New Vaudeville Band

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The New Vaudeville Band was a group created by songwriter Geoff Stephens (born 1 October 1934, New Southgate, North London) in 1966 to record his novelty composition "Winchester Cathedral", a song inspired by the dance bands of the 1920s and a Rudy Vallee megaphone style vocal.  To his surprise, the song became a transatlantic hit that autumn, reaching the Top 10 in the United Kingdom and rising to #1 in the United States.  The record sold over three million copies worldwide, earning the RIAA certification of gold disc status.  The track also won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song in 1967.  The lead vocal was sung by John Carter, formerly of The Ivy League, who had sung on the demo of the record, which Stephens decided to keep for the commercial release.  An initial long-playing album was also issued in late 1966 by Fontana Records, also titled Winchester Cathedral.

When Stephens received several requests for The New Vaudeville Band to tour, he had to put together a group, as the song was recorded by session musicians hired only for the recording session.  He contacted a real group, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, which played similar music at the time.  Only Bob Kerr from that group was interested, so he left The Bonzos to help Stephens form a touring version of The New Vaudeville Band, which included original session drummer Henri Harrison.  The lead singer of the touring version of the group was Alan Klein, who was billed as 'Tristram - Seventh Earl of Cricklewood'.

In 1967, The New Vaudeville Band released the On Tour album, with the single "Peek-A-Boo," which made the Billboard chart that February and reached #7 in the UK Singles Chart. Further UK hits followed with "Finchley Central" (#11) and "Green Street Green" (#37),  both based on locations in London.

The New Vaudeville Band was managed by Peter Grant. Kerr left the group following disputes with Grant. He then formed his own group, Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band, which continues to perform with Henri Harrison.

A further privately released album (While We Are All Assembled!) did not bear a date but was apparently released in 1979,
and stated in the sleeve notes that the band "have firmly re-established themselves in the higher echelons of the British club scene" since returning four years previously from "their successful three years in the USA and Canada".

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 [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]

The New Vaudeville Band was a group created by songwriter Geoff Stephens (born 1 October 1934, New Southgate, North London) in 1966 to record his novelty composition "Winchester Cathedral", a song inspired by the dance bands of the 1920s and a Rudy Vallee megaphone style vocal.  To his surprise, the song became a transatlantic hit that autumn, reaching the Top 10 in the United Kingdom and rising to #1 in the United States.  The record sold over three million copies worldwide, earning the RIAA certification of gold disc status.  The track also won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song in 1967.  The lead vocal was sung by John Carter, formerly of The Ivy League, who had sung on the demo of the record, which Stephens decided to keep for the commercial release.  An initial long-playing album was also issued in late 1966 by Fontana Records, also titled Winchester Cathedral.

When Stephens received several requests for The New Vaudeville Band to tour, he had to put together a group, as the song was recorded by session musicians hired only for the recording session.  He contacted a real group, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, which played similar music at the time.  Only Bob Kerr from that group was interested, so he left The Bonzos to help Stephens form a touring version of The New Vaudeville Band, which included original session drummer Henri Harrison.  The lead singer of the touring version of the group was Alan Klein, who was billed as 'Tristram - Seventh Earl of Cricklewood'.

In 1967, The New Vaudeville Band released the On Tour album, with the single "Peek-A-Boo," which made the Billboard chart that February and reached #7 in the UK Singles Chart. Further UK hits followed with "Finchley Central" (#11) and "Green Street Green" (#37),  both based on locations in London.

The New Vaudeville Band was managed by Peter Grant. Kerr left the group following disputes with Grant. He then formed his own group, Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band, which continues to perform with Henri Harrison.

A further privately released album (While We Are All Assembled!) did not bear a date but was apparently released in 1979,
and stated in the sleeve notes that the band "have firmly re-established themselves in the higher echelons of the British club scene" since returning four years previously from "their successful three years in the USA and Canada".

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv_RfFmJ5nA

"Winchester Cathedral" is a song released in late 1966 by Fontana Records, whereupon it shot to the #1 spot in Canada on the RPM 100 national singles charts  and shortly thereafter in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was released by The New Vaudeville Band, a British novelty group established by the song's composer, Geoff Stephens. Stephens was a big fan of tunes from the British music hall era (or what Americans would call "vaudeville"), so he wrote "Winchester Cathedral" in that vein, complete with a Rudy Vallée soundalike (John Carter) singing through his hands to imitate a megaphone sound.  Although the song was recorded entirely by session musicians, when it became an international hit, an actual band had to be assembled, with Fontana trying unsuccessfully to recruit the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.  The recording is one of the few charting songs to feature a bassoon.  The band toured extensively under the tutelage of Peter Grant, who later went on to manage The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin.

The tune went to No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart.  It went all the way to the top in the U.S., however, displacing "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by the Supremes on December 3, 1966. After a one-week run at No. 1, "Winchester Cathedral" was knocked off the summit by the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations", only to rebound to the top spot the following week. After two additional weeks, it was knocked off the top for good by "I'm a Believer" by The Monkees.

"Winchester Cathedral" topped the Billboard Easy Listening chart for four weeks.  Cover records by Dana Rollin and The New Happiness reached no higher than No. 70. The Shadows recorded an instrumental version of this song on their album, Jigsaw. Singer Rudy Vallée, whose voice and style the original recording imitated, did his own cover of the song in 1967 when he was in his late 60s. (It did not chart.) The Four Freshmen recorded a cover of the song on their 1968 album In a Class by Themselves. Frank Sinatra also recorded a version of the song for his 1966 album That's Life.

Global sales of the single were over three million, with the RIAA certification of gold disc status.

The song won the 1967 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary (R&R) Recording,  despite not being a rock and roll song. An initial long-playing album including the song was issued in late 1966 by Fontana Records, also titled Winchester Cathedral. Stephens received the 1966 Ivor Novello award for "Best Song Musically and Lyrically".

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the song's release, a new version by Geoff Stephens was released on CD by Signum Classics, sung by the choristers of Winchester Cathedral. The premier performance of this version was to take place during a Gala Concert in Winchester Cathedral on March 12 to help raise funds for the Cathedral's Appeal.

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Winchester Cathedral