VANCOUVER BOYS CHARM BRITONS
London, August 2, 1934
After a successful tour across Canada, the Kitsilano Boys’ Band
has arrived in the Old Country.
A large and distinguished gathering assembled at
Grosvenor House at the invitation of the Acting Agent General for
British Columbia and Mrs. McAdam, to welcome the
Vancouver Kitsilano Boys’ Band.
The High Commissioner for Canada delivered a short address,
in which he referred to the boys as Canada’s cultural pioneers,
whose performances in the Old Country would, he felt,
bring to the people here a new vision of the Dominion.
Just as they had learned to revise their opinion of Canada
as a country of snow and ice so would they learn form the
Vancouver boys’ Band that Canadians were not rough and ready backwoodsmen.
No doubt those who heard the band would take comfort to
themselves in the reflection that the bandmaster, Arthur W. Delamont,
was an Englishman, but the fact remained that the excellent results
which had been achieved were undoubtedly due to the
Canadian material that has ben given to him.
“But before the reception was over, we were rushed to the BBC studios,"
the excited boys reported.
"The broadcasting studios are the very latest in architecture and appointments.
The building itself is cylindrical and all the studios are equipped with the most
up-to-date apparatus. The “mikes” for instance, are bullet-shaped.
Tuesday morning we were taken to the recording studios to make records.
A few seconds after we finished our first number we were surprised to hear
an exact reproduction of it coming from what appeared to be a radio standing
in the studio. It didn’t take long to notice several small flaws in the performance,
and those members of the band responsible for them were given a right royal “Bronx cheer.”
This was the first time that most of us had ever actually heard the band as it sounds to an audience.
Making records is no soft job, let me tell you.
The smallest mistake made by one person will probably ruin the whole record.
Naturally it makes you sort of jittery to think that you may be the one to make a mistake.
From our recording station we made our way to the Tower of London.
There we played a concert in the moat - this is no water in it now,
but we sure wished there was. I’ve never spent such a hot hour in my life.”
