A life in music 2 - Eddie Calvert, Guy Mitchell and the Ever Ready Model C

The first record I ever bought was Eddie Calvert's "Cherry pink and apple blossom white". It was on an HMV label 78rpm disc and I was 12. I thought it was great - loved the way he made the trumpet slide down and up a series of notes before lunging into the refrain. Bear in mind that this was 1955. Our home had a radiogram which received long, medium and short wave radio stations and played 78rpm (or it would crank up to 80rpm for those few discs that used the speed) 10" (pop and classical vocal) and 12" (classical orchestral) records. My Dad had chosen to use thorn rather than steel needles. These lasted for one side only before they needed sharpening, but he reckoned they created a warmer sound and didn't wreck the discs as quickly. The problem was that after a few plays, the friction of thorn on warming shellac meant that bits of the needle became embedded in the grooves and the records became unplayable, not because they'd worn out but because you gradually heard more and more thorn crackle and less and less music! As for the radio, there was only the Light Programme which played comedy, a lot of live light orchestral and band music, Mrs Dale's Diary, Journey into Space, and very very few records. Admittedly there was "Housewife's Choice", but I was at school, and neither "Saturday Club" or its predecessor "Skiffle Club" had started. So that left "Two Way Family Favourites" on Sundays from 12 noon to 1.15pm. (Later, my dear paternal grandmother gave me a "portable radio" - an Ever Ready model C - there it is at the top, which came with a battery the size of a building brick, but it did work under the bedclothes. But we move too fast.)

So, I've no idea where I heard "Cherry pink" but what I should have bought was "She wears red feathers" by Guy Mitchell. I remember exactly when and where I first heard this. I was 10 and in the final class of primary school. One of the highlights of the week was for the whole class to listen to a Schools Broadcast on the Home Service at 11.00. On this particular morning Miss Roots (my favourite teacher) turned the radio on a couple of minutes early and this song came over the speaker. It was unbelievable - never mind Guy's great voice, what were those instruments? Well, I later learned they were the trademark French horns of the Mitch Miller Orchestra. I was hooked and a life in music had begun. Still love all those Guy Mitchell records from "Feet up(pat him on the po po)" and "Pretty little black-eyed Susie" right up to, but not including "Singing the blues". Thank you Guy - you started it!