History - BBC's 'Singing Together'

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,cardboard cutout
Date: 19 Sep 08 - 05:04 PM

Guest "Midzone", the really iconic schools' music programme from the mid 1980s was on television - "Music Time". the one with the listening gnome, and Jonathan Cohen and I can't remember the other male and the female presenter. Do have or remember any of those?

Singing Together? Hey-day for me was round about spring term 1962 ("Boney was a warrior", "The Golden Vanity", and "Robin Adair")!

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,Steve
Date: 19 Sep 08 - 03:31 PM

A Friday treat! Some Singing Together Memories for you from across the years.

Something from the master William Appleby - then a touch of Casey Jones, The Wreck of the Sloop John B, Waltzing Matilda and The Yellow Rose of Texas.

Apologies for the audio quality - the bit rate for uploading was heavily compressed - all snippets apart from William Appleby are taken from my own collection of broadcasts where the quality is still excellent after all the years :)

Link below - just copy and paste into browser.

http://w1.uploadmb.com/dw.php?id=1221771042&/Singing Together Trip (2).mp3


Steve

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,Midzone
Date: 12 Sep 08 - 10:53 AM

I've managed to sort through my collection of radio broadcasts from my teaching days - I have the following:

I have ALL Singing Together Broadcasts from Autumn Term 1984 to Summer 1991.

I also have separate Singing Together Broadcasts from:

Spring Term 1977 –Programme 20 (Requests)

Autumn Term 1983 – Broadcast 9 - featuring Tinga Layo

Spring 1983 – Broadcasts 19 & 20 - Featuring Casey Jones

Summer 1984 – Broadcast 24 - Featuring Jamaica Farewell

In addition I have the following:

All Time and Tune Broadcasts from Autumn Term 1984 – Summer 1991

The Song Tree – All Broadcasts from Autumn 1984 – Summer 1988

Music Workshop:

1981 – Will Wanderers Win? – All 10 Broadcasts
1989 – The Enchanted Horse – All 6 Broadcasts
1987 – The Man in the White Hat – All 6 Broadcasts
1989 – Aladdin – All 10 Broadcasts
1989 – Pimlico Drudge – Various Broadcasts
1986 – Pipers Mountain – All 10 Broadcasts
1987 – Up the Beanstalk – All 10 Broadcasts
1988 – Bowter Merryweather – Various Broadcasts
1986 – An Odd Odyssey – Various Broadcasts
1986 – Cinderella – All 10 Broadcasts
1985 – Ol Brer Rabbit Again – Various Broadcasts


Music Makers:

Rumpelstiltskin – All 10 Broadcasts
Pedro's Revenge – All 10 Broadcasts
The Saga of Erik Nobeard – All 10 Broadcasts
The Horrors – All 10 Broadcasts
The Park Keeper – Various Broadcasts

I also have various other snippets of programmes including Music Workshop – Return to BadlyDreamt

Various Broadcast of Country Dancing.

The majority of the broadcasts are still in excellent quality.

I was thinking of uploading some snippets to a website - would anyone be interested in hearing some of the old broadcasts?


Steve

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Aug 08 - 09:41 PM

Looking for BBC Schools Time and Tune Twigwidge programmes. Aut 1974
Can anyone help?
email [e-mail]

Thank you
Scott

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,Charles Cooke
Date: 09 May 08 - 05:12 AM

i was a primary school, pupil in Doncaster in the 1960s+ and listened to Singing Together at 11.00 on   Monday morning. i loved it. My elder brother was for a time in the choir that recorded the programmes and i joined a spin off "The Danensian Choir" as soon as i was old enough. The Choir was formed by William "Pip" Appleby, who was Doncaster Schools Music Co-ordinator and Organist at the Parish Church. I knew him well and grew up in the Choir to be one of his "Elder and betters". he retired in about 1971 and died not long afterwards. i still have a little thank you present he gave me for looking after younger boys in the choir on one of our trips to Ely cathedral.
An earlier poster on this thread, Ralph Bacon, who was also in the recording Choir, was my Form master at the Grammar School.

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,Peter Adamson
Date: 16 Apr 08 - 04:03 AM

Can anyone here tell me when Schubert's song 'A Son of the Muses' (in English) appeared in Singing Together? I was quite entranced by the dramatic key modulations between E major and A flat major.

I know that it was some time during the school year 1956-1957, but I'd like to know which term it was.

As an aside, my father (George Adamson) illustrated one of these booklets (?1959, I think).

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,flotsamsky
Date: 03 Apr 08 - 07:21 AM

I remember "Old Zip Coon". Times were certainly different then..I have an old 78 c.1916 of Harry C. Brown singing the same tune but with words that I can't repeat here.
Aunt Hessie's White Horse was in Rhythm and Melody I think and was included as an example of syncopation (much was made of this). I think the words may have gone SOMETHING like this:

Can't you see Aunt Hessie's White Horse
Aunt Hessie's White Horse
Aunt Hessie's White Horse
Why don't you ride Aunt Hessie's White Horse
And gee up a trot for me.
Don't you call him slow
Aunt Hessie will make him go
He'll gallop along so fine
He'll make the whole world mine.

Oh..(once more with feeling).

and from Time and Tune

I'm from our village, our village
I'm my father's son (bis)

Over there three houses fine
When I've bought them they'll be mine

I'm from our village, our village
I'm my father's son.

(Time and Tune was for the youngest listeners who might have had trouble reading the word "rhythm")

I also remember Patapan which I was forced to whistle in front of the class.

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,Nymeria
Date: 12 Mar 08 - 05:30 PM

Dear Scott (Blunt)
Thanks for your reply which I've only just got around to reading.
It's given me more to go on now :)

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,fogie
Date: 23 Jan 08 - 06:15 AM

I remember I think from about 1958 - it was more important than I gave it credit for - anyone remember -as I do vividly
A lawyer he rode out one day all for to take his pleasure
Strawberry Fair
In Amsterdam there lived a maid (I vaguely remember the teacher trying to play the words down)
The mermaid ( and 3x round went our gallant ship)

It would be on my list of books to buy if the BBC brought out a collection. Do you remember the drawings that accompanied the words?

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,Ralph Bacon MBE
Date: 22 Jan 08 - 01:26 PM

I sang in the choir that performed for the Singing Together broadcasts. In 1947 as a Doncaster Grammar boy of 13, I took part in a pilot recording to see how the programe would be received in schools. From about 1949 three out of 4 programmes were live form London. The odd one was recorded in Leeds on a Saturday afternoon in order that William, Appleby could go into a school on the following Monday morning in order to observe reaction.A special choir,the Danensian Singers made up of girls from Doncaster High School and boys from DGS, sang in all these recordings. I left in 1951 but on my return to teaching in Doncaster in 1957 I was in a second group, the New Danensian Singers, mainly made up of teachers and their wives or husbands plus a doctor and solicitor. The same pattern of monthly recordings followed but they were then done in the Library of DGS. On many occassions they were joined by a choir of boys from the school.
Another of the producers was Gordon Langford but I cannot remember the names of any others.

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,scott blunt
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 10:18 PM

Dear Nymeria, you asked about a song starting with 'when the crscent moon....' Its called the Strange Little People and its from the Time and Tune cantata called Robin Ddu.
I have loads of Time and Tune, Singing Together, Music Workshop pamphlets and some recordings too ( I sang on the programmes), is there anyone who has recordings of Time and Tune, Singing Together, from 1971-1986? Im also looking for 1974 Twigwidge pamphlets and recordings, can anyone help please?
Scott

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Vic Smith
Date: 15 Jan 08 - 09:52 AM

When my family moved to England when I was ten, my first teacher was Doris Irene Ball - later to become my mother-in-law and as fine a woman as you could ever hope to meet.
She was a fine singer and pianist and she used the Singing Together booklets in her music lessons though I don't remember listening to the programmes. Mind you, such was her musicality that she would not have needed them.

She was an inspired teacher of many things, music in particular, and I am sure that she helped to fire my life-long passion for traditional song. Her husband, Ernie, later in life, made a hard binding of the Singing Together booklets that were still hanging around their house. As far as I remember, they were in the piano stool. This has now been passed on to Tina and I. They seem to be rather earlier than a lot of the ones mentioned in this thread and on the folkinfo website

The ones in the binding are
Summer 54
Spring 56
Autumn 56
Spring 57
Summer 57
Autumn 57
Spring 58
Summer 58

I suppose I'll have to get on to folkinfo with the contents of these as they don't seem to have them listed

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,Les Hutch
Date: 09 Jan 08 - 02:23 AM

Does anyone have any recollection of a late 70's possibly early 80's "Singing Together" with a song titled "Squeaker and Coe" I think it was about two squirells? Any further info would be very welcome.

Regards to all on this most excellent discussion...oh, the memories

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,Ann-Marie
Date: 08 Dec 07 - 05:51 PM

Guest Jan - I have just been reading the thread about Singing Together, and saw your posting about the Swiss song you were trying to recall. It wasn't The Appenzoller Song by any chance, was it? My earliest recall of exposure to yodelling is probably this song, c 1976-77, but I understand that Singing Together had some 'favourites' that would crop up repeatedly over the years.
The Lincolnshire Poacher was one of my particular favourites

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,Nymeria
Date: 09 Sep 07 - 04:37 PM

I'm desperately trying to find out the title to a song which came from either Time and Tune or Singing Together. The only words I recal are: 'when the crescent moon has a single star to guide her through the night' and 'we come, we come, we strange little people come'. It would have featured in one of the books sometime during the 70s. Many thanks to anyone who can help.

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: An Buachaill Caol Dubh
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 09:43 AM

Re GUEST Jan and "Lucerne/Weggis"; the first line of the version used in the "Singing Together" booklet was

"From Lucerne to Weggis blue,
Hol-da-hi (or similar "yodel")
You may go without a shoe
(Yodelling sound again)

I liked the melody, but the awkwardness of the rhymes put me right off the song.

Among other winners were something about

"Antonio, Antonio, it's raining, it's raining again"

and another ending

"The shepherd whistled gaily and the dog WAGGED HIS TAIL!", the last words being shouted.

I think another winner was "Football Crazy" ("the football it has taken away the little bit of sense he had"), which was described as "Irish". Hmmmm. Even at the age of seven, I had the first dim beginnings of a distinction between genuine tradition and modern degeneracy.

In these first two cases, as in several others, it was pretty predictable which songs would be most popular.

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,Santa
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 05:32 AM

I'm with IanC, sitting in the school hall listening to the radio. And I remember Westering Home too. Good songs survive. I recall doing the barn dance, when there still was maypole dancing - this would be at (Old) Hartlepool around 1954, but the radio listening in the hall may have been a little later as well. I think the memory of Westering Home in a songbooklet comes from that (1956?) time.

We didn't do Music and Movement in those days, thank god. What a horribly awful pretentious prospect. If you want to teach dance, teach dance.

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Edmond
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 05:02 AM

Thank you all for that - I thought my Miss Pringle shtik was original.

An example of the 'collective Folk memory' in action ?

I remember 'Donkey Riding', too. The primary school I attended - St Custard's, Cotton Lane, Withington - put on a concert for Coronation year. The childrens' choir sang 'Donkey Riding' first, and we were commanded to smile whilst singing it. Imagine the lyric being mangled by 40 -odd grimacing bratten.

'Donkey Riding'was followed by 'Greensleeves', that ghastly 'Alas my love' version, where we were exhorted to smile, but not as broadly as we smiled in 'Donkey Riding'. This isn't drift (at least I don't think so :-) - we learned 'Donkey Riding' from 'Singing Together'.

Bryn Pugh

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 08:58 PM

Thank you Malcolm for setting the record straight (as ever) - Kitty

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 08:31 PM

Not Fred Hamer, but Frank Purslow and John Pearse. It appeared under several variant titles at different times, starting out as Rap A Tap Tap: English Folk Songs Miss Pringle Never Taught Us (Folklore Records, 1960); they later re-issued it as Bottoms Up: English Soak Songs for Fools. It was issued under license in the USA, imaginatively (and rather misleadingly, as the content was mild enough) re-titled Unexpurgated Songs of Erotica: Witty Ditties of Passion and Pleasure: A Naughty, Bawdy Songfest of English Erotica (!) Finally, Peter Kennedy put it out as one of his FolkTrax cassettes (later CDRs) as Bottoms Up: Folk Songs Miss Pringle Never Taught Us.

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: SussexCarole
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 06:41 PM

Magical memories of Singing Together (1950's) in our Victorian built primary school. The wireless was wheeled in on a trolley & ceremoniously plugged in. I've collected many books from Singing Together & Music & Movement. One of the first songs I remember singing was Donkey Riding.. no one ever thought to tell me when I was 10 that a donkey was a work engine......I always pictured a lion and a unicorn standing on the back of a donkey! We've just put Donkey Riding into our songs...shades of the past!

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 03:55 PM

Voxchops - what is this about your being sung to sleep with Kitty?

Edmond - thanks for confirming that there was a list of songs Miss Pringle never taught us! I think I heard once that Fred Hamer had made a recording of them.

Kitty

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,voxchops
Date: 29 Aug 07 - 02:11 PM

hello, I have just found this site after searching for my old books to find the lyrics for The Marigold "Twas east North East so near the line etc" I know I have them somewhere. Anyway I thought some of you might be interested that I have just recorded 3 songs: Kitty of Coleraine, Moon of Mamaku and Sleep my Little Baby, on my lullaby CD Lullaby Island. You can hear clips of the songs and get complete lyrics for those if you go to www.lullabyisland.com. My brother used to sing me to sleep with Kitty, i had no idea it too was a Singing Together song. My mum learn't The Marigold from me and want to sing it at her folk club in yorkshire. I loved it!!!

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Edmond
Date: 21 Aug 07 - 10:40 AM

I remember "Darby Kelly" and the "Uist Tramping Song" - that must habe been 1953 or 1954. This was my first introduction to "The Keeper" and "Sweet Nightingale".

I never realised until much later, when I heard Cyril Twwney singing "Sweet Nightingale" on some poxy TV programme, that it was a Folk Song.

It was always my ambition to record a disc of bawdry entitled "Songs Miss Pringle didn't teach us".

Chance'd be a fine thing . . .

Bryn Pugh

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Fliss
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 04:50 PM

Brings back memories of primary school in Shrewsbury '54-'60. In the 3rd year juniors our singing teacher formed us into a little choir and trotted us round the church fetes and we sang all sorts of folk songs.

I taught infants in the early '70s and did Time & Tune with them. I have a collection of old booklets somewhere in the loft. I liked the term we did about snow and russian folk songs... something about The Great Bear...

Its really where my playing and singing started... entertaining children.
fliss

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 01:00 PM

Betsy - that was the Drummer and the Cook, I think? ("Pot" had a different meaning in those days!)

Kitty

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 09:25 AM

yes I remember the Lucerne one - there was a picture of a man's head with one of those alpine hats, with a bit of rope round the brim, and a mountain in the background

From Lucerne to Weggis town
Hol da he! Hol da ho!
with no shoes or stockings on
Hol da he! da ho!

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,Betsy
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 03:36 AM

A song we had to sing from that era, had a chorus "With her one eye on the pot and the other up the chimney with a Bow ,wow, wow,...."
it fascinated me, the storyline had me rivetted - Jeez ! they don't write em like that anymore.

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Aug 07 - 07:15 PM

My memory's far too hazy to be of much use on this thread, but I recall singing lustily, at least some from the BBC booklet, "What's in There? (Gold and money...)," "Charlie is me Darling," "Oh No John" (not the rude verses I'm sure!) and "Bonnie Dundee."   There was also a round that our teacher would torment us with by making a randomly-selected four of us sing it "solo," called something like "Morning is Come."   That's when I first learned the art of not getting volunteered by dint of avoiding eye contact. This was all around 1960-ish or before. Thanks for making me dredge my memory banks so pleasurably!

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Penny S.
Date: 15 Aug 07 - 06:10 PM

The timetabling of radio and TV programs was a complex and secret art, especially in Kent. At half term, the BBC would broadcast repeats in successive weeks, so that whenever a school had its half term, they would not miss an episode. Except that Kent, possibly because of hopping or some such local variation, always had its half term in one of the non repeating weeks. What joy when tape recording became possible! Except for the poor teacher who had to ensure all the recording happened. I wonder what happened to our plug in timer.

Kent still runs out of synch with everyone else. Especially with the six term year scheme.

Penny

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 15 Aug 07 - 02:30 PM

Guest Edthefolkie,

The schools programmes were on the BBC Home Service (renamed Radio 4 in 1967.

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,Jan
Date: 15 Aug 07 - 01:33 PM

Thanks for help with Weggis song. I now know it is known as Das Rigilied ( Rigi being the mountain above Weggis) and the 1st line in German is: Von Luzern auf Weggis zu....then ho-la-hi,etc. I am not sure how this translated-could be :From Lucerne to Weggis go...

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: LindsayInWales
Date: 15 Aug 07 - 09:20 AM

thanks Joe I'm in!! (I was in before but have changed my ID now) - as to Weggis I have it in a music book if wanted. I also have it as a music-box tune in a little revolving sweet-dish brought back from Switzerland by my late Aunt in the 1950s!

Lindsay

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Anne Lister
Date: 15 Aug 07 - 09:08 AM

As to Weggis .. there was a song I remember which started "We are off to Weggis now" and then a nonsense line, supposedly yodelling. Would that be the one? I might have that in a Girl Guide songbook somewhere if so.

Anne

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Aug 07 - 06:25 AM

I have two "Singing Together" pamphlets which were my late father's (he was a primary school teacher) they are Autumn Term 1973 and Spring 1978, if they can add to the collection. How does one PM, I can't seem to manage it...

I was at the Abbey Primary School in St Albans from 1956-63 and remember Music and Movement, (having to be a daffodil to "Morning" from "Peer Gynt" and a clock to Rossini's "Thieving Magpie") Time and Tune, and Singing Together, as others do....I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was better than having to do "sums"....

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Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,edthefolkie
Date: 15 Aug 07 - 05:05 AM

This thread, combined with scanning in my 1957 & 1958 class 11 photos recently, has reduced me to a blubbering wreck.

You lot were LUCKY to 'ave a radio which could be carried around. Our school were so poor we only 'ad gret big wooden loudspeakers in each classroom and a wooden radio in't 'Ead's office. And when I started in t'infants in 1952 they still used SLATES. And you try telling the kids that terday, they'll laugh in yer face.

Seriously, the speakers didn't really matter as the Schools broadcasts were only on one station (anybody remember which? I can't)and there were no tape recorders available. So there must have been some sort of cunning plan as to who listened where, to what and when.

I just associate the whole Singing Together/Rhythm and Melody thing with sitting in the school hall instead of working.

Oh God, then there was Maypole dancing.........

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Llanfair
Date: 15 Aug 07 - 04:30 AM

Oh, I am enjoying this thread!!! "Singing together" was always my favourite lesson. We'd go into the hall and sit cross legged on the floor, and Miss Prime would turn the radio on. I loved the songs, but it was 10 years later I discovered they were folk songs.
"The Keeper" sticks in my memory. Cleaned up for us children, though!!

I was at junior school from '53 to '59.

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Splott Man
Date: 15 Aug 07 - 04:17 AM

I've still got some of the books filed away in my posterity/oblivion cupboard. I'll look them up.

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Betsy
Date: 14 Aug 07 - 06:20 PM

Hi Alun,
Marianina " come oh come and turn us into foam ....." won the vote around 1955 /6 I would have been about 8 or 9 years old.
Perhaps they relaunched or repeated the whole thing for a different "wave " of kids. Perhaps it was the first time the BBC fixed the voting Eh ?

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Penny S.
Date: 14 Aug 07 - 03:54 PM

I think the Martians were in Time and Tune, which was for younger children, and was often of made up songs. Sometimes to existing tunes, as in "I see a little man standing in the wood" A dratted earworm.

Penny

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 14 Aug 07 - 03:29 PM

Guest, Jan - I think we need a bit more of a clue as to what the song was about. "Late 50s" isn't really sufficient.

Kitty

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,Jan
Date: 14 Aug 07 - 03:12 PM

Have just returned from a holiday in Switzerland and caught the boat from Weggis to Lucerne. The ancient cogs of my memory have been trying to remember the words of a song we sang in Singing together in the late 50s. Can anyone help,please?

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,Alun
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 02:00 PM

Excellent stuff on here - keep it going folks

I was at a tiny primary school in S Wales in the late 60s/early 70s and the school took in 'Singing Together' broadcasts as part of the curriculum.

No-one so far seems to have mentioned that at the end of the term, the show would encourage schools to let the kids vote for their favourite song, and then send in the votes cast for each song in the pamphlet. Our school always participated in this. As I recall we were allowed to vote for 3 songs.

The last 'Singing Together' of each term then involved a 'Pick of the Pops' or 'Eurovision Song Contest' style show with a rundown of the songs. The songs with the lowest votes were broadcast first, and with the tension mounting we then got to the winning song.

I've tried to work out which were the winning songs from the various terms, and I've come up with the list below. Someone with a better memory than me will hopefully correct me on any errors.

Spring 68 - Men Of Harlech (from personal experience I can advise listeners a lot of vote-rigging went on in Welsh schools. My lips are sealed though on the identity of the man responsible).

Summer 68 - the awesome 'Marianina'

Autumn 68 - Football Crazy

Spring 69 - Oh Marlborough's Gone To War Sir

Autumn 69 - Charlie Is My Darling ???

Spring 70 - Mango Walk or Old Zip Coon

Summer 70 - Linstead Market (overwhelming winner in our school, despite my attempts to get The Yellow Sheepskin as the winner)

Autumn 70 - The Twelve Days of Christmas or This Old Man

Summer 71 - The Meadowlands (a total shock winner as I recall)   

Hopefully someone has a better memory than me.

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 21 Jan 07 - 05:07 AM

Limpit's class still sing a song called 'Mango Walk'.

The smell of plasticine reminds me of my fifth birthday, which was also my first day at school. I was dragged along by my mother who callously abandoned me at the front door, hauled into a classroom from which I could see my house and given a seat at the front next to the Romany girl no-one else would sit near. I was then coerced into coming to the teacher's desk, where she had 5 candles on a piece of hardboard that had plasticine blobs on it. Someone sang Happy Birthday and the teacher pulled my hair 5 times. All this before first playtime!

Is it any wonder I hated school from then on.

LTS

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: GUEST,Jim Martin
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 09:25 PM

It's great to hear these reminiscences, I can smell the chalk dust and plasticene now!

It took 30 odd years to re-awaken my interest in folk music and when it did, I was blown away by the extent, variety and availability of it.

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 07:04 PM

It's strange how the memory plays tricks. I listened to the 'PM'item on 'Singing Together' and was amazed to hear William Appleby's strong Yorkshire accent.
It all makes sense of course, as I believe Mr Appleby was a Yorkshire schoolteacher.
But I could have sworn that he had a hearty upper-class BBC type accent. Obviously not.
As I say, the memory plays tricks and I could be confusing Mr A with any number of 'received pronunciation' types which the BBC used to broadcast into our little country classroom all those years ago.

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: An Buachaill Caol Dubh
Date: 20 Jan 07 - 11:17 AM

Didn't Willaim Cole have something to do with "Singing Together"?

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: bubblyrat
Date: 19 Jan 07 - 06:47 PM

The arrival of the big wooden radio, considered modern at the time compared the those great big bakelite ones, must have heralded the arrival of electricity in my old primary school. I had to think about this when recalling the joys of Singing Together and Rythm and Melody (which I think included more classical music). Up until that point we had gas lamps, which the caretaker used to come round and turn on with a hook on the end of a long pole, and coke stoves which he came round and tipped fresh coke onto during the dark days of winter. This was in the fifties too! Yes - we did learn to write with black slates and chalk - wasn't it fun!!
Whoops - forgot to log him off and log me on - Anniecat x

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: DMcG
Date: 19 Jan 07 - 05:04 PM

In answer to original post, by the way, they said on the radio today that it started in 1948, so there's a good chance the Autumn 1948 booklet of IanC's was the earliest issued.

Subject: RE: History - BBC's 'Singing Together'
From: DMcG
Date: 19 Jan 07 - 05:02 PM

I've finished transcribed a lot of the "Singing Together" booklets over at Folkinfo ,which I mentioned I was busy with earlier in this thread.

I'd be happy to recieve scans or similar of any other booklets people have. PM me for the email address to send them to.