Bert Ambrose (1896--1971) holds the honour of being the artist to appear most frequently in the Pig's Big 78 feature of John Peel's later shows.
Ambrose led one of the best-known British dance bands of the 1920s and 1930s, usually referred to as Ambrose And His Orchestra. They became renowned during their residencies at London's Embassy Club and Mayfair Hotel, winning a prestigious audience including members of the Royal Family, making regular BBC radio broadcasts, recording prolifically and attracting some of the best musicians of the time, among them the Americans Sylvester Ahola and Danny Polo and Britain's Ted Heath, who was to become a star bandleader in the post-World War Two era. Ambrose's orchestra also featured a number of notable singers, including Sam Browne, Elsie Carlisle, Denny Dennis and the young Vera Lynn. Although Ambrose himself retired from performing in 1940, the orchestra continued to record until 1947.
Ambrose & His Orchestra - Night Ride
Night Ride
Ambrose made a comeback in the 1950s, but with the big band era over and rock and roll about to explode, found himself struggling. Not only did he have to accept less prestigious engagements with smaller groups, but his penchant for gambling meant that very little of the money from his high-earning pre-war years remained. His management of the singer Kathy Kirby (1938-2011), whom he discovered as a teenager and recruited for his band, gave him a measure of success in the 1960s. (Kirby is best known to pop listeners for her 1964 hit version of "Secret Love", but a BBC radio feature on her suggested that Ambrose's management decisions had a negative effect on her career - and also that he gambled away most of her earnings). He died in 1971 but his music has been held in high esteem by successive generations of fans of British dance band music, and has been reissued in numerous CD collections.
Festive Fifty Entries[]
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Sessions[]
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Other Shows Played[]
- 1972
- 03 June 1972 (Radio Luxembourg): The Object Of My Affection (LP - The Bands That Matter) Decca Eclipse
- 1994
- 18 February 1994: The Clouds Will Soon Roll By (album - The Golden Age Of British Dance Bands 1931-1934) EMI
- 06 May 1994: The Clouds Will Soon Roll By (Various Artists 7xLP – The Golden Age Of British Dance Bands) World
- 14 May 1994 (BFBS): The Clouds Will Soon Roll By (album - The Golden Age Of British Dance Bands 1931-1934) EMI
- 09 July 1994: Stormy Weather
- 21 July 1999: Tiptoe Through The Tulips With Me (1929)
- 28 July 1999: (with Elsie Carlisle): The Clouds Will Soon Roll By (1932)
- 18 August 1999: (with Elsie Carlisle): The Clouds Will Soon Roll By (1932)
- 26 August 1999 (with Anne Shelton): You'd be So Nice To Come Home To (1943)
Ambrose - "Cotton Pickers Congregation"
Cotton Pickers Congregation
- 29 November 2000: Cotton Pickers Congregation (Decca)
- 15 February 2001: I Only Have Eyes For You
- 06 March 2001 (with Anne Shelton): Don't Get Around Much Anymore
- 07 March 2001: You And The Night And The Music
- 26 April 2001 (with vocal refrain by Leslie Douglas): Moonlight Becomes You
- 30 January 2002: You And The Night And The Music (Vocalion)
- 08 August 2002: You And The Night And The Music
- 25 February 2003: I'll Never Have to Dream Again (Regal Zonophone)
- 26 February 2003: 'You Rhyme With Everything That's Beautiful (Decca)
- 14 May 2003: Moonlight Becomes You (Decca)
- 30 September 2003: For The Sake of the Days Gone By (His Masters Voice)
- 29 June 2004: You Rhyme With Everything That's Beautiful (Decca)