Henry Robert Hall,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(2 May 1898 – 28 October 1989) was an English bandleader who performed regularly on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

during 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 of the 1920s and 1930s, through to the 1960s.

Early life and career

Henry Hall was born in Peckham, South London, England. He won a scholarship to Trinity College of Music where he studied trumpet, piano, harmony and counterpoint. His first job was as copyist at the head office of the Salvation Army for which he wrote several marches. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Hall served with the Royal Field Artillery, and played trumpet and piano in the regimental band. Hall's musical career was slow to start but eventually he was engaged by the

London Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

to take charge of music throughout their then large chain of hotels, including Gleneagles Hotel, where he had previously led the band. Hall describes in his autobiography, ''Here's to the Next Time'', that on a Thursday in October 1923 he met a young woman, Margery Harker, while travelling by rail to

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous P ...

. Hall mentions that he and Margery were about the same age and had much in common, after discussing the C. B. Cochran production of the musical '' Little Nellie Kelly'' and Paul Whiteman's take on "Till My Luck comes Rolling Along", a number from the show. The following day, Henry invited Margery to a dance and proposed to her at the end of the evening. By Saturday, just two days after meeting, the two were engaged and were married in January 1924, at

St. George's, Hanover Square St George's, Hanover Square, is an Anglican church, the parish church of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, central London, built in the early eighteenth century as part of a project to build fifty new churches around London (the Queen Anne C ...

, London. Henry and Margery had two children during their marriage, Mike and Betty. In June 1924, on the opening night of the Gleneagles Hotel, Hall persuaded the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

The 1930s: broadcasting star

Jack Payne

BBC Dance Orchestra

Broadcasting House

In 1932 he recorded the songs " Here Comes the Bogeyman" and "

Teddy Bears' Picnic "The Teddy Bears' Picnic" is a song consisting of a melody by American composer John Walter Bratton, written in 1907, and lyrics added by Irish songwriter Jimmy Kennedy in 1932. It remains popular as a children's song, having been recorded by nu ...

" with his BBC Orchestra, featuring singer

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 Ro ...

on vocals. The latter song gained enormous popularity and sold over a million copies. In 1934 his popularity was confirmed when his orchestra topped the bill at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 a ...

. He featured in the documentary ''BBC The Voice of Britain'' (1935), the source of the "This is Henry Hall speaking" clip much used in documentaries on this period. In 1936, Henry Hall made his first feature film and in the same year he was guest conductor of the ship's orchestra on the '' Queen Marys maiden voyage. In 1937, the BBC Dance Orchestra played at the opening of the Gaumont State Cinema in

Kilburn, London Kilburn is an area of north west London, England, which spans the boundary of three London Boroughs: London Borough of Camden, Camden to the east, City of Westminster, London Borough of Brent, Brent to the west. There is also an area in the City ...

. The same year Hall left the BBC to tour with his own band, which comprised many members of his BBC band. He toured the halls of Britain and Europe, and generated controversy by dropping songs by Jewish composers while playing in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

in February 1938.

Later years

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 ...

, Hall played for the troops, and gave concerts and shows in factories all over Britain. Many of these concerts came in the form of "Guest Night" broadcasts. From June to November, 1943, "Guest Night" was replaced by "Henry Hall's Rhythm Entertainment" intended to provide radio entertainment for troops overseas. After the war he developed his show business interests, becoming something of an agent and producer. His BBC work again blossomed as he hosted ''Henry Hall's Guest Night'' on the radio and later on television. Hall was also involved in the launch of the television programme '' Face the Music''. Hall had a son, Michael, who served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, and later became one of the resident chairmen at the Players Theatre in London, founded by actor

Leonard Sachs Leonard Meyer Sachs (26 September 1909 – 15 June 1990) was a South African-born British actor. Life and career Sachs was born in the town of Roodepoort, in the then Transvaal Colony, present day South Africa. He was Jewish. He emigrated t ...

, and there was a daughter, Betty. In 1955, Hall published his autobiography ''Here's to the Next Time''. He dedicated it to his wife, Margery. He ceased regular broadcasting in 1964 and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire,

, in 1970. He died in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

, Sussex, in October 1989. A green memorial plaque on the site of his former home at 8 Randolph Mews, Little Venice, was unveiled on 2 May 1996.City of Westminster green plaques A blue plaque commemorates Hall at 38 Harman Drive in Cricklewood, London, where he lived between 1932 and 1959.

Popular culture

Hall unknowingly lent his name to a work shift at Frickley Colliery in

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and metropolitan county, metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of City of Doncaster, Doncaster and City of Sh ...

. Miners at the colliery who worked the unpopular night shift referred to the shift as Henry Hall's shift or simply Henry's. This was due to the fact that the shift began at 6pm, the same time as Hall started his show on the radio. When he died, the local football club

Frickley Athletic Frickley Athletic Football Club is a football club based in South Elmsall, West Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Westfield Lane. History Although the club itself claims it was formed in 1910, the team was activ ...

, who had close ties with the colliery, marked the occasion in their matchday programme with a page, dedicated to Hall, entitled "No More Henry's". Hall's song " Hush, Hush, Hush, Here Comes the Bogeyman" featured in the 2010

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

, '' BioShock 2''.

References

External links

Internet Archive Search: Henry Hall – archive.org (multimedia content in the public domain)British Pathé Search: Henry Hall – britishpathe.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Henry 1898 births 1989 deaths English bandleaders Dance band bandleaders People from Peckham 20th-century British conductors (music) 20th-century English composers Classical musicians associated with the BBC