This was a notice which appeared in the control room of the 成人快手 Playhouse in Hulme, Manchester.
Indeed there was NO place like Hulme – the theatre, with its rather dour appearance, was situated in what looked a bit like a bombsite, some three miles from the centre of Manchester. Vandalism, and theft and damage to cars, was a regular occurrence, so production staff were ordered to get taxis to and from the theatre for their own safety!
In spite of all this, the theatre was extraordinarily successful and home to two of the 成人快手’s most famous orchestras – the Northern Dance Orchestra and the Northern Radio Orchestra, which did sessions five days a week (the weekend being given over to light entertainment, usually with a studio audience and a full theatre).
The amount of high quality music and light entertainment produced here for network was enormous.
Among the Northern Dance Orchestra’s exceptional musicians was trumpet player, Syd Lawrence. He featured in many of the band’s recordings as a soloist.
Syd was born in Frodsham, Cheshire in 1923. His musical apprenticeship was with Geraldo, Teddy Foster and Cyril Stapleton.
In 1967, Syd became disillusioned with regularly having to play arrangements of hit songs of the 60s with the NDO. His passion was Big Band Swing and the music of Glenn Miller, not pop.
Despite advice from many members of the band, Syd left the NDO and formed his own exceptional band, with some of his colleagues from the NDO.
This move was extremely successful. The first public concert in Sheffield was a sellout, and within six months, the band had played in every corner of the UK, and in all of London’s major venues, culminating in a Royal Command performance at the London Palladium.
Syd signed a recording contract with Philips and made his first LP at Strawberry Studios, Stockport, in 1970. This was a double album of Glenn Miller classics (Philips 664017), which sold over 100,000 copies, and was eventually released with a different compilation on Philips 884827 as a CD in 1990.
This album was premiered by the late Alan Dell, and when he played ‘American Patrol’ on his show on the radio, the audience reaction was huge.
Yorkshire TV gave the orchestra a regular spot on the comedy show Sez Les – Syd knew Les Dawson from his time with the NDO, and the shows were very well received.
Syd was a charismatic figure and ‘took no prisoners’ with his musicians – anyone less than exceptional didn’t stay in the band very long. He always ‘led from the front’, and his trumpet solos were always superb.
This was a band that played from the heart, and it made them very special.
In the 1980s, Syd decided to do less touring and only covered the local venues, whilst pianist Bryan Pendleton conducted in his absence and covered the more far-flung locations. The band was still playing to packed audiences five days a week!
In 1996, Syd finally retired, and the band was taken over by trombonist Chris Dean, who is still touring with his excellent band – the Chris Dean Syd Lawrence Orchestra. In 2011, the band was voted ‘the best big band in the land’ for the 11th consecutive year.
It was our delight to meet up with Chris and the band for three days of Big Band music at Alveston Hall earlier this year – an amazing stay in the company of what I regard as the best Big Band in the UK. Listening to such good musicians and vocalists live really does lift the spirits!
Syd sadly passed away on 5 May 1998, but in the music library he collected, including many of his own arrangements, he created a legacy which continues to benefit and be enjoyed by future generations of young musicians and music lovers alike.
Now you might think that this is the end of the story – far from it!
In the middle of 2024, I got a call from my colleague David Fleming-Williams, regarding some tapes he had found in his loft. He asked if it would be possible for me to digitise them, and I suggested he bring them round and join us for lunch. When he arrived with a box full of 10-inch tapes, I was a little surprised!
After lunch we started to listen to what he had brought, and they were sensational! Perfect reproduction and superb sound, even on modern broadcast quality speakers.
What David had brought were the complete recordings Syd Lawrence had made in the Playhouse Theatre from 1969 (mono) to 1986 (stereo).
We both realised that there was something very special here that should not just be with us, but put in the public domain for everyone to enjoy. This was history!
After digitising the tapes, we had around 129 perfect recordings, every bit as good as anything released by Syd on CD – some would say a lot better!
It included around 12 extremely rare tracks of Syd’s concert orchestra – the band augmented with strings.
The Playhouse was important to Syd in his NDO days, and a perfect acoustic for any Big Bands recording there. Okay, it did have its quirks – the roof leaked and the heating did not always work – but it was still well loved!
It is my opinion that the acoustics of the Playhouse and David’s mixing skills produced the finest music and sounds that I have ever heard from any band in the Theatre.
I talked to my contact in 成人快手 Licensing and the MU, and they were happy to give me a licence to initially produce a six-CD set of this music, with the aim of getting it into the hands of broadcasters, any public sales being made for the benefit of music-based charities. But it doesn’t end there!
Subsequently, more recordings surfaced, including a digital copy of a performance which Syd did of a series of three live concert – these were also were licensed and released, taking the total number of tracks released to 171!
The NDO project sadly is now coming to a close – old age and a lack of more usable music being the main reasons!
With some 16 double albums under our belt of all the regional 成人快手 orchestras and finally Syd, it may be time to quit!
We are thrilled to celebrate, in the year which would have seen Syd celebrate his 101st birthday, some truly amazing recordings brought back into the public domain, and to remember his exceptional skills as a musician and band leader.
Indeed – there’s no place like Hulme!
Ian C Reed (NDO project)
