1940s singer Archives - Retro Singer

Remembrance Day Singer

November 16, 2017 By Lisa Martin Leave a Comment

I had a busy weekend for last week’s Remembrance Day, performing my 1940s wartime show in Glasgow and Fife, Scotland. It was a lovely sunny but briskly cold November weekend, and it was great to see such a large turnout for both events.

Remembrance Day, also known as Armistice Day, is a memorial day held every year on 11th November to commemorate the end of the First World War, when hostilities finally ended in 1918 at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. It gives people the opportunity to honour the memory of the members of the Armed Forces who gave their lives in the line of duty.

My venue in Glasgow was the Kirkintilloch Rangers Supporters Club, a lovely friendly club with a really strong community spirit about it. Everybody had turned out in force wearing their poppies with pride, and the band played a rousing selection of hymns and marches.

I sang my selection of old-time classics by Vera Lynn, Gracie Fields and many other wartime favourites, and it was great to hear everyone singing along.

At the end of the day a beautiful memorial bench was presented in honour of a local member of the community who had fought in the First World War. What a beautiful gesture on a lovely occasion, and a privilege for me to be a part of.

On Remembrance Sunday I travelled across to Glenrothes in Fife to perform at the CISWO club. Another fab club, CISWO host a broad selection of events for the local community to enjoy. I was made very welcome by staff and customers alike, and enjoyed performing a wide range of music for the afternoon, beginning with my wartime show and ending with modern songs for dancing.

This will be my last opportunity to perform at this venue as they are moving next week to new premises across the road. I wish them the best of luck, and look forward to returning to see the new club.

Vera Lynn Tribute – Happy 100th Birthday

March 20, 2017 By Lisa Martin Leave a Comment

Today is a very special day, as it’s the centenary of 1940s World War 2 singer Dame Vera Lynn. Vera Lynn, ‘The Forces Sweetheart’ started her singing career at the tender age of seven, and she’s still going strong now, having just released her latest album to celebrate her hundredth birthday!

Vera Lynn captured hearts across the nation during the Second World War, keeping the home fires burning and spirits high with her popular radio show ‘Sincerely Yours’. She entertained the troops in Egypt, India and Burma, remaining a total professional despite terrible conditions.

After the war she remained very popular around the world, with hit records, TV shows, and Royal Variety Performances.

To this day she remains a national treasure, and has been honoured for her centenary by a special variety performance at the London Palladium theatre. Her image has even been projected onto the white cliffs of Dover as a special tribute to this living legend.

I made my own tribute to Vera Lynn with this video of my rendition of one of her most beautiful songs: The White Cliffs of Dover.

Happy Birthday to a truly remarkable woman!

1940s style 80th Birthday Party

December 18, 2015 By Lisa Martin Leave a Comment

This month I performed at my most important VIP gig of the year – my mum’s 80th birthday party! We decided to have a 1940s / 1950s theme to give her a little reminder of what life was like when she was a young slip of a thing 😉

Nobody needed much of an excuse to get into the mood and dress up accordingly. It helps that 1940s fashion is so easy to access nowadays with many online shops providing cool vintage looks.

My gorgeous cousins suit the 1940s look!

I did a little snippet of my 1940s and 1950s show to get the party started, then two of my cousins (Shirley and Becca) took to the mic and kept the singing going (what a talented family we are!). My partner Stephen is also a singer and musician, so he finished the night off with some music to keep everyone dancing.

My mum had a brilliant time, she was grinning from ear to ear from the moment she walked in. She was up on the dancefloor all night – I don’t know where she gets her energy from – she’s living proof that age really is just a number!

The birthday girl looking fabulous

It took me two car journeys to get all the presents and cards back to my mum’s house – not to mention the all-important birthday cake.

It was so nice to get to see all my family, as I really don’t see enough of everyone now that I live up in Glasgow. Big thanks to everyone that helped organise the party, including my brother Danny and his girlfriend Barb who laid out a delicious buffet, my cousins Kate and Shirley for providing a stunning vintage-style birthday cake plus some lovely party decorations, and everyone else for joining in with all the fun!

Afternoon tea party at the Marriott Hotel Glasgow

October 21, 2015 By Lisa Martin Leave a Comment

The Marriott Hotel in Glasgow was the venue for a vintage-style afternoon tea party I performed at recently. Based in Argyle Street in the centre of Glasgow Scotland, the Marriott is a very popular choice for corporate functions and parties.

The event was hosted by a pharmaceutical company, who had invited patients to an open day and wanted to finish off with afternoon tea and entertainment. I came along with a mixture of golden-oldies to cheer up the visitors who had had a long morning taking in information, so they were glad of a little light entertainment with some tea and cake to refresh themselves!

Many thanks to Catherine Price from MPI for ensuring everything ran smoothly.

VE Day Show in Altrincham

May 12, 2015 By Lisa Martin Leave a Comment

I spent a lovely afternoon in the beautiful village of Hale Barns near Altrincham last week, commemorating VE Day at Sunrise Senior Living retirement home. What a gorgeous place – it was more like a luxury hotel than a retirement home! I asked if I could move in but unfortunately I’m not eligible yet! 😉

I performed my 1940s VE day show to the residents and staff there, with plenty of great wartime classics from Vera Lynn, plus some other popular songs from the 1950s and 1960s. We had a good old singalong and really enjoyed ourselves. Even the resident Sunrise dog, Alfie, got into the spirit of things as he wandered about checking it all out (thankfully he didn’t ‘mark his territory’ on my mic stand, ha!).

It was great to see the staff had really made an effort to get in the mood, decorating the lounge with bunting and dressing in 1940s style. A big thank you to Ashleigh and her team for making me feel so welcome, and to Terry of Steppin’ Out Entertainments, hopefully I’ll be back again soon.

Vintage 1940s & 1950s Show Newtonmore

April 29, 2015 By Lisa Martin Leave a Comment

This Saturday (2nd May) I will be heading up north to Newtonmore to perform my 1940s / 1950s show at the Village Hall for Friends of the Main House. We’ll be commemorating the 70th anniversary of VE Day by singing all the great songs from that fabulous era.

There are still some tickets left for this event, so if you fancy spending your May Day weekend celebrating vintage-style up in the beautiful village of Newtonmore, call 01540 662294. Tickets are £12.50 and include a light supper. The show starts at 7.30pm. Hope to see you there!

1940s Wartime Tribute Show in Cumbria

October 21, 2014 By Lisa Martin Leave a Comment

I recently paid a visit to Grange-Over-Sands where I was booked to perform my 1940s wartime tribute show at the Cumbria Grand Hotel.

The Cumbria Grand Hotel is a lovely old building which overlooks Morecambe Bay. I have great memories of this area as we used to go on holiday there to Pontins when I was little – ahh the exotic and glamorous vacations of my youth!

The Grand Ballroom at the Cumbria Grand is a very good size with an excellent dancefloor. I was reliably informed by one of the audience members (who was 83 and still cut a fine figure on the dancefloor!) that the floor was one of the best around for dancing as it ‘wasn’t sticky’. Apparently a lot of places are reticent about having a slippery dancefloor these days due to the risk of anyone having a fall and claiming compensation.

The audience were up for dancing from the word go, so for my 2^nd set I did my 1950s show, with plenty of rock and roll numbers for jiving to. After the show it was nice to get a chance to go around and have a chat to the audience members to find out where everybody had come from.

There were groups who hailed from all around the UK, including London, Newcastle, Wales, and even some from near my hometown on the Wirral. It was nice to hear that familiar accent again, as I don’t get to hear it that much nowadays, having lived in Scotland for the past several years.

Normandy Veterans Association war memorial

The next morning was a lovely day with lots of autumn leaves around, giving a real rustic look which seemed to really suit the hotel off to its best advantage. I had a look around the area, stopping at the train station and the Normandy Veterans Association war memorial, which was set in a very peaceful and picturesque sunken garden. According to the plaque, this area is thought to be the most historic place in Grange-Over-Sands, and it was certainly a charming place to visit on a sunny autumn morning.

Beautiful countryside in Cumbria

Sunrise at Grange-Over-Sands train station

Cumbria really is a beautiful part of the UK, and the Cumbria Grand is well worth a visit, especially if you like dancing.

Golden Wedding Anniversary at Douglas Park Golf Club

October 6, 2014 By Lisa Martin Leave a Comment

Last weekend I sang at a beautiful Golden Wedding Anniversary party at Douglas Park Golf Club. It was a nice local booking for me as Bearsden is less than an hour away.

It’s the first time I’ve performed at Douglas Park Golf Club, and I must say I was very impressed, not only by the stunning views of the golf course, but also by the lovely staff, who were genuinely friendly and very welcoming. A big thank you goes out to Moses and Lisa for all their help and hospitality on the night.

The clubhouse itself was very nice indeed: a perfect venue for an intimate gathering. The room was a nice comfortable size for a small party, plus it also featured a good-sized dancefloor. Excellent use of lighting gave the room that extra-special touch too.

I always love to perform at Golden Wedding Anniversary functions, as it feels such a wonderful and important thing to celebrate a couple who have stayed happily together for such a long time. It’s so lovely to be part of that very special celebration.

When I look around at all the guests I wonder who was originally present at the wedding and imagine what life was like for them on that day 50 years ago; how they have changed, and how the world around them has changed too.

In this case it would have been 1964, and the world was indeed a very different place back then. The average weekly wage was £16, BBC2 made its first broadcast (which was Play School!), the Forth Road Bridge was opened, and Harold Wilson was poised to become Britain’s first Labour Prime Minister in 13 years.

Music was very different back then too. Whenever I sing at a Wedding Anniversary party I like to look back and see what was in the ‘Hit Parade’ back then, so I can include some of the songs that would have been around when the happy couple were in the first blush of romance.

In 1964 Beatlemania was in full flow, and they had pretty much taken over the charts. Their first film, A Hard Day’s Night, was released in July of that year. The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and Cilla Black were also very popular.

James Bond featured in the cinema and in the charts too, as there were two ‘007’ movies out that year: ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘From Russia with Love’, with their respective theme tunes becoming huge hits for Shirley Bassey and Matt Monro.

On this occasion however, I had been asked to perform music from a slightly earlier era: Swing songs and other classic easy-listening standards. I was glad to do so as this is my personal favourite genre of music!

I chose a mixed program that included plenty of lovely old romantic songs such as ‘Fly me to the moon’ by Frank Sinatra, ‘I only have eyes for you’ by Ella Fitzgerald, and the 1950s Jo Stafford hit ‘You belong to me’.

I soon realised that the guests were really up for a party as they were up on the dance floor from the word go. So as the night went on I shifted from swing music to timeless pop classics such as ‘Baby Love’ by The Supremes and ‘Kissin’ in the back row’ by The Drifters, to keep everybody happy on the dancefloor. I also got a request for some country music, so I added a bit of Dolly Parton into the mix, plus a Boney M medley in response to numerous ‘Slosh’ requests!

I finished off a lovely evening with what is in my opinion the perfect Golden Wedding Anniversary song: ‘The Anniversary Waltz’ by Vera Lynn.

My warmest congratulations go out to Andrew and Brenda. May they enjoy many more happy years together.

World War One Centenary Event in Scotland

September 25, 2014 By Lisa Martin Leave a Comment

Preston Pans Royal British Legion was filled with nostalgia this September when they paid tribute to the World War One Centenary on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

The club was very busy with people who had come along to commemorate the centenary.

A fabulous brass band started off the proceedings with their beautiful renditions of World War One classics such as ‘The sunshine of your smile’ and the rousing ‘It’s a long way to Tipperary’.

I continued on with the trip throughout the decades with my 1940s World War Two show, followed by some 1950s Rock n Roll numbers to get the audience up dancing.

The fantastic duo ‘Just John and Paul’ took us to the 1960s and really got the crowd going with their superb versions of The Beatles classics.

It’s always a pleasure to work with Just John and Paul as they’re so talented and enthusiastic about what they do, plus they’re both such lovely friendly guys!

A great afternoon was had by all.

Big thanks to all at the club for organising and participating in such a fabulous day.

Here are some videos of the day:

Hawick Town Hall 1940s & 1950s show

June 30, 2014 By Lisa Martin Leave a Comment

Hawick Town Hall will be transported back in time to the 1940s & 1950s when I visit on Saturday July 26th to perform my 40s & 50s tribute shows.

I’m very glad to be working again with the lovely Emma from Time Events to present a wonderful nostalgic night full of all the fabulous music from a wonderful ‘time gone by’.

Songs from all-time great performers such as Connie Francis, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Vera Lynn, The Andrews Sisters, plus many more will ensure that it is a night full of singalongs, dancing, and great memories!

Tickets start at just £5 and can be purchased by clicking HERE. Book early to avoid disappointment, and feel free to come along dressed in your favourite vintage styles!

Looking forward to seeing you in July at Hawick Town Hall for a night of retro fun 🙂

About Lisa Martin