The Lambeth Walk

Last updated
"The Lambeth Walk"
Song
Released1937 (1937)
Genre Show tune
Composer(s) Noel Gay
Lyricist(s) Douglas Furber, L. Arthur Rose

"The Lambeth Walk" is a song from the 1937 musical Me and My Girl (with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose and music by Noel Gay). The song takes its name from a local street, Lambeth Walk, [1] once notable for its street market and working-class culture in Lambeth, an area of London. The tune gave its name to a Cockney dance made popular in 1937 by Lupino Lane.

Contents

The story line of Me and My Girl concerns a Cockney barrow boy who inherits an earldom but almost loses his Lambeth girlfriend in the process. It was turned into a 1939 film The Lambeth Walk which starred Lane.

Dance craze

The choreography from the musical, in which the song was a show-stopping Cockney-inspired extravaganza, inspired a popular walking dance, performed in a jaunty strutting style. Lane explained the origin of the dance as follows:

I got the idea from my personal experience and from having worked among cockneys. I'm a cockney born and bred myself. The Lambeth Walk is just an exaggerated idea of how the cockney struts. [2]

When the stage show had been running for a few months, C. L. Heimann, managing director of the Locarno Dance Halls, got one of his dancing instructors, Adele England, to elaborate the walk into a dance. "Starting from the Locarno Dance Hall, Streatham, the dance-version of the Lambeth Walk swept the country." [2] The craze reached Buckingham Palace, with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth attending a performance and joining in the shouted "Oi" which ends the chorus. [3]

The fad reached the United States in 1938, popularized by Boston-based orchestra-leader Joseph (Joe) Rines, among others. Rines and his band frequently performed in New York, and the dance became especially popular at the "better" night clubs.

As with most dance crazes, other well-known orchestras did versions of the song, including Duke Ellington's. The dance then spread across America, and to Paris and Prague. [2] Mass Observation devoted a chapter of their book Britain (1939) to the craze. [2]

In Germany, big band leader Adalbert Lutter made a German-language adaptation called Lambert's Nachtlokal that quickly became popular in swing clubs. A member of the Nazi Party drew attention to it in 1939 by declaring The Lambeth Walk "Jewish mischief and animalistic hopping", as part of a speech on how the "revolution of private life" was one of the next big tasks of National Socialism in Germany. However, the song continued to be popular with the German public and was even played on the radio, particularly during the war, as part of the vital task of maintaining public morale. [4]

In Italy, the song was popularized by Dino Di Luca and the Trio Lescano in an Italian version titled Balliamo il passo Lambeth.

In 1942, Charles A. Ridley of the Ministry of Information made a short propaganda film, Schichlegruber [sic] Doing the Lambeth Walk, which edited existing footage – including comical 'backstepping' – taken from Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will to make it appear as if they were goose-stepping and skipping to "The Lambeth Walk". [5] The propaganda film was distributed uncredited to newsreel companies, which would supply their own narration. [6] Joseph Goebbels placed Ridley on a Gestapo list for elimination if Britain were defeated. [7] [ failed verification ]

One of photographer Bill Brandt's best-known pictures is "Dancing the Lambeth Walk", originally published in 1943 in the magazine Picture Post . [8]

Both Russ Morgan and Duke Ellington had hit records of the song in the United States.

Cultural impact

"The Lambeth Walk" had the distinction of being the subject of a headline in The Times in October 1938: "While dictators rage and statesmen talk, all Europe dances – to The Lambeth Walk." [9]

In the film The Longest Day (1962), about the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944, this song is sung by glider troopers of Major John Howard in a glider on its way to capture Pegasus Bridge.

The composer Franz Reizenstein wrote a set of Variations on the Lambeth Walk, each variation a pastiche of the style of a major classical composer. Notable are the variations in the styles of Beethoven, Chopin, and Liszt.

1899 song by Alec Hurley

An earlier, different song titled "The Lambeth Walk" (composed in 1899 by Edward W. Rogers) was popularised by music hall singer Alec Hurley (1871–1913). [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>Triumph of the Will</i> 1935 Nazi propaganda film

Triumph of the Will is a 1935 German Nazi propaganda film directed, produced, edited and co-written by Leni Riefenstahl. Adolf Hitler commissioned the film and served as an unofficial executive producer; his name appears in the opening titles. It chronicles the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, which was attended by more than 700,000 Nazi supporters. The film contains excerpts of speeches given by Nazi leaders at the Congress, including Hitler, Rudolf Hess and Julius Streicher, interspersed with footage of massed Sturmabteilung (SA) and Schutzstaffel (SS) troops and public reaction. Its overriding theme is the return of Germany as a great power with Hitler as its leader. The film was produced after the Night of the Long Knives and many formerly prominent SA members are absent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Original Dixieland Jass Band</span> American jazz band

The Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB) was a Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their "Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz record ever issued. The group composed and recorded many jazz standards, the most famous being "Tiger Rag". In late 1917, the spelling of the band's name was changed to Original Dixieland Jazz Band.

"Hitler Has Only Got One Ball", sometimes known as "The River Kwai March", is a World War II British song, the lyrics of which, sung to the tune of the World War I-era "Colonel Bogey March", impugn the masculinity of Nazi leaders by alleging they had missing, deformed, or undersized testicles. Multiple variant lyrics exist, but the most common version refers to rumours that Adolf Hitler had monorchism, and accuses Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler of microorchidism and Joseph Goebbels of anorchia. An alternative version suggests Hitler's missing testicle is displayed as a war trophy in the Royal Albert Hall.

Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement. The danceable swing style of big bands and bandleaders such as Benny Goodman was the dominant form of American popular music from 1935 to 1946, known as the swing era. The verb "to swing" is also used as a term of praise for playing that has a strong groove or drive. Musicians of the swing era include Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Harry James, Lionel Hampton, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw and Django Reinhardt.

Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be standards changes over time. Songs included in major fake book publications and jazz reference works offer a rough guide to which songs are considered standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noel Gay</span> British composer (1898-1954)

Noel Gay was born Reginald Moxon Armitage. He also used the name Stanley Hill professionally. He was a successful British composer of popular music of the 1930s and 1940s whose output comprised 45 songs as well as the music for 28 films and 26 London shows. Sheridan Morley has commented that he was "the closest Britain ever came to a local Irving Berlin". He is best known for the musical, Me and My Girl.

<i>Me and My Girl</i> Musical premiered in 1937

Me and My Girl is a musical with music by Noel Gay and its original book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose. The story, set in the late 1930s, tells of an unapologetically unrefined cockney gentleman named Bill Snibson, who learns that he is the 14th heir to the Earl of Hareford. The action is set in Hampshire, Mayfair, and Lambeth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adolf Hitler in popular culture</span>

Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945, has been represented in popular culture ever since he became a well-known politician in Germany. His distinctive image was often parodied by his opponents. Parodies became much more prominent outside Germany during his period in power. Since the end of World War II representations of Hitler, both serious and satirical, have continued to be prominent in popular culture, sometimes generating significant controversy. In many periodicals, books, and movies, Hitler and Nazism fulfill the role of archetypal evil. This treatment is not confined to fiction but is widespread amongst nonfiction writers who have discussed him in this vein. Hitler has retained a fascination from other perspectives; among many comparable examples is an exhibition at the German Historical Museum which was widely attended.

<i>The Victory of Faith</i> 1933 film

Der Sieg des Glaubens is the first Nazi propaganda film directed by Leni Riefenstahl. Her film recounts the Fifth Party Rally of the Nazi Party, which occurred in Nuremberg, Germany, from 30 August to 3 September 1933. The film is of great historic interest because it shows Adolf Hitler and Ernst Röhm on close and intimate terms, before Hitler had Röhm shot during the Night of the Long Knives on 1 July 1934. As he then sought to erase Röhm from German history, Hitler required all known copies of the film to be destroyed, and it was considered lost until a copy turned up in the 1980s in East Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lupino Lane</span> British actor

Henry William George Lupino professionally Lupino Lane, was an English actor and theatre manager, and a member of the famous Lupino family, which eventually included his cousin, the screenwriter/director/actress Ida Lupino. Lane started out as a child performer, known as 'Little Nipper', and went on to appear in a wide range of theatrical, music hall and film performances. Increasingly celebrated for his silent comedy short subjects, he is best known in the United Kingdom for playing Bill Snibson in the play and film Me and My Girl, which popularized the song and dance routine "The Lambeth Walk".

World War II was the first conflict to take place in the age of electronically mass distributed music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lilian Harvey</span> Anglo-German actress and singer

Lilian Harvey was an Anglo-German actress and singer, long based in Germany, where she is best known for her role as Christel Weinzinger in Erik Charell's 1931 film Der Kongreß tanzt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Official Films</span>

Official Films, Incorporated (Inc.) was founded by Leslie Winik in 1939 to produce educational shorts. Soon, after buying some negatives of public-domain Keystone Chaplin films, the company found itself in the 16mm/8mm home movie business. It obtained several dozen cartoons from Ub Iwerks and Van Beuren.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Britannia Theatre</span>

The Britannia Theatre (1841–1900) was located at 115/117 High Street, Hoxton, London. The theatre was badly damaged by a fire in 1900, forcing the sale of the lease. The site was reused as a Gaumont cinema from 1913 to 1940, before being demolished to make room for a more modern cinema which was never built. Housing has now been built on the site, which is marked by a London Borough of Hackney historic plaque.

Orchestral jazz or symphonic jazz is a form of jazz that developed in New York City in the 1920s. Early innovators of the genre, such as Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington, include some of the most highly regarded musicians, composers, and arrangers in all of jazz history. The fusion of jazz's rhythmic and instrumental characteristics with the scale and structure of an orchestra, made orchestral jazz distinct from the musical genres that preceded its emergence. Its development contributed both to the popularization of jazz, as well as the critical legitimization of jazz as an art form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swaggering</span> Ostentatious style of walking walking with an arrogant manner.

Swaggering is an ostentatious style of walking with an arrogant manner. It is also a form of machismo or sexual display which takes up more space than needed for simple motion. The exact gait will vary with personality and fashion but it is generally more of a loose, rolling style than a stiff strut. The feet will be kept apart rather than following each other in line and the more swaggering the gait, the greater the lateral distance between them. Studies have found that people are able to determine sexual orientation from such cues and a shoulder-swagger was perceived as a heterosexual orientation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Kosleck</span> German actor (1904–1994)

Martin Kosleck was a German film actor. Like many other German actors, he fled when the Nazis came to power. Inspired by his deep hatred of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, Kosleck made a career in Hollywood playing villainous Nazis in films. While in the United States, he appeared in more than 80 films and television shows in a 46-year span. His icy demeanor and piercing stare on screen made him a popular choice to play Nazi villains. He portrayed Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler's propaganda minister, five times, and also appeared as an SS trooper and a concentration camp officer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music in Nazi Germany</span> The controlled and "co-ordinated" music in Nazi Germany

Music in Nazi Germany, like all cultural activities in the regime, was controlled and "co-ordinated" (Gleichschaltung) by various entities of the state and the Nazi Party, with Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and the prominent Nazi theorist Alfred Rosenberg playing leading – and competing – roles. The primary concerns of these organizations was to exclude Jewish composers and musicians from publishing and performing music, and to prevent the public exhibition of music considered to be "Jewish", "anti-German", or otherwise "degenerate", while at the same time promoting the work of favored "Germanic" composers, such as Richard Wagner and Anton Bruckner. These works were believed to be positive contributions to the Volksgemeinschaft, or German folk community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schichlegruber Doing the Lambeth Walk</span>

Schichlegruber Doing the Lambeth Walk is a 1942 short propaganda film by Charles A. Ridley of the UK Ministry of Information. It consists of edited existing footage taken from Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will to make it appear as if they were dancing to the dance style The Lambeth Walk.

References

  1. "Lambeth Walk". streetmap.co.uk.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Madge, Charles; Harrisson, Tom (1939). Britain by Mass Observation. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
  3. Guy, Stephens (2001). Richards, Jeffrey (ed.). The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema 1929-39. I. B. Tauris. p. 112. ISBN   1-86064-628-X.
  4. Onion, Rebecca (2014-12-19). "The Goofy, Anti-Nazi Parody Video That Enraged Goebbels". Slate. ISSN   1091-2339 . Retrieved 2018-06-18.
  5. Ridley, Charles A. (1942). Lambeth Walk – Nazi Style. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12.
  6. "Nazis Hold Lambeth Walk is 'Animalistic Hopping'". The New York Times . January 8, 1939. p. 26.
  7. SearchWorks (2017). "Die Sonderfahndungsliste G.B." Hoover Institution Library and Archives . p. 172. Vault DA585 .A1 G37 (V), 376 p. 19 cm. On cover: Geheim!, 'Gestapo arrest list for England' in ms. on cover.
  8. "Photos That Changed The World - The Lambeth Walk". Phaidon. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
  9. Nicholson, Geoff. The Lost Art of Walking: The History, Science, and Literature of Pedestrianism. Penguin, 2009, Chapter 5 ISBN   1-59448-403-1
  10. "The Lambeth Walk". monologues.co.uk. 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.

Bibliography