One of Britain’s longest serving bandleaders, Billy Cotton (born William Edward Cotton in London on 6 May 1899) was the host of The Billy Cotton Band Show, one of the most popular variety shows of the 1950s and ’60s. A staple of the BBC’s
WW2 in 50 Bullet Points
10 Jul 1940: Luftwaffe launches Battle of Britain 07 Sep 1940: London blitzed by German bombers 15 Sep 1940: Victory for RAF in Battle of Britain 15 Nov 1940: Germans bomb Coventry to destruction 22 Jun 1941: Hitler invades the
Hollywood at War – 1940s Movies
Movies in the 1940s, like everything else at the time, were dominated by the war. However, instead of facing shortages like most people, the industry was well supported by the government thanks to its morale boosting qualities. What were the
The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing – Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey, byname of Thomas Francis Dorsey, Jr., (born November 27, 1905, Mahanoy Plane, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died November 26, 1956, Greenwich, Connecticut), American musician who—both independently and with his brother Jimmy—led several of the most popular big bands of the swing era. He was also
1940s Billboard number-one singles chart
Before the chart was established in August 1958, which was based on a formula combining sales data of commercially available singles and airplay on American radio stations, the Billboard used to publish several song popularity charts weekly. Throughout most of
BBC Home Service
The BBC Home Service was a British national radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. Development Between the 1920s and the outbreak of the Second World War, the BBC developed two