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The New Vaudeville Band
Biography
One of the oddest one-hit wonders of the '60s, the New Vaudeville Band -- true to their name -- drew from the swinging vaudeville, trad jazz, and British music hall styles of the '20s and '30s to create a distinctively anachronistic brand of novelty pop. The group was masterminded by producer/songwriter Geoff Stephens, who in 1966 convened a group of mostly anonymous studio musicians (including drummer Henry Harrison) to record a jaunty, old-timey British number he'd written called "Winchester Cathedral." Though Stephens was credited as the vocalist on the track, it was later confirmed to be sung by ex-Ivy League/Flowerpot Men/First Class vocalist John Carter, who sang through his hands to simulate the sound of a megaphone (as on old Rudy Vallee records). "Winchester Cathedral" was an enormous hit, climbing into the British Top Five and going all the way to number one in America, where it also won a Grammy. Stephens suddenly needed a band for touring purposes and at first invited the similarly backward-looking Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band to serve as the living, breathing New Vaudeville Band. Collectively, the group declined, but their saxophonist Bob "Pops" Kerr signed on, joining a lineup that featured Harrison, guitarist Mick Wilsher, keyboardist Stan Haywood, trombonist Hugh "Shuggy" Watts, bassists Neil Korner and Chris Eddy, and new vocalist Alan Klein, who performed under the alias Tristram, Seventh Earl of Cricklewood.
Selected Discography
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