher My Old Brown Son - 3:04   Mark Sheridan: 6. Who Were You with Last Night - 3:13   Florrie Forde: 7. Down at the Old Bull and Bush - 2:59   Harry Fragson: 8. Hello, Hello, Who's Your Lady Friend - 3:26   Marie Lloyd: 9. A Little of What You Fancy - 3:16   Vesta Tilley: 10. Jolly Good Luck to the Girl Who Loves a Soldier - 3:15   Ella Shields: 11. Burlington Bertie from Bow - 4:22   Gertie Gitana: 12. Nellie Dean - 2:53   Marie Lloyd: 13. Every Little Movement - 3:23   Eugene Stratton: 14. Lily of Laguna - 4:00   Albert Whelan: 15. The Whistling Bowery Boy - 2:48   Florrie Forde: 16. Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly? - 2:54   Marie Lloyd: 17. When I Took My Morning Promenade - 3:09   George Robey: 18. Archibald, Certainly Not - 3:20   Billy Williams: 19. When Father Papered the Parlour - 3:01   Florrie Forde: 20. Hold Your Hand out You Naughty Boy - 2:40   Harry Champion: 21. Any Old Iron - 2:55   22. I'm Getting Ready for My Mother-In-Law - 2:58   Gus Elen: 23. Down the Road - 2:06   Harry Champion: 24. Boiled Beef and Carrots - 2:49   Belle Davis: 25. The Honeysuckle and the Bee - 1:54   Lil Hawthorne: 26. I'll Be Your Sweetheart : 1:52