George Formby: bawdy bard of the banjolele

Alexander Larman

AT THE QUEEN’S 92ND BIRTHDAY party in April 2018, a strange spectacle played out. Amidst appearances by the likes of Tom Jones, Kylie Minogue and Sting was a performance by the massed ranks of the George Formby Society, backed by the BBC Concert Orchestra, giving a rendition of “When I’m Cleaning Windows”. This was in itself unsurprising; the Queen was an admirer of Formby, and had seen him perform when she was younger. There was even a rumour that she wanted to be president of the George Formby Society, but was dissuaded from doing so on the grounds that it would be infra dig; it is a source of some regret that this did not form the basis of an episode of The Crown, complete with a noted character actor…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, August - September 2023

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