Just this week I have discovered on the BBC Radio 2 website that they are running a documentary on George Formby, a Northern England comedian who was EMI's biggest star in the 1930s and 1940s.
I discovered his music in my grandmother's record collection when I was a kid. I don't know what it was but it was the strangest and funniest music I'd heard. It wasn't until I hit my teenage years that I finally worked out what he was singing about, and also worked out all the cheeky double entendre that his songs were laced with!!!
It's probably no surprise that a lot of his work was banned by the BBC back in the day as being "utter filth". Indeed, the songs are still pretty racey by today's standards. Their content just isn't as blatant as other artists around these days.
The BBC's documentary is of an excellent standard and is full of insight, even if you're a young person, there's plenty of contemporary references throughout which make it very interesting. It really demonstrates how George and his manager-wife Beryl were trailblazers in the entertainment industry back then.
Below is a song by George called "Granddad's Flannelette Nightshirt", with an amended verse not featured on the recording.
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