Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: DaveJ
Date: 01 Jun 01 - 05:10 AM

Noreen,

Thanks, for the html-help. Some day I'll get it.

DougR,

I was completely ready to agree with you....Guess a little humble pie and a little web surfing are good for the soul.

Berlin certainly left us many equally wonderful tunes. Actually "Bless 'em All" seems to have alternative verses that were writen from a US point of view. I ran into them somewhere on the WWW. DaveJ

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: Lyndi-loo
Date: 01 Jun 01 - 05:34 AM

My Dad was in the RAF during the war and he always said that Anne Shelton was the RAF's sweetheart and Vera Lynn came second, but that the army preferred her. My Mum and Dad were courting then and because of the blackout, they had to whistle "Roll out the Barrel" at their meeting place so they could recognise each other in the dark! That of course became "their" song

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: DougR
Date: 01 Jun 01 - 01:53 PM

That's a great story, Lyndi-loo! The thought that you might have been conceived during a rousing rendition of "Roll out the Barrel," is a picture in the mind to be treasured! **BG**

DougR

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Jun 04 - 10:36 AM

First time I have ever seen this particular website. Very interesting reading. As far as I am concerned, Anne Shelton was a far better singer than Vera Lynn. Vera could only do one kind of song and that was the slow sad sentimental ones that made most people cry. Not the sort of thing one needed in wartime really, whereas Anne was far more versatile and could perform any kind of song.   Sadly she is no longer with us but there are still some great cds, tapes and LPs etc. around so we can still hear that wonderful voice. Thats my opinion anyway. JIM W. East Sussex

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: Leadfingers
Date: 13 Jun 04 - 11:22 AM

I might be a bit late with this but Reginald Dixon (Organist) is NOT
the same bloke as Reg Dixon (Comedian) whose sig tune was the queried Confidentially .His catch phrase wa "I'm only here for Five Minutes'

I'm Gonna Get Lit Up was composed by Hubert Grieg (composer of I belong to London) who died earlier this year.

And I will go along with Bebe Daniels as the singer , NOT Phoebe. She
was American and spent the later years of the war and the rest of the Forties in London with her husband Ben Lion - They had a BBC Radio Programme - Life with the Lions through into the fifties.

Hang Out The Washing was of course a first war song revived by F & A

Sam Browne was the vocalist with a number of top dance bands in UK in the thirties and forties .

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: Megan L
Date: 13 Jun 04 - 12:32 PM

Actualy cranky Yanky ENGLAND did not hold out, the UNITED KINGDOM did there were 4 countries involved and it is disrespectful of the civilian dead of them all to mention only one.

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: GUEST,Karl Koenig - Running springs, CA USA
Date: 08 Dec 06 - 03:08 PM

Enjoy the site and opinions -- Does an;yone know about the song "This is Worth Fighting For" I think sinatra recored it and it almost sounds like a Scotlish style song. Thank You, Karl

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Jan 12 - 02:34 PM

I've got a question. We watched an old episode of All Creatures Great & Small last night in which they sang Hang Out the Washing on the Siegfried Line. I found reference to it, with the chorus and at least one verse in another thread. Apparently it was George Formby song.

Anyway, what I'd like to know is why "Siegfried?" Is it a reference to Wagner or just a generic German-type name which worked well for the lyrics and sentiments of the time?

Thanks!

kat

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 13 Jan 12 - 03:12 PM

It was the German defensive line on its border with France.
It was their version of the French Maginot Line.
Hanging the washing on it was an English joke.

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Jan 12 - 08:17 PM

Thanks, I figure it must've been something like that, but I am still curious if they chose "Siegfried" because of Wagner's music. I did see some notes about the joke part of it with English soldiers hanging their wash on the ends of German guns.

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 14 Jan 12 - 04:39 AM

The joke became hollow when Blitzkrieg began.

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: Will Fly
Date: 14 Jan 12 - 04:43 AM

Hitler was a huge admirer of Wagner's music - Siegfried, as a name for the line, would have been an appropriate, if obvious choice.

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 14 Jan 12 - 04:45 AM

The name was from WW1, not Hitler.
From Wiki.
The original Siegfried line (German: Siegfriedstellung) was a line of defensive forts and tank defences built by Germany as a section of the Hindenburg Line 1916–1917 in northern France during World War I. In English, Siegfried line more commonly refers to the similar World War II defensive line, built during the 1930s, opposite the French Maginot Line, which served a corresponding purpose. The Germans themselves called this the Westwall, but the Allies renamed it after the World War I line.

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 14 Jan 12 - 05:30 AM

A similar song was Down On The Maginot Line, which I think was a Formby song.
The Siegfried line song was Flannagan and Allen I think.

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: Les from Hull
Date: 14 Jan 12 - 10:02 AM

Or the Two Leslies.

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 15 Jan 12 - 01:13 AM

Kat ~ didn't mean they would hang the washing on the guns; you miss the point of the joke ~ not surprising, because it is UK-idiomatic. In this country, the string stretched between two poles on which damp washing is pegged out to dry ['hung out'] is called a 'clothes-line': hence "Hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line".

The words of the song BTW were by the ubiquitous Jimmy Kennedy [Red Sails In The Sunset, South Of The Border, Isle Of Capri, Teddy Bears Picnic, The Hokey Cokey...]

~Michael~

From Wikipedia ~ "We're Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line" is a popular song written by Ulster songwriter Jimmy Kennedy, whilst he was a Captain in the British Expeditionary Force during the early stages of the Second World War. The Siegfried Line was a chain of fortifications along Germany's Western border, analogous to the Maginot Line in France. The song was used as a morale-booster during the war, particularly up to and during the Battle of France.
It began
We're going to hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line.
Have you any dirty washing, mother dear?
We're gonna hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line.
'Cause the washing day is here.

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 15 Jan 12 - 01:19 AM

I remember [I was around at the time; too small to join in myself, but I recall my big schoolmates doing it at a lunchtime impromptu dance] a novelty dance devised to "Hang Out The Washing": the dancers did a parody goose-step around in a circle with right arms raised in a paradoxical 'Heil Hitler' salute while singing the song.

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 15 Jan 12 - 02:10 AM

... + IIRC the left forefinger laid across upper-lip to represent the Führer's moustache

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: Gurney
Date: 15 Jan 12 - 04:54 AM

In the cheapo section of places where they sell recordings you can often find VERY cheap CDs that include some of the songs that JenEllen wants. Sally Army, Hospice, and other opportunity shops sell them even cheaper, but you need to take your spectacles with you. They are never at a comfortable height to read. When Gran dies, that's where her recordings go! Online searches of big bands of the era is the easiest way to find them. Billy Cotton?
Unfortunately, the CDs are sometimes mastered from old records, so they are far from perfect.
There are two CDs of George Formby songs available, mostly from WWII, with Mr. Woo being on firewatching duty and later in the RAF among about 35 others....

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jul 13 - 07:34 AM

Might anyone know if it was indeed Hubert Grieg who wrote "I Belong to London"? If so, was he composer and lyricist? And when was it written? Thanks for any help.

LS

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: Lighter
Date: 19 Jul 13 - 10:12 AM

"Clothesline" is the usual word in America as well. "Hang the washing on the line" used to be an everyday expression.

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: Lighter
Date: 19 Jul 13 - 10:13 AM

"The wash" is more common though.

Subject: RE: Help: WWII & Brit'Cat Musical Quesions
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 19 Jul 13 - 04:01 PM

LS

Hubert Gregg was the one who wrote I'm Going To Get Lit Up (when the lights go up in London) and Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner.

I'm not sure at all about I Belong To London. The only references I can find to that title are Judy Garland recordings from the late 60s of I Belong To London (and London belongs to me) and I if that's when the song originated, I think Hubert Gregg had stopped writing songs by then. I'm not sure though, so keep checking back here.

Mick