Henry Hall born 2 May 1898

Henry Hall (2 May 1898 - 28, October 1989)is now recognised as one of the important figures during the dance band era in Britain from the 1920's to 1950's.

Henry Robert Hall was born in Peckham, London, England. After winning three musical scholarships, he studied piano, trumpet and harmony at the Trinity School of Music. In his teens he worked for the Salvation Army, and wrote several marches, one of which, "The Sunshine March", he adapted later as his closing BBC radio signature tune, "Here's To The Next Time". After service as an officer in the Royal Artillery in World War I, he formed his own trio, called the Variety Three. 

When the trio disbanded in 1922, Hall was engaged as relief pianist at the LMS Railway's Midland Hotel, Manchester. A year later he became resident bandleader there, and by 1932 Henry was running 32 bands in the L.M.S. organisation. He made his first broadcast from one of the hotels, the Gleneagles, in 1924, and in the same year started to record for Columbia Records. In 1932 he became a national figure when he was chosen by the patriarchal Lord Reith to replace Jack Payne as leader of the BBC Dance Orchestra.

The first broadcast by the new combination in March 1932 received a mixed response from listeners and Henry's Salvation Army background didn't help the opinion of some critics, because of his apparent lack of showmanship and gimmickry so prevalent in many of the 30s dance bands. However things soon settled down and the band established itself in the five-fifteen slot. "This IS Henry Hall speaking" became an institution, with very high musical standards and a fair amount of jazz interspersed with the more traditional type arrangements. The theme, Five-Fifteen, was based on the notes B-B-C whilst the closing refrain Here's to the Next Time, was an adaptation of the trio section from one of Hall's Salvation Army marches Sunshine. 

                                       

Aware that children would be listening. In 1932 he recorded the songs "Hush, Hush, Hush, Here Comes the Bogeyman" and "Teddy Bears' Picnic" with his BBC Orchestra, featuring singer Val Rosing on vocals. The latter song gained enormous popularity and sold over a million copies. With his unassuming manner and proven musicianship, Hall led the Dance Orchestra to even greater popularity than before. The only flamboyant feature of the band was their electric-blue uniforms which Reith insisted they wear on broadcasts, even though no-one could see them!

In 1933, the first broadcast from Radio City, New York, featured Hall and the BBC Dance Orchestra. Also that year he had his solitary US chart entry, "Play To Me Gypsy". Such was the popularity of the Dance Orchestra that in 1934 the BBC launched Henry Hall's Guest Night, credited by some as the first chat show, which ran for almost 1000 editions. The Radio Times never published who would be on the show, it was always a surprise. Guest included Flanagan and Allen, and Tommy Handley. Henry Hall's Guest Night, introduced somewhat hesitantly by Hall with his catch phrase: "This is Henry Hall speaking, and tonight is my Guest Night", ran on and off for the best part of 20 years. Hall played the popular songs of the day and featured stars of the entertainment world such as Flanagan and Allen, Elsie And Doris Waters, Nöel Coward and Gracie Fields.

In 1936, Henry Hall made his first feature film and in the same year he was guest conductor of the ship's orchestra on the Queen Mary's maiden voyage, where he wrote the song "Somewhere at Sea". Some of the many popular tunes during Hall's hey-day included Bing Crosby's theme song "Where The Blue Of The Night (Meets The Gold Of The Day)", "Songs That Are Old Live Forever", "What's The Name Of That Song", "One, Two, Button Your Shoe", "Butterflies In The Rain", "Eccentric", "Little Man You've Had A Busy Day", "The Man On The Flying Trapeze", "Southern Holiday", "East Wind", and his opening and closing themes, "It's Just The Time For Dancing", and "Here's To The Next Time".

Hall's last broadcast with the B.B.C. Dance Orchestra was on 25 September 1937, the band embarking on a variety tour before disbanding in 1939. Henry reached agreement with Sir John Reith that he (Henry Hall) would be given the entire music library and for the last six weeks of their contract the band would be referred to as Henry Hall and his Orchestra.  During the Second World War, Hall played for the troops, and gave concerts and shows in factories all over Britain. Many of these concerts came in the form of "Guest Night" broadcasts. 

Henry and Vera Lynn

Early in 1948 he disbanded his orchestra to concentrate on his entertainment agency, Henry Hall Enterprises, dealing with dance bands, compositions, plays and films. Later that year he took over the Grand Theatre in the popular summer resort of Blackpool and ran a new band for two seasons to accompany some of the artists he had discovered. These included Donald Peers, Norman Wisdom, David Hughes and Reginald Dixon, but he turned down Vera Lynn because he thought her voice was unsuitable for broadcasting. His recordings were limited somewhat by his broadcasting work and the need to provide "something for everybody". In 1955, Hall published his autobiography Here's to the Next Time. He dedicated it to his wife, Margery.

One of radio's most popular figures, at the peak of his career he is reputed to have received 35,000 letters a year while making eight broadcasts a week. He continued to conduct orchestras for recording and radio, and made his farewell broadcast as a bandleader in 1969, although he made occasional television appearances until 1970, featuring regularly in the BBC television series Face The Music. It was also in 1970 that his great service to music was recognized by the award of the OBE. Henry retired to Eastbourne, Sussex, England, where he died on 28, October 1989, aged 91.

(Edited from New Musical Express & Wikipedia)