Is anyone familiar with either of the two versions please?

Regards, John

and 'The Equalizer' TV show?

Albert Chevalier comes to mind here, though I certainly recall Stanley Holloway singing it, too. Out of interest, here's an early version, from the Bodleian Library broadside collection.

I've seen a deal of gaiety throughout my noisy life
With all my grand accomplishments, I ne'er could get a wife
The thing I most excel in is the P.R.P.G. game
A noise all night, in bed all day, and swimming in champagne.
For champagne Charlie is my name,
Champagne Charlie is my name,
Good for any game at night, my boys,
Good for any game at night, my boys,
Who'll come and join me in a spree.

The way I gained my title, is by a hobby which I've got,
Of never letting others pay however long the shot,
Whoever drinks at my expense, are treated all the same,
From Dukes and Lords, to Cabmen down, I make them drink champagne.
(chorus)

From coffee and from supper-room, from Poplar to Pall Mall,
The girls on seeing me exclaim, "Oh! what a champagne swell";
The notion 'tis of every one, if it were not for my name,
And causing so much to be drunk, they'd never make champagne.
(chorus)

Some epicures like burgundy, hock, claret and moselle,
But Moet's vintage only, satisfies this champagne swell.
What matter if to bed I go, and head is muddled thick,
A bottle in the morning, sets me right then very quick.
(chorus)

Perhaps you fancy what I say is nothing else but chaff,
And only does like other songs, to merely raise a laugh;
To prove that I'm not in jest, each man a bottle of cham,
I'll stand fizz round -yes that I will, and stand it- like a lamb.
(chorus)

Malcolm

The very one, remember the theme song to Breaker Morant? Woodward sang it. Great voice.

Don

Interestingly, a version of 'Champagne Charlie' was recorded by Blind Blake at his very last session for Paramount in June 1932. Dixon & Godrich express doubts as to whether it was Blake on that side - the other side was 'Depression's gone from me blues'. They write: 'Two different singers could be involved on this session. The first title is a vaudeville-type performance most unlike Blake's voice and material, while the second is more like a normal Blind Blake recording'. However, Don Kent, vintage record collector and blues expert, seems to have no such doubts in his notes to 'Before the Blues Vol 3' Yazoo CD 2017 ( a magnificent trilogy of CDs) on which it appears. Kent writes: 'The melody is derived from the fiddle tune 'Going Down to Town' with verses that usually appear in country songs. This is a variant that sounds as if it were created for a minstrel or vaudeville show around the turn of the century. Although Blake unleashes his typically impeccable picking skills, both the introduction and the instrumental break are reminiscent of banjo playing, which is how the song would have been initially played'.

I hope that is of use to you, Stewie.

One small mystery is also explained in Songs From The Music Hall (Albert Publications Australia).

Music - Alfred Lee
Original Lyrics - George Leybourne
Revised Lyrics - Ernest Irving & Frank Eyton in 1944

Regards, John

"Ah! We see you (then) at half-past eight,
Slowly creeping to the schoolyard gate,
Tardy Scholar is your name"