“Following You Around”
Harry Bidgood And His Broadcasters
1928 (Broadcast 209 A)
Harry Bidgood And His Broadcasters – Following You Around]
“Are You Happy”
Harry Bidgood And His Broadcasters
1928 (Broadcast 209 B)
Harry Bidgood And His Broadcasters – Are You Happy]
“The Riff Song”
Harry Bidgood And His Broadcasters
1927 (Broadcast 125 mx Z41)
Harry Bidgood And His Broadcasters – The Riff Song]
During the mid to late 1920s Harry Bidgood led the in-house studio band for Vocalion Records in England (its former parent, the American Vocalion label, was acquired by Brunswick in 1925). In 1927 Vocalion decided to discontinue its namesake label replacing it with the new Broadcast label. Broadcast records were eight inch (later on, nine inch) records which, through the use of slightly narrower grooves, offered the same playing time as standard sized 10 inch records.
Bidgood also recorded under a number of pseudonyms including The New York Nightbirds, Ciro’s Club Band, The Manhattan Melody Makers, Al Benny’s Broadway Boys, Nat Lewis and his Dance Band and Primo Scala and his Accordion Band.
I very much enjoy the sound of the Bidgood band during this period. The first two selections presented here have lots of great 1920s pep, cheer and charm. The third song, “The Riff Song,” comes from the Sigmund Romberg operetta The Desert Song which opened on Broadway in November 1926 with a London production opening in April 1927.
Harry Bidgood also recorded under the pseudonym of “Carlos Santana” with an accordion band. Tenor, Webster Booth sang on several of the Carlos Santana recordings on the Brunswick/Regal labels in the 1930s. His name was not on the records, only marked as “with vocal refrain”.
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hey guys i have a carlos santana and his accordian band 78 Where are you . AND THE MERRY GO ROUND BROKE DOWN . is this record valuable my grandad gave it to me and said to sell it allong with so others. So i was thinking maybe there is some value.
I’ve never heard this version of “Following You Around” before and didn’t know that it was written in 1928. In the 1970s it was one of several songs widely associated with the British comedy team of Morecambe & Wise who usually performed it at the close of their popular TV show. Even stranger yet one Sylvan Whittingham is credited with writing the song in 1970.
Sylvan Whittingham is the daughter of British playwright/screenwriter Jack Whittingham (1910-1972) who was best-known for collaborating with Ian Fleming on the James Bond novel “Thunderball” and was later involved in a lengthy court battle over it.
It makes me wonder if it was indeed Jack Whittingham who wrote the song in 1928.
Update: “Following You Around” was written by Roger Wolfe Kahn in 1927.
On “Following You Around” the vocalist is Ramon Newton of Savoy Orpheans fame. There is a potted biography of his life with my YouTube video “Just A Little Kiss From A Little Miss”.