A legend of British Music Hall, Florrie Forde recorded this cylinder for the London studios of Edison Labs in March of 1910. King Edward VII was still alive (though ill), the Titanic had yet to make its maiden voyage, and the sun had not yet
set on the British Empire. These were vital times and you can hear it in this recording. The song, written by Clarence W. Murphy (co-author of "Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly" and "Hold Your Hand Out Naughty Boy"), has a deceptive simplicity -
the melody and lyrics somehow make perfect mathematical sense, and while sounding incredibly predictable are also sublimely perfect for the British Music Hall (where the audience was eager to sing a good song along with the performer). Florrie's
performance here is brilliant - she sells this number so well she'll have you singing it too. The cylinder was in very good shape and only needed the occasional click or pop removed. (There are many sites devoted to the memory of Florrie Forde,
and it would be insane to list them all, but here are two of them: Ron Smith's web site, and
Music Hall Performers web site which includes a sound sample.)
