Latest News

October 19th 2018

Gosh, how quickly time has passed. So little updating on this site, but frankly, I’ve been busy living my life and paying the bills! However, I was recently approached to do another concert, and that is happening next week! I’m visiting Chichester University to work with the Sleepy Lagoon Orchestra, playing my own transcriptions of Jack Hylton music. Here's a link to the local paper:

https://www.wscountytimes.co.uk/whats-on/music/chichester-s-very-own-sleepy-lagoon-orchestra-in-action-1-8674794

Here’s a link to buying tickets:

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/west-sussex/the-assembly-room-north-street-chichester/the-sleepy-lagoon-orchestras-tribute-to-jack-hylton-with-pete-faint

I do hope some of you can join us; it’s going to be a great night.

July 15th 2015

 Just a little update to let you know there's nothing to update you on. After such a prolonged period of activity, I simply had to let things relax a little and get on with my life, including doing something to pay the bills! This is continuing and I'm going through something of a life change and 'emigrating' two hundred miles south, which is keeping me busy, as is my other life as a musician playing pop music which is only thirty years old. Rest assured that some fun things will happen here in the autumn. Have a great summer, and happy listening!

April 8th 2015

Just a note to let you know that the sheet music project has moved on apace in recent weeks. There's now over fifty arrangements to be found by clicking on the Sheet Music button at the top of the page. Many now also have re-scored versions for modern big band, and of course it's all available for free.

April 7th 2015

Here’s a little thing I did a few days ago for BBC Radio Cumbria, with the lovely Anne Hopper. It features a couple of exclusive clips of the recent show:

An interview given by me for Anne Hopper's show on Radio Cumbria. I talk about the recent concert "The Band That Jack Built" along with my Jack Hylton biography and other Hylton related stuff. There's also a couple of exclusive audio clips of the show.

April 1st 2015

I've uploaded another video from the show earlier this year. Here's Lucy, Olivia and Lauren singing One, Two, Button Your Shoe. I hope you like it. If you do, tell people about it and feel free to share it!

March 20th 2015

I've uploaded a new video from the live show. Here's Gerry Mawdsley singing Chinese Laundry Blues. Enjoy, and share!

March 14th 2015

I've uploaded a couple of very, very early Hylton recordings to Soundcloud. If you want to hear what the band sounded like in October 1921, then have a look at these two. These are from HMV B-1275. Enjoy!

HMV B-1275. This is one of Jack Hylton's very earliest recordings, from October 12th 1921, when he was still recording as the Queen's Dance Orchestra.

HMV B-1275. This is one of Jack Hylton's very earliest recordings, from October 12th 1921, when he was still recording as the Queen's Dance Orchestra.

March 10th 2015

Things haven't been quite as quiet as it would seem over at Hylton Towers. There's been a considerable amount of work done on the audio and video versions of the recent 50th anniversary concert. In fact, both versions have been signed off, but without a considerable amount of funding, they sadly won't see the light of day. It's a costly process paying for something like that, with 25 hungry musicians on stage who need paying before manufacture is even considered.

If anyone has any thoughts on how to make that happen, please get in touch. In the meantime, we've put together a little 7 minute promo trailer, to whet your proverbial whistle. It can be viewed here:

http://youtu.be/cutzSijhVUg

Please feel free to pass it on, share it, link to it, and watch it lots of times and leave your comments! I really hope you enjoy it and I hope it gives a flavour of what might be yet to come.

February 12th 2015

I'm thrilled to say that my Hylton biography is now back in stock. Just click on the shop tab above to see it and buy it, either as a hardback or as an ebook. The book is also in stock at Amazon (just search for Jack Hylton in books) and will soon be available for Kindle.

Meanwhile, the team are spending huge amounts of time mixing audio and video from the recent 50th anniversary concert and hopefully we can make some of that available for you to see soon. Keep your eyes on this page!

February 6th 2015

Well, technology is fun, isn't it? My book is now available as an ebook. It'll be available on Kindle, Nook, iBooks and stuff as soon as they can be bothered to process it, but if you want it now, you can get it for just £5.99, instant download, as an ePub file, from here. Just click on the shop button, and you can download the book right now. It's not as much fun as the hardback, but it's still got the same words!

I'll report back when the other distribution channels are selling the book.

February 5th 2015

Well, just for a few days, I'm happy and sad to say that my biography of Jack Hylton has sold out. Another batch is on order but will take a few days to arrive here. If you're desperate you can buy it from Amazon, but I suspect it's just as easy to wait until they've arrived here. Either way is good though! I'll report back here when we have more stock.

February 2nd 2015

Whilst stocks of the Hylton book run very low here at Hylton Towers (I don't even have a copy!) the book is now available on Amazon in the UK and USA, as well as Barnes & Noble in the USA. Probably in some other places, too. Just search in the usual way and buy from there if you'd prefer (though I make more money if you buy direct!) Another batch has been ordered so stocks will soon replenish here. As I write, I think there's one copy left...

February 1st 2015

I've extensively updated the page about the 50th Anniversary Concert, with lots of detail, set lists and tons of photos. Click here to go directly to that page.

January 31st 2015

Gerry Mawdsley, who performed as George Formby at the recent concert, has uploaded his own 'bootleg' footage of his performance of 'Chinese Laundry Blues' from the show. It includes a snippet of 'Oh Listen To The Band', along with a bit too much of my waffle, but it's a nice little example of what we did, ahead of the fully edited footage, which will take ages. Here it is:

January 29th 2015

Fifty years ago today, Jack Hylton sadly died. As you'll be aware, we're celebrating that milestone in a number of ways today and as a consequence I'll be pretty busy and may be away from here for a day or two afterwards. 

In the meantime, the iTunes version of the CD is available to download in full from today: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/id957448157, the physical CD version is available to buy in the shop, as is the book. That's enough of the hard sell for now!

For those of you joining me for the concert, the pre-concert talk, the exhibition and the book signing this evening at Lancaster University, I'll see you there!

January 28th 2015

January 23rd 2015

OK, so the CD is in my house and I want rid of it! If you click on the shop tab at the top of the page, you can get your copy of the new Hylton compilation CD which I've curated, a week earlier than I ought to let you have it! It's only £5.99 plus postage! Sorry for the exclamation marks!

January 19th 2015

Well, I stumbled across an old synopsis for my book today and rather liked it, so stuck it up on the blog. Will probably use it elsewhere on the site too! Click here to read it:

https://jackhylton.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/some-nice-old-words/

January 18th 2015

The new Hylton compilation, "The Very Best Of Jack Hylton & His Orchestra" is now available to pre-order on iTunes. It's discounted during the pre-order period to just £5.99, with a couple of tracks available for instant download. Just click the link:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/id957448157

January 9th 2015

I've written a little blog, by way of an update. It's essentially letting you know that the next wave of scores will soon be uploaded on to the Sheet Music page. There's a few interesting things on there, including a couple of arrangements which were never recorded by the band. 

It doesn't get much more exclusive than that. Of course, all the scores are free, but you can donate if you think they're worth something. Here's a link to the blog:

https://jackhylton.wordpress.com/2015/01/09/a-little-update/

December 15th 2014

Well, no apologies for the length of time between posts - some things are more important than the internet. 

A real treat today though. We have the entire Last Night Of The Crazy Gang, which I've transferred from VHS and onto YouTube for your pleasure!

Here's a link to the blog I just wrote about it:

http://jackhylton.wordpress.com/2014/12/15/the-last-night-of-the-crazy-gang/

And here's the full video:

November 20th 2014

You never know whether these big projects are going to be worth it, but when Alex Mendham sent me a YouTube link to his orchestra playing one of my recent arrangements, I was delighted! Here's the video. Find Alex at www.alexmendham.com

November 8th 2014

The new Jack Hylton biography, cunningly titled Jack Hylton is currently at the book making factory and will be ready for release in the new year. I'm also hoping to have this available around that time too...

November 3rd 2014

More video! If you visit the video page, or YouTube, you can now watch the 1935 movie, "She Shall Have Music" in full! It's corny, but it's lots of fun. Enjoy! 

October 31st 2014

I've finally 'opened' the shop on this site. Whilst I'm giving away most things I find and work on for free, this is a way for people who don't like everything digital to get their hands on hard copies of the arrangements and videos. As soon as the book is out that will of course be available here too. 

If you have any questions or queries about the shop, don't hesitate to get in touch about it.

October 31st 2014

Today is a big day for me and for the site. Two blog posts today let you know that I have some incredibly rare and unique videos to share with you. I have an eight minute, 16mm silent film from the Jack Hylton archive, filmed on and off stage, never before seen by any of you, and I have the 1967 TV documentary "Oh Listen To The Band", which was assumed lost, until I dug it out of my own archive.

Just click on the video page (under the music heading) to view both videos, or visit the blog posts below. Please share, comment, and let me know your thoughts. If this doesn't excite you, this isn't the website for you!

http://jackhylton.wordpress.com/2014/10/31/ultra-rare-tv-documentary/

http://jackhylton.wordpress.com/2014/10/31/rare-16mm-silent-movie/

October 26th 2014

Whilst in the final stages of writing my book on Hylton, I discovered the new BBC Genome project, a fledgling online database of old Radio Times, fully searchable. If you click here, it'll link to everything Hylton. Thought you ought to know! 

October 21st 2014

I've done a little update on the blog, it's all rather hectic here at Hylton Towers, so websites haven't been a priority I'm afraid. I've so much I want to share with you though, so I'll do my best to keep up to date! 

http://jackhylton.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/october-update/

September 27th 2014

How about a listen to the first thing Jack Hylton ever recorded? It's not a humdinger and it doesn't sing but it's a fascinating historical document and an insight into what was happening with popular music in the early 1920s.

Recorded as The "Queen's" Dance Orchestra, on May 28th 1921.

Just click the little play button in the left corner of the box below and all should be well! There's a few more early Hylton's, which I'll share soon.

Thanks to Mike Thomas for these recordings.

September 20th 2014

I thought I'd have a fiddle with the graphics for the concert (and the book). So I did. Here's the new poster. Click on it, and it'll conveniently take you to the site to buy tickets for the show!

September 5th 2014

Yesterday I took a little visit to the 'other' Jack Hylton Archive, at the V&A, and wrote a little blog about it, which you can find here:

http://jackhylton.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/va-archive/

September 3rd 2014

Well, I've just stumbled on a tiny bit of colour TV footage from 1938. Yes, I know that's ridiculous. An archive appeared of someone's cinefilm which was taken during the making of RadiOlympia, from September 3rd, 1938 exactly 78 years ago today.

RadiOlympia was a radio exhibition held at Olympia in London, hence the name. Since 1936, TV had been the major attraction. I had no idea something like this existed and I'm rather delighted that it does. Here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFRoNw9K8mA&feature=youtu.be&t=1m52s

September 2nd 2014

Well, it's with great pleasure that I can announce that tickets are now on general sale for The Band That Jack Built, a gala concert on January 29th, 2015, fifty years to the day since Hylton's death. It'll be a celebration of the life and music of Jack with a twenty piece orchestra, loads of singers and guests, with original Hylton arrangements, including some never recorded by the band, so they'll be brand new to everyone at the concert.

The concert is at the Great Hall, at Lancaster University, which is next door to the Jack Hylton Music Rooms, and the home of the Jack Hylton Archive.

It will also be the first opportunity to buy the exclusive Jack Hylton Biography, which is currently in the final stages of being written.

Tickets can be bought here:

https://www.liveatlica.org/whats-on/the-band-that-jack-built

If you want to know any more about it, just get in touch!

September 1st 2014

For another few days, you can hear my interview with Anne Hopper on BBC Radio Cumbria, about Hylton and the upcoming concert. Perhaps it'll be searchable on iPlayer for a little longer. I speak from around 1:08:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p024yfhq

August 19th 2014

Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been away in various rural locations scribbling about Hylton in rather a manic way. We now have a book, though there's still plenty of work to be done before I can unleash it. In the meantime, I've written a little stream of consciousness about Hylton's time working for ITV in the late 50's. You can read it here:

http://jackhylton.wordpress.com/2014/08/19/some-thoughts-about-jack-hylton-on-tv/

July 25th 2014

I've started a new Sheet Music project. Simply click on the 'sheet music' tab at the top of this page to find out more. I'm being philanthropic and stupid all at the same time!

July 21st 2014

A very rare and very lovely radio show has been uploaded to YouTube. It's half an hour long and well worth a listen. It's a Rinso Radio Revue from 1937, and features Dick Murphy, Alice Mann, Peggy Dell and The Henderson Twins on vocals. Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAOeBPoZUfE&list=UUazEqsCfGVzAY_Si_NlscUg

July 6th 2014

I've written a little blog which has uncovered the facts about a widely quoted stat about Hylton. Clears it up once and for all, if anyone's listening! Read it here:

http://jackhylton.wordpress.com/2014/07/06/lies-damned-lies-and-statistics/

June 23rd 2014

I've done a quick little blog post, which links to the rather bizarre remix of Jack Hylton's Happy Feet. Please read, watch and don't hate!

http://jackhylton.wordpress.com/2014/06/23/happy-feet/

June 21st 2014

I've had a request for a new MP3 download and it just so happens that I had a (slightly dodgy) version, so I've uploaded Tondeleyo, from October 1929 (HMV B-5721). Just visit the MP3 download page to hear it. I'll try and respond quickly to all requests of this nature, though often life (and writing a book!) gets in the way. And of course, I don't have everything, but I'll do my best!

June 19th 2014

Well, I've been researching the Jack Hylton Music Maker juxebox, and decided to let you have the whole chapter, so here's the link to the new blog post, which I've just finished. It'll appear in the book too, later in the year.

http://jackhylton.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/the-jack-hylton-music-maker-juke-boxes/

June 6th 2014

There's a new blog post up - an update on how things are going with the book and the concert, with a few nice little details! (I think they're nice anyway). Click here to read it:

http://jackhylton.wordpress.com/2014/06/06/an-update/

May 15th 2014

There's a new blog post up, with a great press cutting from 1954. Click here to read it:

http://jackhylton.wordpress.com/2014/05/15/hylton-the-politician/

May 11th 2014

There's a new post up over at the blog. Click here to read it:

http://jackhylton.wordpress.com/2014/05/10/arrangements-and-transcriptions/

May 10th 2014

As you'll gather the website has had something of a makeover - long overdue! I hope everything is really easy to find - hopefully more than ever. There's plenty of new content.

Of course all the things people like about the site are still there - the discography and the downloadable MP3s. As you can imagine, it's been quite a laborious process, so if you spot any issues, or any dead links, get in touch through the Contact page and I'll fix things. Enjoy the new look site!

May 8th 2014

There's a new post on the blog. Click here to read more:

http://jackhylton.wordpress.com/2014/05/08/a-visit-to-mr-hylton/

May 1st 2014

I've started a blog to keep you up to date on all things related to the 50th anniversary concert. Click here to read the first post:

http://jackhylton.wordpress.com/2014/05/01/a-visit-to-the-archive/

 

 

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