South Yorkshire Times – Saturday 18 September 1943
Denaby Dance Band’s Success
In Blackpool Contest
Five young Denaby musicians, after finishing their week’s work, and fresh from wedding celebrations of one of their colleagues, brought honours to the district when they made a hurried journey to Blackpool, where, on Sunday, at the Winter Gardens, they won the 1943 North Britain Dance Band Championship. This local dance band, the average age of whose members is 19 years, is the New Style Swingtette, and was formed less than twelve months ago.
Recently the band won the South Lancashire Championship and trophy for the best small dance band, and then went on to win the Rowland Powell Challenge Cup at Leeds. The Swingtette competed against nine other bands, including two or three broadcasting bands of ten players, before a crowd of over 7,000, who fully appreciated the decision of the adjudicators: Bram Martin, Jack Mirandi, Joe Kirkham, Roland Powell and Edgar Jackson.
The Swingtette had not the assistance of a conductor or a leader and were attired in their ordinary clothes, whereas all the other bands had conductors, leaders, and were dressed up for the occasion. A feature of the Swingtette is that the players do not play from music. At rehearsals a member brings along a new gramophone record, which is played over and over until the tune is learned, and then variations are improvised and the music is played until perfect. Apart from winning the championship each member received a silver cup and a diploma, while individual prizes were won for piano, guitar, drums, and two honorary mentions.
As a result of their win the Swingtette are eligible and will compete in the All England Championships to be held at Wimbledon on October 4th.
Originally there were six members in the band, but the clarinet player, Len Bedford, was unable to compete owing to R.A.F. duties. The winning players were: Trumpet, Allan Moorhouse (Conisborough), schoolboy; bass, Donald Parker (Conisborough), miner; drums, Arnold Perkins (Doncaster), engineer; piano, G. Ryder (Mexborough), miner; guitar, J. Dunn (Denaby), miner.