Harry Champion

Harry Champion , actually William Crump , also Will Conray (* 23. March 1866 in Shoreditch , London ; † 14. January 1942 in Tottenham ) was a British music hall - singer , comedian and composer .

Life

Crump's first stage name, with which he appeared as a comedian in the London Music Halls in 1888, was Will Conray. He later established the role of a London cockney and called himself Harry Champion. His funny lecture also included funny pieces of music on everyday topics, some of which he wrote himself. His specialty was to perform his Cockney songs very quickly and staccato-like and thus to inspire the audience.

Some of the songs from his repertoire are Music Hall classics, such as Boiled Beef and Carrots , A Little Bit of Cucumber , (Here Comes Old) Beaver and Ginger, You're Barmy . Some songs have remained known to this day due to new recordings by other artists in the 50s and 60s. So did Peter Sellers with Any Old Iron his first hit, Tommy Steele brought What a Mouth (What a North and South) to the UK Top 5 and Herman's Hermits had with her rock and roll version of the champion standards I ' m Henery the Eighth I Am even a number 1 hit and million seller in the USA.

There are many recordings of Champion himself, as he has made numerous records and was drawn to the recording studio again and again until the 1930s. He appeared in 1932 and 1935 at the Royal Variety Performance , an annual charity gala evening hosted by the British royal family, and was active beyond his 70th birthday. He died at the age of 75 in his home in the London borough of Tottenham.

Discography

Well-known pieces (with year of first recording):

Boiled Beef and Carrots (1909), Ginger You're Barmy (1910), I'm Henery the Eighth I Am (1910), Any Old Iron (1911), I'm Proud of My Old Bald Head (1911), When the Old Dun Cow Caught Fire (1911), I'm William the Conquerer (1913), A Little Bit of Cucumber (1914), It's Cold Without Your Trousers (1914), Doctor Shelley (1915), Cockney Bill of London Town ( 1916), (Here Comes Old) Beaver (1922), The End of My Old Cigar

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Champion, Harry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Crump, William (real name); Conray, Will (stage name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	British music hall singer, comedian and composer
DATE OF BIRTH	March 23, 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH	Shoreditch , London
DATE OF DEATH	January 14, 1942
Place of death	Tottenham