Wally Whyton (born Wallace Victor Whyton, 23 September 1929,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
- died 22 January 1997, London), was a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
musician, songwriter and radio and TV personality.
He grew up listening to jazz, blues and folk music, and learned to play first the piano, then trombone, and finally guitar. In 1956, while working in advertising
http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirv/vipers.htm, he formed the Vipers Skiffle Group, which became the resident band at the 2i's Coffee Bar in
SohoSoho is an area in the centre of the West End of London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is an entertainment district which for much of the later part of the 20th century had a reputation for its sex shops as well as its night life and film industry...
.
Wally Whyton (born Wallace Victor Whyton, 23 September 1929,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
- died 22 January 1997, London), was a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
musician, songwriter and radio and TV personality.
He grew up listening to jazz, blues and folk music, and learned to play first the piano, then trombone, and finally guitar. In 1956, while working in advertising
http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirv/vipers.htm, he formed the Vipers Skiffle Group, which became the resident band at the 2i's Coffee Bar in
SohoSoho is an area in the centre of the West End of London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is an entertainment district which for much of the later part of the 20th century had a reputation for its sex shops as well as its night life and film industry...
. After a number of hit records produced by
George MartinSir George Henry Martin CBE is a British record producer, arranger and composer. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"—a title that he owes to his work as producer of all but one of The Beatles' original records, as well as playing piano on some of The Beatles tracks—and is...
, including Whyton's song "Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O", the group split up in 1960, and Whyton moved into television work.
Very photogenic and with a soft spoken voice, Wally Whyton normally wore a cardigan as he presented the children's programmes
Small Time,
Lucky Dip,
Tuesday RendezvousTuesday Rendezvous was a British children's television show which was transmitted on Tuesdays and Fridays .-History:Howard Williams , Muriel Young and Bert Weedon presented the show between 1961 and 1963, assisted by glove puppets Pussy Cat Willum and Fred Barker Tuesday Rendezvous was a British...
(on which
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
made their second TV appearance, performing
Love Me Do"Love Me Do" is an early Lennon/McCartney song, principally written by Paul McCartney in 1958–59 while playing truant from school. John Lennon wrote the middle eight. The song was The Beatles' first single, backed by "P.S. I Love You" and released on 5 October 1962...
),
Five O'Clock Club,
Ollie and Fred's Five O'Clock Club and
Five O'Clock Funfair for
Associated-RediffusionAssociated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion, London, was the British ITV contractor for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 1954 and 29 July 1968...
and Rediffusion London, appearing with the puppet characters Pussy Cat Willum, the
owlThe Owls are the order Strigiformes, comprising 200 birds of prey, species. Most are solitary, and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, though a few species specialize in hunting fish. They are found in all regions of the Earth except...
Ollie Beak and Fred Barker the dog (the latter two of which he created himself) and often with
Muriel YoungMuriel Young was a British television continuity announcer, presenter and producer.-Early life:...
and
Bert WeedonBert Weedon OBE was an English guitarist and composer during the 1950s and 1960s.-Biography:Weedon began learning the guitar at twelve...
. Wally Whyton normally performed a song while playing his guitar on the children's shows.
Subsequently, many will remember him as the host of Granada TV's 'Time For A Laugh', a teatime collection of cartoon capers. From the 1960s to the 1990s he was a presenter on
BBC Radio 2BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the UK. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
, mainly fronting
folkThe term folk music originated in the 19th century as a term for musical folklore. It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer...
and
country musicCountry music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains...
programmes. One of these was called "Hello Folk" another one "Country Club" and on once a week in the evening. He always finished it by saying in his very recognisable way: "Goodnight".
Despite his busy schedule as a broadcaster, Whyton continued to find time to record. As well as recording an album of
Woody GuthrieWoodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
songs,
Children's Songs of Woody Guthrie, he wrote and recorded the conservation anthem, "Leave Them a Flower".
The cover of Whyton's
It's Me, Mum! is immortalized in Steve Carter's "Worst Album Covers Ever Created".
External links