Henry Hall

Henry Hall (2 May 1898–28 October 1989) was a British bandleader. He played from the 1920s to the 1950s. In 1932 he recorded the song Teddy Bear's Picnic with his BBC Orchestra. The record gained enormous popularity and has sold over a million copies. Henry Hall was born in Peckham, south London and served in both the Salvation and British Armies. His early musical career was slow to start but eventually he was engaged by the old London Midland and Scottish Railway to be in charge of the music throughout their then large chain of hotels. This included Gleneagles, where he had formerly led the band. It was from there that the BBC took him in 1932 as successor to Jack Payne as leader of the BBC Dance Orchestra, and from Broadcasting House at 5.15 each week day Henry gathered a huge following. His signature tune was 'It's Just the Time for Dancing' and he usually ended with 'Here's to the Next Time'. In 1937 Hall left the BBC to tour with his band, which comprised many of his BBC band. He toured the halls in Britain and Europe, generating a certain amount of controversy by dropping numbers by Jewish composers while playing in Nazi Berlin. During the Second World War, Hall played for the troops and after it developed his show business interests becoming something of an agent and producer. His BBC work again blossomed as he hosted "Henry Hall's Guest Night" on the radio, and later TV, as well as the programme "Face the Music". Hall had a son, Michael, who served in the Royal Navy. Michael (Mike) Hall went on to join show business and was a popular "chairman" at the Players' Theatre in its days in Villiers Street, London WC2 Hall published an autobiography "Here's to the Next Time" and featured in the documentary "BBC - The Voice of Britain" (1935), the source of the "This is Henry Hall speaking" clip much used in modern documentaries on this period.