“Back To Those Happy Days”
Jack Payne And His Band; Billy Scott-Coomber, vocal
(Rex 8437-B mx F 1195) February, 1935
“Maybe I’m Wrong Again”
Jack Payne And His Band; Ronnie Genarder, vocal
(Rex 8437-A mx F 1194-2) February, 1935
Here are two songs that, a few months after these recordings were made, were featured in the 1935 version of the annual musical revue On With The Show produced by music publisher Lawrence Wright. The show was produced every summer between 1925 and 1956 at the North Pier in Blackpool, England. And, by convenient coincidence, the songs featured in each year’s production were all published by Wright’s publishing company.
On both sides of the record one can see the royalty stamp for Wright’s publishing house already pre-printed on the label. Royalty stamps weren’t always pre-printed on British labels; sometimes, an actual stamp bearing the name of the publishing company was affixed to indicate that royalties for that copy had been paid. (American labels had to pay publishers’ royalties on each record sold as well. But, for whatever reason, American record companies weren’t required to indicate so on the label the way that British companies were.)
“Back To Those Happy Days” was composed by Lawrence Wright himself but under a pen name he often used, Horatio Nicholls. The song is a typical Depression-era “cheer up” piece – though in this instance, the lyrics suggest that the Depression is already over.
The song’s success was mostly limited to Britain. Several British bands besides Jack Payne’s recorded it, including Bertini and His Tower Blackpool Dance Orchestra, Ambrose And His Orchestra, the New Mayfair Dance Orchestra and others. But I can find no mention of recordings made by any American bands. However, the Decca label in the USA did issue the British recording made by Ambrose and His Orchestra.
“Maybe I’m Wrong Again” was recorded by multiple artists on both sides of the Atlantic. American recordings of it were made in October and November 1934 by Bing Crosby, Jan Garber and His Orchestra, and the Casa Loma Orchestra. Several British recordings were made in early 1935 by Roy Fox And His Band, Lew Stone And His Band, Jack Jackson And His Orchestra, and others.
The song was composed by Jack Bennett with lyrics by Jo Trent, whose full name was Joseph Hannibal Trent.
Trent was a black lyricist who worked for music publishers and motion picture companies. He wrote the lyrics to several Broadway productions and well-known songs such as “Muddy Water, ” “My Kinda Love,” “Gotta Feelin’ For You,” and “Georgia Pines.” Duke Ellington later credited Trent with helping him become a composer in his own right.
I have not been able to find any information about Jack Bennett other than he was listed as co-composer, along with Richard A. Whiting and Walter Bullock, of a 1935 song called “My Foolish Heart.” The only recording of that song I can find any mention of was made by Richard Himber and His Ritz-Carlton Hotel Orchestra. (There was an unrelated and better-known song from 1949 also called “My Foolish Heart”)
Jack Payne was one of the more prominent bandleaders in Great Britain during the 1930s. I featured two of his recordings from 1933 in a recent posting.
The Rex label was introduced in late 1933 by the Crystalate Gramophone Record Manufacturing Co. Ltd. By early 1934, all of the artists whose recordings had previously been issued on the company’s Imperial label had been migrated to Rex and Imperial was discontinued. Decca purchased Crystalate in March 1937 but continued to issue Rex as a subsidiary label until 1948.