Swingin' London: Roy Fox & Al Bowlly - If I Didn't Have You, 1932

Roy Fox & His Orchestra (At the Monseigneur Restaurant, London) with Vocal Chorus (Al Bowlly) -- If I Didn't Have You (E.Y.Harburg /Arlen) Decca 1932 (UK)

NOTE: Reginald (Roy) FOX (b. 1901 in Denver, Colorado, - d 1982, London, UK) was an American dance bandleader whose period of greatest popularity came during his years performing in England, during the British dance band era. Raised in Hollywood, California Fox began playing cornet when he was eleven years old, and by age 13 was performing in the Los Angeles Examiner's newsboys' band. At the age of 16 he joined Abe Lyman's orchestra at the Sunset Inn in Santa Monica, where he played alongside Miff Mole, Gussie Miller, Henry Halstead, and Gus Arnheim. He developed a soft style of playing there which earned him the nickname "The Whispering Cornetist". In 1920 he put together his own band, with whom he started recording in 1925. After some time in Florida and New York City, Fox was back in California, where he and Arnheim worked at the chic Cocoanut Grove, in Ambassador Hotel. In 1930 Fox was invited to perform in London, he recorded on the BBC that year, and when his band returned to the U.S. the following spring, Fox remained behind, recording with a new group for Decca Records and accepting an engagement at the Monseigneur Restaurant in Piccadilly. The Monseigneur Restaurant was one of three main hot spots for dance music in the 1930s. It shared rival prominence with the Savoy Restaurant and the Mayfair Hotel as the top showcases for the popular music of the day. Roy Fox and Lew Stone were the bandleaders, and they inhabited the Monseigneur during the depression years in the UK. Roy also made the films On the Air and Big Ben Calling in 1933-34, recorded for HMV in 1936, and toured Europe until 1938, when he fell ill and moved to Australia. There, he directed the Jay Wilbur's band and returned to Europe, when the Second World War was over. In UK he led a small band, with appearances at the Isle of Man and London's Potomac Club. He went into semi-retirement after 1952, when he opened his own booking agency. He died in London in 1982, aged 80.
During engagement at Monseigneur Restaurant, the guitarrist in his orchestra was All Bowlly who, during the night shows was asked occassionally to sing with the band. His unusually handsome apparition and beautiful warm tenor/baritone, quickly earned him professional stand as the band's vocalist. He recorded with Roy Fox numerous sides for Decca, before he shifted to other bands (Lew Stone, Ray Noble) - starting his individual vocal career.

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