Fanlight Fanny

"Fanlight Fanny"
Single by Clinton Ford
B-side "Dreamy City Lullaby"[1]
Released 1962
Recorded 1962
Genre Traditional pop music
Length 2:49[2]
Label Oriole Records - CB 1706[3]
Writer(s) George Formby, Harry Gifford and Frederick E. Cliffe
Producer(s) John Schroeder[4]
Clinton Ford singles chronology
"Too Many Beautiful Girls"
(1961)
"Fanlight Fanny"
(1962)
"What More Can I Say"
(1962)

"Fanlight Fanny" is a song written in 1935 by George Formby, Harry Gifford and Frederick E. Cliffe, and recorded by Formby in May that year.[5][6] Another notable version was released in 1962 by Clinton Ford.

Song information

The song when originally recorded by George Formby enjoyed a successful release on 78rpm. It was released on 29 May 1935 on Decca Records (F5569).[7] The song appeared in Formby's 1939 film, Trouble Brewing,[8] where it had an additional verse to the original.[5] The tale was of a tawdry, West End based woman of a certain age, full with alcohol and shoplifted goods, trying to earn a living in a Soho night spot, where she was "Fanlight Fanny the frowsey night-club queen".[9]

The version recorded by Clinton Ford in 1962 had accompaniment by the 'George Chisholm All Stars'.[3] It also, with permission, had added new words written by Ford.[10] "Fanlight Fanny" was Ford's third UK chart hit and his most successful single, reaching 22 in the UK Singles Chart in March 1962. It spent ten weeks in that chart.[11][12] His album Clinton Ford, also known as Clint Ford Sings Fanlight Fanny (1962), peaked at number 16 in the UK Albums Chart.[11][13]

It was an ideal type of song to counteract Ford's earlier attempts at country and rock and roll, and proved a springboard for much of what followed in his recording career. He later recorded the Wally Lindsay penned "Fanlight Fanny’s Daughter" (1963),[1] a track also released as a single, albeit with considerably less success.[5] In 1968, on Ford's album, Clinton The Clown, (re-released in 1970 on Marble Arch Records) the song's character reappeared as "Fan-Dance Fanny", a renaming and re-recording which had a small change in lyrical content.[14] In the passage of six years Fanny wore "dustbin lids on her chest" rather than her earlier "saucepan lids".[5]

Other uses

Formby's original version was used on the soundtrack to the 2008 horror film, Chemical Wedding.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 "Clinton Ford". 45-rpm.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  2. "UK Minor Hits of 1962". Addlong.co.uk. 2014-04-13. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  3. 1 2 "Clinton Ford - Fanlight Fanny / Dreamy City Lullaby (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  4. "John Schroeder, Alaska Records, Pye, Oriole, Oriole American, Sounds Orchestral, Helen Shapiro, Status Quo, Mersey Beat". Johnschroeder.co.uk. 1961-12-04. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Clinton Ford With George Chisholm And The Inmates (3) - Clinton The Clown". Discogs.com. 2014-12-30. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  6. "Fanlight Fanny chords by George Formby (Melody Line, Lyrics & Chords – 108224)". Sheetmusicdirect.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  7. "The George Formby Discography". Georgeformby.co.uk. p. 3. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  8. Trouble Brewing. "Trouble Brewing - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  9. "Fanlight Fanny-1935c by George Formby, with lyrics and chords for Ukulele, Guitar Banjo etc". Traditionalmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  10. "Clinton Ford: Singer and entertainer whose versatility was both his strength and his weakness | Obituaries". The Independent. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  11. 1 2 Sharon Mawer. "Clinton Ford | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  12. "Clinton Ford". 45-rpm.org.uk. 1931-11-04. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  13. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 207. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  14. "Clinton Ford : Fan-Dance Fanny (1968)". YouTube. 2013-02-17. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  15. "Chemical Wedding (2008) : Soundtracks". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.