Gems from The Co-Optimists 1921 arr. Henry Pether

James Pitt-Payne, London UK - 21 May 2004

Camden Town my Camden Town,
where the rents are low,
Liptons know no other land,
Woolworth's stands a show.
Breezy, grassy Camden Town!
Bacon sides of brown!
Land of Maypole margerine.
My cheesy Camden Town.

We only met one golden day,
and then we had to part.
To you it was an hour or two,
to me it was my heart.
You will forget, and I shall try,
so neither is to blame,
but I shall remember your kisses
when you have forgotten my name.

Along the Fairway
along the fairway!
That's where I love to be.
A yard from the rough is good enough
if it's a hundred and ninety from the tee;
let others ramble 'mid furze and bramble
where the lie is difficult to see,
but the sparse and the spare way
straight down the Fairway
is the fair wearandtear way for me.

[He:] I'll nearly always be true to you!
[She:] That is very nice of you.
[He:] It's seldom I'll miss my cue.
[She:] I shall know just what to do.
[He:] I'll leave you never hardly ever.
I swear by your side I'll stay.
Most of the day.
The fibs I'll tell you will be so few.
[She:] I'll allow you one or two.
[He:] At least, dear, they'll all be new.
[She:] Are you very nearly thro'?
[He:] And though I may wander,
my heart will grow fonder.
I promise I'll be practically true to you.

Come along then, lads and lasses,
life is short and soon it passes,
shout your song and clink your glasses!
Fiddler youth am I...

M'Yes! M'No! Oh, do!
I am so fond of you.
I know girls, but you're the best, dear.
Anyone can keep the rest, dear.
I'm in love with your big eyes of blue.
M'No! M'Yes! M'No!
You love my eyes of blue!
Think of all that might have been.
You're colourblind,
My eyes are green.
M'No! M'Yes! That's right.

That I was the hit of the masquerade ball.
I caused a sensation and startled them all.
As Bonnie Prince Charlie
I went with bare knees,
the girls gathered round me
like mice after cheese.
With Maudie and Gertie
I got very flirty.
I gave every lady a chance,
and I staggered the bunch
when I bathed in the punch
Oh, I was a success at the dance!

Where the sweet Mimosa grows
Chinky Chinky wash your clothes
wash them pretty all day long,
little maid from old Hong Kong.
Dream all day of you
this sounds like Amapoo
Wun Lung Tu
Across the ocean blue,
Wun Lung Tu,
my heart just yearns for you.
Dream of me while you drink Oolong tea.
I shall sail upon my yacht.
That's the yacht that he's not got.
China boy sings tommy rot
to Wun Lung Tu.

On the banks of the Bakerloo,
where they stand in an endless queue,
and birds with fair skins
appear in rare skins,
and some have bear skins
anyone can view.
They all flock there
at the close of day,
by twelve o'clock there
they have flown away
each one is slap full,
with ev'ry strap full,
there's the vicar's lap full
on the Bakerloo.

Soft karaoke
Words
banjo
tenor sax
accordion
syn str 1
lyric
syn brass 2
drum
pizz
tymp
flute
fr hrn
tuba
*
Gems From The Co-Optimists 1921
arr. Henry E. Pether
© MCMXXII by Francis, Day & Hunter
*
sequence and karaoke by James Pitt-Payne, London UK
on Friday 21 May 2004 at 22.30
in association with Doug Grierson
*
By the end of the 19th century the railways were bringing
holidaymakers to the new resorts in their thousands.
Going not for a week or two, as now, but for two or three
months. On the beaches and promenades a vast potential
audience had congregated with no regular entertainment
provided for them. It was the pierrots who first produced
an organised form of seaside show, quickly establishing
themselves with their distinctive costume. Gradually, the
pierrots became more and more professional, until in the
1920`s one troupe, 'The Co-optimists', took London by
storm and played there for six years. Later disappearing
with  the introduction  of the sophisticated concert
party troupes.
*

Gems From The Co-Optimists 1921
arr. Henry E. Pether
Camden Town s-b Davy Burnaby, Melville Gideon & Miss Betty Chester
I Shall Remember Your Kisses s-b Clifford Grey & Melville Gibson
Along The Fairway s-b Arthur Anderson, Melville Gideon & Stanley Holloway
I Promise I'll Be Practically True To You
s-b Clifford Grey, Melville Gideon & Phyllis Monkman
Fiddler Youth s-b P.J.O'Reilly, Rae Roy & Elsa Macfarlane
M'Yes! M'No! s-b Davy Burnaby, Melville Gideon, Laddie Cliff
& Miss Phyllis Monkman
I Was A Success At The Dance
s-b A.E.Illingworth & Laddie Cliff
Wun Lung Tu s-b Davy Burnaby & Melville Gideon
On The Banks Of The Bakerloo s-b Reg Low