William Edward Cotton (6 May 1899 – 25 March 1969) as Billy Cotton was an English

band leader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues ...

and

entertainer An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms. Types of entertainers * Acrobat * Actor * Archimime * Athlete * Barker * Beatboxer * Benshi * Bouffon * Circus performer * Clown * Club Hostess/Host * Co ...

, one of the few whose orchestras survived the

British dance band British dance band is a genre of popular jazz and dance music that developed in British dance halls and hotel ballrooms during the 1920s and 1930s, often called a Golden Age of British music, prior to the Second World War. Thousands of mile ...

era. Cotton is now mainly remembered as a 1950s and 1960s

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

personality, but his musical career had begun in the 1920s. In his younger years, Billy Cotton was also an amateur footballer for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings wh ...

(and later, for the then Athenian league club Wimbledon), an accomplished racing driver and the owner of a

Gipsy Moth The de Havilland DH.60 Moth is a 1920s British two-seat touring and training aircraft that was developed into a series of aircraft by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. Development The DH.60 was developed from the larger DH.51 biplane ...

, which he piloted himself. His autobiography, ''I Did It My Way'', was published in 1970, a year after his death.

Life and career

Born in

Smith Square Smith Square is a square in Westminster, London, 250 metres south-southwest of the Palace of Westminster. Most of its garden interior is filled by St John's, Smith Square, a Baroque surplus church, which has inside converted to a concert hall. ...

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, London, England, to Joseph and Susan Cotton, Cotton was a choirboy and started his musical career as a drummer. He enlisted in the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

by falsifying his age and saw service in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

in Malta and Egypt before landing at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles s ...

in the middle of an artillery barrage. He was recommended for a commission and learned to fly Bristol Fighter aircraft. Not yet 19 years old, he flew solo for the first time in 1918, on the day the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

became the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

. After the end of the war, in the early 1920s, he worked at several jobs, including as a bus driver, before setting up his own orchestra, the London Savannah Band, in 1924. At first a conventional dance band, the London Savannah Band gradually tended towards

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Br ...

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

entertainment, introducing visual and verbal humour in between songs. Famous musicians who played in Billy Cotton's band during the 1920s and 1930s included

Arthur Rosebery Arthur Rosebery (1904-1986) was an English pianist and singer. He began working as a pianist in 1921, and a few years later he formed a trio which included Billy Cotton. With his orchestra, the ''Kit Cat band'', Rosebery worked in various London cl ...

, Syd Lipton and Nat Gonella. The band was also noted for their

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

trombonist and

tap dance Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perf ...

r, Ellis Jackson. Their signature tune was "

Somebody Stole My Gal "Somebody Stole My Gal" is a popular song from 1918, written by Leo Wood. In 1924, Ted Weems & his Orchestra had a five-week run at number one with his million-selling version. Its Pee Wee Hunt and his orchestra version is also known in Japan, par ...

", and they made numerous commercial recordings for

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Cotton and his band toured France with the

Entertainments National Service Association The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, ...

(

ENSA The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, ...

). After the war, he started his successful Sunday lunchtime radio show on BBC, the '' Billy Cotton Band Show'', which ran from 1949 to 1968. In the 1950s, composer

Lionel Bart Lionel Bart (1 August 1930 – 3 April 1999) was a British writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's " Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical ''Oliver!'' (1960). With ''Oliver!'' and his wor ...

contributed comedy songs to the show. It regularly opened with the band's signature tune and Cotton's call of "Wakey Wakey". From 1956, it was also broadcast on BBC television. Cotton often also provided vocals on many of his band's recordings, in addition to work as a vocalist on recordings that did not feature his band. As a racing driver, he raced at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields ...

between the wars but his finest moment came in 1949 when he finished fourth in the 1949 British Grand Prix, sharing an

English Racing Automobiles English Racing Automobiles (ERA) was a British racing car manufacturer active from 1933 to 1954. Prewar history ERA was founded by Humphrey Cook, Raymond Mays, and Peter Berthon in November 1933 and established in Bourne, Lincolnshire, next ...

car with David Hampshire.

Personal life

Cotton married Mabel E. Gregory in 1921. They had two sons, Ted and

Bill Cotton Sir William Frederick Cotton (23 April 1928 – 11 August 2008) was a British television producer and executive, and the son of dance band leader Billy Cotton. The TV and radio presenter Fearne Cotton is related to him, as he was her paterna ...

, who later became the BBC's managing director of television, despite this he had an affair with one of his bands singers Doreen Stephans and moved into a flat with her in the early 1950s. In 1962, Billy Cotton suffered a stroke. He died in 1969 while watching a boxing match at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500- ...

. Billy Cotton was the great-great-uncle of TV and radio presenter Fearne Cotton.

Selected filmography

* '' The First Mrs. Fraser'' (1932) * ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' (1935) *'' Music Hall Parade'' (1939)

Bibliography

* ''I Did It My Way, Autobiography'', 1970, Publisher: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd. SBN 245 59941 x. * ''The Greatest Billy Cotton Band Show,'' John Maxwell, 1976, Publisher: Jupiter Books (London) Ltd. SBN 904041 31x. *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotton, Billy 1899 births 1969 deaths Wimbledon F.C. players Billy Cotton Band Show Brentford F.C. players British Army personnel of World War I Dance band bandleaders English bandleaders English racing drivers Grand Prix drivers Footballers from Lambeth Royal Fusiliers soldiers Royal Flying Corps officers Musicians from London 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century English musicians Association footballers not categorized by position English footballers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Air Force officers