Flanders and Swann

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FLANDERS AND SWANN On the 25th April we were treated to an interesting talk and musical extravaganza from Kevin Varty on the work and music of Michael Flanders and Donald Swann. The talk whilst giving the history of the duo, concentrated on the music and lyrics and demonstrated the different types of songs they were known for by playing some including I’m a Gnu and The Gasman Cometh. It was surprising how topical these songs still are! Flanders and Swann met early in life when they both attended Westminster school. This is where they started their collaboration on a school revue called “Go To It”, Flanders wrote the lyrics whilst Swann wrote the music. When they left school they went their separate ways until they met again after the war in Oxford. By this time Michael had contracted polio and was using a wheelchair. They started to perform their own songs at private parties and to small audiences and were persuaded to open their own revue on New Year’s Eve in 1956 at the New Lindsey, a small theatre in Notting Hill. They called the show ‘At the Drop of a Hat’ - a musical revue that had no scenery, two grey curtains, a piano, a man in a wheelchair and a cast that had hired their suits from Moss Bros. This format was the one they were to continue to use until they stopped performing together in 1967. At the Drop of a Hat was so successful that three weeks later it transferred to the Fortune Theatre in the West End where it ran for 759 performances and was followed by another revue At the Drop of Another Hat. Flanders and Swann toured the country and took the revue abroad to New Zealand, Australia and Broadway. It was a most informative and enjoyable talk bringing back many memories when we listened to the music. Linda Hiscott .

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