….and it is Judy Dyble’s vocal on Trader Horne’s Morning Way. I mean listen to her! She makes Fenella Fielding sound like Kelly-Marie Tunstall. Glorious!
*unless, of course, you know different…
I believe I have found the epicentre of poshness in the pop’n’roll universe*
by 72 Comments
Ooh! The way she pronounces “dawning” has me all-a-quiver. I really dig posh English ladies. How about this?
(Black Box Recorder – It’s Only The End Of The World)
That’s a nice tune. But after Judy, that vocalist sounds like somebody who might have actually been to a state school. Only for a couple of terms mind, after Mummy and Daddy had lost some of their money in Rhodesia when the natives took over.
I expect you have fond memories of Play Away’s Toni Arthur, mooseypoos. Here she is sounding just lovely:
And for contrast, here she is sounding common as muck with a suitably filthy-titled ditty:
Why Does The Winkle Always Turn To The Right?
That’s clearly an old music hall song about “which way the gentleman dresses”, along the lines of “Cor What A Beauty” etc. Absolute filth and totally unsuitable for children. Hurrah!
Hoi! Careful with that pin, missus!
This is way I like think of her.
You’re right, though, I do have fond memories of Toni. At that age, however, my heart was given to that wanton hussy Carol Chell. Mmmmm.
On another note, that’s clearly Richard T. playing on the Doctor Foster song.
Just checked and it’s Bob Falloon on guitar Moosey.
His mother’s mother appears in several Kurt Vonnegut books.
(wilfully obscure, and not even funny….)
But cutely cross-cultural though.
Annie Haslam out of Renaissance sounds pretty damned posh on ‘Northern Lights’.
She’s a Bolton lass. We all talk reet posh up here tha knows.
More Lostock than Great Lever, I’ll wager…;-)
Ahem!
Nornsence. Thet gel’s putting thet voice orn, in a gharstly impahsonation of Her Mejesty.
The very idea!!
I always thought it was an impersonation of Maggie.
Great tune, anyway. Belongs in the top five deadpan pop songs, along with Da Da Da and a few more.
Here’s a nice bit of posh boy. This is Nick Drake speaking like a slightly posher version of the Queen.
Early Marianne Faithfull out-poshes them all, in my opinion.
An example:
(What Have They Done To the Rain?)
I agree Hubert. But she is somehow singing as though English is not her native language .
Foreigners speaking English can tend to adopt a rather posh accent.
Like the enigmatic and extremely ambiguous Amanda Lear.
It was Mike_H KFD not me. Don’t know any posh birds me mi old china.
I’ve just shared your post on Judy’s Facebook page, hope you don’t mind Moose.
Oh dear, I’ve gone all red.
Better than being blue in Hull.
I am Spencer Tunick’s River of Ketchup.
Ah bless all your cotton sockses.. T’was my mum made me talk proper..:-)
You rang?
Do you want me to get the Rolls Royce ready, m’lady?
Judy’s reply
Judy Dyble Grinning like a mad thing 🙂 x
A tough challenge.
Shirley here has not got that exquisiten elocution, but she must be worth a few style points. To sing “I who have nothing” in an evening gown costing several thousand quid and dripping in exquisite jewelry demands a certain aristocratic bravado.
To paraprase Roger Daltrey when introducing her on Top Of The Pops:
” ‘ere’s a cracking bird wiv a right posh voice”
Sue Wilkinson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkz3_xul54g
A bit more info about Salacious Susan:
http://yesitsnumberone.blogspot.se/2011/09/alternative-totp-canon-33-sue-wilkinson.html
That is a very peculiar record, Rigid. Glad you posted it.
Julie Driscoll came to mind, but when I walked this wonderful clip, I realised she is regal rather than posh. But I’m posting it anyway.
Season of the Witch
Julie D is not so much a posh bird as a sexy alien.
Abduct me!
Not in Judy Dyble’s league, certainly, but this exercise in nostalgia – or should I say ‘poshtalgia’ – carries more than a trace of your fancy vowel sounds.
As always the answer isn’t Bowie.
The true barometer of social change in the post-war era is Jagger.
His voice of any given time also dictates whether the Stones’ record is worth listening to:
Middle Class/Grammar School voice bordering on the very posh (which he got lock, stock and barrel from Brian) = great.
More common than Albert Steptoe/Reg Varney’s love child = shite.
Mick knew which way the wind was blowing. Sharpest knife in the drawer.
Currently reading Mike Oldfield’s autobiography ‘Changeling’ and Mike speaks very highly of Mick, although he hasn’t seen him since 1973. Mike’s sister Sally was at school and friends with Marianne Faithfull. Apologies if this is all common knowledge, but it’s new and interesting stuff to me, so I thought I’d shoehorn it in here.
Backstage at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1973, before Oldfield’s debut performance of Tubular Bells, Mick Taylor, who was playing in Oldfield’s band that night, brought Mick Jagger into Oldfield’s dressing room. Mentally, Oldfield was at a very low ebb, having suffered from anxiety and panic attacks for years, and he really didn’t want to do the concert. Oldfield says that Jagger was charming and hugely encouraging, and boosted his self-confidence before the show.
To which I would add the following day’s tubular tabloid headline: A Mix of Micks Makes Mike’s Music Magic.
I just watched the Stones In The Park doco – Mick is interviewed and talks in his middle class slightly posh voice but then onstage it’s “right ‘ere’s a bit o’ Shelley for ya”
No, the answer isn’t Bowie. It’s Bowie’s girlfriend.
Dusty Springfield?
http://youtu.be/8jo7XUHfrsk
Vashti is none too weak in the poshness stakes. She pronounces “grass” and “pass” correctly, not wrongly like Northerners do.
Who mentioned Ms. Fielding?
With a name like Fenella, how could one not be posh? That was a very new New Order!
The ladies are dominating this thread. Here’s further proof of how well Johny Foreign does posh.
The wonderful Max Raabe sings Sex Bomb.
If there’s any red-blooded Englishman who can redress the balance on this thread, it’s thespian extraordinaire StephenToast. Can’t find an appropriate song from the series, so here is a very inappropriate German film being dubbed.
Posh blokes? They don’t come any posher than pioneer UK rapper Johny B.
Indoor games near Newbury
Now that’s an interesting point. As the son of an ornamental furniture maker from a minor public schools (as Marlborough was at the time), Betjeman wasn’t considered terribly posh in the set he hung around with. His fruity accent – like Waugh’s – was that of an arriviste, covering his tracks.
I properly love that album. “Rigid and dead! Rigid and dead!” Rock on, Johnny!
Suggs chose the Portrait of a Deaf Man on Desert Island Discs, which was perfect for him for some reason I can’t quite put my finger on.
Interesting point Bartleby.
Then again, Fenella Fielding, seen by many as a real paragon of posh, was the daughter of Russian-Rumanian Jewish immigrants. And Viv Stanshall, who could do posh with the best of them, was from Essex.
I suspect many of the “poshest” accent here have been diligently worked on by gifted singers and thespians.
‘ere! Nuffink wrong being from Essex, cock! The Earl of Essex was from Essex, as was Anna Neagle.
As indeed was Lord Upminster…
I used to live opposite Fenella in Chiswick. From Clapton, then Edgware. Always immaculate, if a little unsteady on her feet. She once signed an old publicity shot for my daughter. It must have been left over from Carry on Screaming. Wonderful voice and accent, but that and hamming it up in the Carry Ons did somewhat time limit her career. While I remember, she did a brilliant spot on Just a Minute. Criminally underused I think:
I always used to think it was her voice on the Chambourcy advert, which always gave me a funny feeling in my tummy that had nothing to do with wanting chocolate. It clearly isn’t FF, but is definitely FFS.
Ad. starts at 7:29. WARNING: clip features Jim Davidson. And in general will remind you how f888ing godawful the 80s was.
Sounds very like her I’d say. You sure it’s not?
No, I’m not. And it might also be Joan Greenwood who – if anything – had an even posher voice.
She was the voice of the public announcements in the Village.
(ff to 18:55)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo4HOmqd9fo&list=PLAPGcD5LGrp46MmLZPQ45Au-KGlVCS-8h
I love John Betjeman for some reason. He was a jolly good cove – cuddly teddy bear of a man. Those Charisma records with Jim Parker are wonderful things. I owned all of them with the exception of Varsity Rag until recently when I purchased an ex library copy from Oxfam in Leamington (oh how appropriate!) for a couple of quid. Oh chintzy, chintzy cheeriness! Betjeman is buried in St Enodoc’s Church in Cornwall. It is worth visiting, although last time I was there, some years back, half the churchyard was buried beneath encroaching sand dunes.
But to return to the subject – Trader Horne. I was lucky enough to see their reunion show at Green Man a few weeks ago. Enchanting. One thing I love about the album is the way that Judy Dyble’s vocal is in the left channel and Jackie McCauley’s in the right. It works a treat. You never hear that kind of thing in modern recordings. I really don’t know why not.
Betjeman was a massive Coronation Street fan. That makes him OK in my book.
Wasn’t it him who described it as the Pickwick Papers of our time?
Exactly. Betjeman once said: “Manchester produces what to me is the Pickwick Papers. That is to say, Coronation Street, I live for it. Thank God. Half past seven tonight and I shall be in paradise.”
Well Albert Tatlock* was in it in them days, so ‘appen he was right.
(*Peace and blessings be upon him)
With the exception of Jeff Beck, the Yardbirds came across like a regular bunch of home counties poshos and in the early days Jimmy Page especially was Little Lord Fauntleroy personified
Excellent clip. When was that filmed? Oops – now I see – 63. Glad it’s that early. Still, session musician 2.5 years after picking up the instrument isn’t bad going!
Great interview!
We have concentrated on posh accents in the UK What about posh accents in other countries? (After all my years in Sweden, I can now probably identify if someone comes Östermalm: the Knightbridge of Stockholm. )
But I’m not sure how well I’d do with identifying the accent nuances and distinguishing the bluebloods from the bluecollars in the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
The rain in Maine falls mainly on the plains?
Sir Les Patterson is a cultural attache so he must sound upper crust.
How dare you post this coarse and common colonial on my lovely thread. Judy herself has dropped by and will be appalled. I suggest you replace it with something involving daisies and unicorns.
My profoundest apologies, Moose. Sir Les is a bit of a rough diamond.
I’m sure Judy will be far more comfortable in the company of a Dame.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iBav8zr9n4
Here’s a posh Barbara Gaskin on a short but delightful song from Spirogyra.
https://youtu.be/yBMkYBa16h0
Once upon a time announcers on the government ABC network had to talk proper-like….here’s a newsreader who made the mistake of having Spike Milligan within earshot of the microphone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VGcNJBD3t4
Kathleen Farrier sounded well posh. In fact she was the daughter of a Lancashire village schoolteacher.
I see spell check has converted her name to Farrier. I can just see her trimming horses hooves and shoeing them. Not ‘orses ‘ooves.
Having lived outside the UK for 30 years, I’m a bit vague on what constitutes a posh accent these days. Ellena Tonra of Daughter sounded ridiculously well spoken to me during a recent KEXP session. But my current flashback fave is the one out of the Belle Stars who does the posh voiceover in Sign of the Times.
Petula Clark? Probably more RP than “posh” but beautifully sung nonetheless.
Great voice! Our old mate Brian Mathews keeps the PC flame alive.
Not today he didn’t, much to my dismay as Pet was one of my picks for SOTS bingo.
I was awarded a point for Joe Brown, though.
Shame I missed that. I’m really INTO early Joe Brown.
(sorry yes, this is getting weird now)
Oh, “Stop”! (Well, close enough at one generation away.)