In 1951 George Formby was invited to
appear on the BBC radio programme
Desert Island Discs which was hosted by
Roy Plomley. There are many recordings
of Desert Island Discs which are now
available to listen to on the BBC website
but sadly, George's appearance was
either deleted and the tape reused, or
maybe never even recorded. It is not
available at the BBC's website but details
of George's choices are there. However
there appears to be a discrepancy in that
one of GF's choices lists his biggest hit
"Leaning On A Lampost" - according to a
new book, "Desert Island Discs - 70 Years
of Castaways" written by Sean Magee and
published by Bantam Press, the list of
George's choices omits 'Lampost' but includes "Standing At The Corner
Of the Street" by George Formby Snr. I believe George would have chosen
one of his dad's songs rather than one of his own so I believe the book to
be the more reliable source.
‘Always an exciting event in the West End theatre,’ says Roy Plomley, ‘is the
advent of a new star comedian. On our desert island this evening is a brand
new discovery who is packing the customers into one of the largest theatres in
London – but although he’s new to the West End I’m quite positive that to you
and me, whose horizons are larger, he’s no new discovery at all. In fact he’s a
very old friend of ours, George Formby.’
What would this castaway miss most? The thing that would really get me
down would be not being able to get a pot of tea. I’m lost without my tea, you
know.
‘That’s where you’d have to be ingenious,’ suggests Plomley solicitously.
‘You’d have to experiment with different sorts of dried leaves, and brew up in a
coconut shell.’
But Formby is adamant that being cast away would be no fun at all: ‘Let’s face
it – I can’t cook, I couldn’t kill anything, I don’t like fruit... I’d last out on grass for
three weeks – not that I like grass, mind you.
The castaway’s early choice of records concentrates on the vocal: Bing
Crosby (There’s nobody in the world quite like him and I don’t think there ever
will be’); Vera Lynn (It’s a genuine pleasure to hear the clean way she hits every
note, and the way she phrases the song’).
By this period Roy Plomley was tending to vary the Desert Island Discs pace
a little more than in the earliest days, by making a fresh injection of
autobiographical material as the programme neared its end. On this occasion
he prompts his guest to reminisce about his father. ‘He didn’t want me to go into
the profession.’ Says George Formby junior of George Formby senior: “My
son’s going to have a proper career,” he said... It was soon after dad died. I
went into a music hall one evening and heard a comic using the old man’s
gags. I said to myself, “If anyone’s entitled to those jokes, I am.”
I went out and bought a couple of Dad’s records – including the one I’m going
to play now – and I learned the songs. A week later I opened at the
Hippodrome, Earlstown [near St. Helens].’
‘As easy as that,’ observes Plomley.
‘It wasn’t easy, I can tell you. I had to learn the whole business from the start.
I was a raw amateur. But I suppose it was in my blood, and I didn’t find it as
difficult as I might have done. But I took the precaution of not starting under my
own name. If I was going to flop, I didn’t want to drag my dad’s name into it.
By now the final minute of Desert Island Discs brought in that newly minted
question: ‘If you could take one extra object to the island, apart from something
useful like a knife or a kettle, what would it be?’
Formby does not hesitate: ‘My uke. I’d be lost without that. But not the uke I
use nowadays. I’d take the first one I ever had – the one I serenaded Beryl with
when we were courting – the one I taught myself to play on first of all. It would
keep my spirits up, and I might even be able to find a monkey who liked
listening to it.’
•
Desert Island Discs - 70 Years Of Castaways
•
BBC Desert Island Discs
Castaway George would
miss his cup of tea most
MacNamara's Band - Bing Crosby
Hear My Song, Violetta - Josef Locke
Be Like the Kettle And Sing - Vera Lynn
The Shot Gun Boogie - Tennessee Ernie Ford
Londonderry Air
The Kerry Dance - John McCormack
Never Trust A Woman - Phil Harris
Listen to George’s selection
desert island
disks
MacNamara's Band - Bing Crosby
Hear My Song, Violetta - Josef Locke
Standing At The Corner Of The Street George Formby senior