Josephine Bradley And Her Ballroom Orchestra

Decca MW323

 

“We’ll Gather Lilacs”
Josephine Bradley And Her Ballroom Orchestra
1945 (Decca MW.323 mx DR 9336)
Josephine Bradley And Her Ballroom Orchestra – We’ll Gather Lilacs]

“Wouldn’t It Be Nice”
Josephine Bradley And Her Ballroom Orchestra
1945 (Decca MW.323 mx DR 9337)
Josephine Bradley And Her Ballroom Orchestra – Wouldn’t It Be Nice]

Here is a record from English Decca’s special “Music While You Work” series which was issued between 1943 and 1947.    The series was named after the BBC radio program Music While You Work which debuted in 1940.   The purpose of the program was to provide periods of uninterrupted on-the-job music to war time factory workers as a means of boosting morale and productivity.  The daily half-hour program was broadcast live and was so well received with both the factory workers and the general public that it eventually offered a morning, afternoon and late night edition.    The program outlasted the war by more than two decades with its last broadcast airing in 1967.

Because of the radio program’s success in the factories, some factory owners began using public address systems to broadcast phonograph records to their workers.   Decca’s Music While You Work series was created to provide music suitable for that purpose – though the records were also available for purchase by the general public.

Josephine Bradley was a famous ballroom dancer and instructor.  Her recordings were designed to provide strict tempo music for dances and dance schools – and, in this case, apparently for factory work as well.    Both of these recordings are very similar in style to those of another dance instructor/bandleader, Victor Sylvester, who I will feature in a future update.

This entry was posted in 1940s, 1940s Popular Music, British Recordings, Electrical Recordings. Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Josephine Bradley And Her Ballroom Orchestra

  1. Robert van Enck says:

    Since I visited her dance school in south kensington, London in 1975 and got
    different teachers nobody told me josephine bradley got a dance band before.
    Have some nice group pictures with josephine in and they loved the records
    of Bill Black’s combo of my collection.
    The Nigel Five combo was one of my favorites but could not find anything on the
    webside of this exclusive band.
    Your sincerly R.v.E

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