WERE THE MEMBERS OF THE NEW VAUDEVILLE BAND REALLY SPIES AND not musicians? Were they planning to burn the White House? These questions were brought to mind when the seven English boys went on a specially arranged tour of the President’s home.
At one point in the tour, the guard who guided the boys around asked them if they had been searched for matches. Though he was just joking, it brought back memories of when the British actually did burn down the White House. Later in the tour, one of the musicians wandered off down the hall and was promptly warned that it was too early in the day to get shot.
After their enjoyable tour was over, they went back to the Shoreham Hotel, where they were the feature attraction on the Terrace. Most of the songs they did in their show were reminiscent of the 1930s, as was their first hit single, “Winchester Cathedral.” The boys, all able musicians, also did a takeoff on Donovan’s “Mellow Yellow.”
During an interview at an opening night party, “Pops” Kerr, who plays trumpet and baritone sax, expressed his feelings on America’s racial strife. “America has a real problem,” he said. “In England, we do have some prejudice against the Indians, but they never existed as slaves in England.”
When the conversation switched to flower power and “psychedelic” music, Henry Harrison, the Vaudeville’s drummer, said, “This psychedelic thing is on the way out. Flower power is just a craze, but the love that comes with the flowers is basically good.
“We do have light shows in England,” he went on. “But we don’t have as many, or as good, as in America. The only real psychedelic club in London is the UFO Club.”
When questioned about the origins of the New Vaudeville Band, Pops said that most of the members started in Dixieland bands. “When the Vaudeville band formed, we replaced the banjos with electric guitars, and the clarinets with saxophones,” he said.
The man who supplies most of the laughs for the band is Tris-Tram, the Seventh Earl of Cricklewood, better known among London professional musicians as Alan Klein, twenty-four-year-old singer. Tris-Tram claims that he “always wanted to be a nobleman,” so he gave himself the title.
The band’s act is a montage of sight and sound gimmicks. They use smoke bombs, firecrackers, placards, and their own personal antics to keep their audiences laughing. The tremendous appeal of their act is going to keep them in this country until the beginning of November. Most of their appearances will be limited to nightclubs, and they hope their latest album, The New Vaudeville Band—On Tour, will please the public as much as their nightclub act.