"Winter Wonderland" - Part 2 - The British (Records) Are Coming!

We listened to a number of 1934 recordings of the then-new "Winter Wonderland" and today we continue to 1935, where we find ourselves in merry old England!

There were several outstanding dance bands in England in the mid-1930s and a couple of them recorded "Winter Wonderland" during the initial 1934/1935 period.

We start with Ambrose and his Orchestra on Decca Records:

I think the vocal on that record is by Sam Browne, who worked a lot with Bert Ambrose.

Ambrose's records were also popular in the U.S. but he resisted offers to relocate, enjoying a long, successful career in England.

Another popular British band was led by pianist Lew Stone, who recorded his version of "Winter Wonderland" for the Regal Zonophone label:

The vocal on this one is apparently by Alan Kane, Stone's regular vocalist of the time.

Much less well-known (and not popular enough to get his picture on a cigarette card!) than Ambrose or Lew Stone was saxophonist Harry Leader, although he enjoyed a long career as well. His version of "Winter Wonderland" was on the low-budget Eclipse label:

As I understand it, the Eclipse records were only eight inches (as opposed to the usual ten) and sold at Woolworth stores in England, making them British cousins of the Perfect line!

The shorter running time has the Leader band playing at a quick tempo and the vocal with the group makes for a really fun record! The lower price didn't mean a lower quality performance!

The vocalists may be Sam Browne (moonlighting from Ambrose) and the Carlyle Cousins (who also worked with Ambrose).

Interestingly, the Cousins did get a cigarette card:

These are all the British versions of "Winter Wonderland" from the initial period of the song's popularity that I was able to unearth.

The most famous British bandleader of all was Ray Noble, who moved his operations to the U.S. in 1934, but I don't think he ever recorded the song in question.

While we're over in England anyway, we shall jump ahead to 1948 with this recording by the Squadronaires on London Records:

That's another fun version by the offshoot of the Royal Air Force Dance Orchestra, as led by Jimmy Miller.

Good work by these British bands who compare quite favorably to their American counterparts!