Flanders and Swann were a British comedy duo and musicians. Michael Flanders (1922–1975) was a lyricist, actor and singer. He collaborated with Donald Swann (1923–1994), a composer and pianist, in writing and performing comic songs. They first worked together in a school revue in 1939 and eventually wrote more than 100 comic songs together.

Flanders and Swann performed their songs, interspersed with comic monologues, in their long-running two-man revues At the Drop of a Hat (1956–1959) and At the Drop of Another Hat (1963–1967), which they toured in Britain and abroad. Both revues were recorded in concert (by George Martin). The duo also made several studio recordings.

Musical partnership

Flanders and Swann both attended Westminster School (where in July and August 1940 they staged a revue called Go To It) and Christ Church, Oxford, two institutions linked by ancient tradition. The pair went their separate ways during World War II, but a chance meeting in 1948 led to their forming a musical partnership writing songs and light opera. Flanders provided the words and Swann composed the music. Their songs have been sung by performers such as Ian Wallace and Joyce Grenfell.

In December 1956, Flanders and Swann hired the New Lindsey Theatre, Notting Hill, to perform their two-man revue At the Drop of a Hat, which opened on New Year's Eve. Flanders sang a selection of the songs that they had written, interspersed with comic monologues, accompanied by Swann on the piano. An unusual feature of their act was that both men remained seated for their shows: Swann behind his piano and Flanders in a wheelchair (having contracted poliomyelitis in 1943). || Venue

| 1954 || Saville Theatre, "Pay the Piper"

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They wrote over a hundred comic songs together. The following selection gives an indication of their range.

A very rare song, "Vendor Librorum Floreat" (Let the bookseller flourish), was released as a single in 1960. It was written for the annual American Booksellers Association, the only known time Flanders & Swann accepted a private commission.

Monologues

Flanders' comic monologues include:

  • "By Air"—about the vogue for air travel. "I agree with the old lady who said, 'If God had intended us to fly, He would never have given us the railways.
  • "Tried by the Centre Court"—a parody of the poem "A Subaltern's Love Song" by John Betjeman, about a third-round ladies singles match at Wimbledon, between Miss L. Hammerfest and Miss J. Hunter-Dunn, as related by the bored central umpire. "They are bashing a ball with the gut of a cat".
  • "Greensleeves"—about the background to the composition of the famous English air. An annotated version explains all the jokes.
  • Los Olividados— a satire on bullfighting, about "the almost unbearable drama of a corrida d'olivas, or festival of olive-stuffing". "A cruel sport: some may think it so. But this is surely more than a sport, this is more than a vital artform. What we have experienced here today is total catharsis, in the acting out of that primeval drama, of man pitted against the olive." The title is a reference to Los Olvidados, or The Forgotten Ones, a 1950 movie by the director Luis Buñuel.
  • "Built-up Area"—a prehistoric inhabitant of Salisbury Plain complains about a new development: Stonehenge.

Homage and parody

The British comedy double act Armstrong & Miller have a recurring sketch on The Armstrong and Miller Show in which they parody Flanders and Swann, as Donald Brabbins (Armstrong as Flanders) and Teddy Fyffe (Miller as Swann). The parodies begin like a typical Flanders and Swann performance, but the songs are far more bawdy, often being mock-censored for comedic effect.

British singer-songwriter Frank Turner covered "The Armadillo" on his "Mittens" EP, and "Slow Train" (listed as "The Slow Train") on "The Second Three Years".

See also

  • List of songwriter tandems
  • List of people educated at Westminster School

References

  • Flanders and Swann at h2g2
  • Flanders & Swann Online (archived)
  • An Evening of Flanders and Swann tribute act (archived)
  • Flanders and Swann: At the Drop of a Hippopotamus tribute act