Fanlight Fanny
| "Fanlight Fanny" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Clinton Ford | ||||
| B-side | "Dreamy City Lullaby"[1] | |||
| Released | 1962 | |||
| Recorded | 1962 | |||
| Genre | Traditional pop music | |||
| Length | 2:49[2] | |||
| Label | Oriole Records - CB 1706[3] | |||
| Writer(s) | George Formby, Harry Gifford and Frederick E. Cliffe | |||
| Producer(s) | John Schroeder[4] | |||
| Clinton Ford singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Fanlight Fanny" is a song written in 1935 by George Formby, Harry Gifford and Frederick E. Cliffe, and recorded by Formby in May that year.[5][6] Another notable version was released in 1962 by Clinton Ford.
Song information
The song when originally recorded by George Formby enjoyed a successful release on 78rpm. It was released on 29 May 1935 on Decca Records (F5569).[7] The song appeared in Formby's 1939 film, Trouble Brewing,[8] where it had an additional verse to the original.[5] The tale was of a tawdry, West End based woman of a certain age, full with alcohol and shoplifted goods, trying to earn a living in a Soho night spot, where she was "Fanlight Fanny the frowsey night-club queen".[9]
The version recorded by Clinton Ford in 1962 had accompaniment by the 'George Chisholm All Stars'.[3] It also, with permission, had added new words written by Ford.[10] "Fanlight Fanny" was Ford's third UK chart hit and his most successful single, reaching 22 in the UK Singles Chart in March 1962. It spent ten weeks in that chart.[11][12] His album Clinton Ford, also known as Clint Ford Sings Fanlight Fanny (1962), peaked at number 16 in the UK Albums Chart.[11][13]
It was an ideal type of song to counteract Ford's earlier attempts at country and rock and roll, and proved a springboard for much of what followed in his recording career. He later recorded the Wally Lindsay penned "Fanlight Fanny’s Daughter" (1963),[1] a track also released as a single, albeit with considerably less success.[5] In 1968, on Ford's album, Clinton The Clown, (re-released in 1970 on Marble Arch Records) the song's character reappeared as "Fan-Dance Fanny", a renaming and re-recording which had a small change in lyrical content.[14] In the passage of six years Fanny wore "dustbin lids on her chest" rather than her earlier "saucepan lids".[5]
Other uses
Formby's original version was used on the soundtrack to the 2008 horror film, Chemical Wedding.[15]
References
- 1 2 "Clinton Ford". 45-rpm.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
- ↑ "UK Minor Hits of 1962". Addlong.co.uk. 2014-04-13. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
- 1 2 "Clinton Ford - Fanlight Fanny / Dreamy City Lullaby (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
- ↑ "John Schroeder, Alaska Records, Pye, Oriole, Oriole American, Sounds Orchestral, Helen Shapiro, Status Quo, Mersey Beat". Johnschroeder.co.uk. 1961-12-04. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
- 1 2 3 4 "Clinton Ford With George Chisholm And The Inmates (3) - Clinton The Clown". Discogs.com. 2014-12-30. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
- ↑ "Fanlight Fanny chords by George Formby (Melody Line, Lyrics & Chords – 108224)". Sheetmusicdirect.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
- ↑ "The George Formby Discography". Georgeformby.co.uk. p. 3. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
- ↑ Trouble Brewing. "Trouble Brewing - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
- ↑ "Fanlight Fanny-1935c by George Formby, with lyrics and chords for Ukulele, Guitar Banjo etc". Traditionalmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
- ↑ "Clinton Ford: Singer and entertainer whose versatility was both his strength and his weakness | Obituaries". The Independent. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
- 1 2 Sharon Mawer. "Clinton Ford | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
- ↑ "Clinton Ford". 45-rpm.org.uk. 1931-11-04. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
- ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 207. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ↑ "Clinton Ford : Fan-Dance Fanny (1968)". YouTube. 2013-02-17. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
- ↑ "Chemical Wedding (2008) : Soundtracks". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.