Friday 11 June 2010

I'm Going To Get Lit Up (When The Lights Go Up In London)

"I'm going to get lit-up when the lights go up in London. I'm going to get lit up as I've never been before. You will find me on the tiles. You will find me wreathed in smiles. I'm going to get so lit up I'll be visible for miles. The city will sit up when the lights go up in London. We'll all be lit up as the Strand was, only more, much more. And before the party's played out they will fetch the Fire Brigade out. To the lit-est up-est scene you ever saw ..." Our old friend Carroll Gibbons with the Savoy Orpheans captures a certain mood in the WW2 number I'm Going To Get Lit Up (When The Lights Go Up In London). Apparently there were questions asked in the House about this song. One time Nazi sympathiser Lady Astor asked if this was an appropriate way to carry on. Hmm. The song itself was written by Hubert Gregg, who for many years presented the delightful Radio 2 show Thanks For The Memory. His most famous composition was Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner, one of the Capital's anthems. Among his other numbers is this one sung by his wife Pat Kirkwood ...

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