The New Vaudeville Band was an English group created by songwriter Geoff Stephens in 1966 to record his novelty composition "Winchester Cathedral", a song inspired by the dance bands of the 1920s and a Rudy Vallée 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 No. 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.
- Stan Haywood (aka Stanley K. Wood): piano
- 'Mad' Henri Harrison: drums, spoons, washboard, percussion and effects both based on locations in London. The sleeve notes for this release state 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". This same line-up also issued a live LP around the same time.
A further album entitled The Best Of the New Vaudeville Band appeared in 1979, consisting of new recordings and a few re-recordings of the 1960s hits. By this time Steve Shaw (trombone, keyboards, congas, backing vocals) had replaced Batchelor. Bache dropped out for the final album, Vaudeville, issued in 1981. The revived version of the New Vaudeville Band broke up in 1988.
Discography
Studio albums
- Winchester Cathedral (1966)
- Finchley Central (titled There's a Kind of Hush in South Africa; US version On Tour shares 9 tracks) (1967)
- The World of the New Vaudeville Band (1974)
- While We Are All Assembled! (1978)
- The Best of the New Vaudeville Band (1979)
- Vaudeville (1981)
Singles
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Title
! rowspan="2"| Release
! colspan="5"| Peak chart positions
! rowspan="2"| Album
|-
! scope="col" style=font-size:90%;"| UK<br />
! scope="col" style=font-size:90%;"| AUS
! scope="col" style=font-size:90%;"| CAN<br />
! scope="col" style=font-size:90%;"| SA<br />
! scope="col" style=font-size:90%;"| US<br />
|-
! scope="row"|"Winchester Cathedral"
| 1966
|align="center"|4
|align="center"|1
|align="center"|1
|align="center"|1
|align="center"|1
|Winchester Cathedral
|-
! scope="row" |"Peek-a-Boo"
| rowspan="5" |1967
| align="center" |7
| align="center" |10
| align="center" |53
| align="center" |—
| align="center" |72
|On Tour <small>(US)</small> / Finchley Central <small>(UK)</small>
|-
! scope="row" |"There's a Kind of Hush"
| align="center" |—
| align="center" |12
| align="center" |—
| align="center" |2
| align="center" |—
|Winchester Cathedral
|-
! scope="row"|"Finchley Central"
|align="center"|11
|align="center"|42
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|14
|align="center"|102
|On Tour <small>(US)</small> / Finchley Central <small>(UK)</small>
|-
! scope="row"|"Green Street Green"
|align="center"|37
|rowspan="2"|92
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|Non-LP single
|-
! scope="row"|"Thoroughly Modern Millie"
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|On Tour <small>(US)</small>
|-
! scope="row"|"The Bonnie and Clyde"
| 1968
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|122
|Non-LP single
|-
! scope="row"|"Dear Rita Hayworth"
| 1973
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|The World of the New Vaudeville Band
|-
! scope="row"|"At Last"
| 1976
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|Non-LP single
|-
! scope="row"|"Thank You for the Music"
| 1978
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|—
|The Best of the New Vaudeville Band
|}
References
External links
- New Vaudeville Band tribute MySpace page