Sir Joshua Alexander "Joe" Loss (22 June 1909 – 6 June 1990) was a

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 ...

leader and musician who founded his own

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous orchestra.

Life

Loss was born in Spitalfields, London, the youngest of four children. His parents, Israel and Ada Loss, were

Russian Jews The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

and first cousins. His father was a cabinet-maker who had an office furnishing business. Loss attended the

Jews' Free School JFS (formerly known as the Jews' Free School and later Jewish Free School) is a Jewish mixed comprehensive school in Kenton, North London, England and was founded in 1732. Amongst its early supporters was the writer and philanthropist Charlot ...

, Trinity College of Music and the London College of Music (now part of the

University of West London The University of West London (UWL) is a public research university in the United Kingdom with campuses in Ealing, Brentford, and in Reading, Berkshire. The university has roots in 1860, when the Lady Byron School was founded, later Ealing C ...

). He started violin lessons at the age of seven and later played violin at the

Tower Ballroom Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened, Blackpool Tower was the tallest man made structure in the British Empire. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower in ...

, Blackpool and also with Oscar Rabin. Loss started band leading in the early 1930s, working at the Astoria Ballroom and soon breaking into variety at the

Kit-Cat Club The Kit-Cat Club (sometimes Kit Kat Club) was an early 18th-century English club in London with strong political and literary associations. Members of the club were committed Whigs. They met at the Trumpet tavern in London and at Water Oakley ...

. In 1934, he topped the bill at the

Holborn Empire Weston's Music Hall was a music hall and theatre that opened on 16 November 1857 at 242-245 High Holborn in London, England. In 1906, the theatre became known as the Holborn Empire. History Early years The theatre was constructed on the site of ...

but in the same year moved back to the Astoria Ballroom where he led a twelve piece band. In 1935,

Vera Lynn Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 191718 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is honorifically known as the " Forces' Sweetheart", having giv ...

appeared with the Joe Loss Orchestra in her first radio broadcast. With broadcasting, recording and annual tours in addition to the resident work the band became highly popular over the next few years. In the 1950s and early 60s, Loss was resident band leader at the

Hammersmith Palais The Hammersmith Palais de Danse, in its last years simply named Hammersmith Palais, was a dance hall and entertainment venue in Hammersmith, London, England that operated from 1919 until 2007. It was the first ''palais de danse'' to b ...

and was remembered by a trainee nurse at Hammersmith Hospital as being as kind and gentlemanly when she attended him in hospital as he was in his public persona. His band's signature tune "

In the Mood "In the Mood" is a popular big band-era jazz standard recorded by American bandleader Glenn Miller. "In the Mood" is based on the composition " Tar Paper Stomp" by Wingy Manone. The first recording under the name "In the Mood" was released by ...

" would often be requested three or more times a night. He was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' on two occasions: in May 1963 when he was surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ ...

at the

in London, and again in October 1980, when Andrews surprised him at London's Portman Hotel during a star-studded party to celebrate Loss' 50 years in show business. A favourite of the British Royal Family, Loss' orchestra performed not only at Royal Variety Performances but also at Christmas parties hosted by the Royal family, which earned Loss not only the OBE but also the

LVO The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

, an honour in the personal gift of the Queen. Loss' daughter Jennifer is the wife of British coach-builder

Robert Jankel Robert Jankel (1 January 1938 – 25 May 2005) was a British designer of limousines, armoured cars, and other speciality vehicles. He also founded the automotive company Panther Westwinds. Early life Born in London in 1938, Jankel was educat ...

. Loss died on 6 June 1990 and is buried at

Bushey Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It has a population of over 25,000 inhabitants. Bushey Heath is a large neighbourhood south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow ...

Jewish Cemetery in Hertfordshire.

Joe Loss Orchestra

The Joe Loss Orchestra was one of the most successful acts of the

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

era in the 1940s, with hits including "In the Mood". In 1961 they had a hit with "Wheels—Cha Cha", a version of

the String-A-Longs The String-A-Longs were an American instrumental group from Plainview, Texas, United States. The band consisted of Richard Stephens and Jimmy Torres alternating lead guitars, Keith McCormack on rhythm guitar, Aubrey de Cordova, bass guitar and Do ...

' hit "

Wheels A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to b ...

". Other hits included David Rose's "

The Stripper "The Stripper" is an instrumental composed by David Rose, recorded in 1958 and released four years later. It evinces a jazz influence with especially prominent trombone slides, and evokes the feel of music used to accompany striptease artist ...

" in 1958, "Sucu Sucu", "Must Be Madison", "The Theme from Maigret" and "March of the Mods (The Finnjenka Dance)" of 1964. In April 1951 Elizabeth Batey, vocalist with Joe Loss, fell and broke her jaw. Joe was badly in need of a replacement and remembered hearing Rose Brennan on radio during a visit to Ireland. Within days he had located her and, before a week was out, she was in Manchester rehearsing with the band. She stayed with Loss for fifteen years, before giving up show-business in the mid 1960s. She wrote many of the songs she recorded with Joe Loss under the name Marella, and co-wrote songs with John Harris. Her co-vocalists with the orchestra from 1955 were Ross MacManus (father of Elvis Costello)Don Wicks: The Ballad Years. 1996 and Larry Gretton. The Joe Loss Orchestra carries on under the musical direction of Todd Miller, who was a vocalist with the band for 19 years before Loss' death. In 1989 Joe Loss became too ill to travel and in 1990 he entrusted the leadership to his longest serving band member, trombonist and player manager of many decades, Sam Watmough and to Todd. The orchestra has been in constant operation since 1930 and in 2015 it celebrated its 85th anniversary. Specialist dance band radio stations continue to play his records. Joe Loss also features regularly on the Manx Radio programme ''Sweet & Swing'', presented by Howard Caine.

References

* Oxford '' Dictionary of National Biography''

External links

* *
Bio at 45rpm.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loss, Joe 1909 births 1990 deaths 20th-century British musicians Alumni of the University of West London Alumni of Trinity College of Music British bandleaders Dance band bandleaders British people of Russian descent Columbia Records artists English Jews Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at JFS (school) People from Spitalfields