\u00a0Rye College Sunday 22 April\u00a0\u00a0 Donald Mackenzie<\/p>\n
Exchanging the Metropolitan aura of the organ of the Odeon Leicester Square for the blossoming spring of the Rye countryside, Donald Mackenzie opened his programme on Rye’s Wurlitzer with a selection from Broadway musicals, Cabaret, Hello Dolly,<\/em> Everything’s Coming up Roses<\/em> from Gipsy. <\/em>Then came a whistle-stop tour of Western Europe with Tulips from Amsterdam,\u00a0 Sous les Toits de Paris, Funicule Funicula, <\/em>Anton Karas’s Harry Lime Theme,<\/em>\u00a0 Falling in love Again, <\/em>ever associated with Marlene Dietrich, That’s Amore,<\/em> and a foot-tapping selection of Strauss Waltzes ending topically with Voices of Spring.<\/em><\/p>\n Jack Strachey, famous for These Foolish Things,<\/em> wrote other hits as well.\u00a0 <\/em>Donald chose In Party Time,<\/em> remembered as the introduction to BBC’s Housewives’ Choice.\u00a0\u00a0 A selection of Gracie Fields’ favourites began with Sing as We Go, Sally,<\/em> the comedy number I Took My Harp to a Party, Now is the Hour, The Isle of Capri, Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye<\/em>, and ended with Everything Stops for Tea <\/em>appropriately announcing the interval.<\/em><\/p>\n The second half opened from Eric Coates’s suite The Three Elizabeths,<\/em>\u00a0 the topical Springtime in Angus,<\/em> and the third movement now termed Youth of Britain.<\/em>\u00a0 Jerome Kern contributed numbers from the scores of Showboat<\/em> and the Astaire-Rogers\u00a0 Swingtime<\/em>,\u00a0 Look for the Silver Lining,\u00a0 Smoke gets in Your Eyes, Why Do I Love You,\u00a0 Can’t Help Lovin’ that Man, Let Yourself Go<\/em>, All the Things You Are <\/em>and Ole Man River.<\/em><\/p>\n A request item was Highland Cathedral<\/em> (not penned by a Scot but two German tunesmiths).\u00a0 Donald ended with a reminder of the music of\u00a0 Noel Gay, the public persona of Reginald Armitage, organist of Wakefield Cathedral, The Sun Has Got His Hat On <\/em>(a Thirties film number for comedian Jack Hulbert but with renewed popularity in the West End revival of Me and My Girl<\/em>,)\u00a0 The Fleet’s in Port Again, Hey Little Hen<\/em>, and most of all The Lambeth Walk.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 MW<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0Rye College Sunday 22 April\u00a0\u00a0 Donald Mackenzie Exchanging the Metropolitan aura of the organ of the Odeon Leicester Square for the blossoming spring of the Rye countryside, Donald Mackenzie opened his programme on Rye’s Wurlitzer with a selection from Broadway … Continue reading