| Flanders and Swann | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | Westminster School |
| Years Active: | 1956–1967 |
| Genre: | Comedic songs |
| Label: | Parlophone, Angel |
| Current Members: | Michael Flanders Donald Swann |
Flanders and Swann were a British comedy duo and musicians. Michael Flanders (1922–1975) was a lyricist, actor, and singer. He collaborated with Donald Swann (1923–1994), a composer and pianist, in writing and performing comic songs. They first worked together in a school revue in 1939 and eventually wrote more than 100 comic songs together.[1]
Between 1956 and 1967, Flanders and Swann performed their songs, interspersed with comic monologues, in their long-running two-man revues At the Drop of a Hat and At the Drop of Another Hat, which they toured in Britain and abroad. Both revues were recorded in concert (by George Martin). The duo also made several studio recordings.
Flanders and Swann both attended Westminster School (where in July and August 1940 they staged a revue called Go To It)[2] and Christ Church, Oxford, two institutions linked by ancient tradition. The pair went their separate ways during World War II, but a chance meeting in 1948 led to their forming a musical partnership writing songs and light opera. Flanders provided the words and Swann composed the music. Their songs have been sung by performers such as Ian Wallace and Joyce Grenfell.
In December 1956, Flanders and Swann hired the New Lindsey Theatre, Notting Hill, to perform their two-man revue At the Drop of a Hat, which opened on New Year's Eve.[3] Flanders sang a selection of the songs that they had written, interspersed with comic monologues, accompanied by Swann on the piano. An unusual feature of their act was that both men remained seated for their shows: Swann behind his piano and Flanders in a wheelchair (having contracted poliomyelitis in 1943).[3] The show was successful and transferred the next month to the Fortune Theatre, where it ran for over two years, before touring in the UK, the United States, Canada and Switzerland.[3]
In 1963, Flanders and Swann opened in a second revue, At the Drop of Another Hat, at the Haymarket Theatre.[3] Over the next four years they toured a combination of the two shows in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, the United States and Canada, before finishing at the Booth Theatre on Broadway in New York City. On 9 April 1967, they performed their last live show together.[3] Ten days later, they moved into a studio and recorded the show for television.
Over the course of 11 years, Flanders and Swann gave nearly 2,000 live performances. Although their performing partnership ended in 1967, they remained friends afterwards and collaborated on occasional projects.
| Date[4] | Venue | |
|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Royal Court Theatre, "Airs on a Shoestring" | |
| 1954 | Saville Theatre, "Pay the Piper" | |
| 1956 | Comedy Theatre, "Fresh Airs" | |
| 1956 | New Lindsey Theatre, Notting Hill | |
| 1957–59 | Fortune Theatre (suspended one month because of Flanders' pneumonia) | |
| 1959 | Edinburgh Festival "At the Drop of a Kilt" | |
| 1959–60 | Golden Theatre, New York | |
| 1960–61 | 12-city tour of United States, plus Toronto, Canada | |
| 1961 | Switzerland | |
| 1962 | 9-city tour of UK, plus Toronto, Canada | |
| 1963 | 9-city tour of UK | |
| 1963 | Haymarket Theatre | |
| 1964 | 4-city tour of Australia, 5 New Zealand plus Hong Kong | |
| 1965 | 3-city tour of UK | |
| 1965 | Globe Theatre (now the Gielgud) | |
| 1966 | 9-city tour of USA, plus Toronto | |
| 1966–67 | New York |
Their records were originally released on the Parlophone label; CD reissues are on EMI.
Flanders and Swann's songs are characterised by wit, gentle satire, complex rhyming schemes, and memorable choruses. Flanders commented during the recorded performance of At the Drop of Another Hat,
They wrote over a hundred comic songs together. The following selection gives an indication of their range.
A very rare song, "Vendor Librorum Floreat" (Let the bookseller flourish), was released as a single in 1960. It was written for the annual American Booksellers Association, the only known time Flanders & Swann accepted a private commission.
Flanders' comic monologues include:
The British comedy double act Armstrong & Miller have a recurring sketch on The Armstrong and Miller Show in which they parody Flanders and Swann, as Donald Brabbins (Armstrong as Flanders) and Teddy Fyffe (Miller as Swann). The parodies begin like a typical Flanders and Swann performance, but the songs are far more bawdy, often being mock-censored for comedic effect.[6]
British singer-songwriter Frank Turner covered "The Armadillo" in his "Mittens" EP.[7]