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Brian Lawrance

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Brian Lawrance
Birth nameBrian Vinrace Lawrance
Born(1909-08-13)13 August 1909
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Died11 September 1983(1983-09-11) (aged 74)
Genres
Occupations
Instruments
  • Violin
  • vocals
Labels

Brian Vinrace Lawrance (13 August 1909 – 11 September 1983)[1][2][3] was an Australian singer and violinist who led his own British dance band in the 1930s.[4][5][6] Known for regular broadcasts with Fred Hartley and his Quintet, Lawrance was considered one of the leading dance band vocalists, and drew a large radio audience.[7] Lawrance arrived in Britain in 1927, and returned to Australia in 1940, where he continued his career.[8]

Early life

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Brian Vinrace Lawrance was born on 13 August 1909 to English parents Frederick Ebenezer Lawrance and Kathleen Lilian Lawrance (née Collier) in Adelaide, Australia.[1][9][10] Aged seven, Brian Lawrance's performing career began when he sang "Australia Will Be There" at St Peter's Town Hall in Adelaide.[8] Whilst still a young boy, he appeared in The Woman Suffers, a 1918 melodrama film.[11] Lawrance toured the country as a singer with Pat Hanna's Diggers, and subsequently in musical comedy and variety, appearing in the shows Maytime and Hullo Everybody.[12] He also studied the violin in Sydney under Mowat Carter. After three and a half years working in revue, Lawrance's mother took him to England in 1927, when he was 17.[8][9]

Career

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After arriving in England, Lawrance performed in variety, singing and playing the violin.[9] However, he also had a long period of unemployment, resulting in him investing money in a garage and working as a mechanic for 16 months.[8]

Lawrance's first recording with a British dance band was "My Girl Don't Love Me Anymore", a duet with Jack Lorimer for Ray Noble and his New Mayfair Orchestra in March 1932, with Lawrance and Lorimer billed as "Eddie and Rex".[13] In 1933, Lawrance joined Maurice Winnick's band as a violinist, and subsequently sang with Bertini's band in Blackpool.[7] Lawrance contributed vocals to records by both bands, and it was with Bertini that he recorded his first solo vocal refrain with a British dance band in May 1933, singing "The Old Spinning Wheel" (released on the budget Eclipse label).[13]

The entrepreneur T. L. Ahearn suggested that Lawrance form a dance band and audition for Clifford Whitley. Lawrance was advised by Whitley that there was a band at a Jermyn Street restaurant which he felt would suit him. Lawrance played with this band on a Thames showboat for three weeks. In 1934, he moved to Quaglino's restaurant, where he stayed for two and a half years.[8]

At a party given at the Embassy Club by bandleader Ambrose, Lawrance sang, and was invited to make recordings.[8] It was in March 1934 that he began recording with his own band, Quaglino's Quartet, at a session for Decca which featured himself on violin and vocals, with the first recording being "Dixie Lee". He largely provided his own vocals for the sessions he led as a bandleader.[13]

His recordings led to radio appearances with Fred Hartley and his Sextet.[8] Lawrance's band was resident at the Four Hundred Club, before moving to Lansdowne House in 1935.[7] During this period, he appeared in five films: Marry Me (1932), She Shall Have Music (1935, in which he was the juvenile lead), Fame (1936), Variety Hour (1937) and Sing as You Swing (1937).[14][15][16]

He also took part in a Jack Hylton show at the London Palladium.[8] Lawrance featured on a 1936 set of Lambert & Butler cigarette cards profiling 25 dance band leaders.[17][18]

Lawrance broadcast and recorded as a singer with bands led by Fred Hartley, Jack Hylton, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Lew Stone, George Scott-Wood, Jay Wilbur, Debroy Somers, Arthur Young, Harry Hudson, Harry Leader, and Carroll Gibbons, the latter with the Savoy Hotel Orpheans.[13] Lawrance also made a number of solo recordings on the Rex label.[7]

In January 1940, Lawrance cut his last recordings as a bandleader in Britain, with his own vocals on all four titles: "Where or When", "Good Morning", "Are You Havin' Any Fun?" and "You Never Miss the Old Faces".[13]

That year, he returned to Australia to lead the band at Romano's nightclub in Sydney, which he did for seven years.[19][20] He visited Britain for six months in 1950 to appear with Hartley on BBC Radio. By 1954, Lawrance was singing with Hartley on twice-weekly ABC radio broadcasts. With his wife, Lawrance also ran a dress design company.[12]

Personal life and death

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During the 1930s, Lawrance was living in Kilburn, north west London,[21] before moving to nearby Maida Vale in west London.[1]

In 1940, he married Jill Clayton, a dancer.[8] Lawrance had three sons and two daughters, and was latterly married to Bernadette.[3] In his later years, he was resident in Kensington, Sydney.[22] He died on 11 September 1983, aged 74.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/464K
  2. ^ Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries NSW; New South Wales, Australia; Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park; URL: https://www.smcnsw.org.au/eastern/find-a-loved-one
  3. ^ a b c "Obituary for Brian Vinrance LAWRANCE". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1983-09-13. p. 19. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
  4. ^ "Brian Lawrance Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & M..." AllMusic. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  5. ^ "Brian, Lawrance, 1909–1983". National Jazz Archive. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
  6. ^ Ancestry.com. Australia, Births and Baptisms, 1792-1981 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Australia, Births and Baptisms, 1792-1981. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d "Obituary: Brian Lawrance". The Daily Telegraph. 1983-10-13. p. 16. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i "AUSTRALIAN DANCE BAND LEADER". Sydney Morning Herald. 1940-04-06. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  9. ^ a b c "XII—Brian Lawrance and the Quaglino Quartet". Tune Times. 1 (12): 578–579. August 1934 – via National Jazz Archive.
  10. ^ Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950; Lehi, UT; Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950
  11. ^ "The Woman Suffers". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
  12. ^ a b "Stars of the air: a man of many parts". Daily Examiner. 1954-12-15. p. 13. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
  13. ^ a b c d e Rust, Brian; Forbes, Sandy (1987). British dance bands on record 1911 to 1945. Harrow: General Gramophone Publications. ISBN 978-0-902470-15-6.
  14. ^ Gifford, Denis (2018-10-24). The British Film Catalogue: The Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-83701-5.
  15. ^ "Brian Lawrance". MUBI. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
  16. ^ Gifford, Denis (2016-04-01). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-74063-6.
  17. ^ Broom, John (2018-08-30). A History of Cigarette and Trade Cards: The Magic Inside the Packet. Grub Street Publishers. ISBN 978-1-5267-2175-4.
  18. ^ Digital Collections, The New York Public Library. "(still image) Brian Lawrence, (1850 - 1959)". The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  19. ^ "Band Leader From London". The Daily Telegraph. 1940-04-04. p. 14. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
  20. ^ Chilton, John (2004-05-01). Who's Who of British Jazz: 2nd Edition. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8264-2389-4.
  21. ^ London Metropolitan Archives; London, England, UK; Electoral Registers
  22. ^ Gould Genealogy; Chermside, QLD, Australia; Electoral Rolls
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