Well, here’s a little rarity from the 1960’s I stumbled across in my Musical travels and figured I’d share. It’s a little video of The New Vaudeville Band performing Finchley Central on Top of the Pops. I call it a rarity as it is a very rare appearance of the band playing live for the simple fact that they didnt previously exist. They were a fictitious project name used by TV sound producer Geoff Stephens who actually created and recorded the music originally. The show was originally broadcast on 11th May 1967. It was later repeated on 1st June 1967 and then again on the 8th of June 1967.
Finchley Central by The New Vaudeville Band
Finchley Central Lyrics
Finchley Central is Two and Six-pence
From Golders Green on the Northern Line
And on the Platform by the Kiosk
Thats where you said that youd be mine
There we made a date
For hours i waited
But I’m blowed
You never showed
Finchley Central its Ten long Stations
From Golders Green change at Camden Town
I thought I’d made you
But I’m afraid you
Really let me down
The New Vaudeville Band
So, The New Vaudeville Band was originally a product of songwriter Geoff Stephen’s Imagination. A fictitious group name for a the song Winchester Cathedral that Stephens had wrote and recorded with session musicians but now needed a band to front the song after it surprisingly made it into the Top Ten. He was getting requests to tour right, left and centre. But he didnt actually have a band. So if he was gonna make the Hit a full success, then he had to get some sort of show to front the song.
He originally contacted The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah band as the stuff they played had a similar style to that of his song. But Unfortunately for Stephens, they turned him down, choosing to stick to their own stuff. However, although the rest of the band weren’t interested in his proposition, Bonzo’s member Bob Kerr was keen. So he left the band for a bit to work with Stephens at putting together a stage set they could show for the single.
Putting it Together
Working alongside Joe Bloggs, the original session drummer who’d agreed to come back they started to build a band. Original studio singer John Carter wasn’t interested in playing these live shows but remained a close collaborator with Stephens on future songs. He was replaced by Alan Klien who was billed as ‘Tristam, Seventh Earl of Cricklewood’
Stephens soon recruited Mick Wilsher for guitar and backing vocals and Stan Heywood on Piano. They also had Neil Korner on Bass, Shuggy Watts on the Trombone and “Pops” Kerr on the Trumpet and various other Instruments. Finally he had a group he could take on the road. Although Stephens himself didnt actually take part as a band member, he was still very active. He continued to Write and Co-Write the bands future songs as well as organise the band and it’s line-up.
The bands First Album Winchester Cathedral was released on Fontana Records in late 1966. This featured the track ‘There’s a Kind of Hush’, a song made famous by Herman’s Hermits early in the following year. Although this is not to take away from the Vaudevilles original version which became a big hit in both Australia and South Africa throughout the summer of 1967.
In late 1967, The New Vaudeville Band were to release their Second album entitled Finchley Central. This album was revamped and entitled On Tour in the States swapping Three Original tracks for Two new Ones. Both versions contained the same Nine tracks which included ‘Peek-a-boo”. This song reached Number 7 in the UK Charts and made the Billboard Chart in the states.
This album produced another smash hit ‘Finchley Central’ which reached Number 11 in the UK charts and Number 102 in U.S. Chart. This was soon followed up by another hit named after a London Location ‘Green Street Green’. This was only released in the UK and reached number 37 in the UK Charts. The song also made the Australian Charts, but only just at number 97.
Green Street Green was the last Hit that The New Vaudeville Band had. The single ‘The Bonnie and Clyde’ was released in 1968, but proved to be a failure with very low record sales. The band also done a cameo appearance the same year for the film The Bliss of Mrs Blossom. But they knew their time was up and quietly disassembled the act.
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