"Leaning on a Lamp-post" is a

popular song Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...

written by

Noel Gay Noel or Noël may refer to: Christmas * , French for Christmas * Noel is another name for a Christmas carol Places * Noel, Missouri, United States, a city *Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community * 1563 Noël, an asteroid *Mount Noel, Britis ...

and best known in the version by

George Formby George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961) was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he s ...

. It was first performed in the 1937 film ''

Feather Your Nest ''Feather Your Nest'' is a 1937 British musical comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring George Formby, Polly Ward and Enid Stamp-Taylor. Plot A worker at a gramophone record factory surprisingly creates a hit song, " Leaning on a L ...

'', in contrasting styles by

Val Rosing Valerian Rosing (1910–1969), also known after 1938 as Gilbert Russell, was a British dance band singer best known as the vocalist with the BBC in the BBC Dance Orchestra directed by Henry Hall. Rosing was the son of Russian tenor Vladimir Ros ...

and George Formby. The film's plot revolves around Formby, a

gramophone record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

technician, hearing Rosing record the song but then breaking the master disc and substituting his own voice. Formby recorded the song for

Regal Zonophone Records Regal Zonophone Records was a British record label formed in 1932, through a merger of the Regal and Zonophone labels. This followed the merger of those labels' respective parent companies – the Columbia Graphophone Company and the Gramopho ...

on 5 September 1937, and it became one of his most popular and best-remembered songs. The sheet music for the song was published by Cinephonic Music Co Ltd. of London, at two shillings. A version by

Herman's Hermits Herman's Hermits are an English beat, rock and pop group formed in 1964 in Manchester, originally called Herman and His Hermits and featuring lead singer Peter Noone. Produced by Mickie Most, the Hermits charted with number ones in the UK a ...

, credited as "Leaning on the Lamp Post", reached number nine on the US

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

in 1966. The song was added into the 1985 production of '' Me and My Girl'', but was not in the original 1937 version of the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

. Raphael Samuel, ''Theatres of Memory: Past and Present in Contemporary Culture'', p.398
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References

George Formby songs Herman's Hermits songs Songs with music by Noel Gay 1937 songs {{1930s-song-stub