Radio Review: 28 November

There are few more joyous sounds than Mais Oui by The King Brothers, a number 16 hit in the summer of 1960. As a youngster some years later, I played my mother’s Parlophone 45 of it until the vinyl was almost grey.

Denis King was one of the three siblings on that record, and he popped up as a guest on Sue Marchant’s Sunday-night show, talking about his days on the road with the family firm and his subsequent career as a composer with themes such as The Adventures Of Black Beauty and Lovejoy to his credit.

A professional at 13, he told of attending a different school each week as he and his brothers toured the variety halls. The secret of their success, he said, was in part down to recording cover versions of hit American songs before the original could cross the Atlantic.

The slightly fractured nature of King’s formal education meant that when he came to orchestrate the Black Beauty theme, he had to call on a good friend who’d been an organ scholar at Oxford. So it was that Dudley Moore helped King to score the piece.

Later, King was responsible for the melody side of Worzel Gummidge: The Musical, which I was lucky enough to see on stage 30-odd years ago. Marchant played one of the songs from the original cast recording, which has, happily, just been reissued on CD.

It was a jolly chat, and when Marchant asked the still very active King about his proudest achievements, it was lovely to be reminded of Dick Vosburgh, comedy writer extraordinaire and curator of song, with whom King wrote and performed numerous shows, including A Saint She Ain’t. It’s just a shame we didn’t hear Mais Oui.

Sue Marchant, BBC radio in the eastern counties, Sundays, 8pm.
Louis on Twitter: @LFBarfe or email: wireless@cheeseford.net