Ruth Finnegan - Hidden Musicians

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AN: 680376 ; Finnegan, Ruth H..; The Hidden Musicians : Music-Making in an English Town
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I
The existence and study of

local music
A choir of local residents - men, w o m e n and children - file i n special

costume o n to the p l a t f o r m for their annual concert accompanied by visiting
soloists and an orchestra of local amateurs. A jazz and blues group play to
enthusiastic fans over Sunday lunchtime i n the foyer of a local leisure centre.
A brass band of players f r o m their teens to their seventies thunder out
Christmas carols beside the local shops, m a k i n g a bright show as w e l l as
resounding h a r m o n y w i t h their military-style uniforms and gleaming instru-
ments, and one member rattling the collection b o x . A n inexperienced but
ambitious band of teenagers set up their instruments i n a pub for their first
gig, nervous about p e r f o r m i n g i n p u b l i c but supported by friends sitting
r o u n d the tables, and deeply enthusiastic about the new songs they have
spent months w o r k i n g o n . O r a part-time church organist extricates herself
f r o m her other commitments to come again and yet again to provide the
musical f r a m e w o r k for another Saturday w e d d i n g or Sunday service.
M o s t readers w i l l have encountered at least some of these events - or of
the many similar activities that take place i n one f o r m or another i n English
towns t o d a y . It is to such events and their b a c k g r o u n d that this b o o k is
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devoted: grass-roots m u s i c - m a k i n g as it is practised by amateur musicians i n

a local context.
It is of course widely accepted that musical activities of this k i n d are part
of modern E n g l i s h culture. But the organisation behind them is seldom
thought about or investigated. In fact we regularly take them so for granted
that we fail to really see the unacclaimed w o r k put i n by hundreds and
thousands of amateur musicians up and d o w n the country. Y e t it is this
w o r k , i n a sense invisible, that upholds this i n other ways w e l l - k n o w n
element of our cultural heritage.
Despite its familiarity there are real questions to be investigated about
local music i n this country. W h a t exactly does it consist of? H o w is it

sustained and by w h o m ? A r e the kinds of events mentioned earlier one-off
affairs or are there consistent patterns or a predictable structure into w h i c h
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Introductory
they fall? A r e they still robust or by n o w fading away? W h o are these l o c a l

m u s i c i a n s - a marginal m i n o r i t y or substantial b o d y ? - a n d w h o are their
patrons today? A n d what, finally, is the significance of local m u s i c - m a k i n g

for the ways people manage and make sense of modern urban life or, more
w i d e l y , for our experience as active and creative h u m a n beings?
It w i l l emerge f r o m the account i n this b o o k that the w o r k of local
amateur musicians is not just haphazard or formless, the result of i n d i v i d u a l
w h i m or circumstance. O n the contrary, a consistent - if sometimes chang-
ing - structure lies behind these surface activities. T h e public events
described above, and all the others that i n their various forms are so typical
a feature of modern English life, are part of an invisible but organised system
through w h i c h individuals make their c o n t r i b u t i o n to both the changes and
the continuities of English music today.
I think of this set of practices as ' h i d d e n ' i n t w o ways. O n e is that it has
been so little d r a w n to our attention by systematic research or w r i t i n g .
There has been little w o r k i n this country o n the ' m i c r o - s o c i o l o g y ' of
amateur music; and, incredibly, questions o n active m u s i c - m a k i n g as such
(as distinct f r o m attendance at professional events or participation i n artistic
groups generally) seldom or never appear i n official surveys - almost as if
local m u s i c - m a k i n g d i d not exist at a l l . T h u s academics and planners alike
have somehow f o u n d it easy to ignore something w h i c h is i n other ways so
remarkably obvious.
Second and perhaps even more important, the system of local music-
m a k i n g is partially veiled not just f r o m outsiders but even f r o m the
musicians themselves and their supporters. O f course i n one sense they
k n o w it w e l l - t h e s e are not secret practices. But i n another it seems so
natural and given to the participants that they are often unaware both of its
extent and of the structured w o r k they themselves are putting into sustain-
ing it. W e all k n o w about it - but fail to notice it for what it is.
T h e purpose of this book, then, is to uncover and reflect o n some of these
little-questioned but fundamental dimensions of local m u s i c - m a k i n g , a n d
their place i n both urban life and our cultural traditions more generally.
T h e example I focus o n to illustrate these themes is the t o w n of M i l t o n
Keynes i n Buckinghamshire. C l e a r l y this t o w n , like any other, has its o w n
unique qualities, described more fully i n chapter 3 and, more indirectly,
throughout the book. Suffice it to say here that I am not c l a i m i n g that
M i l t o n Keynes is i n every w a y representative of all modern English towns -
clearly it is not - but that I a m f o l l o w i n g one well-established t r a d i t i o n i n
social and historical research, that of using specific case studies to lead to the
k i n d of i l l u m i n a t i o n i n depth not p r o v i d e d by more thinly spread a n d

generalized accounts. H a v i n g lived i n the area for a dozen years or more I
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have been able to d r a w o n lengthy experience of local music practices as w e l l

as o n the more systematic observation I undertook i n the early 1980s,
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The existence and study of local music
supplemented by local documentary sources and surveys (more fully des-

cribed i n the appendix o n sources a n d methods), so as to reach an
understanding i n some depth o f the patterns o f local m u s i c - m a k i n g . T h e

m a i n research was during the p e r i o d 1980-4, so i n describing the specific
findings I have mostly used the past tense. A s w i l l emerge, the detailed
groups and events were sometimes ephemeral and so are not appropriately
described i n the present, unlike many o f the continuing and more general
patterns (analysed later i n the book) to w h i c h this local case study
contributes.
O n e point o f the b o o k is thus merely to provide an empirically based
ethnography of amateur music i n one modern English t o w n at a particular
period. W h a t k i n d o f m u s i c - m a k i n g actually went o n there? T h i s might seem
a simple matter o n w h i c h the answers must surely already be k n o w n . But i n
fact it is a question surprisingly neglected by researchers. There are o f course
some excellent historical accounts, i l l u m i n a t i n g research o n specific topics,
3 4
and a plethora o f variegated w o r k o n the mass media and the nationally

k n o w n bands and their procedures. A l l these make their o w n c o n t r i b u t i o n
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to o u r understanding o f E n g l i s h music. There is also plenty o f w r i t i n g by

ethnomusicologists and others o n musical practices far away o r long ago, as
well as nostalgia f o r the ' r i c h amateur w o r l d ' o f earlier days, f o r N e w
Orleans i n the 'jazz era' o r f o r L i v e r p o o l i n the 1960s. B u t there is little
indeed o n modern grass-roots musicians and m u s i c - m a k i n g across the b o a r d
in a specific t o w n : its local choirs, f o r example, G i l b e r t a n d Sullivan
societies, brass bands, ceilidh dance groups or the small p o p u l a r bands w h o ,
week i n a n d week o u t , f o r m an essential local backing to o u r national
musical achievements. 1 hope therefore that this first detailed b o o k o n local
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music i n a contemporary English t o w n - for there is n o comparable study -

w i l l p r o v o k e further investigation o f a subject so important f o r o u r
understanding both o f music and o f the practices o f modern urban life.
T h e picture that emerges f r o m this ethnography is not quite what one
might expect f r o m some o f the more general and theoretical w r i t i n g about
English culture. L e t me foreshadow briefly some of the approaches a n d
findings that w i l l be elaborated later.
Perhaps the most striking point is h o w far the evidence here runs counter
to the influential 'mass society' interpretations, particularly the extreme
view w h i c h envisages a passive and deluded p o p u l a t i o n lulled by the mass
media and generating nothing themselves. N o r can music be explained (or
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explained away) as the creature of class divisions o r m a n i p u l a t i o n , o r i n any

simple w a y predictable f r o m people's social and economic backgrounds o r
even, i n most cases, their age (as w i l l emerge i n chapter 10, the theory o f a
'working-class-youth sub-culture' has little to support it). A n d far f r o m
m u s i c - m a k i n g taking a peripheral role f o r individuals and society - a view
propagated i n the k i n d o f theoretical stance that marginalises 'leisure' o r
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Introductory
'culture' as somehow less real than ' w o r k ' or 'society' - music can equally
well be seen as playing a central part not just i n u r b a n networks but also
more generally i n the social structure and processes of our life today. It is
true that local m u s i c - m a k i n g i n the sense of direct participation i n perfor-
mance is the pursuit of a m i n o r i t y . But this m i n o r i t y turns out to be a more
serious and energetic one than is often imagined, whose musical practices
not only involve a whole host of other people than just the performers, but
also have many implications for urban and national culture more generally.
G i v e n this importance, w h y has the existence and significance of these
local musical practices been so little noticed? In a d d i t i o n to the difficulty of
explicitly noticing the taken-for-granted conventions w h i c h invisibly struc-
ture o u r activities, reasons can be f o u n d i n current and earlier approaches to
the study of music. These have often rested o n assumptions w h i c h conceal
rather than illuminate the k i n d of evidence revealed i n this research. A m o n g
such assumptions challenged i n this b o o k , let me briefly highlight three.
First, and perhaps most important, musicological analyses have been
concerned either to establish what kinds of music (or music-making) are
'best' or 'highest' - or, if not to establish them, then to assume i m p l i c i t l y that
this is k n o w n already w i t h the direction for one's gaze already l a i d d o w n .
T h i s b o o k accepts neither of these paths. O n c e one starts t h i n k i n g not about
'the best' but about what people actually do - about 'is' not 'ought' - then it
becomes evident that there are i n fact several musics, not just one, and that
no one of them is self-evidently superior to the others. In M i l t o n Keynes, as
in so many other towns, there are several different musical w o r l d s , often
little understood by each other yet each having its o w n contrasting
conventions about the proper modes of learning, transmission, c o m p o s i t i o n
or performance. Because the pre-eminent position of classical music so often
goes w i t h o u t saying, the existence of these differing musics has often simply
been ignored.
O r again - to l o o k at the same p r o b l e m but f r o m a different v i e w p o i n t -
the c o m m o n social science emphasis o n ' p o p u l a r ' or 'lower-class' activities
has led to particular research concentrations. R o c k (and sometimes brass
band music) has been particularly p i c k e d out as if only it, and not classical
'elite' music, were somehow w o r t h serious consideration. But what became
very clear i n this study is that each musical tradition - classical, rock, jazz or
whatever - can be studied i n its o w n right. W h e n no longer judged by the
criteria of others, each emerges as i n principle equally authentic and equally
influential i n shaping the practices of local music.
T h i s study, therefore - unlike most others - does not concentrate o n just
one musical tradition but tries to consider a l l those important i n the locality:
an ' o b v i o u s ' thing to d o , of course - except that few scholars do it. T h u s
part 2 presents several musical w o r l d s i n turn through both general
summaries and short case studies of particular groups and clubs - detailed
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ethnographic description that forms the necessary f o u n d a t i o n for the later

analyses. Part 3 then picks out some of the contrasting conventions w h i c h
both differentiate and to some extent unite these differing w o r l d s as a basis

for the more general reflections i n parts 4 and 5.
T h e discussion of each tradition is thus inevitably quite short, and some
might argue that I should instead have concentrated o n understanding just
one w o r l d i n depth. But despite its costs this comparative approach is
essential to discover the interaction of traditions i n the local area, and
provide the perspective for a more detached view of their differences and
similarities. T h e existence of this varied and structured interplay of differing
and interacting w o r l d s is something that simply does not surface at all i n
studies focussing exclusively o n just a single t r a d i t i o n .
T o some it may seem perverse to treat all these forms of music as o n a par.
But I take the view that music is neither something self-evidently there i n the
natural w o r l d nor fully defined i n the musical practices of any one g r o u p ;
rather what is heard as ' m u s i c ' is characterised not by its f o r m a l properties
but by people's view of it, by the special frame d r a w n r o u n d particular
forms of sound and their overt social enactment. M u s i c is thus defined i n
different ways a m o n g different groups, each of w h o m have their o w n
conventions supported by existing practices and ideas about the right w a y i n
w h i c h music should be realised. M y o w n musical appreciations were of
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course enlarged by this study (though I continue to have my o w n prefer-

ences), but as a researcher I consider the only valid approach is not to air my
o w n ethnocentric evaluations as if they h a d universal validity but to treat the
many different forms of music as equally w o r t h y of study o n their o w n
terms.
I have thus quite deliberately not confined this study to classical music, or
indeed to so-called ' p o p u l a r ' m u s i c , but have tried to give some description
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of the practice of music across the w h o l e spectrum to be f o u n d i n the

locality. It therefore covers m u s i c - m a k i n g i n the classical t r a d i t i o n , jazz,
brass bands, musical theatre, country and western, f o l k , p o p and rock as
well as some of the more c o m m o n contexts and institutions associated w i t h
m u s i c - m a k i n g more generally. If this seems to d r a w the b o o k out to
inordinate lengths and include over-simplified or ' o b v i o u s ' descriptions of
traditions f a m i l i a r to particular readers, remember that each w o r l d and
context was to its participants a full and richly creative one - for them the
most truly musical one, certainly not to be omitted i n any fair account of
local m u s i c s - a n d that at least some readers w i l l be u n f a m i l i a r w i t h any
given t r a d i t i o n and w i l l need some straightforward i n t r o d u c t i o n . A n d
l o o k i n g at one's ' o w n ' i n the setting of comparisons w i t h others can (as I

discovered) t h r o w new light o n taken-for-granted conventions.
A second reason w h y the extent of local m u s i c - m a k i n g and its underlying
structure has been little noticed is that it is relatively unusual to concentrate
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Introductory
o n the practice of music: o n what people actually do o n the g r o u n d . T h a t

there are of course many other v a l i d and i l l u m i n a t i n g approaches to music I
do not w i s h to dispute. But for the purposes of uncovering the local

activities, the standard analyses i n terms of traditional musicological theory
or of the intellectual content or texts of music cannot take us very far. These
are the second set of assumptions, then, that I question i n this study. M o s t
misleading of all i n this context is the p o w e r f u l definition of music i n terms
not of performance but of finalised musical works. T h i s is the more so w h e n
it is accompanied - as it so frequently i s - w i t h the i m p l i c a t i o n that these
w o r k s have some k i n d of asocial and continuing existence, almost as if
independent of h u m a n performances or social processes, and that it is i n
musical ' w o r k s ' that one finds aesthetic value (see, for example, Sparshott
1980, p . 120). T h i s is a view of music that may have some l i m i t e d validity i n
the classical t r a d i t i o n , but even there obscures the significance of its active
realisation by real h u m a n practitioners o n the g r o u n d ; and for many other
musical traditions it is altogether inappropriate for elucidating h o w music is
created and transmitted. Such an approach w o u l d uncover few of the
activities described i n this b o o k .
T h e concentration here, then, is o n musical practices (what people do),
not musical w o r k s (the 'texts' of music). T h i s is admittedly partly due to my
o w n inadequacies. I a m unqualified to undertake the musicological analysis
of musical texts either by training or f r o m the k i n d of data I collected, and
should therefore make clear that this study is not intended as a w o r k of
musicology - or at any rate not musicology i n the c o m m o n l y used formalist
sense of the term (see, for instance, Treitler's useful critique i n H o l o m a n and
Palisca 1982). M o r e positively significant for the approach of this study,
however, I discovered that l o o k i n g closely at people's actions really was a
route to discovering a local system that, even to me, was quite unexpected i n
its complexity and richness.
L o o k i n g at practice rather than formalised texts or mental structures, at
processes rather than products, at i n f o r m a l grass-roots activities rather than
f o r m a l structure has always been one strand i n social science research
(perhaps particularly i n anthropology); sometimes too i n the humanities.
Recently this emphasis has come more to the fore i n a number of areas, a
trend w i t h w h i c h I w o u l d w i s h to associate my o w n w o r k . T h i s k i n d of
1 0
focus is one that, unlike more 'formalistic' analyses, leads to a greater

appreciation of h o w individuals and groups organise and perceive their
activities at the local level, whether i n m u s i c - m a k i n g or any other active
pursuit.
M o s t studies of music and musicians are of professionals. T h i s is the t h i r d

major reason w h y amidst the concentration o n central institutions, 'great
artists' and professional musicians, local music has been so little noticed.
But musical practice can equally be f o u n d among amateur and l o c a l
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practitioners. W h y should we assume that m u s i c - m a k i n g is the m o n o p o l y

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of full-time specialists or the prime responsibility of state-supported institu-

tions like the national orchestras or opera houses? Once we ask the question
and start l o o k i n g it becomes clear that it is also the pursuit of thousands
u p o n thousands of grass-roots musicians, the not very expert as w e l l as
expert, still learning as well as accomplished, quarrelling as w e l l as
h a r m o n i o u s - a w h o l e cross-section, i n other w o r d s , of ordinary people
engaged i n music i n the course of their lives. T h i s b o o k , then, is not on
central institutions or the professionals, but about amateur m u s i c - m a k i n g i n
a local setting.
W i t h the partial exception of brass bands, there has been little study of
amateurs i n E n g l a n d : indeed, as M u r i e l Nissel sums it up i n her authoritative
Facts about the arts, 'very little i n f o r m a t i o n at present exists o n the varied
and widespread activities of the many people involved i n the arts as
amateurs' (1983, p. 1). G i v e n this lack of research it is perhaps not surprising
that the role of local musicians should be so little appreciated, but their
contribution becomes very obvious once attention is focussed o n the actual
practices of these part-time amateurs. N o t that the concept of 'amateur
musicians' is unambiguous - some of the complexities and qualifications
surrounding the term are explored i n the next chapter - but it can be said
that the findings of this study reveal h o w serious a gap i n our knowledge has
resulted f r o m the existing concentration o n the professionals.
T h e m a i n points I have been m a k i n g can best be summed up by saying
that we should not a s s u m e - as many past studies and approaches have
implicitly done - that we already know what i n fact should still remain as a
question for investigation. It is easy to t h i n k that we already k n o w or agree
on what is most ' i m p o r t a n t ' about music, h o w it should be defined and
judged, h o w people value and experience different aspects of our culture, or
h o w far people's lives are determined by, say, governmental decisions, the
mass media, socio-economic c l a s s - o r the practice of music. But these
questions need both further thought and empirical investigation o n the
g r o u n d before we can accept the sometimes unquestioned conclusions of,
say, the mass society theorists or the class-dominated visions of some social
scientists, at least as far as local music goes; for w h e n these and similar
assumptions are investigated at the local level, the reality turns out to be
rather different.
T h i s study therefore is not intended to contribute to some great T h e o r y of
music, but rather to be a more modest social study based i n the first instance
in the local ethnography but also m o v i n g out to wider questions and
d r a w i n g inspiration f r o m a b r o a d if somewhat unsystematic range of

sources across several disciplines, i n particular anthropology, sociology,
urban and c o m m u n i t y studies, f o l k l o r e , the study of ' p o p u l a r culture', the
more anthropological side of ethnomusicology, and social history. These
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Introductory
ethnographic findings and the theoretical approaches w h i c h I f o u n d useful

to elucidate them illuminate some central questions i n the social study of
both urban life and musical practice. These to some extent underlie the
exposition throughout (specially i n parts 4 and 5) and are taken up for more
explicit discussion i n the t w o final chapters. T h e i r end result is sometimes to
b u i l d o n but also often to reject the emphasis and conclusions evident i n a
number of other studies of music by the test of the facts as discovered i n this
case study of musical practice.
T h e approach i n this b o o k thus f o l l o w s a rather different line f r o m that of
the majority of studies of m u s i c . A focus o n the existence and interaction of
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different musics, o n musical practice rather than musical works, and o n the
amateur rather than professional side of m u s i c - m a k i n g reveals the hitherto
unsuspected scope of m u s i c - m a k i n g , w i t h far-reaching implications for o u r
lives today. O n e revelation was the sheer amount and variety of local music-
far richer, more creative and of more significance for people's lives than is
recognised even i n the participants' o w n consciousness, far less i n m u c h
conventional social science w i s d o m about English culture. M a n y of o u r
valued institutions are pictured as just floating o n invisibly and w i t h o u t
effort. O n the contrary, as w i l l become clear, a great deal of w o r k and
commitment have to be put into their continuance: they do not just ' h a p p e n '
n a t u r a l l y . L o c a l music, furthermore - the k i n d of activity so often omitted
13
in many approaches to urban s t u d y - turns out to be neither formless nor,

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as we might suppose, just the product of i n d i v i d u a l endeavour, but to be

structured according to a series of cultural conventions and organised
practices, to be explained i n this b o o k , i n w h i c h both social continuity and
i n d i v i d u a l choices play a part. T h e patterns w i t h i n this system may not
always be w i t h i n our conscious awareness, but nonetheless play a crucial
part i n our cultural processes.
T h i s study w i l l therefore, I hope, enhance our understanding of B r i t i s h
cultural institutions, a subject o n w h i c h social science w r i t i n g is relatively
sparse compared to the huge number of treatments of, for example, social
stratification, industrial employment, or macro-studies of society or state.
A r t i s t i c expression and enactment are also important to people, perhaps as
significant for their lives as the traditional concerns of social theorists - o r ,
at any rate, it seems often to be a matter of mere assumption rather than
objective evidence that they are not. I hope my treatment may help to redress
the balance of social science w o r k o n B r i t a i n as w e l l as lead to greater
understanding of the nature and implications of local music.
O n e final point. It is h a r d to write at once w i t h the social scientist's
detachment and at the same time w i t h a f u l l personal appreciation of the

h u m a n creativity involved i n artistic expression and performance. The 15
constant temptations are either to fall into the reductionist trap of, say,
seeing music as just the epiphenomenon of social structure or alternatively
10
Account: s6468359
to be swept away by the facile romanticising of 'art'. By considering m a i n l y

musical practice and its conventions rather than musical works, I hope to
some extent to have avoided the second of these temptations. A s for the first,
a written academic account can p r o b a b l y never totally avoid giving a
faceless and reducing impression of what to the participants themselves is
rich and engrossing artistic experience; I a m also aware that by c o m p a r i n g
the many different musics i n the area I a m depriving myself and my readers
of the full understanding that a deeper search into just one musical group or
tradition might have p r o v i d e d . I hope, though, that despite a l l this my
genuine appreciation for the real (not merely 'reflective' or 'secondary')
musical achievements of local musicians w i l l still shine through the attempt
at objectivity and reveal something of a reality that has too often remained
unnoticed.
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2
'Amateur' and 'professional'

musicians
Before the more detailed account of local musical practice I must comment
briefly o n one key term i n this b o o k : 'amateur musicians'. T h e w o r d
'amateur' is of course w i d e l y used and, more or less, understood. But it is
also surprisingly elusive, and some discussion of the complexities i n v o l v e d is
a necessary preliminary to the later description.
M a n y different kinds of musicians operate i n localities up and d o w n
B r i t a i n . Some can be described - and w o u l d describe themselves - as p r o -
fessionals i n that they make their living f r o m music. In M i l t o n Keynes, for
example, there was the music professor w h o commuted daily to his L o n d o n
music college and performed w i t h players outside the area, or the singer-
guitarist w h o belonged to a nationally famous rock band but d i d not
p e r f o r m locally. There were also the members of bands and ensembles w h o
regarded themselves as locally based but were prepared to travel through the
region or beyond to p e r f o r m for a fee; or again, the musicians w h o earned
only small fees but played o n i n the hope of more and better bookings or just
for the love of music. In a d d i t i o n there were the music teachers w h o lived
and taught locally, thus depending o n music for their m a i n l i v e l i h o o d but
sometimes also performing f r o m time to time for a fee. There were also local
residents for w h o m musical activity meant just one or t w o evenings out a
week at the local choir or i n the local band or orchestra - the k i n d of activity
that people perhaps associate most readily w i t h the term 'amateur music'.
A n d there were those w h o i n the past had lived f r o m their music - singing i n
cabaret, for instance, or r o u n d the w o r k i n g men's c l u b s - o r h a d been
'professionally trained', but n o w just engaged i n it for a pleasurable leisure
pursuit or the occasional engagement. A m o n g the various musicians, then,
some regard music as their only real employment (with v a r y i n g success i n
terms of monetary return), some value it as an enjoyable but serious
recreation outside w o r k , and some treat it as a part-time occupation for the

occasional fee.
A m o n g all these variations, w h i c h are the 'amateur' musicians and groups
12
Account: s6468359
'Amateur* and 'professional* musicians
o n w h i c h this study claims to focus? Unfortunately there is no simple

answer, nor are the 'amateur' always unambiguously separated f r o m the
'professional' musicians. T h e reasons for this as well as the complexities

surrounding these at first sight simple concepts need to be explained not just
to clarify my o w n presentation but also because the complex amateur/
professional interrelations f o r m one essential element i n the w o r k of local
musicians. T h i s point is w o r t h stressing because most studies of modern
musicians either confine their interest to the more professional practitioners
(though often w i t h o u t saying so) or else take the amateur/professional
distinction as given and so not w o r t h e x p l o r i n g . In local music, however,
1
the interrelationship and overlap between these t w o is both highly signifi-

cant for local practice and also of central interest for the w i d e r functioning
of music as it is i n fact practised today.
T h e term 'professional' - to start w i t h that one - at first appears u n a m b i -
guous. A 'professional' musician earns his or her l i v i n g by w o r k i n g f u l l time
in some musical role, i n contrast to the 'amateur', w h o does it 'for love' and
whose source of l i v e l i h o o d lies elsewhere. But complications arise as soon as
one tries to apply this to actual cases o n the g r o u n d . Some lie i n ambiguities
in the concept of 'earning one's l i v i n g ' , others i n differing interpretations
about what is meant by w o r k i n g i n ' m u s i c ' , and others again - perhaps the
most p o w e r f u l of all - i n the emotive overtones of the term 'professional' as
used by the participants themselves.
T a k i n g music as 'the m a i n source of l i v e l i h o o d ' does not always provide
as clear a d i v i d i n g line as might be supposed. In the local area, for example,
there was the classically trained vocalist w h o decided not to pursue her f u l l -
time career after the b i r t h of her daughter but p i c k e d up the o d d local
engagement for a moderate fee, often accompanied by a local guitar teacher:
professional or amateur? A g a i n , local bands sometimes contained some
players i n full-time (non-musical) jobs and others whose only regular
occupation was their music; yet i n giving performances, practising, sharing
out the fees and identification w i t h the g r o u p , the members were treated
exactly alike (except for the inconvenience that those i n jobs had to plead
illness or take time off w o r k if they travelled to distant bookings). A number
of band members regarded their playing as their only employment (perhaps
also d r a w i n g unemployment or other benefits), but h o w far they actually
made money f r o m it was a moot point: as w i l l emerge later, even if they
earned quite substantial fees and spent most of their time o n activities
related to their music, they c o u l d still end up out of pocket and perhaps
engaged i n musical performance as m u c h for the enjoyment and the status of
' m u s i c i a n ' it gave them as for money. Some players had part-time jobs
(voluntary as w e l l as paid), or made a certain amount i n cash or k i n d
through i n f o r m a l transactions such as dress-making, giving lifts or mending
a friend's car i n return for comparable favours, all w i t h o u t really affecting
i3
Account: s6468359
Introductory
the status of their continuing musical activities. Others again w o r k e d i n f u l l -

time non-musical jobs but still received fees for their playing o n such
occasions as, for example, p r o v i d i n g the instrumental accompaniment for a

local G i l b e r t and Sullivan performance, often on equal terms w i t h more f u l l -
time musicians. In all such cases (typical rather than unusual ones) neither
payment nor amount of time provides an unambiguous basis for differen-
tiating 'professionals' f r o m 'amateurs'; the difference is at best only a
relative one.
M e m b e r s h i p or otherwise of the M u s i c i a n s ' U n i o n might seem a more
easily identifiable criterion of professional status. In the local context,
however, this was usually of only m i n o r importance as a marker. A c c o r d i n g
to locally circulated M U literature, membership was open to musicians
of all k i n d s - b a n d s , groups, orchestral musicians, chamber musicians,
folk and j a z z - a n d was for 'everyone ... w h o makes their living, or part of
their living, f r o m performing music': i.e. not just the full-time performers.
It therefore covered wide variations i n the amount of time spent o n , and
financial return f r o m , musical activity. In practice u n i o n membership
among local musicians was unpredictable. Established performers w h o
regularly played i n large halls up and d o w n the country (venues that
regarded themselves as 'professional' o r - e q u a l l y r e l e v a n t - h a d agree-
ments w i t h the M U ) were quite often members; but otherwise membership
seemed to be related as m u c h to chance - having on some past occasion
(perhaps only once) played i n a place w h i c h demanded it or having friends
w h o pressed it - as to the economic significance, number of performances,
or artistic quality of most players' musical activities. Indeed, despite official
M U p o l i c y , several bands contained both u n i o n and n o n - u n i o n players.
T h e M U d i d attempt a special recruiting drive among M i l t o n Keynes
musicians i n early 1982, but the overall picture remained very p a t c h y -
certainly no yardstick for a clear amateur/professional divide. In general,
players took pride i n the label ' m u s i c i a n ' , and were mostly not too
concerned whether or not this was ' f u l l time' or 'part time' or validated by
u n i o n membership.
In local music, then, the at first sight ' o b v i o u s ' amateur/professional
distinction turns out to be a complex c o n t i n u u m w i t h many different
possible variations. Indeed, even the same people c o u l d be placed at
different points along this line i n different contexts or different stages of their
lives. Some were clearly at one or other end of the c o n t i n u u m , but the grey
area i n the middle i n practice made up a large p r o p o r t i o n - perhaps the
majority - of local musicians. M y initial statement, therefore, that this b o o k
is about amateur musicians needs some modification. It w o u l d be more

accurate to say that it focusses mainly on the amateur rather than
professional end of an overlapping and complex spectrum, taking account
of the variations along this c o n t i n u u m . T h i s can also be stated more
14
Account: s6468359
'Amateur* and 'professional* musicians
positively, for the ' p r o b l e m ' of distinguishing these apparently key terms is
not just a matter of terminology. It alerts us to the somewhat startling fact
that one of the interesting characteristics of local music organization is

precisely the absence of an absolute distinction between 'the amateur' and
'the professional'. 2
In this context, then, all the practitioners studied i n this volume can be
called 'musicians', and I have f o l l o w e d l o c a l practice i n using this term
(confusing though this may be at first to those for w h o m the immediate
sense of ' m u s i c i a n ' is a full-time professional). There is also a sense (more
fully explored i n chapter 12) i n w h i c h audiences can be said to take a
necessary part i n successful musical performances, so though 'audience
3
behaviour' as such is not the m a i n focus audiences too are treated as i n a

sense active and skilled participants - even themselves 'musicians' of a k i n d .
A n o t h e r interesting feature of the 'amateur'/'professionaP contrast lies
in differing interpretations by the participants themselves. W h e n local
musicians use the term 'professional' they often refer to evaluative rather
than economic aspects: the 'high standard' of a player, his or her specialist
qualifications, teachers, musical role, or appearance as a regular performer
w i t h musicians themselves regarded as 'professional'. T h e term is an elusive
one, the more so i n that someone can be regarded as 'professional' i n
different senses of the term or according to some but not other criteria. I
heard one player described as 'a professional, really, even though he earns
his living f r o m something else' and another as 'maybe not recognised as
professional by the East M i d l a n d A r t s A s s o c i a t i o n scheme, but he really is,
y o u k n o w ' . It is a term readily used to describe others (or oneself) w i t h great
conviction and certainty, but i n practice rests o n underlying and disputed
ambiguities.
O n e specific incident can demonstrate the relativity and conflicts w i t h i n
the 'amateur' versus 'professional' distinction as locally experienced. T h i s
arose f r o m the f o r m a t i o n of the high-status M i l t o n Keynes C h a m b e r
Orchestra. It was started up i n 1975 under the auspices of the 'new city'
Development C o r p o r a t i o n and at first included many local music teachers
and students. But by 1980 most of these had been eased out. There was
heated controversy over whether they should be members and o n what
grounds, and emotive interchanges i n the local press and elsewhere. T h e
conductor on the one side argued that 'we are l o o k i n g for an absolute
professional standard. If we get a local professional w h o is equal to an
outsider obviously we w o u l d prefer h i m . But we are not i n business for semi-
professionals. There is plenty of opportunity for them at the S h e r w o o d
S i n f o n i a ' (the leading 'amateur' orchestra). In his view and that of the
organisers, local teachers were 'semi-professionals', i n contrast to the full
'professional' performers. H e was strongly supported by some of his
colleagues, as w e l l as by enthusiasts for the high standard of the M i l t o n
15
Account: s6468359
Introductory
Keynes C h a m b e r Orchestra's local concerts. Other local musicians, h o w -

ever, especially the teachers and part-time performers, retorted that the early
publicity by the orchestra had been seriously misleading w h e n it stated that

'the p r o p o r t i o n of players d r a w n f r o m the area w i l l increase' and 'that it w i l l
become almost entirely derived f r o m its o w n geographical base': 'it seems
we were g o o d enough to get the orchestra off the g r o u n d and then be
discarded, to be replaced by L o n d o n professionals'. Some letters d r o p p e d
dark hints about personal links ('why are some local semi-professionals still
playing if the orchestra is not intended for them?' 'is it a question of " i f the
face fits" and not the playing standard?'), and there were complaints that the
orchestra had virtually become ' L o n d o n based' after the conductor m o v e d
to a prestigious music post i n a leading L o n d o n school. T h e terms
'professional', 'semi-professional' and 'amateur' were flung a r o u n d w i t h
increasing bitterness and the correspondence raged o n for t w o months,
turning i n part o n such questions as w h e n a 'semi-professional' is a
'professional' and when an 'amateur', and relating this among other things
to the rate of fees or the conductor's o w n status. T h e orchestra continued,
but the underlying issues were never settled to the satisfaction of all the
parties and many hurt feelings remained.
A s this dispute illustrates, the problematics of the terms 'amateur',
'professional' and 'semi-professional' are not just of academic interest but
can enter into the perceptions and actions of those involved i n local music.
T h e label 'professional' is used - and not only in this case - as an apparently
objective, but i n practice tendentious, description to suggest social status
and local affiliation rather than just financial, or even purely m u s i c a l ,
evaluation. F r o m one viewpoint, it connotes high-standard or serious
performance as against 'mere amateur p l a y i n g ' , and f r o m another, outsiders
c o m i n g i n f r o m elsewhere to take prestige or fees f r o m local players, or
entertainers w h o try to charge more than those paying them w o u l d like.
T h u s the emotional c l a i m - o r accusation — of being either 'amateur' or
'professional' can become a p o l i t i c a l statement rather than an indicator of
economic status.
T h i s adds yet a further dimension of ambiguity to the difficulty of
isolating the 'amateur' side of m u s i c - m a k i n g . If one pays attention to local
perceptions, then it is difficult to be more definite than saying once again
that this study focusses o n the amateur end of the c o n t i n u u m - for that there
was some such c o n t i n u u m , however elusive, was generally accepted locally.
Even this vague statement, however, does have some meaning, for it thereby
excludes any detailed description of the explicitly 'professional' W a v e n d o n
A l l m u s i c P l a n ( W A P ) r u n by J o h n D a n k w o r t h and C l e o L a i n e , the M i l t o n
Keynes C h a m b e r Orchestra, or B M K - M K D C P r o m o t i o n s , w h i c h organised
large-scale concerts by professional orchestras and other outside performers.
But it also has to be accepted that there were many ambiguities between the
16
Account: s6468359
'Amateur and 'professional 9
musicians
'professional' and 'amateur' spheres and it is impossible, therefore, to keep

them entirely distinct.
These overlaps and interactions between the (relatively) 'amateur' and

(relatively) 'professional' are also of interest i n themselves. F o r the w o r l d of
professional music i n B r i t a i n , w i t h its famous orchestras, opera centres, and
p o o l of high-status performers, is often pictured as an autonomous and
separate one. Y e t w h e n one looks more closely, it q u i c k l y becomes obvious
not o n l y t h a t - a s just indicated - there are degrees of 'professionalism', but
also that professional music feeds directly o n local amateur activities and
w o u l d be impossible to sustain w i t h o u t them.
T h u s , whatever may be the case i n other countries, i n B r i t a i n i n the 1980s
the b u d d i n g professional musician regularly gets started through local n o n -
professional opportunities. T h i s is particularly noticeable i n classical music
when it is based o n encouragement through schools, churches, friends and
parents, as well as o n the system of l o c a l teachers and national music
examinations. O n e important stage for many is to try out their wings i n
local amateur groups - a school bassoonist, for instance, p l a y i n g i n a scratch
orchestra to accompany a local operatic performance, or an aspiring
violinist acting as leader or soloist for local y o u t h orchestras before going off
to music college. T h i s apprenticeship i n p e r f o r m i n g skills is an essential
preparation for the w o u l d - b e full-time musician. Every year a h a n d f u l of
young players go o n f r o m their localities to further professional training i n
music, a reservoir of already partly trained talent brought up through the
local amateur organisations.
A similar interaction is also involved i n the next stage of a y o u n g
professional's career. A musician's home area is often his or her first
resource for recruiting the first pupils or trying out public performance.
T h i s is where the musician is already k n o w n and has the necessary contacts.
In M i l t o n Keynes, for example, students away at music college tried to
keep some pupils at home and to appear as soloists w i t h local amateur
groups or at local music events. If they are fortunate, they gradually b u i l d
up their contacts more widely (making prominent use i n their publicity of
sympathetic reviews f r o m local newspapers) and start practising farther
afield.
Even beyond these personal career stages, the general interaction between
amateur and professional w o r l d s is very perceptible at the local level.
A m a t e u r groups like to put o n grand performances f r o m time to time w i t h
soloists w h o appear for a fee (how large the fee and h o w w e l l - k n o w n the
artist depending partly o n the available money, though personal links o n the
soloist's side also sometimes play a part). T h i s is particularly c o m m o n i n

choirs, w h o often need solo singers to appear w i t h them or instrumentalists
to supplement local players accompanying their big concerts, but local
orchestras too like to stage some concerts w i t h outside soloists. L o c a l music
17
Account: s6468359
Introductory
societies too engage performers - both individuals and small ensembles - to

appear at local concerts for their members, selecting their chosen artists i n
part f r o m the brochures or letters w i t h w h i c h secretaries of local music

groups are deluged. T h i s continuing interdependence is essential to both
sides: to the individual artists o n the one side w h o , whether just starting out
o n their careers or already established professional players, have the
opportunity to perform for a fee before an audience; and to the local groups
o n the other, w h o both want the prestige and need the services of experts to
assist them i n performing admired w o r k s i n the classical canon.
T h i s interdependence of performers at different points along the amateur/
professional c o n t i n u u m is particularly strong i n the classical music w o r l d ,
where the accepted repertoire includes many w o r k s based o n s o l o - g r o u p
interaction. But it also comes out, if i n rather different forms, i n other types
of music. L o c a l brass, f o l k , and country and western bands f o r m both the
training g r o u n d and the reservoir f r o m w h i c h the players and bands w h o
eventually 'make it' i n terms of fame and finance are ultimately recruited.
T h i s is particularly important for rock players, w h o typically learn ' o n the
job' by becoming members of local groups, sometimes w i t h practically no
previous musical experience at all but developing their skills through l o c a l
practising and performing. T h e largely 'amateur' activities at the local
level - the ' h i d d e n ' practice of local music described i n this b o o k - provide
the essential background for the more 'professional' musical w o r l d .
T h e local situation, then, is a complex one. Rather than the presence of
any absolute divide between 'amateur' and 'professional' there are instead a
large number of people and groups w h o , f r o m at least some viewpoints and
in some situations, can be - and are, both by themselves and i n this b o o k -
described as 'musicians'. A n d this is despite their having a w h o l e range of
different economic, occupational, social and musical characteristics i n other
respects. T h o u g h this b o o k concentrates m a i n l y o n the amateur end of this
multi-faceted c o n t i n u u m , i n view of the many overlaps and interrelation-
ships the spheres cannot be totally separated: the concept of 'amateur' music
is a relative, partly arbitrary, and sometimes disputed label rather than a
settled d i v i s i o n . In this context the difficulty of m a k i n g any absolute divide is
more than just a p r o b l e m of presentation; it also tells us something about the
characteristics of contemporary E n g l i s h m u s i c - m a k i n g and forms the back-
g r o u n d to the people and music described i n this b o o k .
18
Account: s6468359
3
Introduction to Milton Keynes and

its music
In M i l t o n Keynes local music was unquestionably flourishing. A q u i c k

preview of the m u s i c - m a k i n g going on between 1980 and 1984 can give a
preliminary indication of its extent.
H e r e , then, is a summary list of the m a i n groups and activities i n and
around M i l t o n Keynes i n the early 1980s, each the subject of fuller
exploration i n later chapters: three to four classical orchestras and several
dozen youth and school orchestras; five to eight main brass bands and
several smaller ones; nine or ten independent four-part choirs i n the classical
tradition together w i t h many small groups, and choirs in most schools and
churches; a r o u n d six operatic or musical d r a m a societies, i n c l u d i n g t w o
G i l b e r t and Sullivan societies; over a dozen jazz groups p l a y i n g i n regular
jazz venues k n o w n to their devotees; five or six folk clubs, a dozen f o l k
groups, and about four ' c e i l i d h ' dance bands; t w o leading country and
western bands plus other more fluid groups and an extremely successful
club; and a hundred or more small rock and pop bands. L i v e music was
being heard and performed not just i n public halls but also i n churches,
schools, open air festivals, social clubs and pubs, and the local newspapers
were teeming w i t h advertisements about local musical gatherings.
Definitive numbers are impossible, if only because groups typically
formed, disappeared and re-formed during the four years of the research,
and because of varying definitions of ' m u s i c ' or of ' g r o u p ' as w e l l as the
p r o b l e m of just h o w one draws the boundaries of ' M i l t o n Keynes' or of
' M i l t o n Keynes m u s i c ' . But i n all there must have been several hundred
1
functioning musical groups based and p e r f o r m i n g i n and a r o u n d the

locality, and hundreds of live performances each year.
H o w can this striking efflorescence of the musical arts be explained, and
h o w was it sustained? O n e crucial factor might at first sight seem to lie i n the
special position of M i l t o n Keynes as one of Britain's 'new t o w n s ' w i t h

consequential financial and social benefits. Let me start therefore by
explaining this b a c k g r o u n d .
19
Account: s6468359
Introductory
Figure i Borough of Milton Keynes and surrounding area
20
Account: s6468359
Introduction to Milton Keynes and its music
Figure 2 The new city of M i l t o n Keynes (designated area) at the time of the research
21
Account: s6468359
Introductory
M i l t o n Keynes originated f r o m 1960s plans to create new towns to relieve

industrial a n d social pressures i n L o n d o n a n d the South-East. A n area o f
22,000 acres i n N o r t h Buckinghamshire was designated i n 1967 as a ' n e w

c i t y ' and a development c o r p o r a t i o n created w i t h government f u n d i n g . T h e
2
plans were being implemented i n the 1970s and 1980s, so that the p o p u l a t i o n
of the designated area grew f r o m 40,000 i n 1967 to 77,000 i n 1977, 95,000 i n
1980, 112,000 i n 1983 a n d 122,000 i n 1985 w i t h a target o f 200,000 i n 1990.
T h e site was partly chosen f o r its established n o r t h - s o u t h c o m m u n i c a t i o n
links: starting f r o m the R o m a n W a t l i n g Street (to become a m a i n coaching ^
route n o r t h , later still the A5) as well as the G r a n d U n i o n C a n a l , nineteenth-
century r a i l w a y and, more recently, the M i .
By the early 1980s 'the new city o f M i l t o n Keynes' h a d become k n o w n
throughout the country f o r its glamorous advertising, its large covered
shopping centre (reputedly the largest i n Europe) a n d its imaginative
landscaping w i t h its millions o f trees. It h a d also managed to attract a
variety o f both large a n d small firms, mostly light industries, d i s t r i b u t i o n
centres and offices offering a w i d e spread o f employment. T h e p r o m o t i o n a l
literature describes i t , i n typically g l o w i n g language, as ' a g r o w i n g city
w h i c h is p r o v i d i n g people w i t h an attractive and prosperous place i n w h i c h
to live a n d w o r k ' .
T h e t o w n thus built up was n o t totally n e w , however, despite the
impression sometimes given to outsiders. T h e M i l t o n Keynes 'designated
area' also incorporated thirteen o r so existing villages and, more important,
three established towns of some substance. These were Bletchley, originally
a local market t o w n , then, f r o m the establishment of the L o n d o n - B i r m -
ingham r a i l w a y , a t h r i v i n g industrial centre a n d later L o n d o n overspill;
W o l v e r t o n , once itself a ' n e w ' t o w n , home o f the r a i l w a y w o r k s f r o m 1848,
for l o n g the largest single employer i n the area; and Stony Stratford, dating
back to the thirteenth century a n d still notable f o r its G e o r g i a n high street
and o l d coaching inns. A s can be seen clearly i n the aerial views i n figure 3,
M i l t o n Keynes was a mixture o f the o l d and the new. T h e locality was thus
influenced n o t only by the new plans o f the M i l t o n Keynes Development
C o r p o r a t i o n ( M K D C ) interacting w i t h both private enterprise a n d p u b l i c
authorities, but also by already-established local institutions. Because o f the
existing links w h i c h already r a n across the area, M i l t o n Keynes was often
thought o f as not confined just to the 'designated' site of the 'new city' but
also as taking i n the slightly wider area covered by the B o r o u g h o f M i l t o n
Keynes ( B M K ) . B M K included a r o u n d 20,000 more people and covered the
t o w n of N e w p o r t Pagnell a n d villages such as W o b u r n Sands. These h a d
long been part of the local connections i n this part o f N o r t h B u c k i n g h a m -

shire and were also increasingly associated w i t h M i l t o n Keynes. Indeed f o r
certain purposes such as educational o r church organisation it was such
links a n d not the 'designated area' boundaries w h i c h were applied (figures
22
Account: s6468359
Figure 3 New and old in M i l t o n Keynes

(a) The crowded village of Stony Stratford with its long High Street (the old Roman
Wading Street), old inns, churches, market and Horsefair Green
(b) New city housing estate (Fishermead), showing the more spacious new layout with the
typical M i l t o n Keynes grid pattern, roundabouts, and green tree-planted areas separating the
estates
23
Account: s6468359
Introductory
COMPARISON WITH NATIONAL A G E STRUCTURE CHANGE IN AGE STRUCTURE SINCE 1976

5 10
% POPULATION % POPULATION
. MILTON KEYNES MILTON K E Y N E S

1983 1983
• E N G L A N D & WALES MILTON KEYNES

1981 1976
Figure 4 The changing age structure in M i l t o n Keynes and its comparison with national
patterns. By 1983 the population of M i l t o n Keynes was still very much younger than in the
country as a whole, but less so than in 1976. There was still a higher proportion of those
aged o - n and 20-40, but there had been a significant increase in the proportions of
teenagers, middle-aged and older people in the population. Based on Milton Keynes House-
hold Survey, 1983
1-2, and also the discussion i n the appendix, p. 346); m u c h of the analysis
here assumes this wider sense of ' M i l t o n Keynes'.
D u r i n g my research i n 1980-4 there was thus a rapidly g r o w i n g p o p u l a -
t i o n , d r a w n m a i n l y f r o m L o n d o n and the South-East. N e w houses and halls
were being built, schools, pubs and churches opened, and new industries
established. T h e p o p u l a t i o n structure was fairly characteristic of a develop-
ing area: more i n the 0-11 and 20—40 age groups and more families w i t h
young children than i n the British p o p u l a t i o n as a w h o l e (a difference
gradually decreasing as the t o w n became established). Similarly the socio-
economic structure had its o w n particular features, w i t h a relatively, though
not strikingly, high p r o p o r t i o n engaged i n skilled m a n u a l (and perhaps later

non-manual) w o r k (see figures 4-6). T h e owner-occupier rate for housing
was l o w , if rising, by national standards (41 per cent i n 1979, 49 per cent i n
1983 as against the 1983 national average of 57 per cent). T h i s was hardly
24
Account: s6468359
50%
I 3 Milton Keynes 1976
40% - CHI Milton Keynes 1979

C D England & Wales 1978
¿A
30% -
20%
10%
professional and other non-manual skilled manual semi and unskilled

V
managerial
Figure $ Socio-economic profile of M i l t o n Keynes in 1979. Based on Postal Survey, 1979
surprising given the numbers of houses for rent built i n the early days of the
city, but the high p r o p o r t i o n of what was - i n effect - c o u n c i l housing may
be unexpected to those w h o think of the M i l t o n Keynes p o p u l a t i o n as all
'middle class' or unusually w e l l - t o - d o .
M i l t o n Keynes thus represented a complex interaction between o l d and
new and was i n some ways gradually m o v i n g nearer to the national average.
In certain respects it c o u l d indeed c l a i m to be a 'new c i t y ' - a n image
effectively propagated by the vision (and lavish advertising) of the develop-
ment c o r p o r a t i o n and its officials - and was certainly characterised by an
influx of new p o p u l a t i o n and government f u n d i n g i n the 1970s and early
1980s.
It c o u l d be, therefore, that the proliferation of music i n M i l t o n Keynes
should be related to this recent development. O n e c o u l d p o i n t to the
gathering of a y o u n g and mobile p o p u l a t i o n i n carefully planned urban
locations and to the enlightened policy of M K D C , w h o f r o m the start
emphasised the development of recreational facilities and the encourage-
ment of the arts. T h e patterns of local music c o u l d thus be viewed as a
successful response to these development policies i n the favourable context
of a new city.
T h i s clearly was one dimension. But it w o u l d be over-simple to see it
purely i n these terms. T h e evidence for this assertion w i l l emerge f r o m the
later description, but one point is w o r t h m a k i n g at once. T h i s is that amidst
the effective advertising, it is easy for outsiders to forget that M i l t o n Keynes
d i d not begin f r o m a tabula rasa. There was already an extensive p o p u l a t i o n

in the area, particularly i n the established t o w n of Bletchley (which l o n g
continued to be the single largest centre of p o p u l a t i o n w i t h i n M i l t o n
Keynes) but also i n Stony Stratford and W o l v e r t o n , each w i t h further links
2.5
Account: s6468359
Introductory
POPULATION
Designated Area
At designation (January 1967) 40,000

At time of Survey 112,000
Now (March 1985) 122,000
AGE GROUPS
0-4 10,970 40-44 6,080

5-8 8,470 45-49 4,690
9-12 7,820 50-54 .3,640
13-15 5,290 55-59 3,570
16-19 7,050 60-64 4,090
20-24 8,960 65-69 3,250
25-29 10,510 70-74 2,950
30-34 10,050 75+ 3,050
35-39 10,260 Not answered 1,950
HOUSEHOLD TENURE
Total households 39,780
Rent Sale
Corporation 33% New Town 16%
Borough 15% Sitting tenant purchased 4%
Other 3% Other 26%
Shared ownership 3%
SOCIO-ECONOMIC GROUP
Base: those in work 46,404

Professional/managerial 16%
Other non-manual 36%
skilled manual 28%
semi-skilled manual 12%
unskilled manual 5%
self-employed (non-professional) 3%
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
Base: 16 + years 79,250
Full-time work 50%
Part-time work
16-29 hrs 6%
16 or fewer 3%
Seeking work 8%
Permanently sick 2%
Retired 13%
Student 3%
Keeping house 15%
Figure 6 M i l t o n Keynes facts and figures (1983). Based on Milton Keynes Household
Survey, 1983
to such other nearby centres as W o b u r n Sands, N e w p o r t P a g n e l l , B u c k -

i n g h a m a n d the intervening villages. These t o w n s a n d villages h a d their

o w n active and c o n t i n u i n g cultures - different, n o d o u b t , f r o m the larger-
scale a n d more ' n a t i o n a l l y ' oriented institutions later encouraged by the
M K D C but each w i t h its o w n v a l i d i t y . T h e later developments i n the 1970s
26
Account: s6468359
and 1980s can only be fully understood as involving some interaction -
often congenial, sometimes abrasive - w i t h already established local
institutions.
A detailed account o f the earlier history o f local music w o u l d be a subject
on its o w n , but some illustrations can put the later situation into perspective.
O n e was the l o n g choral tradition i n the locality. T h i s went back to the last
century, particularly i n the established association between choirs and local
churches a n d organists, a n d continued strongly i n more recent times.
Between the wars, f o r example, there was the flourishing Co-operative
C h o r a l Society i n Bletchley under its lively r a i l w a y conductor, still well
remembered by older Bletchley inhabitants, f o l l o w e d by the Bletchley Ladies
C h o i r , w h i c h lasted f o r over twenty years f r o m the 1940s o n , as well as
regular choral performances i n the local churches, and a well-attended Free
C h u r c h C h o i r Festival i n the 1950s. M a n y o f the surrounding villages had
their o w n choral societies and competed w i t h the W o m e n ' s Institute choirs
in the B u c k i n g h a m music festival. N e w p o r t PagnelPs choral society, still
flourishing in the 1980s, h a d been putting o n performances and inviting
outside artists to sing w i t h them since 1910 (with a few interruptions), and
people still talked o f the wartime occasion at the Electra C i n e m a w h e n
O w e n Brannigan sang and was p a i d w i t h £ 1 0 and t w o dozen eggs. These
earlier traditions formed the base f o r later developments like the still-
existing Bletchley-based Sherwood C h o i r , d r a w i n g many o f its members
f r o m the older Bletchley Ladies C h o i r . T h i s and many other recent groups
were able to b u i l d o n the established choral tradition not only f o r their
singers but also for ready audiences, instrumental support, and recognised
performance venues like the o l d churches.
T h e same interaction between the new and the already established was
also to be f o u n d i n other musical forms. Brass bands played an important
role i n the 'new city', merely the most recent manifestation o f an already
strong local tradition w h i c h included several brass bands dating back to the
turn of the century o r earlier. Similarly there were earlier orchestras such as
the inter-war A p o l l o Orchestra i n Bletchley, church concert parties like the
Spurgeon Baptist Chapel's Busy Bees, and dance bands like the P a p w o r t h
T r i o (figure 7) w h o were p e r f o r m i n g a l l through the w a r f o r parents'
association dances i n the school halls - a role n o w more usually fulfilled by
the ' c e i l i d h ' folk bands - and continued to play f o r Bletchco Players (a
drama group still i n existence) till the 1950s. T h e newer musical groups thus
fitted easily into the local situation, sharing i n the same tradition o f
performance for local events and societies.
There was also the already-existing base of i n d i v i d u a l performers and

local music teachers, some of w h o m had been putting o n regular recitals by
their pupils i n the inter-war years, a n d of schools a n d other groups
p r o d u c i n g operas and musical plays. T o this was added the f o u n d a t i o n o f
¿7
Account: s6468359
Introductory
Figure 7 The Papworth T r i o , a popular dance band in the Bletchley area from the 1930s to
the 1950s, led by the local greengrocer, pianist and organist T o m Papworth
the L E A ' s N o r t h Bucks M u s i c Centre i n Bletchley i n 1964. T h i s p r o v i d e d a

focus b o t h for school music and for local groups founded i n the seventies to
practise o n its premises off S h e r w o o d D r i v e , a m o n g them the S h e r w o o d
Sinfonia, Sherwood C h o i r and re-formed Bletchley B a n d .
M a n y other 1980s groups t o o had their roots i n earlier societies: f o r
example the flourishing M i l t o n Keynes A m a t e u r Operatic Society (founded
1952 as the Bletchley A m a t e u r Operatic Society f o l l o w i n g the t r a d i t i o n o f
the pre-war Bletchley and Fenny Stratford A m a t e u r Operatic Society), the
M i l t o n Keynes and District Pipe B a n d (founded f r o m Bletchley, 1971/2) and
the Bletchley O r g a n Society w i t h its regular m o n t h l y meetings since 1971.
Similarly many o f the earlier local festivals continued into the 1970s and
1980s, sometimes the models for parallel festivals i n the 'new city'. A m o n g
these were the annual Bletchley M i d d l e School M u s i c Festival, the Bletchley
and District First Schools F o l k Dance Festival, the B o y s ' Brigade annual
procession, and the Spurgeon's C h u r c h ' C a r o l s f o r E v e r y b o d y ' , a yearly
event since 1961. T h e M i l t o n Keynes Festival of A r t s was founded as the
Bletchley Festival o f the A r t s i n 1968 a n d by the 1980s w a s attracting
thousands o f entries each year f r o m throughout the city and beyond. T h e

tradition o f music i n the schools was important too, and ex-scholars o f the
(earlier) Bletchley G r a m m a r School and Radcliffe School i n W o l v e r t o n were
formative influences i n local f o l k a n d rock music, a n d together w i t h
28
Account: s6468359
newcomers were still m a k i n g an active c o n t r i b u t i o n to the local music scene

in the 1980s.
T o explain the musical character of M i l t o n Keynes solely i n terms o f the

new city o r initiatives f r o m above w o u l d thus be an over-simplification. It is
understandable that some o f the officials p l a n n i n g the arts should take the
view that cultural development had to be initiated f r o m the top - even half-
believe that w i t h o u t their support grass-roots music c o u l d not really
flourish. T h i s , after a l l , is an approach i n keeping w i t h the accepted p l a n n i n g
philosophy that ' i n all types o f new c o m m u n i t y the basic responsibility f o r
recreational p r o v i s i o n lies w i t h the local authority' (Veal 1975, p . 79). A n
early arts manager i n the city explained the process of 'bringing art into the
lives o f those living i n a new city' f r o m the v i e w p o i n t o f planners: 'It is a
slow but rewarding process. O n e digs, fertilises, plants, prunes and tends -
w i t h a great deal o f love. A f t e r many years the roses w i l l have developed and
the prize blooms w i l l be ready for s h o w . ' Certainly this central encourage-
3
ment was one real element. W i t h o u t the initial sponsorship by the M K D C

and B M K many o f the larger-scale a n d more 'nationally' oriented a n d
'professional' musical institutions like the W a v e n d o n A l l m u s i c P l a n , the
M i l t o n Keynes C h a m b e r Orchestra, o r the 'February Festival' w o u l d never
have been set u p ; and M K D C i n particular had an impressive record i n
tapping both private enterprise a n d local initiative to encourage a wide
variety o f local recreational opportunities. But concentrating only o n a t o p -
d o w n model w o u l d be to miss the essential c o n t r i b u t i o n o f the existing
musical traditions w h i c h not only often continued as important foci for local
interest but also laid the base f o r later additional activities. Indeed some
M K D C administrators explicitly recognised this, notably certain leading
individuals i n the 'Social Development' programme w h o made a point o f
w o r k i n g w i t h existing musical groups and responding to the initiatives o f
local residents. T h e i n f o r m a l processes a n d expectations underlying the
local practice o f music and the people w h o maintained the local clubs and
groups over the years thus also played a crucial role, one that cannot be
understood by considering the official institutions alone.
Probably n o city is ' t y p i c a l ' , and it w i l l be obvious f r o m the above that
M i l t o n Keynes i n the early 1980s certainly was not. It was a 'new city'
g r o w i n g i n p o p u l a t i o n by some tens o f thousands during the research and
characterized by lavish publicity, demographic and social structure diver-
gent f r o m the national 'average', and the special impetus o f new challenges
and new developments i n a new environment. In the absence o f comparable
studies, we d o n o t yet k n o w what is ' t y p i c a l ' o f musical practice i n
contemporary English towns. T h i s study does not therefore c l a i m to present

a detailed representation o f all English towns, but to give an ethnographic
account o f just one at one particular p e r i o d .
Hence I have n o doubt that the details o f the extent and nature of the
29
Account: s6468359
Introductory
musical activities presented here or the personalities w h o helped to create

them are indeed unique. But equally I feel certain f r o m the i n f o r m a l evidence
discussed later, f r o m the existing foundations i n the area, and f r o m the very
m i x of people f r o m different origins i n M i l t o n Keynes, that many of the
b r o a d patterns described i n later chapters are to be f o u n d fairly widely i n
E n g l a n d - a n invisible system structuring and maintaining local music up
and d o w n the country.
30
Account: s6468359
2
Musical worlds in Milton Keynes
T h i s part gives some account o f the differing musics i n M i l t o n Keynes i n the

early 1980s. It is difficult to k n o w h o w to present the inevitably overlapping
and heterogeneous material of so complex a study as that o f the musical
activities of a w h o l e t o w n . I finally decided to begin w i t h a p l a i n description
of the m a i n 'musical w o r l d s ' into w h i c h local m u s i c - m a k i n g seemed broadly
to be divided (in part 2) and then (in part 3) consider some of the contrasts
and comparisons between them before going o n to the further analysis i n
parts 4 and 5.
T h e idea of a musical ' w o r l d ' partly arises f r o m local participants' o w n
descriptions. Brass band involvement was ' a w o r l d o n its o w n ' , and classical
art music seen as a 'quite different w o r l d ' f r o m that of rock music. T h e term
has also been used by anthropologists and others to refer to people's ' w o r l d
v i e w ' o r to different 'social w o r l d s ' , emphasising the differing and complex
cultures of ideas and practice w i t h i n w h i c h people variously live. 1
T h i s has been taken further i n H o w a r d Becker's i l l u m i n a t i n g study of 'art

w o r l d s ' (1982). Since the concept of musical ' w o r l d s ' has structured m y
presentation i n this part, it is w o r t h q u o t i n g Becker's exposition:
A r t w o r l d s consist o f a l l the people whose activities are necessary to the p r o d u c t i o n

of the characteristic w o r k s w h i c h that w o r l d , a n d perhaps others as w e l l , define as
art. M e m b e r s o f art w o r l d s coordinate the activities by w h i c h w o r k is p r o d u c e d by
referring to a b o d y o f c o n v e n t i o n a l understandings e m b o d i e d i n c o m m o n practice
and i n frequently used artifacts...
T h e interaction o f a l l the i n v o l v e d parties produces a shared sense o f the w o r t h o f
w h a t they collectively p r o d u c e . T h e i r m u t u a l a p p r e c i a t i o n o f the conventions they
share, a n d the support they m u t u a l l y afford one another, convince them that w h a t
they are d o i n g is w o r t h d o i n g . If they act under the definition o f " a r t " , their
interaction convinces them that w h a t they p r o d u c e are v a l i d w o r k s o f art. (Becker
1982, p p . 34, 39)
T h e 'musical w o r l d s ' of M i l t o n Keynes were instances of such 'art

worlds'. 2
T h e y were distinguishable not just by their differing musical
3i
Account: s6468359
styles but also by other social conventions: i n the people w h o took part,
their values, their shared understandings and practices, modes of p r o d u c t i o n
and d i s t r i b u t i o n , and the social organisation of their collective musical

activities.
Part 2 therefore presents i n t u r n some description of the various musical
w o r l d s of classical, brass b a n d , f o l k , musical theatre, jazz, country and
western, and rock or p o p music w h i c h c o u l d w i t h v a r y i n g degrees of
distinctiveness be f o u n d i n M i l t o n Keynes. E a c h is treated here as v a l i d i n
itself, presented at least i n part f r o m the v i e w p o i n t of its participants. T h i s
approach is necessary for understanding the conventions i n these differing
w o r l d s i n their o w n terms, but it is also one that, surprisingly, cannot be
taken for granted. ' M u s i c ' tends to be at once a w o r d of a p p r o v a l and one
that means different things to different people; what one group u n a m -
biguously define as 'music' may be rejected by others as not 'really' music, or
as 'mere noise' or ' c h i l d i s h ' or 'just a b o r i n g series of notes'. It thus takes
some detachment as well as self-education to envisage music right across the
spectrum f r o m ' p o p ' to 'classical' as equally v a l i d , for this means refusing to
accept any one set of assumptions about the 'true' nature of music and
instead e x p l o r i n g each ' w o r l d ' as of equal authenticity w i t h others.
31
Account: s6468359
4
The classical music world at

the local level
Classical or 'serious' music is what many readers w i l l first think of w h e n

music is mentioned. F o r its participants this is the w o r l d of music, the type
of music w h i c h i n its repertoire, teachers, and performance is music par
excellence, validated through state and church patronage and by its
acceptance as part of the artistic heritage of E u r o p e a n C h r i s t i a n civilisation.
A s one of the central cultural traditions of our society perhaps it seems too
familiar to need explication. But one aspect that is often overlooked is the
role of the amateur musicians and their local activities. T h i s chapter
describes some of the local practices and practitioners w i t h i n classical
music, the w a y these relate to the wider classical m o d e l , and the essential
contribution they make to the continuance of classical music as a performed
art f o r m .
1
T h e local activities and groups w i t h i n this classical music w o r l d took

various forms. There were the occasional visits of famous professional
orchestras and soloists to give performances i n one or other of the local
halls, and concerts by local orchestras and choirs w i t h visiting professional
soloists. L o c a l pupils f r o m time to time went o n to professional music
training at one of the specialist music colleges outside the area after initial
instruction by local teachers. But these more spectacular events were only
part of the picture, for there were also the 'lesser' local activities that o n a
day-to-day basis both reflected the ideal classical model a n d , ultimately,
enabled its realisation i n practice.
School music was one important element. In a d d i t i o n to f o r m a l music
lessons, children's ensembles played regularly outside lessons, and schools
put o n concerts for parents and friends (described further i n chapter 15).
T h e Buckinghamshire E d u c a t i o n A u t h o r i t y also ran t w o music centres (one
in Bletchley - the N o r t h Bucks M u s i c Centre - and one at the Stantonbury
E d u c a t i o n Campus) w h i c h organized peripatetic instrumental teachers for

local schools and ' J u n i o r M u s i c Schools' o n Saturday mornings where local
children played i n groups or gave regular termly concerts (see figure 8). L i k e
33
Account: s6468359
Figure 8 The North Bucks Youth Orchestra (one of the many junior orchestras at the North
Bucks Music Centre) perform Swan Lake at their termly concert accompanied by local
dancers
the schools, these centres were predominantly i n the classical (and to a lesser
extent brass) t r a d i t i o n , and also encouraged classical musical activity by
teaching and by p r o v i d i n g rehearsal facilities and other services for classical
groups. T h e y formed one local nucleus of musicians, many also functioning
as private teachers or members of local orchestras, choirs and other
ensembles.
There were also the many private music teachers and their pupils. T h e y
too played a part not just i n socialisation into music but i n the actual music-
m a k i n g of the locality, hundreds of hours of playing every week. There were
scores of instrumental and singing teachers w i t h varying qualifications,

above all i n piano teaching, and each year about a thousand practical music
examinations for the national e x a m i n i n g schools were held i n local centres -
some indication of the extent of classical music. Private music teaching,
34
Account: s6468359
The classical music world at the local level
especially to children, was a flourishing industry w i t h pupils of v a r y i n g

levels of proficiency p l a y i n g musical instruments not only to their teachers
but also at school or church, i n local groups and i n the home.

T h e churches were another context for the local enactment of classical
music. M a n y had their o w n choirs, together w i t h one or more organists w h o
played f r o m the recognised classical repertoire o n church occasions, i n c l u d -
ing the life-cycle ceremonies so often held i n church - christenings, w e d -
dings, funerals. It was thus through the churches as m u c h as through f o r m a l
concert halls that many people came to appreciate the large p r o p o r t i o n of
the classical musical heritage that is so closely associated w i t h the C h r i s t i a n
tradition, and themselves actively participated i n it (see further i n chapter
16).
A further essential part i n the local enactment of classical music was
played by the local groups f o r m e d to promote or p e r f o r m music. T h e extent
and scope of these active musical groupings, and the systematic conventions
by w h i c h they organised their music, may well surprise those w h o bemoan
the disappearance of active m u s i c - m a k i n g today, or the 'cultural desert' i n
our cities. Let me illustrate this by some description of the local orchestras,
instrumental ensembles, and choirs.
First, the orchestras. T h e best k n o w n was the M i l t o n Keynes C h a m b e r
Orchestra, founded 'to provide a regular series of high quality professional
concerts i n the new city' as part of M K D C ' s strategy for m a k i n g the city a
centre for artistic excellence. A s described i n chapter 2, this soon became
recognised as a professional orchestra, w i t h national as w e l l as regional
connections, and many of its players lived outside M i l t o n Keynes. A s such it
does not really come w i t h i n the scope of this study, but d i d have some
relevance i n that its regular local rehearsals and performances p r o v i d e d one
model for younger instrumentalists as w e l l as a focus for local audiences
keen on hearing professional p l a y i n g .
A m o n g the other orchestras the highest i n the classical hierarchy was the
Sherwood Sinfonia (figure 9). T h i s was founded i n 1973 as a high-standard
amateur orchestra for the area and by the 1980s was p l a y i n g regularly under
a professional conductor. L o c a l music teachers made up a substantial
p r o p o r t i o n of its members and recruited their advanced pupils f r o m local
schools, supplemented by other experienced players f r o m the area, p l a y i n g
the typical classical orchestral instruments: strings (violins, violas, cellos,
double bass), w i n d (flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, trumpets, horns,
trombone and tuba) and percussion - about 55 players i n a l l . M e m b e r s h i p
was restricted to those w i t h the appropriately high-level qualifications, the
accepted criteria being high grades reached in the nationally recognised

examinations, personal recommendation by an existing member (especially
the music teachers) or i n some cases a u d i t i o n . In keeping w i t h the classical
music t r a d i t i o n , the orchestra had enlisted a nationally k n o w n and highly
35
Account: s6468359
Figure 9 Christmas concert by the Sherwood Sinfonia. The leading amateur orchestra
rehearse for their concert with the St Thomas Aquinas school choir at Stantonbury Theatre
qualified musician as their President, his name printed i n its full glory o n the
orchestra's letterhead: Sir T h o m a s A r m s t r o n g , M A , D . M u s . ( O x o n . ) , H o n .
F R A M , Hon. FRCO, Hon. FTCL.
T h e Sherwood Sinfonia were a serious and committed orchestra w h i c h
took justifiable pride i n their high standards, and at the same time remained
very local i n their playing, membership, audiences, rehearsals and perfor-
mances. T h e y gave about four concerts a year i n local halls, mostly p l a y i n g
w o r k s f r o m the accepted classical repertoire by composers like M o z a r t ,
D v o r a k and Brahms, though for their light-hearted Christmas f a m i l y
concert, they chose lighter pieces together w i t h joke items, quizzes, or
audience-sung carols. A s w i t h most groups of this k i n d , they m o v e d through
a repeated annual cycle: the weekly rehearsals were c l i m a x e d by the
intensive activity leading up to the regular concerts, each preceded by its
three-hour afternoon rehearsal and c u l m i n a t i n g i n the evening performance
in front of an audience largely made up of friends and relations. In the early
1970s the Sherwood Sinfonia was described as 'the classical musical activity
in the t o w n ' , and even ten years later, despite the f o u n d i n g of the M i l t o n
Keynes C h a m b e r Orchestra, it had not w h o l l y lost this p o s i t i o n .
W h e n orchestras and ensembles were graded i n typical classical fashion
by their playing and performing standards, other orchestral groups were
36
Account: s6468359
reckoned lower i n both expertise and aspirations. There were the N e w p o r t

Pagnell Concert Orchestra (founded i n 1980) and the older W o l v e r t o n L i g h t
Orchestra, both expecting to recruit players w h o were of reasonably high

standard (the national G r a d e V I I e x a m i n a t i o n was mentioned as desirable
for the former, for example) but were perhaps not experienced enough for
the S h e r w o o d Sinfonia or just preferred a different k i n d of musical
expression and atmosphere. Some individuals played i n more than one
orchestra, often choosing to go to the W o l v e r t o n L i g h t Orchestra w i t h their
second instrument 'for f u n ' . These orchestras had the same general range of
instruments but were smaller and more locally orientated than the Sher-
w o o d Sinfonia. T h e y relied o n local soloists and conductors rather than
professionals f r o m outside, and appeared at smaller local venues like
churches and c o m m u n i t y centres, often w i t h a special emphasis o n raising
money for local charities. But they too were definitely part of the classical
music w o r l d , p l a y i n g w i t h no small degree of lengthily acquired proficiency
o n classical instruments. It was through them, and those like them, that this
classical tradition was i n practice maintained at the grass roots, part of the
long-flourishing continuity of British amateur m u s i c - m a k i n g .
There were also other more fluid instrumental groups. Some were initially
scratch groups w h o had joined up for some festive occasion or to accom-
pany a local choral performance, like the N o r t h Bucks M u s i c Centre
Orchestra (accompanying the Sherwood C h o i r ) , the S i m o n Halsey Orches-
tra (with the M i l t o n Keynes Chorale), or smaller ensembles like the
W a v e n d o n Festival Strings, W a l t o n Festival Strings or C a v a t i n a Strings.
There were also 25-30 school orchestras, together w i t h three or four
'Saturday music s c h o o l ' orchestras i n each of the t w o music centres, w i t h
their gradually changing membership as children w o r k e d through the
various grades.
Each of these musical groups - w h i c h may sound uninteresting i n a bare
list - was made up of active and cooperating individuals. E a c h i n v o l v e d an
immense amount of commitment and s k i l l , and the c o - o r d i n a t i o n of quite
large numbers of people (even the Saturday junior orchestras c o u l d contain
30 or 40 children/teenagers). A l l depended o n voluntary participation by the
players, time that c o u l d equally w e l l have been spent o n other activities.
There were also smaller classical instrumental groups, though their
numbers and importance seemed to be nowhere near those of the more
' p o p u l a r ' bands discussed i n later chapters. Classical groups d i d not have the
same recognised p u b l i c outlets as rock, jazz or f o l k groups, they tended to
play i n private - thus u n k n o w n to others - and perhaps instrumentalists i n
the classical tradition f o u n d i n d i v i d u a l or orchestral p l a y i n g more satisfying

than chamber groups. H o w e v e r , there were some small groups, not all long-
lasting. These included the B e r n w o o d T r i o , the M i l t o n Keynes Baroque
Ensemble, the Syrinx W i n d Quartet, the Syrinx W i n d Octet, the Baroque
37
Account: s6468359
Brass Ensemble, the Seckloe Brass Ensemble and - i n slightly different vein -
the M i l t o n Keynes Society of Recorder Players, w h o played m o n t h l y i n
W a l t o n C h u r c h . M o s t of these were amateur (though some were m i x e d o r

'semi-professional', i.e. w i t h local music teachers) and, being small, had n o
need f o r the f o r m a l conductor expected i n the larger groups. In a d d i t i o n
there were fluid private arrangements by w h i c h people met i n each other's
houses - preferably one w i t h a piano - to sing or play together.
T o many English readers, the existence of these orchestral and instrumen-
tal groups may i n a way seem scarcely w o r t h remark - a natural part of local
classical music and of English urban life. But this active instrumental activity
at the grass roots is not f o u n d everywhere. It has sometimes been claimed
that the success of English players i n E u r o p e a n youth orchestras is due to the
distinctive English development of local- (not just national-) level p l a y i n g ,
w i t h school, y o u t h and adult amateur orchestras i n just about every E n g l i s h
t o w n . T h e orchestral and other instrumental groups i n M i l t o n Keynes both
f o l l o w e d out this taken-for-granted pattern and played an active part i n its
continuance.
T h e local choirs made up the other m a i n strand i n the classical music
w o r l d , a natural o u t g r o w t h of the strong choral tradition i n the area. Besides
the many church and school choirs there were also independent choirs, each
w i t h their o w n conductor or musical director (usually male and w i t h f o r m a l
classical training), w h i c h often contained at least a scattering of music
teachers and of experienced choral singers. T h e leading choirs i n this m o u l d
were the M i l t o n Keynes C h o r a l e and Danesborough C h o r u s (each w i t h 80-
plus members, and often appearing o n large city occasions like the presti-
gious February Festival) and the smaller S h e r w o o d C h o r a l Society (30-40
members: see figure 29 a n d further discussion i n chapter 18). Some
continued the tradition of the older locally based choral societies, like the
N e w p o r t Pagnell Singers, w i t h their roots i n the W o l v e r t o n C h o r a l Society,
dating back to early i n the century; the Stratford Singers at Stony Stratford
(see figure 20), 'one of the most p o p u l a r choirs i n M i l t o n Keynes', according
to the local newspaper, formed i n 1974 'to sing together for our pleasure and
that of the audience'; and, until it ended i n 1980, the Bletchley Ladies C h o i r ,
dating f r o m the 1940s.
M o s t larger choirs were (like the orchestras) based on the accepted British
'voluntary association' model, w i t h written constitution, elected officers and
committee, formalised membership subscriptions and accounts, and A n n u a l
General M e e t i n g . T h e y n o r m a l l y rehearsed one evening a week throughout
the year w i t h a break i n the summer, meeting i n one o r other of the local
halls o r i n village, school or c o m m u n i t y meeting-places. T h e y had broadly

similar yearly cycles. A Christmas concert was usually one high point - so
m u c h so that a city-wide committee tried (not altogether successfully) t o
arbitrate between choirs' claims f o r the same Saturday evenings i n
38
Account: s6468359
December. There was also often a major concert i n the spring or summer,
w i t h occasional smaller performances at other times i n the year.
E a c h was w o r k e d for according to an accepted routine of rehearsals and

performance. It started w i t h detailed practisings of isolated parts of the
w o r k s under the conductor (and perhaps his or her assistant), singing to
piano accompaniment, then moved gradually towards consolidating the
piece as a w h o l e , c u l m i n a t i n g i n the intensity of the later rehearsals w h e n the
w o r k began to 'come together', then the great but sometimes traumatic
rehearsal o n the afternoon of the concert (often a revelation to the choir as
for the first time they heard the w h o l e w o r k complete w i t h solos and full
accompaniment). Last came the experience of the full evening performance
before an audience.
T h i s cycle of rehearsal-performance was a recurrent one, especially
w h e n , as c o m m o n l y w i t h the large choirs, the music came f r o m the
renowned classical repertoire of oratorio and church music. These were
mostly four-part w o r k s , ideally w i t h orchestral accompaniment and visiting
soloists, by such composers as H a n d e l {Messiah was still one of the great
popular pieces, the music k n o w n to most singers), together w i t h H a y d n ,
M e n d e l s s o h n , Brahms, B a c h , V i v a l d i , Faure, and others i n the recognised
classical canon whose w o r k s were over the years sung alternately by the
various local choirs. These f o r m e d the core of the expected c h o r a l reper-
toire, but there were also concerts of more m o d e r n w o r k s , especially English
compositions by, say, V a u g h a n W i l l i a m s or Britten, 'light classics' by Bizet
or Sullivan, and arrangements of both p o p u l a r and esoteric carols. M a n y
choir members were already acquainted w i t h m u c h of the classical reper-
toire (some h a d been choral singers for 30, 40 or even 50 years). A t the least,
they had long-practised skills i n sight-reading f r o m written music (an
essential requirement for every choir) and i n recognising f a m i l i a r cadences
and styles. T h e classical ideal i n terms of repertoire, highly graded direction,
and aspirations to a 'high-standard' performance was very m u c h to the fore,
expressed through the actual singers o n the g r o u n d w h o had gained their
expertise through a process of i n f o r m a l learning and practising i n the
amateur t r a d i t i o n .
T h e same general patterns were also f o l l o w e d by the many smaller choirs
like the O r p h e a n Singers, F e l l o w s h i p C h o i r , G u i l d Singers, Canzonetta
Singers, M i s c e l l a n y , St M a r t i n Singers, W o b u r n Sands B a n d M a d r i g a l
G r o u p and the all-female E r i n Singers. M a n y of these continued over the
years, but there were also shorter-lived groups like the N e w C i t y C h o r a l
Society, the Bletchley Further E d u c a t i o n College C h o i r and some w h o
appeared under fluctuating names (the Senior C i t i z e n s ' C h o i r developing

into the M e l o d y G r o u p , for example). There were also temporary groups
w h o sang together just for a particular occasion, whether large, like the 180-
strong Festival C h o i r (the joint Danesborough C h o r u s and M i l t o n Keynes
39
Account: s6468359
Chorale) at the 1982 M i l t o n Keynes February Festival, or s m a l l , like the

Village M a i d e n s f r o m the local W o m e n ' s Institute, w h o sang after a
Christmas pantomime at Stoke H a m m o n d School, and, finally, the various

madrigal groups that formed f r o m time to time. M a n y smaller choirs put o n
several small events during the year rather than w o r k i n g up one or t w o m a i n
w o r k s o n the model of the rehearsal-performance cycles of the larger choirs,
and sang frequently at churches, fetes or clubs to raise money for some local
g o o d cause or provide entertainment at hospitals or o l d people's homes. But
here too there was still a stress o n rehearsing to reach as high a standard as
possible, almost always w i t h a piano accompaniment and under the
direction of a conductor. T h e different categories shaded into each other, of
course, and some small choirs had highly qualified conductors or p r a c t i -
tioners i n classical music terms (the O p e n University C h o i r , for example, or
the Tadige Singers), but i n general the smaller choirs laid less emphasis o n
specialist classical training and (unlike the larger, more ambitious choirs)
quite often had female conductors.
T h e number of choirs i n the area was thus great. There were perhaps 100
in a l l , w i t h membership ranging f r o m 90 or so d o w n to a r o u n d 12-15 ( a n o t
u n c o m m o n number for the smaller groups), or as few as 5 or 6 i n some

church choirs. T h e total number of choral singers i n the area was thus
p r o b a b l y w e l l over 1,000, though it is h a r d to calculate exact numbers
because of the amount of multiple membership - another notable feature of
the choral t r a d i t i o n .
These many choirs and instrumental groups practised through the year
w i t h o u t always being especially noticeable except to those most directly
involved. H o w e v e r , there were points i n the year when their activities
became more prominent. A t Christmas practically every choir and orchestra
gave performances, and there were also a great many concerts towards the
end of the summer term i n the school year. Easter too had its performances,
together w i t h other key festivals i n the C h r i s t i a n year (especially, but not
only, by the church groups). A n o t h e r high point was February. T h e annual
'February Festival', initially p r o m o t e d by the M K D C arts d i v i s i o n , included
both nationally and internationally k n o w n professional artists f r o m outside
the area, and a few of the leading local groups.
February was also the m o n t h of the M i l t o n Keynes (earlier Bletchley)
Festival of A r t s , a more modest and locally generated event, w h i c h f o l l o w e d
the established music festival t r a d i t i o n of competitive classes i n music, dance
and speech for both children and adults i n a wide range of ages and
standards, judged by visiting adjudicators. It included classes for solo singers
and performers o n just about every classical instrument, b a n d , recorder

groups, small ensembles, and church choirs. T h e largest choirs and orches-
tras d i d not enter, but the festival still p r o v i d e d a showpiece of the classical
music w o r l d i n M i l t o n Keynes. O v e r the days of the festival, many hundreds
40
Account: s6468359
of entrants came f o r w a r d and performed i n t w o Bletchley halls, f r o m p i a n o

classes for tiny tots to 'recital classes' by young aspirants for music college
entrance. T h e festival had g r o w n f r o m one day i n 1968 to an event of more

than a week and over 3,000 entrants (almost 80 per cent of them local) by the
m i d 1980s.
But a mere catalogue gives no real taste of what these many musical
activities meant to the participants. T h i s was something over and above the
time and w o r k they put into them or the incidental results (sociability or
friendship or status) that certainly also often flowed f r o m them. T h e
rewards for those committed to the classical music w o r l d are h a r d to capture
in precise w o r d s , but they certainly included a sense of beauty and
fundamental value, of intense and p r o f o u n d l y felt artistic experience w h i c h
c o u l d reach to the depths of one's nature. F o r participants i n this w o r l d
there was perhaps nothing to equal the experience of engaging i n a beautiful
and co-ordinated performance of some favoured classical w o r k , whether i n
practice or (at a heightened level) i n public concert: the expectant t h r i l l of
players or singers entering a h a l l i n their special dress ready for performance,
the f a m i l i a r and evocative sounds of tuning up i n front of the audience, the
hushed moment as the performers gathered themselves to start or the
conductor called all eyes by lifting his baton, and the split second of silence
(more of symbolic quality than measured time) at the end before performers
and audience returned alike to the everyday w o r l d . F o r those steeped i n the
classical tradition these richly symbolic moments were experienced as
somehow i m p l i c a t i n g the deep core of people's being.
T h i s experience was not, ultimately, dependent o n the super-high p r o -
fessional standards insisted o n i n the elite national music w o r l d . It was
something w i t h i n the compass and imagination of the quite ordinary part-
time musicians i n the local halls and schools and churches.
These locally practising musicians were of course influenced by many
things, social as w e l l as musical, and it w o u l d not do to give either too purist
or too generalized a picture of what drew each to his or her musical
engagements or the views each held of these. O n e aspect, however, w h i c h to
some degree or other set them w i t h i n an overall c o m m o n b a c k g r o u n d was
the general evaluation of the place of classical music i n o u r culture and the
model most people h a d of this. These shared assumptions were usually
implicit o n l y , but some brief (if simplified) comments o n this m o d e l of
classical music are relevant for understanding the local scene, even though to
many readers they may seem too obvious and ' n a t u r a l ' to need stating.
T h e musical organisation, artistic forms, and personnel associated w i t h
classical music i n the b r o a d sense of that t e r m were w i d e l y , if rather

2
vaguely, assumed to be b o u n d up w i t h many privileged institutions and

values of our society: the educational system, church and state functions,
and the generally accorded status of a 'high art'. T h i s status was further
4i
Account: s6468359
supported by the existence of specialised musicians w h o had managed to

establish themselves as a recognised profession w i t h control over recruit-
ment and evaluation. T h e performances and high-level teaching p r o v i d e d by

these experts formed the most visible element i n what was accepted as the
classical music w o r l d . T h e model of classical music i n English society was
explicitly defined by the specialists i n terms both of the k i n d of music
p l a y e d - m o s t typically performed i n a f o r m a l public c o n c e r t - a n d its
historical and theoretical basis.
There were many detailed differences w i t h i n this overall w o r l d , not least
the changing historical styles as analysed i n advanced musical studies, but i n
general terms the current idea of the E u r o p e a n classical music t r a d i t i o n , as
distinct both f r o m non-European music and f r o m ' p o p u l a r ' forms, centred
r o u n d transmitting the w o r k s of influential musicians f r o m the p a s t - t h e
'great composers'. M u s i c a l genres have of course varied at different
historical periods, but those c o m m o n l y cultivated i n local (as i n national)
performances included orchestral symphonies, suites and concertos, instru-
mental sonatas, oratorios and classical operas, and vocal music of various
k i n d s , usually w i t h instrumental accompaniment and w i t h the underlying
idea that their central essence c o u l d b e - a n d was - represented i n written
scores. There were also classical compositions for particular instrumental
combinations f r o m recorder groups to string quartets and instrumental
duets, f o l l o w i n g accepted conventions about both the instruments (specific
types of strings, w i n d and k e y b o a r d together w i t h the voice and to some
extent percussion), and about h o w they should be played.
In practice what was classified as w i t h i n this classical t r a d i t i o n depended
not so m u c h on an objective set of criteria as o n cultural conventions about
the appropriate forms and contexts of music - ones w h i c h those outside this
w o r l d regarded as uninspiring but w h i c h classical musicians c o u l d justify
both i n terms of particular patternings of melody, harmony and thematic
structures and by the accepted classifications by music specialists, further
authorised by the strongly held image of this music as an artistic heritage
c o m i n g d o w n i n written f o r m f r o m the past. Just what was included
changed f r o m time to time, and the w h o l e concept of classical music was
certainly fuzzy at the edges; what was clear was that it was based not just o n
musicological content but o n definitions and validations by particular
groups of people.
T h i s socially defined canon of classical music was what present-day
musicians largely w o r k e d w i t h . A few themselves composed, but i n general
their central responsibility was the perpetuation of this heritage, teaching
others the skills to appreciate it or to realise it i n their o w n p l a y i n g . T h e y

thus transmitted the musical w o r k s written by earlier composers and d i d so
in a context i n w h i c h this was considered a high, indeed revered, f o r m of
artistic expression supported by w i d e l y accepted values about high art and
4*
Account: s6468359
(in some cases) direct state patronage. Concerts by nationally and inter-
nationally k n o w n soloists and orchestras and by v a r y i n g combinations of
professional players, both live and broadcast, epitomised what most people
envisaged as the classical music tradition of this country, backed up by the
system of specialised music training, national music colleges and p r o -
fessional musicians.
These activities by elite musicians perpetuating the musical heritage of the
past i n p u b l i c concerts made up the most visible manifestation of classical
music. But they d i d not constitute the whole of the classical musical w o r l d as
it was realised i n practice. Certainly this particular model deeply influenced
even those o n the face of it far removed f r o m the specialist performances of
highly qualified professionals. But, as w i l l be clear, there was also a whole
grass-roots sub-structure of local classical music. T h o u g h perhaps 'invisible'
to most scholars, i n practice this was the essential local manifestation of the
national music system, and also (as emerged i n chapter 2) both interacted
w i t h it and f o r m e d its f o u n d a t i o n . O n e aspect was the p r o v i s i o n of
audiences w i t h the necessary skills of appreciation for professionals c o m i n g
to give concerts locally, but it extended far beyond this to the whole system
of local training, p l a y i n g , actively practising musical groups and p u b l i c
performances by local musicians.
T h i s ideal classical m o d e l was a p o w e r f u l one w h i c h , however vague at
the edges, implicitly m o u l d e d people's views of music and of their o w n
participation i n it at the local level. T h e y were taking part, it was assumed,
in a high art f o r m validated by an authorised historical t r a d i t i o n and a
structure of professional specialisation i n w h i c h experts had to undergo
rigorously assessed training ultimately controlled by the highest members of
the profession. O f course not everyone w h o went to a classical concert,
learnt the p i a n o or played the v i o l i n i n a local orchestra had formulated this
explicitly or expected his or her o w n performance to measure up to the
highest level of this ideal. Nevertheless, the model had a p r o f o u n d influence
throughout the musical groups and activities that were w i d e l y seen as part of
the w o r l d of classical music.
T h e local awareness of links w i t h the wider classical w o r l d and its
authorised canon f r o m the past came out i n many contexts. O n e concrete
f o r m was the printed scores and music 'parts' w h i c h were a necessary
channel for transmission and performance among local classical groups,
both instrumental and v o c a l . These were often b o r r o w e d rather than bought
and w h e n a local choir, say, f o u n d itself, as so often, singing f r o m o l d and
w e l l - m a r k e d copies, it was easy to picture the earlier choirs 20, 30, even 50
years ago singing f r o m the self-same c o p i e s - a n d repertoire - of classical

choral music i n the days w h e n , perhaps, those parts cost just one penny.
L o c a l performers c o u l d also regard themselves as the amateur counterparts
of the specialist professionals, their reflection at the local level, p l a y i n g
43
Account: s6468359
however imperfectly f r o m the same classical canon. It was this pervasive

model of the lengthy and highly valued classical t r a d i t i o n w h i c h ultimately
set the definitions of the musical activities i n w h i c h local amateurs were

engaged.
A m i d s t these many locally based classical musical activities, w h a t k i n d of
people were the m a i n participants? Is the prevalent assumption justified that
classical music is p r i m a r i l y a 'middle-class pursuit' or confined to the 'elite'
rather than the ' c o m m o n people'? J u d g i n g by M i l t o n Keynes there was
certainly one sense i n w h i c h this was true: if one focusses p r i m a r i l y o n highly
trained specialist musicians and the national institutions i n w h i c h they
participate, this is almost by definition an elite and select w o r l d ; and insofar
as this m o d e l influenced people's interpretations, classical music was indeed
pictured as, i n its fullest and best f o r m , a high-art pursuit for the few. But, as
becomes clear by examining the local situation, the actual practice w h i c h
upholds and perpetuates the classical music w o r l d consists of more than just
these elite musicians. T h e local amateurs and small-scale events also play an
essential part. In their case it is by no means so evident that an elite or a
'middle class' label is correct. Indeed my m a i n conclusion - however banal -
was that local musicians and participants i n local musical activities varied
enormously i n terms of educational qualifications, specialist expertise,
occupation, wealth and general ethos.
Some musical groups d i d approach more nearly than others to the ideal of
the expert professionals i n terms of specialist musical qualifications, and this
often —though not a l w a y s - w e n t along w i t h the kinds of jobs or back-
grounds loosely referred to as middle class. T h e leading amateur orchestra,
the S h e r w o o d Sinfonia, was a g o o d example. Players had gone through the
f o r m a l examinations of the national music institutions, and there was a high
p r o p o r t i o n of local music teachers and of individuals i n high-status occupa-
tions a m o n g their members. But even here there were exceptions, like the
y o u n g sausage-maker, later music shop assistant, w h o besides being a
S h e r w o o d Sinfonia violinist was a k e y b o a r d player and composer w i t h a
local rock group, or pupils f r o m local comprehensive schools not a l l i n the
'best' areas. T h e amateur and widely based emphasis w i t h i n E n g l i s h music
was particularly noticeable i n the choirs, w i t h their l o n g tradition of
extensive l o c a l participation w i t h o u t formalised musical expertise or selec-
tive b a c k g r o u n d . It was true that the older pattern of local c h o r a l societies
made up of a cross-section f r o m one locality w a s - w i t h the change i n
transport arrangements perhaps - being replaced i n the 1980s by choirs
recruited o n a city-wide rather than n e i g h b o u r h o o d basis; but both local ties
and a w i d e m i x of backgrounds were still evident i n the church and school

choirs (see chapters 15 and 16). In such cases generalisation about classical
music practitioners c o m i n g f r o m just one social b a c k g r o u n d or set of
44
Account: s6468359
occupations does not stand up: many (though not all) choirs were very
mixed.
T h e same applied to instrumental players, despite the elite nature of some

smaller ensembles. Piano and organ p l a y i n g were widespread, sometimes
still learnt o n a self-taught basis (especially i n church contexts), and even
instrumental groups were not all highly select. T h e W o l v e r t o n L i g h t
Orchestra, for example, went back far into the local history of W o l v e r t o n ,
the t o w n long dominated by the local r a i l w a y w o r k s . It was first founded as
the F r a n k B r o o k s Orchestra after the First W o r l d W a r by a bandmaster of
the Bucks. Volunteers w h o also conducted the local brass b a n d , and was
later renamed the W o l v e r t o n Orchestral Society. Between the wars it played
light music w i t h a First W o r l d W a r flavour, the thirty or so players giving
regular winter concerts i n local cinemas. It was revived after the Second
W o r l d W a r , but later took the title W o l v e r t o n L i g h t Orchestra to make clear
that i n contrast to the newly founded Sherwood Sinfonia their p o l i c y was to
play smaller-scale w o r k s rather than symphonies. T h i s they were still d o i n g
very effectively i n the 1980s, giving six or seven concerts a year, mainly
around the W o l v e r t o n area, w i t h a p l a y i n g membership of about thirty. By
then there was a fair p r o p o r t i o n of local schoolteachers i n the orchestra, but
over the years - and to some extent still - it had been strongly rooted i n the
local c o m m u n i t y and still had a mainly self-taught conductor f r o m the local
railway w o r k s . It w o u l d be hard to regard this as a select elite or middle-
class activity i n the sense often attached to those terms.
A l l i n a l l , the picture was a varied one. T h e high-culture m o d e l of classical
music should not lead us to conclude w i t h o u t further question that the
musicians w h o in practice made up the classical music w o r l d at the local
level were themselves members of some clear elite or d r a w n predominantly
f r o m some single class. F o r M i l t o n Keynes, at least, the evidence points to a
weighting towards teachers and fairly high-status occupations i n several of
the more aspiring instrumental groups, but otherwise - and particularly i n
the choirs - great heterogeneity of b a c k g r o u n d , education and occupation.
T h e p o w e r of the specialist m o d e l , then, w h i c h focusses attention o n
professional concerts and national p e r f o r m i n g organisations, should not be
allowed to obscure the equally real practices of local performance, training
and appreciation. T h i s classical ideal - misleading though it can be - is
nevertheless of great relevance for the local scene. It provides a f r a m e w o r k
for the local practice, and w i t h o u t it one justification and measure for the
many local orchestras, choirs and instrumental ensembles w o u l d be l a c k i n g .
T h e recognised t r a d i t i o n of the classical repertoire and the currently
accepted styles of presentation also provide local groups w i t h a rationale

w h i c h they both d r a w o n and help to perpetuate. A l l i n all the over-arching
classical music model o n the one hand and the local performers and enactors
45
Account: s6468359
of the tradition o n the other interact together in a complex and varied w a y

to transmit and sustain, carry and f o r m , the national and enduring w o r l d of
classical music so characteristic of this country as a w h o l e and so richly

practised at the local level
4 6
Account: s6468359
5
The brass band world
G i v e n the w e l l - k n o w n association of brass bands w i t h the N o r t h , the

strength and continuity of the local brass band t r a d i t i o n came as something
of a surprise. F o r there were five to eight m a i n brass bands i n and a r o u n d
M i l t o n Keynes i n the early 1980s (the exact numbers depending on just
where one draws the boundaries): the W o l v e r t o n T o w n and British R a i l
B a n d , the W o b u r n Sands B a n d , and the B r a d w e l l B a n d (all going back many
decades), and the more recent Stantonbury Brass, the re-formed Bletchley
B a n d and (from 1984) the Broseley Brass; also regarded as i n a sense local
were the century-old Great H o r w o o d B a n d and the H e a t h and Reach B a n d ,
in villages about five miles f r o m the city boundary. There were also youth
bands, bands connected w i t h the B o y s ' Brigades and similar groups, and
Salvation A r m y bands i n Bletchley and B r a d w e l l . Brass band gatherings like
the Bletchley spring festivals had been a local t r a d i t i o n for some time, and
were currently concentrated i n t w o annual events, w i t h 50 or so brass bands
c o m i n g f r o m all over the country to the February 'entertainment contest',
and a massed concert by local bands every a u t u m n . 1
T h e m a i n bands contained 15 to 30 amateur players each, fluctuating

according to the fortunes of the band at any one time, the regulation
'competition b a n d ' being 25 plus conductor. T h e i r instruments were the
standard brass c o m b i n a t i o n of cornets, trombones, baritone and tenor
horns, euphoniums, B|? and E\> basses, and percussion, played by members
of many different ages and, i n most of the bands, of both sexes. T h e y made
frequent p u b l i c appearances (far more often than the choirs and orches-
tras) - highly visible performances, because of the loudness of brass instru-
ments, the tradition of p l a y i n g i n the open, and their distinctive uniforms.
Brass band players were exceptionally articulate about their traditions;
'it's a w o r l d o n its o w n ' , I was constantly t o l d , 'a whole w o r l d ' . A m o n g all
the musical spheres i n M i l t o n Keynes, it was the brass bands and their
players that most emphatically made up a self-conscious ' w o r l d ' w i t h its
o w n specific and separate traditions.
47
Account: s6468359
T h i s perception was partly m o u l d e d by the p o p u l a r publications about

brass bands, the activities of national brass associations and the strong if
unwritten traditions that have g r o w n up r o u n d brass bands since the last

century. T h i s too was h o w outsiders often regarded them. T h e image was of
bands as essentially w o r k i n g class, f o l l o w i n g their o w n autonomous musical
style and repertoire separate f r o m the elitist high culture, and composed of
(male) players w h o were either self-taught or had learnt w i t h i n the f a m i l y or
the b a n d itself. In the past, so went the t r a d i t i o n , it was the heavy m a n u a l
workers like miners w h o formed the brass bands: their w o r k - h a r d e n e d
hands c o u l d not cope w i t h stringed instruments, but they h a d one sensitive
part left to t h e m - t h e i r mouths and tongues. T h e brass bands were also
assumed to be closely linked to their local c o m m u n i t y , w h i c h they supported
both through local performances and through carrying the band's name
f o r w a r d i n the glamorous brass competitions.
B a n d members i n M i l t o n Keynes were w e l l aware - indeed p r o u d - of this
long brass b a n d tradition w h i c h itself shaped their understanding of present-
day activities, as w e l l as influencing their repertoire and mode of perfor-
mance. W h a t is more, several of the brass bands i n the area d i d indeed date
back to the turn of the century or earlier, a continuity w h i c h added to their
sense of historic t r a d i t i o n . T h e W o l v e r t o n T o w n and British R a i l B a n d was
started i n 1908 and had even earlier antecedents, the Great H o r w o o d B a n d
was f o r m e d i n the 1880s, and the W o b u r n Sands B a n d i n 1867 (though it h a d
lapsed for many years until its refounding i n 1957), while the B r a d w e l l B a n d
dated its foundation precisely to 15 January 1901, since w h e n it had h a d a
continuous existence as the B r a d w e l l Silver Prize B a n d , B r a d w e l l U n i t e d
Prize B a n d , U n i t e d Brass B a n d , then B r a d w e l l Silver B a n d . E v e n the younger
B o y s ' Brigade Bugle B a n d i n Bletchley h a d continued w i t h o u t break since
1928, w h i l e the H e a t h and Reach B a n d was approaching its fiftieth
anniversary. Others, like the o l d Bletchley Brass B a n d or the N e w p o r t
Pagnell T o w n B a n d , had not survived but still left their traces i n personal
memories and i n the music stamped w i t h their name n o w used by other local
bands. Inherited b a n d resources like instruments inscribed w i t h earlier
players' names or the music library, as w e l l as memories of glorious exploits
in competition or of contacts w i t h leading local families, also brought home
the length of t r a d i t i o n . Some bands h a d documentary records going back
fifty years or more, w i t h newspaper cuttings recording their festivities and
successes; these often documented the strong family t r a d i t i o n characteristic
of brass bands, fathers being f o l l o w e d over the generations by sons,
grandsons and nephews. N o other named local musical groups (with the
possible exception of a few church choirs) h a d as l o n g a continuous

existence, so that though there had been b o t h demises and new foundings,
brass b a n d members were i n fact correct to see their t r a d i t i o n as a l o n g -
established and vigorous one.
48
Account: s6468359
Awareness of their p r o u d history thus played a part i n local activities, and

to some extent this continuity was striking. T h e tradition of i n f o r m a l
learning was also still influential, and there were still many family links and
loyalties w i t h i n the bands. T h e competition w o r l d was sometimes another
continuing context for performances and aspirations, w h i l e the t r a d i t i o n of
service to 'the c o m m u n i t y ' and appearances at local events remained a
valued one, and at least some players still spoke of the ideal of bands as
essentially made up of ' o r d i n a r y w o r k i n g lads'.
T h i s traditional image of the 'brass band movement' was thus of real
relevance, influencing repertoire, mode of training, self-image and f a m i l y
and c o m m u n i t y l i n k s . H o w e v e r , as even some players themselves admitted,
the picture was also changing, and local brass band practice often d i d nqt fit
w i t h the traditional image.
F o r one thing the p l a y i n g of brass instruments was becoming more
assimilated to the 'classical' music m o d e l , and the modes of learning and
performance were changing. Brass instruments were energetically taught i n
the schools by peripatetic teachers on the same basis as other classical
instruments, supplementing the bands' o w n y o u t h training schemes and
i n f o r m a l teaching. Partly as a result, more girls were learning. M i l t o n
Keynes brass bands included female players, and i n some of the younger
bands girls were actually i n the majority - very different f r o m the past. N e w
groups were founded w h i c h , unlike the older bands, drew their models not
just f r o m inherited t r a d i t i o n but f r o m televised performances and classical
instrumentalists.
Brass bands were also part of the high-profile cultural developments
p r o m o t e d by the M K D C . O n e of the first ensembles off the g r o u n d i n the
show-piece Stantonbury E d u c a t i o n C a m p u s was Stantonbury Brass, a y o u t h
band r u n by the Stantonbury M u s i c C e n t r e - a n effective choice given the
shorter lead time for training up a viable brass than string group. T h i s
successful y o u n g b a n d was invited to p e r f o r m at M K D C and B M K -
sponsored events and to represent M i l t o n Keynes abroad. A g a i n , the M i l t o n
Keynes brass band festival, though b u i l d i n g o n established l o c a l bands, was
directly encouraged by the new city's administration (which happened to
include some influential brass enthusiasts). F o r many, therefore, brass bands
were not a separate w o r l d of lower-class or ' p o p u l a r ' as against ' h i g h '
culture, but a recognised part of official cultural events i n the city. T h e links
w i t h classical music were also increasingly accepted by players and
audiences generally, not just because of school brass teaching but through
the w i d e l y watched B B C ' Y o u n g M u s i c i a n of the Y e a r ' competition, i n
w h i c h brass instrumentalists always formed one section. O n e recent w i n n e r

was claimed as a ' l o c a l b o y ' (he came f r o m B e d f o r d and had played as
soloist w i t h local brass bands); this added new prestige to brass band
playing, and the number of children (or rather parents) interested i n brass
49
Account: s6468359
lessons immediately jumped. There was thus contact between brass band
and the classical music w o r l d s , w i t h some overlapping membership between
brass bands and classical ensembles (like the W o b u r n Sands B a n d and the
S h e r w o o d Sinfonia).2
A n o t h e r w a y the older image no longer really applied was i n band

membership. T h e 'working-class' picture may have influenced people's
perceptions, but by the 1980s hardly fitted the M i l t o n Keynes bands. T h e
new bands (the Bletchley B a n d and the Stantonbury Brass) were mostly
young people of very m i x e d backgrounds, many still at school, and h a d girl
players as w e l l as boys; and even the older bands included a fair m i x . T h i s ,
furthermore, was h o w at least some bands i n practice saw themselves, even
if they also relished the nostalgic flavour of the earlier image. O n e long-
established b a n d , I was told by its secretary, included p o l i t i c a l commitments
'across the w h o l e spectrum' and a cross-section typical of local brass bands
generally: postmen, teachers, telephone engineers, a motor mechanic,
personnel manager, master butcher, university teacher, train driver, and
schoolchildren f r o m state and independent schools. A n o t h e r band (partially
overlapping i n membership w i t h the first) was less varied, w i t h a larger
p r o p o r t i o n of jobs like clerk, labourer, storeman, or shopworker, but also
including computer engineers, a b u i l d i n g inspector, a m i d w i f e and several
schoolchildren; as their musical director summed it u p , 'the o l d cloth cap
and horny hand image is dying out'.
T h e bands also contained players w h o had learnt their craft i n several
different modes. Some had indeed learnt i n the traditional w a y f r o m brass
players w i t h i n their o w n families or bands, then perfecting their s k i l l
through actual band playing. Others had been taught i n the f o r m a l classical
mode w h i c h stressed reading music and being able to play i n classical music
ensembles. Others had combined the t w o . T h i s m i x e d experience d i d not
seem to undermine the c o m m u n a l loyalty of the bands, and was indeed
exploited by the bands, w h o used a variety of methods i n their o w n y o u t h
sections. But it was yet another w a y i n w h i c h the model of one h o m o -
geneous brass band tradition was being modified i n the light of actual
practice.
T h e day-to-day commitment of players to their band was apparently as
strong as ever. T h e c o m m o n pattern was of one or, more often, t w o weekly
practices of several h o u r s - t w o weekday evenings or one plus a weekend
meeting. Some bands ran training sections o n yet another evening, w h e n
experienced players joined i n teaching the younger members.
Despite the strong family and personal link i n local brass bands, the
organisation was quite f o r m a l , o n the 'voluntary association' pattern so

c o m m o n i n E n g l i s h society. Bands were f o r m a l l y constituted, h a d the same
k i n d of committee structure as choirs and orchestras, functioned o n the
basis of membership fees and audited accounts, and held an A n n u a l General
50
Account: s6468359
M e e t i n g w i t h f o r m a l l y conducted proceedings. T h e y were also hierarchi-

cally organised under a permanent conductor (sometimes w i t h assistant)
w h o directed the practices and the p u b l i c performances, assisted by a

committee. U n l i k e some earlier brass bands they were not sponsored (apart
f r o m the launch money for the new Broseley Brass) and w i t h the partial
exception of the W o l v e r t o n T o w n and British R a i l B a n d , w h o still held
meetings i n the B r i t i s h R a i l Engineering canteen, they were not attached to
particular w o r k s , but supported themselves as independent bands f r o m their
o w n contributions.
A great deal of authority lay w i t h the conductor (sometimes entitled
musical director), backed up by the committee. T h e B r a d w e l l B a n d constitu-
t i o n , r e d r a w n i n 1978, stated that the conductor or his deputy had full
c o n t r o l of band personnel d u r i n g engagements w i t h the right to report any
irregularity to the committee, w h o w o u l d 'deal w i t h the offending playing
member'. S i m i l a r l y he was to report any p l a y i n g member frequently absent
f r o m practices or performances w i t h o u t his permission (a more stringent
rule than for many other types of local musical group), and i n general ' w h e n
in u n i f o r m , playing members must u p h o l d the dignity of the B a n d at all
times, and engage i n no activity that w o u l d b r i n g the B a n d , Trustees and
Patrons into disrepute. T h e conductor shall refer to the committee any
breach of this rule by any member.' T h e actual conduct of affairs is of course
often less formalised than constitutions suggest, and an atmosphere of
camaraderie and enjoyment was one noticeable characteristic of local brass
bands. Nevertheless there was also a definite air of authority at band events,
and practices were hierarchically directed sessions w h e n people w o r k e d at
the conductor's b i d d i n g i n a highly disciplined setting w h i c h players felt
strongly obligated to attend.
In a d d i t i o n to routine practices, the bands all took o n p e r f o r m i n g
commitments, especially i n the summer and at Christmas (see below). Some
also competed, and new local and regional competitions had been develop-
ing w h i c h several local bands entered. T h e W o b u r n Sands B a n d , for
example, after being out of the competition w o r l d for a time, had begun
competing again about ten years before and was advancing up the national
grading system. Stantonbury Brass and the Bletchley B a n d also entered
competitions regionally and the new Broseley Brass were already having
success. O t h e r bands concentrated more o n local appearances, but the
tradition of competitiveness was still a p o w e r f u l one even for currently n o n -
contesting bands, coupled w i t h an awareness of the distinctiveness and pride
of each separate b a n d .
T h e competition w o r l d also had its o w n rituals. T h i s made heavy

demands on band members, for it meant not o n l y playing at as high a
standard as they c o u l d possibly achieve, but also the necessary travel and
assessment of their o w n and other performances. T h e sense of occasion i n
5i
Account: s6468359
these highly structured a n d intensive competitions h a d m u c h to d o w i t h the

enthusiasm of brass band players both f o r the 'brass band movement' as a
whole a n d f o r their strong identification w i t h their o w n bands.

C o m p e t i t i o n s were not the only occasions for band loyalty a n d sense of
performance. L o c a l brass bands h a d an accepted obligation to play at local
events a n d i n the c o m m u n i t y that they regarded as, i n some sense, 'their
o w n ' . L o c a l fetes, carnivals, o u t d o o r carol services, charity occasions, the
big events at Christmas a n d the Remembrance D a y rituals a l l regularly
involved appearances by one or another of the local bands.
Indeed at some times of the year, they h a d little respite f r o m p l a y i n g .
T a k e , for example, the B r a d w e l l Band's 1980 Christmas events as listed i n
the local newspaper's notice (not their only Christmas engagements):
T h u r s d a y 18 December, Eaglestone H o s p i t a l , 7.0 p . m . ; Sunday 21st, T h e
G r e e n , N e w p o r t , 10.30 a.m.; M o n d a y 22nd, N e w B r a d w e l l streets, 7.0 p . m . ;
Tuesday 23rd, Bradville streets, 7.0 p . m . ; Wednesday 24th, N e w B r a d w e l l
streets, 7.0 p . m . ; Christmas m o r n i n g , N e w B r a d w e l l streets, 6.0 a . m . T h e i r
very similar programme i n the Christmas season i n 1982 (out ' c a r o l l i n g '
every day f r o m 11-25 December inclusive) f o l l o w e d a long t r a d i t i o n i n the
area c u l m i n a t i n g i n the famous 'Christians A w a k e ' at six o n C h r i s t m a s
m o r n i n g i n N e w B r a d w e l l , a t r a d i t i o n w h i c h h a d not been b r o k e n f o r w e l l
over fifty years. It caused amusement as w e l l as pleasure - w h o really wanted
to be w o k e n up o r out at that time i n the dark a n d freezing cold? - but was
close to the hearts of band a n d N e w B r a d w e l l residents alike, a n d players
spoke w a r m l y of going out before d a w n , being greeted w i t h d r i n k s o r gifts
or, by the children, friendly abuse, a n d finding glasses of w h i s k y w a i t i n g o n
the best doorsteps. S i m i l a r l y , the W o b u r n Sands B a n d year's events i n 1982
covered over twenty performances - at local brass band festivals i n February
and October, the R e g i o n a l R o u n d of the N a t i o n a l Brass B a n d C h a m p i o n -
ship i n M a r c h , then the Finals i n L o n d o n i n October, local concerts i n A p r i l
and M a y , appearances at a dozen fetes, carnivals, fairs a n d shows i n local
towns a n d villages throughout the summer, hymn-singing under the tree at
Simpson village i n J u l y , Remembrance D a y ceremonies i n N o v e m b e r , a n d
O A P a n d W o m e n ' s Institute parties i n December; i n a d d i t i o n nearly three
weeks i n December were committed to c a r o l l i n g a r o u n d the local areas.
G i v e n the intensity of such commitments o n top of the regular band
practices w h i c h timetabled their weekly activities throughout the year, it is
not surprising that players spoke of the b a n d ' t a k i n g over their w h o l e lives',
w i t h consequences for a l l their other obligations; but they added that this
was w e l l compensated for by the ' g o o d h u m o u r a n d f u n ' of b a n d life. F o r
some, brass p l a y i n g took a dominant role i n p l a n n i n g their lives; at least one

player h a d settled i n a particular village because of its b a n d . F o r others,
band commitments had become almost ' l i k e a j o b ' - except that they felt less
guilty t a k i n g a holiday f r o m their p a i d employment than f r o m the b a n d -
52.
Account: s6468359
and a high p r o p o r t i o n of their 'free' time was taken up by band obligations:

performing and practising, travelling, organising uniforms and music, f u n d -
raising, or preparing and transporting instruments.

T h e band c o u l d be a source of more than just musical co-operation, for
several bands had associated groups, and performed social as w e l l as
musical functions. T h e W o l v e r t o n T o w n and British R a i l B a n d h a d a Ladies
Supporters C l u b w h i c h met once a m o n t h at the B R Canteen at W o l v e r t o n
to raise money for the b a n d , w h i l e the W o b u r n Sands B a n d h a d its o w n
madrigal society led by a h o r n player w h o was also a singer; members met i n
turn at each other's houses after Sunday m o r n i n g band practice. Bands took
some social responsibility for their members, m a r k i n g events like weddings,
deaths, departures, successes, and also sometimes co-operating i n baby
sitting, arranging transport, and other less directly band-related exchanges
such as sharing skills or i n f o r m a t i o n .
Participating i n a brass band was more than just 'going along for a b l o w ' .
Q u i t e apart f r o m the intensity of the musical commitment, band members -
and above a l l the organising committee - inevitably became i n v o l v e d i n a
host of social and financial arrangements. Some of these practical aspects are
explored further i n part 4, but for brass bands particularly there was the
heavy cost of instruments and uniforms and the importance of the music
library. Brass instruments were not cheap, especially the larger ones, and
brass players might find themselves using instruments w o r t h £600, £1,000,
£2,000 or more. Bands sometimes undertook to lend out instruments to
players, a heavy d r a i n o n their resources, for £1,000 or more might have to
be expended annually o n purchases and repairs w i t h a l l the fund-raising and
background w o r k that entailed. U n i f o r m s too were expensive, and fitting
out a band w i t h a new u n i f o r m at the cost of many hundreds of pounds
often had to be p a i d for through local fund-raising events and gifts - another
way i n w h i c h a band was b o u n d into the locality i n w h i c h it both played and
raised money. L o c a l people helped the W o l v e r t o n T o w n and B r i t i s h R a i l
B a n d to raise £3,000 for thirty-three new uniforms i n 1981, for example, and
were thanked by a free charity concert. T h e result was a highly visible
group, clearly m a r k e d out by their military-style costume, clearly dis-
tinguished f r o m other groups i n the area (see figure 10).
T h e music library was an important band possession. T h i s contained the
multiple music parts played by the band and its predecessors, a m a r k not
only of tradition through time but, as the players themselves put it, a
'priceless' resource for them. O f course bands experimented f r o m time to
time w i t h 'newer' music, but given the availability of their o w n library of the
classic band repertoire there were economic as w e l l as sentimental reasons

for bands to make g o o d use of the (literally) w e l l - w o r n music that h a d come
d o w n to them. T h i s was yet another sign of their unity as one named b a n d ,
and (together w i t h their other heavy investment i n instruments and uniform)
53
Account: s6468359
Figure io The eighty-year-old Wolverton T o w n and British Rail Band. The current
members pose in their band uniform
one factor i n the long life of brass bands compared to other musical
groupings.
M o s t bands were also b o u n d by additional links of k i n s h i p and friend-
ship. T h e local brass bands seemed to be full of relatives - at first sight, quite
remarkably so until one recalls the c o m m o n tendency for music i n general
and brass banding i n particular to r u n i n families and the l o n g history of
many of the local bands. It was c o m m o n for several members of one family
to play i n a b a n d , both w i t h i n and across the generations, made easier by the
lack of interest in age so long as members c o u l d play (in local bands the age
range was f r o m 9 to 70). P l a y i n g together forged intense relationships and
provided a sphere i n w h i c h more links c o u l d be formed w h i c h i n t u r n b o u n d
the members together yet further. T h i s was especially so i n the longer-
established bands, but it also extended to the more recent ones, some of
w h i c h had been helped by friends or relatives i n the others (the Bletchley
B a n d , for example, was founded by players f r o m the W o b u r n Sands B a n d
and the B r a d w e l l Band). These links were not always and i n every respect
harmonious, of course - but this was perhaps all the more evidence of the
bands' close-knit quasi-family nature.

It was not just the number of hours, social ties or amount of trouble that
for participants constituted their affiliation to the brass band w o r l d , but the
qualitative experience and the meaning this held for them. T h e y were
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Account: s6468359
Figure II A n informal photograph of the Woburn Sands Band shortly after competing in
the National Brass Band Finals, showing the age range typical of many music groups (here
I I to 70)
creating a n d transmitting music k n o w n to be part of the brass band

repertoire, music c o m i n g d o w n to them from the past as visibly enshrined i n
their o w n library and store of instruments o r , if embarking o n innovative
ventures, d o i n g this w i t h i n the traditional brass conventions a n d i n this
sense m a k i n g it their o w n . T h e y were engaged i n the joint act of m a k i n g and
receiving music i n a k n o w n and valued tradition w i t h its evocative visual as
w e l l as acoustic associations: the glittering polished instruments, band
insignia, p r o u d display of uniforms, and quasi-military and tradition-
h a l l o w e d bearing.
T h e music above all was central, w i t h its burst of sound filling the
surroundings, arising f r o m not just hours but years of skilled w o r k a n d
enacted by t w o dozen or so people participating as both individuals and a
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Account: s6468359
collectivity i n a context i n w h i c h age and b a c k g r o u n d were of no account for

'you're pursuing an activity and i n pursuit o f that activity one loses oneself.
B u i l d i n g o n their hours of practice, they were t a k i n g part i n a performance

to the highest standard the band c o u l d produce, an event unique to them yet
tradition-drenched, of both p u b l i c acclaim and rich aesthetic meaning. S m a l l
w o n d e r that one player summed up banding as ' a w a y o f life' w h i c h , despite
the grumbles, T w o u l d n ' t be w i t h o u t ' .
T h i s sense o f belonging to an integrated distinctive w o r l d , the inheritors
of a p r o u d a n d independent t r a d i t i o n , was further enhanced by the
continuation o f the long t r a d i t i o n o f brass bands p e r f o r m i n g a p u b l i c
function f o r the local c o m m u n i t y . O f course such a statement needs
qualification. W h a t was seen as ' l o c a l ' o r 'the c o m m u n i t y ' varied according
to the speaker(s), the situation, even the time o f year. A n d i n some respects
brass bands were just like any other musical groups p e r f o r m i n g i n a n d
a r o u n d their o w n local base at both small and large events, not necessarily
admired by or (probably unlike nineteenth-century bands) even k n o w n to all
the local residents. W h a t was striking, however, was the explicit ideology
that brass bands had a direct relationship to their ' o w n ' locality. T h e band
was expected to t u r n out o n ' p u b l i c ' occasions and to play a part i n rituals o f
the musical, religious and official year, w h i l e i n return members o f the
locality should support them n o t only i n musical events but also i n f u n d -
raising, particularly i n street donations to band funds d u r i n g the ' C h r i s t m a s
c a r o l l i n g ' . T h e local band's public appearances at Christmas festivities, local
carnivals a n d shows, ceremonies like the public opening o f some n e w
institution, o r (as representatives o f their o w n locality) i n competitions o r
visits outside were seen as a necessary part o f such events and an expected
function o f the band. T h e sense o f l e t - d o w n when there was once a m i x - u p
and the local brass band d i d not play at the local Remembrance D a y brought
home the importance many people attached to this function - even those
w h o d i d not particularly like brass band music.
O n e o f the images associated w i t h local brass bands i n the 1980s (as
earlier) was o f a group p e r f o r m i n g an integrating and p u b l i c role for their
locality. E v e n though by the 1980s band players d i d not necessarily live i n
the immediate neighbourhood at a l l , local brass bands c o u l d still see
themselves as somehow representing and enhancing the w h o l e ' c o m m u n i t y '
at p u b l i c events - whatever that ' c o m m u n i t y ' might be i n different c i r c u m -
stances: the local village for the W o b u r n Sands B a n d ; the t o w n of W o l v e r t o n
and its workers for the W o l v e r t o n T o w n and British R a i l B a n d ; or, i n some
situations, the w h o l e developing new city o f M i l t o n Keynes. T h i s aspect was
no doubt facilitated by the ability of brass bands to p e r f o r m so visibly and

audibly i n the open a i r , but even so it was remarkable that a musical
tradition w h i c h was also seen as separate f r o m others and was certainly not
to everyone's taste should nevertheless have been accepted as being some-
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Account: s6468359
h o w 'above the battle' and, despite its basis i n the w o r l d of privately

organised voluntary associations, as p r o v i d i n g mutually beneficial support
for the large ' c o m m u n i t y ' occasions.

U p to a point, just about all the voluntary musical groups performed
something of this public f u n c t i o n , but it was i n the case of brass bands that
this idea was most prominent. Brass bands both constituted a quite
explicitly perceived ' w o r l d of their o w n ' a n d , at the same time, were called
on most directly of all the groups considered here to support the public
celebrations of the communities i n w h i c h they practised.
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Account: s6468359
6
The folk music world
A c t i v e performers of the music k n o w n as ' f o l k ' were a select m i n o r i t y in

M i l t o n Keynes, in contrast to the wider distribution of many other local
forms. But for the performers their participation i n the folk music w o r l d was
a source of the greatest satisfaction, often taking up just about the whole of
their n o n - w o r k i n g time and playing a large part in their self-definition. T h e i r
numbers were not negligible either. In the M i l t o n Keynes area in the early
1980s, there were at any one time about a dozen ' f o l k groups', four or more
' c e i l i d h ' dance bands and five or six ' f o l k clubs', the latter dependent o n a
p o o l of local performers. ' F o l k music' was also heard and danced to by a
m u c h wider circle through the established custom of local associations
hiring a f o l k dance band to play, for their annual socials.
Understanding the f o l k music w o r l d can best start f r o m some description
of the ' f o l k clubs'. These were independent clubs w i t h their o w n clientele
and organisation, meeting regularly in local pubs: the Song L o f t (earlier the
Stony Stratford F o l k C l u b ) at the C o c k H o t e l in Stony Stratford o n every
other F r i d a y ; the H o g s t y F o l k C l u b (later the H o g s t y M u s i c C l u b ) weekly or
fortnightly o n M o n d a y s , then Tuesdays, at the H o l t , Aspley Guise; F o l k - a t -
the-Stables at W A P , usually monthly o n Saturdays (a more professionally
oriented club than most, though w i t h an amateur resident b a n d , the
Gaberlunzies); the F o x and H o u n d s F o l k C l u b at W h i t t l e b u r y (earlier the
W h i t t l e b u r y F o l k Club) o n the alternate Fridays f r o m the Song L o f t ; and the
slightly different L o w n d e s A r m s C e i l i d h C l u b at W h a d d o n o n the last
T h u r s d a y of the m o n t h , a folk dance club similar to the folk clubs in
atmosphere, music, personnel and resident band. It w i l l be clear f r o m the list
both that the club network was extensive and that clubs went through
different locations, names and t i m i n g . T h i s immediately points to one
characteristic of local folk c l u b s - t h e i r relative transience under a given
title. There were others too, even less long-lasting, w h i c h for a time engaged
people's enthusiasm but faded out after a few years or months, among them
the Black H o r s e F o l k C l u b , the B u l l and Butcher Singers' C l u b , the C a n n o n
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Account: s6468359
Blues and F o l k C l u b , and the Concrete C o w F o l k C l u b ; and h o w the new

M e r l i n ' s R o o s t F o l k M u s i c C l u b w o u l d d o (founded a u t u m n 1984) still
remained to be seen. There were also gatherings o n a regular but less f o r m a l

basis, like the Sunday lunch sing-songs that drew 50-100 people at the B u l l
H o t e l i n Stony Stratford, then shifted to the Black H o r s e at Great L i n f o r d ,
where (as one leading singer put it) 'anybody's welcome to j o i n i n , play
along, sing a song, add some h a r m o n y to a chorus, or simply have a beer and
listen'.
A m i d s t all these changes there were always some five o r six clubs w h i c h
devotees c o u l d attend. T h e accepted system was that club meetings were
arranged o n a periodic cycle, avoiding m u t u a l competition by functioning
on different nights throughout the week o r m o n t h . A real enthusiast c o u l d
spend almost every night each week at one o r other of the nearby clubs.
There were detailed differences between clubs, for, as one experienced
performer commented, 'each club goes its o w n w a y , does it h o w it w o r k s for
them'-, but there were also recognisable patterns. A l m o s t a l l were associated
w i t h a local p u b , meeting weekly o r fortnightly i n its 'special f u n c t i o n '
r o o m . T h e y were open to casual visitors, but also n o r m a l l y h a d membership
subscriptions, and the entrance fee o f a r o u n d f1.00-f1.50 was lower f o r
members. A r o u n d 40-70 typically came o n any one night, roughly half men
and half w o m e n , w i t h 120 o r 150 for a w e l l - k n o w n artist. C l u b s usually ran
both 'singers' nights', at w h i c h the club members provided free entertain-
ment, and evenings w i t h visiting 'guests'. T h e visitors were p a i d a fee, the
amount varying according to reputation a n d distance: a local musician
might get £ i o - £ 2 o , a w e l l - k n o w n n o n - l o c a l artist up to £100. T h e balance
between singers' and visitors' nights partly depended o n club size (and hence
funds). A well-off club aimed to have three o r four guest nights to one
'singers' night', but this was not always easy since even w i t h an entrance
charge of £ 1 . 5 0 the r o o m (and audience) might not be big enough to recoup
the cost o f an expensive guest.
A n evening session involved a high level o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n f r o m those
present, and even where there were invited performers local members often
performed too as 'floor singers'. T h e general atmosphere was relaxed, w i t h
people sitting a r o u n d tables d r i n k i n g as they listened or joined i n the songs,
but there were elements o f formality too. Starting and finishing times were
fairly strictly kept t o , there were accepted conventions about i n t r o d u c i n g
and a p p l a u d i n g performers, a n d the organisers tried to stop t o o m u c h
m o v i n g a r o u n d d u r i n g the performance o f a song - i n contrast to some other
musical performances i n pubs. Since finance was always a p r o b l e m the
evening often included a fund-raising raffle, sometimes w i t h a recording by

the visiting performer as the prize.
T h e clubs were r u n by local organisers and committees (with the partial
exception o f the Folk-at-the-Stables, backed by the professional organisa-
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Account: s6468359
tion of W A P - though even there the artistic side was organised by a local
teacher and f o l k musician). T h e w o r k i n v o l v e d was extensive - arranging
w i t h the local p u b , b o o k i n g guests, ensuring a supply of floor singers,

organising p u b l i c i t y , and entertaining visiting artists. A b o v e a l l the
organisers had to w o r r y about f u n d i n g - and for most f o l k clubs this was
precarious. T r u e , a certain amount came i n f r o m club fees, entrance charges,
and raffles, but against this there were the constant expenses: rent of the h a l l ,
publicity, entertaining, and guest artists' fees. M o s t clubs just c o u l d not
afford high fees. T h i s was p r o b a b l y one reason w h y they h a d few p r o -
fessional artists - i n the sense, that is, of full-time musicians; for i n the other
sense of accepted standards many f o l k performers were regarded as
'professional', c o m b i n i n g full-time jobs w i t h regular appearances i n the
clubs. T h e fees remained l o w f r o m the performers' v i e w p o i n t , but clubs still
f o u n d it h a r d to make ends meet and for this reason local guests often agreed
to take m i n i m a l fees or to p e r f o r m 'free'. T h e y might still be entertained to
f o o d and d r i n k s , and a token of, say, £ 1 0 might be pressed o n them i n the
f o r m of a gift. T h e organisers usually f o u n d they were ' d i p p i n g into their
o w n pockets' for stamps, phone calls, petrol, entertaining guests, p r o v i d i n g
the tickets or prizes for the raffle, having visiting artists to stay or just
putting money 'into the k i t t y ' . Regular members too joined i n , not least
through the pressure to make generous contributions v i a the fund-raising
raffles. G i v e n these constraints, it is scarcely surprising that some clubs were
ephemeral, rather that there were always some f o l k clubs flourishing, several
having lasted for years.
F o l k clubs were to be f o u n d not only i n the immediate area, but also i n a
circle a r o u n d it. There were f o l k clubs at, for example, Nether H e y f o r d ,
Daventry, A y l e s b u r y , L u t o n and Dunstable, a l l o n occasion patronised by
M i l t o n Keynes residents. H o w far people were prepared to travel depended
o n b o t h commitment and mode of transport (most i n fact had access to
cars). Some devotees spent just about every night of the week at some f o l k
club or other i n what they classified as the vicinity, up to twenty-five miles or
so away. O n e husband-and-wife pair, for example, keen f o l k enthusiasts
and performers, regularly spent their evenings (after w o r k ) as f o l l o w s :
Sundays, Daventry F o l k C l u b (the oldest i n the area, going since 1965);
M o n d a y s , H o g s t y F o l k C l u b , Aspley G u i s e ; Tuesdays, either the N e t h e r
H e y f o r d C l u b or the Black H o r s e F o l k C l u b at Great L i n f o r d ; Wednesdays
and T h u r s d a y s , 'not so g o o d because people had no money', but sometimes
playing at home; Fridays, alternately the C o c k at Stony Stratford or the
W h i t t l e b u r y F o l k C l u b ; Saturdays, Folk-at-the-Stables, W a v e n d o n . T h i s
weekly cycle was not unique. A n o t h e r example, typical of several, was

someone i n a demanding, full-time job w h o nevertheless 'lived for f o l k ' :
Sundays, Daventry; M o n d a y s , H o g s t y ; Tuesdays, O l d Sun F o l k C l u b at
Nether H e y f o r d ; Wednesdays, teaching G e r m a n (his one n o n - f o l k evening);
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Account: s6468359
T h u r s d a y s , practising; Fridays, the C o c k , Stony Stratford o r W h i t t l e b u r y ;

Saturdays, live performance locally o r further afield.
There was also the wider network of f o l k clubs that h a d been g r o w i n g up

throughout the country f r o m the late 1950s, each w i t h their o w n l o c a l cycles.
F o l k enthusiasts w h o had to travel to other parts o f the U K c o u l d (and did)
consult the English F o l k Dance and Song Society directory o f clubs a n d
made a p o i n t o f attending them. A s one much-travelled f o l k participant put
it, 'they're a l l the s a m e - a n d , different. Y o u c a n go into any and k n o w
they'll be friendly.' W o m e n might feel self-conscious i n a strange p u b , but i n
a f o l k club ' y o u feel quite comfortable'. It was accepted f o r m to w a l k into an
unfamiliar club anywhere, perhaps asking ' A n y chance to sing?' o r perhaps
w a i t i n g to be persuaded the first time, but then recognised i n later visits;
names and personal contacts were not needed, for the system was open and
familiar. O n e experienced f o l k attender summed it up: ' y o u just feel at home
straight a w a y - a home f r o m home'.
T h e f o l k club w o r l d was thus c o u n t r y - w i d e , and i n contrast to some other
forms o f music the national network o f clubs was k n o w n and accessible to
all enthusiasts. T h i s w i d e perspective a m o n g f o l k music devotees also came
out i n the regional o r n a t i o n a l f o l k festivals, and L o u g h b o r o u g h , R e a d i n g ,
N o r w i c h and C a m b r i d g e were among large f o l k events attended by local
enthusiasts and performers. F o l k news-sheets (like Shire Folk and Unicorn)
were also springing up i n certain regions, and these t o o encouraged w i d e r
awareness o f the f o l k music w o r l d , as d i d the English F o l k Dance and Song
Society and P e r f o r m (a national society to encourage live music, w i t h strong
links to the M i l t o n Keynes f o l k w o r l d ) , a n d the established practice o f f o l k
performers circulating as guest artists a m o n g f o l k clubs and festivals up and
d o w n the country. F o r M i l t o n Keynes dwellers their local clubs were what
they were most regularly involved i n , but they were also very aware o f the
country-wide ' f o l k w o r l d ' o f w h i c h they were a part.
M a n y o f those w h o attended the f o l k clubs went as receptive a n d
participating audience o r provided ' f l o o r ' performance f r o m time to time.
T h e clubs also thus rested o n a p o o l o f i n f o r m a l l o c a l talent i n the f o r m o f
floor singers o r instrumentalists and - not least - chorus participants, appar-
ently so readily available i n M i l t o n Keynes f o l k settings. But there were also
the actively p e r f o r m i n g groups, together w i t h a few individuals w h o
themselves travelled the ' f o l k club circuit'. O f these categories, the most
important locally were the bands, for though some w e l l - k n o w n performers
(like M a t t A r m o u r o r Beryl M a r r i o t t ) lived locally, they made relatively few
local solo appearances and even then mostly performed i n virtue o f their
membership o f a l o c a l b a n d o r club.
In the early 1980s, there were about a dozen f o l k bands o f one k i n d o r
another i n a n d a r o u n d M i l t o n Keynes. Some were ephemeral, but all had
put o n at least some performances. T h e y included the C o c k and B u l l B a n d
61
Account: s6468359
(mixed amateur and professional); the B o o d l u m J u g Stompers; the H o g s t y -

men; the H o l e i n the H e a d G a n g ; M e r l i n ' s Isle; Pennyroyal; the W h i t t l e b u r y
Residents; the Green Grass B a n d ; Streets A h e a d (folk rock); Threepenny B i t

(a school group); the short-lived a n d part classical England's Lane; a n d
various school and church groups. In addition there were the barn dance or
' c e i l i d h ' bands: M u s i c F o l k ; the Gaberlunzies (and its stretched version, the
Gaberlunzies Elastic Band); the Banana B a r n Dance B a n d ; and Sunday Suits
and M u d d y Boots.
These bands performed i n the local folk clubs just described, and f o r local
fetes, weddings or dances. Some also appeared o n an occasional or regular
basis at pubs and social clubs. O u t d o o r events and local folk festivals were
also popular occasions for performance. Some of these, like the C o c k a n d
B u l l Festival, were short-lived o n l y , but there were also annual events like
the one-day Black H o r s e F o l k Festival. T h e largest regular gathering was the
' F o l k o n the G r e e n ' festival i n Stony Stratford (figure 12). T h i s h a d taken
place yearly i n June since 1973 and by the early 1980s was attracting 2,000¬
3,000 people a time, having become accepted, as a local newspaper rightly
expressed it, 'as one of the great family events of the year, n o w an
established t r a d i t i o n ' . It was the b r a i n - c h i l d of a local p r i m a r y teacher and a
low-cost event dependent o n local performers rather than imported p r o -
fessionals. T h e 1982 ' F o l k o n the G r e e n ' , for example, included seven named
local artists performing as individuals, plus the local groups P e n n y r o y a l , the
H o l e i n the H e a d G a n g , the Stony Stratford M o r r i s M e n , O l d M o t h e r
Redcaps a n d M e n t i l a n d the Lentils, a n d other years f o l l o w e d the same
pattern - a magnificent show-piece of local folk talent.
T h e dance or ' c e i l i d h ' bands (as they were usually referred to) f o r m e d
another category, specialising i n playing for country-type dancing. Such
bands had been g r o w i n g enormously i n popularity and there was scarcely a
P T A dance or sports club social for w h i c h the organisers d i d not at least
consider the o p t i o n of hiring one of the local folk dance bands for a ' b a r n
dance'. Since the band came complete w i t h a caller to instruct the dancers
the w h o l e event was ready-organised, w i t h little for the committee to d o but
provide the f o o d and enjoy themselves. These bands were i n great demand
and able to charge high fees.
M u s i c F o l k can serve as an example of one such ceilidh b a n d . It was
founded i n 1980, g r o w i n g out of an earlier O p e n University f o l k club, then
becoming associated w i t h a local folk dance club when the caller joined. It
consisted of six players o n melodeon/harmonica, double bass, piano-
accordion, recorder, acoustic guitar a n d fiddle plus a dance caller. M o s t of
the players h a d academic connections: a couple w o r k e d at the O p e n

University as editors, one h a d a P h . D . i n physics, a n d another was an F E
computer lecturer w h o also brought along her s o n - s t i l l at school but
already an effective double bass player (family links w i t h i n bands were
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Account: s6468359
Figure 12 (a) and (b) 'Folk on the Green' in 1981: the annual folk event on Horsefair Green
in Stony Stratford, attended by hundreds of participants and scores of active performers
63
Account: s6468359
Figure 13 Publicity for local folk events: posters by the local teacher and musician Rod Hall
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DO RIO DOS SINOS - UNISINOS
Account: s6468359
c o m m o n in local folk music). T h e fiddler alone had a different b a c k g r o u n d ,

w o r k i n g w i t h the W a t e r B o a r d and joining through a personal motor cycling
connection. Some of the players were self-taught, t w o were classically

trained but had had to adapt to f o l k style, one had previously learnt the
piano f o r m a l l y but h a d taught herself the p i a n o - a c c o r d i o n for the g r o u p ,
and t w o had passed A level music - a mixture of learning styles and musical
backgrounds characteristic of the folk music w o r l d . T h e y played lively and
melodic music and clearly derived the greatest enjoyment f r o m the various
medleys of f a m i l i a r tunes w h i c h they played as 'so many yards of music'.
T h e i r o w n preference and the view they h a d of their music was to emphasise
' t r a d i t i o n a l ' forms, some based on manuscript collections, others o n newer
compositions by other folk musicians w h i c h were classified as ' w i t h i n the
t r a d i t i o n ' - pieces like ' T h e boys of blue h i l l ' , 'Orange and blue', ' O h E l i z a '
and ' T h e k i n g of the fairies'. T h e y had begun to establish themselves as one
of the recognised local ceilidh bands i n the area, p e r f o r m i n g every t w o or
three weeks at barn dances for local P T A s or social clubs, f o l k dance events,
folk clubs and various private occasions, concentrating o n the nearby area
to avoid too m u c h travelling. T h e i r fees scarcely covered expenses, and were
in any case sometimes handed back w h e n they played for a local charity like
W i l l e n H o s p i c e . T h e y thus had some w a y to go before they reached
the popularity of older bands like the Gaberlunzies or the C o c k and B u l l
B a n d , and were still t r y i n g to expand their clientele by pressing their
telephone number o n all likely contacts. But they were already experienced
enough to need only the occasional rehearsal i n each other's homes and to be
very aware of the satisfactions of joint p l a y i n g : '2 + 2 = 5', as one put
it, for 'by p l a y i n g w i t h other people y o u get another dimension to per-
formance'.
A related set of activities were those of the M o r r i s dancing groups. T h e
best k n o w n were the Stony Stratford M o r r i s M e n w i t h their female
counterparts O l d M o t h e r Redcaps (named after a historic local hostelry),
but there were also the more recently founded G a r l a n d Dancers, and,
further afield but still w i t h M i l t o n Keynes l i n k s , the A k e l e y M o r r i s M e n and
Brackley M o r r i s M e n . These were not p r i m a r i l y music groups but d i d
include the k i n d of music that overlapped w i t h that of the folk bands. There
was overlap of personnel too, and M o r r i s dancers frequently appeared at
folk festivals and fetes, accepted by local f o l k musicians as belonging to the
same folk w o r l d .
It is not easy to define precisely the k i n d of music played i n the f o l k clubs
and groups. It varied not only between different groups and clubs, but even
at the same clubs o n different nights; and it was not fully agreed exactly
where the boundaries of ' f o l k ' should be d r a w n . Generally the music k n o w n
locally as ' f o l k ' tended to be melodic, relatively quiet and intimate i n
presentation (in contrast, for example, to m u c h rock or country and western
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Account: s6468359
music), w i t h particular emphasis o n song and often an explicitly regional

flavour, f r o m Ireland, Scotland or particular English counties. T h e range of
instruments was wide. In M i l t o n Keynes folk groups these included:

m a n d o l i n , banjo, guitar (often but not always acoustic), fiddle, melodeon,
concertina, string bass, ukelele, h a r m o n i c a , recorders, flute, e u p h o n i u m ,
and, i n a few cases, dulcimer, psaltery, pipes and tabor, c r u m h o r n or
washboards; also occasionally piano and percussion (drums, cowbells,
w o o d blocks); and, very important, the voice. There was thus no one set
c o m b i n a t i o n of instruments or number of players, so groups of f r o m three
up to six or eight (the latter especially i n dance bands) were quite n o r m a l ,
w i t h a whole variety of instruments being played by their often m u l t i -
instrumental members.
T h e 'folk'ness was indicated not so m u c h by the instruments or musical
w o r k s as by playing style and the musicians' approach to it. T h i s was often
different f r o m classical tradition even w h e n the instrument was the same.
F o r example there was a m a r k e d contrast between classical v i o l i n p l a y i n g
and the short-bowing, largely one-position, and loosely held f o r m of f o l k
' f i d d l i n g ' . T h e pattern of learning and transmission was also distinctive. T h e
m a i n emphasis was on memory and playing by ear rather than the
characteristically classical reliance o n written forms. O n the other h a n d
there was less opportunity for extensive i m p r o v i s a t i o n than i n jazz and more
attention to fairly exact reproduction of songs and tunes i n b r o a d outline
(there c o u l d be detailed variation i n performance). G i v e n the repetitive
stanzaic f o r m of much of the music, learning an item was quick and bands
often had enormous repertoires w i t h o u t m u c h need for frequent rehearsal.
Paralleling this, learning to play or sing f o l k music was c o m m o n l y (though
not always) learnt ' o n the job', inspired by recordings or live performance
instead of or as well as written music.
A b o v e all the 'folkness' of the music was assured for the participants by
its enactment w i t h i n a setting locally or nationally defined as ' f o l k ' , and by a
strongly held, if not always articulated, set of ideas about the k i n d of
enterprise i n w h i c h they were engaged. Understanding this needs a short
excursion into the scholarship and development of folk music. Briefly, 1
p o p u l a r views of 'folk music' are still m u c h influenced by ideas developed

w i t h particular explicitness i n the nineteenth century according to w h i c h
folk tradition was handed d o w n over the ages, p r i m a r i l y by little-educated
country-dwellers. T h e lore of this ' f o l k ' was held to be simple and
spontaneous, o w i n g more to 'nature' than conscious art, more to c o m m u -
nally held tradition than i n d i v i d u a l i n n o v a t i o n , w i t h each nation a n d , to an
extent, each region having its o w n ' f o l k l o r e ' implanted deep i n the soil and
soul of its people. These general ideas were reinforced i n the late-nineteenth-
and early-twentieth-century collections by C e c i l Sharp and similar collectors
of ' f o l k songs' and 'folk music' w h i c h were seen as springing f r o m national
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Account: s6468359
or regional roots over the ages, remembered especially by the older people,
and pertaining essentially to unlettered country f o l k .
T h e views of these earlier scholars and collectors fundamentally influence

the w h o l e concept o f what it means (still) to classify something as ' f o l k ' .
D u r i n g this century the concept has been widened to include u r b a n and
industrial forms like mineworkers' or p o l i t i c a l songs, expressing 'the people'
against authority. T h e British ' F o l k R e v i v a l ' i n the 1950s introduced yet
another twist, together w i t h the p o p u l a r i t y of the acoustic guitar and the
beginning of the present system of ' f o l k clubs' f r o m the m i d 1950s, but these
new forms too became assimilated w i t h i n an overall ' f o l k ' ideology and the
staple repertoire continued to be validated by reference to regional r u r a l
roots or d r a w n f r o m the collections and styles authorised by such bodies as
the E n g l i s h F o l k Dance and Song Society or books like The Penguin book of
English folk song o r A . L . L l o y d ' s Polk song in England.
T h i s series of assumptions is not just a matter of intellectual history, for it
still influenced h o w contemporary folk music performers i n M i l t o n Keynes
interpreted their activities. In practice their music came f r o m varied sources
(i.e. not just o r a l and regional tradition 'through the ages'), it was played o n
a variety o f instruments (guitars and drums, as w e l l as the 'older' fiddles,
pipes o r vocals), it contained new compositions as w e l l as older songs, and
was carried o n by players both w i t h and w i t h o u t f o r m a l musical training.
T h e y saw themselves nevertheless as carrying o n a tradition f r o m the past -
and i n a sense, o f course, they were right. F o r the music and modes they
cultivated, changing though they were, were indeed broadly set w i t h i n
recognised conventions o f what was to be counted as ' f o l k music' - even
though the images of the modern executants may have been set not so m u c h
by ' r u r a l t r a d i t i o n ' as by the intellectual perceptions of certain scholars and
collectors. It may be questionable whether there really ever was a distinctive
corpus o f music produced by a definable ' f o l k ' i n the r u r a l setting envisaged
by the purists, but this belief, conjoined w i t h socially recognised definitions
and practices, p r o v i d e d an i m p l i c i t authorisation for ' f o l k music' as it was
being performed and enjoyed i n urban settings i n the 1980s.
T h i s c o m p l e x o f ideas was part o f a more general p h i l o s o p h y , operating
nationally, about the nature of ' f o l k music' and ' f o l k musicians'. A t the local
level, these ideas were largely i m p l i c i t rather than a n articulated ideology,
but the underlying assumptions emerged w h e n people were challenged to
explain the nature o f their activity, as w e l l as i n the vocabulary used i n
discussing music and m u s i c - m a k i n g . L o c a l musicians spoke of the 'pastoral'
or ' t r a d i t i o n a l ' nature o f their music and regarded the test f o r whether a
song (even a new song) really was ' f o l k ' as being whether it passed into the
' o r a l t r a d i t i o n ' : ' i f it's still valid after twenty years then it's f o l k ' . Some
valued contact w i t h 'the regional roots' o f their music (one b a n d , f o r
example, arranged a tour o f Scotland 'to find more tunes'), and musicians
67
Account: s6468359
liked to stress their o w n links w i t h particular English or Celtic origins. T h e y

associated their music, and hence themselves, w i t h 'the f o l k ' - o r d i n a r y
people - i n the past and the present.

W h e n one looks at h o w ' f o l k music' was actually organised i n M i l t o n
Keynes, however, it is striking h o w far it was at variance w i t h many of the
tenets of this i m p l i c i t ideology.
First, the social background of the local folk music participants was far
f r o m the r u r a l unlettered ' f o l k ' of the ideal m o d e l . T h e y were a highly
literate g r o u p , most of them i n professional jobs and w i t h higher education;
many had degrees, even postgraduate qualifications. There was a high
p r o p o r t i o n of teachers, and other jobs (to give some typical examples)
included banker, accountant, medical researcher, pharmaceutical chemist,
civil engineer, business director, personnel manager, and social w o r k e r .
M e m b e r s of the f o l k music w o r l d liked to think of themselves as i n some
sense 'the f o l k ' or at any rate as 'classless'. In a way they were justified: once
w i t h i n a f o l k club or band their jobs or education became irrelevant. T h e y
were thus themselves startled if made to notice the typical educational
profile of f o l k enthusiasts. If any of the local music w o r l d s c o u l d be regarded
as ' m i d d l e class' it was that of folk music, for all that this ran so clearly
counter to the image its practitioners wished to h o l d of themselves.
A further c o m p l i c a t i o n was the variety of learning and transmission
modes. There was a tradition of self-learning and p l a y i n g by ear, and it was
unusual to see written music used i n performance, but i n practice many f o l k
performers c o u l d also read music or had learnt an instrument w i t h i n the
classical mode. T h i s was hardly surprising considering the typical edu-
cational b a c k g r o u n d , but it certainly made the picture more complex than it
first appeared. Similarly, i n spite of the emphasis o n oral transmission,
w r i t i n g i n fact played an important part. M a n y songs i n the recognised f o l k
corpus derived f r o m published collections, and printed or manuscript
songbooks were also used (several local players had consulted manuscript
archives i n C e c i l Sharp H o u s e i n L o n d o n ) . Certainly there was also o r a l
transmission and singers often learnt songs f r o m each other and f r o m
recordings, but the highly literate b a c k g r o u n d of antiquarian scholarship
was one prominent strand i n the f o l k l o r e movement and its local practice.
Despite the broadly agreed parameters of the ' f o l k ' model there was also
controversy about exactly where i n practice the boundaries of folk music
should lie. A t the local level this was expressed i n t w o opposed camps. There
were those operating mainly o n the f o l k club and folk festival circuit,
regarded by many as the context of ' f o l k music' today - often well educated,
professional and middle-aged w i t h few if any teenage adherents. T h i s w i n g

was judged by the other side to be stuffy and ' n a r r o w ' , opposed to
i n n o v a t i o n . Others favoured the more experimental a n d - i n their e y e s -
creative mode of trying out new forms and combinations, i n particular
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Account: s6468359
blending w i t h rock, using electric guitars, amplification and a greater

emphasis o n percussion, even sometimes referring to their music as ' f o l k -
r o c k ' . Several musicians also played blue grass or jazz along w i t h ' f o l k ' or
were co-operating w i t h orchestral players in the classical mode. Some
wanted to break away f r o m the 'traditional folk c l u b ' p a r a d i g m and tried
out clubs for a wide range of music (as i n the short-lived C a n n o n Blues and
F o l k C l u b or M u z a k s ) , not surprisingly regarded as 'fringe' by the more
purist enthusiasts. Bands i n this mode - M e r l i n ' s Isle, for example - c o u l d
not always find a ready niche for their performances: not ' f o l k ' enough for
the folk clubs (to w h i c h i n any case they d i d not w i s h to confine themselves),
not close enough to rock to be welcome i n many pubs. F o l k music of this
innovative k i n d was having quite an influence. A blend of various types of
music centred r o u n d , or at least i n c l u d i n g , accepted ' f o l k ' genres helped to
make the annual ' F o l k o n the G r e e n ' day so p o p u l a r , and the musical plays
o n local historical themes such as All Change or Days of Pride also o w e d
m u c h to the talents of a local teacher w h o c o m b i n e d his p r i m a r y devotion to
' f o l k ' music w i t h a classical interest (further details i n chapter 13, p. 164).
T h e controversy between the folk club purists and the (mostly younger)
experimenters was unlikely to have any quick resolution. Both sides i n fact
accepted i n n o v a t i o n i n instruments, presentation and c o m p o s i t i o n , and even
some of the established clubs were trying to transform a n a r r o w ' f o l k ' image
into a more open one, as i n the Stony Stratford F o l k C l u b ' s change of name
to the Song L o f t , and the H o g s t y F o l k C l u b to H o g s t y M u s i c . T h e difference
was thus partly just i n emphasis, but it also lay i n the performance settings
(folk clubs and festivals o n the one side and the less specialised pubs, clubs
and halls o n the other) and i n differing personnel and social groups. In the
end both sides shared something of the same basic model of ' f o l k music' as
well as a remarkable commitment not only to shared experience i n the
beauty of their music but also, i n an obscure but deeply felt w a y , to the
ethical and imaginative values somehow enshrined i n the n o t i o n of ' f o l k ' .
Perhaps, then, w h e n one comes d o w n to its actual realisation i n the local
context, there can be no real definition of local ' f o l k music' beyond saying
that it was the k i n d of music played by those w h o called themselves ' f o l k '
performers. T h e classification was ultimately forged through current social
institutions and h o w these were imaged by the participants rather than i n
purely musicological terms or because of any actual historical pedigree
(handed d o w n orally through the ages, for example). ' F o l k music' was just
that currently performed w i t h i n , or in association w i t h , the local ' f o l k
w o r l d ' described here.
F o r those involved i n that w o r l d - complicated and contentious as it

sometimes w a s - t h e sense of identity and value it brought seemed some-
times to be the most meaningful experience of their lives. Just about all the
local f o l k enthusiasts were people i n highly regarded and satisfying jobs. Y e t
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Account: s6468359
for many of them, it was the 'after hours' f o l k music activities that they
seemed to live for. Indeed for some, beyond the bare hours spent at w o r k ,
there appeared to be literally no time for anything else but f o l k music

anyway - out just about every night at one or other of the local f o l k clubs as
either audience or performer, or, o n the few free evenings, practising at
home; and if travelling away f r o m home, then visiting f o l k clubs there.
Others drove themselves less h a r d , but for many of them too the weekly or
twice-weekly visit to a f o l k club or performance w i t h their o w n f o l k group
took up m u c h of their spare time and interest. A s one local performer said,
confessing that he k n e w nothing about any other local music (in fact was
surprised to hear there was any), y o u get a k i n d of 'tunnel v i s i o n ' , seeing f o l k
music only.
F o l k music was actively practised by only a small and select m i n o r i t y i n
M i l t o n Keynes. But its influence as both pleasant melodic music to listen to
and the evocation of the k i n d of romantic ' w o r l d we have lost' so dear to
English urban dwellers was felt i n a range of contexts: through the creative
use of f o l k music i n perhaps unexpected settings like the Stantonbury
musical plays o n local historical themes or - even more widely - through the
remarkable popularity of folk-based dance bands for annual barn dances at
every k i n d of local social gathering f r o m P T A s or sports clubs to ladies'
keep-fit or fund-raising events. F o r the active folk performers, however, few
though they were, the w o r l d of f o l k music was something w h i c h gave a deep
meaning and value to their view of themselves and their experience:
something that they 'spend more time t h i n k i n g about than their w o r k ' ; they
'live for f o l k ' .
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7
The world of musical theatre
There was a strong operatic and pantomime tradition i n M i l t o n Keynes,

stemming f r o m the older towns o n to w h i c h the city was grafted. T h e
Bletchley a n d Fenny Stratford A m a t e u r Operatic Society was already
putting o n G i l b e r t a n d Sullivan operas before the First W o r l d W a r , a
tradition w h i c h continued for many years (Wright et a l . 1979, Pacey n.d.),
while N e w p o r t Pagnell h a d a G i l b e r t and Sullivan Society at the t u r n o f the
century. L o c a l schools too had long put o n musical plays. A m o n g them were
the long-remembered Bletchley R o a d School productions o f The Rajah of
Rajahpore and The Bandolero between the wars, the latter to audiences o f
all the local celebrities and raising the then record sum of £ 1 2 8 (Wright et a l .
1979).
T h i s t r a d i t i o n was still very m u c h alive i n the 1980s, partly overlapping
w i t h classical music, but separate both organisationally a n d to some extent
in personnel. It included a w i d e range of musical categories - light opera a n d
operetta, musical plays and comedies, 'musicals', pantomimes a n d some
music hall s i n g i n g - a l l sharing the property o f being presented through
dramatic enactment o n stage, often accompanied by the theatrical appurten-
ances o f costume, make-up, lighting, a n d carefully produced dramatic
'spectacle'. T h e activities of those engaged i n this well-established f o r m o f
musical expression were not just separate one-off efforts but related together
and organised w i t h i n its o w n w o r l d o f musical theatre. W i t h i n M i l t o n
Keynes this f o u n d expression i n a flourishing amateur operatic society w h i c h
had been putting o n regular performances for a generation o r more, as w e l l
as t w o active G i l b e r t a n d Sullivan societies, and musical plays a n d panto-
mimes were a constant feature o f school a n d c o m m u n i t y group activities,
above a l l at C h r i s t m a s .
T h e c o n t i n u i n g strength and attraction o f the local operatic t r a d i t i o n can
be illustrated f r o m the Bletchley (later M i l t o n Keynes) A m a t e u r Operatic

Society. T h i s was started i n 1952 by a local Bletchley businessman w h o got a
few o f his local a n d church friends together, saying h o w m u c h he loved the
7i
Account: s6468359
music of Lilac Time and couldn't they have a go at it? H e succeeded i n his
persuasions, a n d Lilac Time was soon f o l l o w e d by The Maid of the
Mountains and Quaker Girl.

F r o m then o n the society snowballed, d r a w i n g i n not only local business-
men i n Bletchley but enthusiastic participants f r o m a l l backgrounds:
teachers, bricklayers, electricians, secretaries, self-employed plumbers,
housewives and professionals of various k i n d s ; and it had close links to local
churches. T h e list o f patrons numbered many local notables, both those
f r o m the traditional l a n d - o w n i n g families and, increasingly, p u b l i c figures
f r o m local government o r - l i k e D o r i a n W i l l i a m s - o f national fame, a n d
there was always financial a n d m o r a l support f r o m the local business
c o m m u n i t y w i t h w h o m the ' A m a t e u r O p e r a t i c ' had consistently beneficial
links. T h e founder, R a y H o l d o m , was musical director for many years, and
besides his musical leadership also used his business contacts i n television
maintenance to interest yet more potential members i n Bletchley a n d , f r o m
the m i d o r late 1970s, i n M i l t o n Keynes as a w h o l e . By the 1970s and early
1980s, the M i l t o n Keynes A m a t e u r Operatic Society was thus one o f the
most successful local societies w i t h a very active membership o f a r o u n d 100,
backed up by many part-time supporters a n d regularly enthusiastic
audiences.
T h e centre o f its activities was still, as f r o m the beginning, its large-scale
annual p r o d u c t i o n i n Bletchley. O v e r the years, these had included (among
others) Lilac Time, The Count of Luxembourg, My Fair Lady, Orpheus in
the Underworld, Blossom Time, The Sound of Music, White Horse Inn,
Waltz without End, Rose Marie, The Student Prince, Free as Air, The Gypsy
Baron, South Pacific, Pink Champagne, Carousel, Haifa Sixpence, Summer
Song, The Pajama Game, and The Merry Widow, some more than once.
These annual productions were grand affairs w i t h a r u n of five, six o r seven
performances, complete w i t h L o n d o n - h i r e d costumes, full-scale stage m a n -
agement, lighting and scene shifting, as w e l l as lavish programmes contain-
ing photographs o f the m a i n performers and officers, synopsis o f the plot,
and decorative, often w i t t y , advertisements by local businessmen connected
w i t h the society. T h e cast usually included about 20 principals, a chorus o f
a r o u n d 30, a troupe o f dancers f r o m one of the local dancing schools, and an
orchestra o f about 20 local instrumentalists. In a d d i t i o n , o f course, as the
programme seldom omitted to point out, 'there have to be t w o off-stage
workers f o r every one o n stage' (often spouses a n d friends of the per-
formers), not to speak o f three o r four rehearsal pianists and both producer
and musical director. These productions were acclaimed events i n the
locality, usually packed out o n the later evenings and for many the occasion
of a n annual family outing. T h e society also often p u t o n less elaborate
'variety concerts' o r musical evenings o f 'songs f r o m the shows', w h i l e their
week-long Christmas pantomimes were light-hearted affairs, extremely
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Account: s6468359
p o p u l a r w i t h local audiences. T h e i r versions of Aladdin, Dick Whittington,

The Sleeping Beauty, Mother Goose and many others were often b o o k e d
solid w e l l before the h o l i d a y , most of them written by K e n Branchette, a

local test driver technician w h o had been a member of the society for
twenty-five years.
These amateur operatic events received lavish coverage i n the local press,
no doubt partly because of their well-connected networks. T h e local papers
often devoted nearly a page of review to the m a i n annual productions,
complete w i t h photographs and a full cast list d o w n to the names of every
one of the chorus, dancers, orchestral players, scenery painters and builders,
and lighting and stage assistants. Such accounts were presented w i t h an air
of analytic detachment but overall were extremely laudatory, i n practice
constituting one expected element i n the shared celebration. T h e w h o l e cast
and their admirers c o u l d bask i n such comments as ' A n d what a chorus the
society n o w has!', ' T h e singing of a l l these principals, b o t h i n solo and i n
c o m b i n a t i o n was a strong feature ... there was also considerable strength
in the supporting parts', ' T h e speciality dancing ... was splendidly done',
' A n d once again the set designing genius and stage manager was K e n
Branchette'.
Every year had its high points, but for the A m a t e u r Operatic Society one
of the largest occasions was their 'Silver Jubilee Y e a r ' of 1977, w h e n they
celebrated twenty-five years of active existence. A special 'jubilee committee'
was set up including local businessmen w h o persuaded many l o c a l bodies to
sponsor them. T h e y put o n a year's programme of Babes in the Wood i n
February, Schubert's Lilac Time i n M a y , a variety show i n the a u t u m n and a
G r a n d Finale i n Bletchley Leisure Centre i n October, w i t h a l l proceeds going
to a local hospital charity: 'it is felt that after the Society's 25 successful years
in the area the a d o p t i o n of the p r i n c i p a l charity w o u l d be a most fitting w a y
of saying " t h a n k y o u " to the c o m m u n i t y as a whole for their l o y a l support
during this p e r i o d ' . T h e year's events brought great satisfaction to the
committee and organisers w h o recalled h o w twenty-five years before, the
society had started off w i t h many y o u n g members: ' m a n y are still members
and still l o o k i n g y o u n g ' a n d , still w i t h a large number of y o u n g members
and a supporting list of fifty or so patrons, were already ' l o o k i n g f o r w a r d to
their G o l d e n Jubilee i n 2003'.
T h e Silver Jubilee was a specially grand event, but every year i n v o l v e d
intensive effort and rehearsal by scores of participants. Preparations and
rehearsals went o n almost all year for the major annual productions, i n a
recognised cycle that started off w i t h the enrolment and A G M evening i n the
a u t u m n , then the start of the weekly or twice-weekly practices. A s the time

of the m a i n p u b l i c performances i n A p r i l or M a y approached the pace of
rehearsing increased. E v e n d u r i n g the m a i n part of the year 'it took over my
life', as one member put it - attending regular rehearsals t w o nights a week
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Account: s6468359
Figure 14 Scene from the M i l t o n Keynes Amateur Operatic Society's pantomime Babes in
the Wood, a sell-out at Stantonbury Theatre in January 1983
for acting, one f o r singing a n d yet another f o r dancing; near the end this
turned into every night of the week a n d weekends t o o .
A s w i t h some other long-established clubs, the M i l t o n Keynes A m a t e u r
Operatic Society was by the late 1970s a n d early 1980s a closely k n i t social
group many o f whose members k n e w each other w e l l , i n some cases also
linked by k i n s h i p , love or marriage. A w h o l e series of social activities as well
as their joint musical p r o d u c t i o n drew them together. In the summer a n d
autumn o f 1976, for example, during the 'resting season' between rehearsals,
social occasions included a visit to Foscote M a n o r (the home o f the society's
President, D o r i a n W i l l i a m s ) , p r o v i s i o n o f stalls at both the Bletchley a n d
N e w p o r t Pagnell C a r n i v a l s (August), a car ramble (August) a n d a visit t o a
local G i l b e r t a n d Sullivan Society's Pirates of Penzance i n September. A s a
long-established a n d economically stable society, the A m a t e u r Operatic
Society was undoubtedly one of the most flourishing local societies, d r a w i n g
o n a wide range o f members, well connected w i t h the local business a n d
landed c o m m u n i t y a n d raising extensive funds f o r local causes.
There was more to this than just a financially effective business organisa-
t i o n , t h o u g h , since f o r most active participants it was the music that was
paramount. U n d e r the guidance o f a series o f energetic a n d gifted musical

directors, l o c a l soloists flourished and even the less skilled chorus and small-
part singers expanded, steeped i n music f o r hours o n end, attending constant
rehearsals, studying their parts i n every o d d moment they could snatch f r o m
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w o r k or family - small wonder that one concluded 'I ate, slept and dreamt
m u s i c ' Some members had before had relatively little systematic musical
experience, and for them such experience c o u l d be a revelation - as for the

local plumber unable to read notated music w h o talked and talked of the joy
of singing i n operas and pantomimes and his discovery of the beauties of
listening to music. F o r their regular audiences too, the public performances
were not only grand occasions of theatrical display, m a r k e d by colour,
movement, dance and dramatic enactment as well as musical expression, but
also an opportunity to hear w e l l - k n o w n tunes and arrangements w h i c h even
after the end of that year's performance c o u l d remain in the memory to
evoke that special experience and lay the f o u n d a t i o n for l o o k i n g f o r w a r d to
the next year's p r o d u c t i o n .
T h e A m a t e u r Operatic may have been the oldest and best connected of
the operatic/dramatic musical societies, but it was not the only one. In the
M i l t o n Keynes area, as so widely in B r i t a i n , the G i l b e r t and Sullivan
tradition also flourished. T h e W o l v e r t o n and District G i l b e r t and Sullivan
Society was founded i n 1974 and was still presenting its grand annual
productions of, for example, The Mikado, Patience, The Yeomen of the
Guard and The Pirates of Penzance some ten years later under its musical
director, the w e l l - k n o w n local personality A r n o l d Jones, w h o had f o l l o w e d
his foreman father into the W o l v e r t o n R a i l w a y W o r k s early in the century.
A similar cycle of rehearsals and productions was also f o l l o w e d by the
Bletchley-based M i l t o n Keynes G i l b e r t and Sullivan Society, an offshoot
f r o m the A m a t e u r Operatic Society i n 1972. Once again there was a strong
link w i t h local churches, and in some cases a tradition of giving smaller-scale
concerts d u r i n g the year for charity.
T h e d r a m a societies also often had a musical side, like the long-
established Bletchco Players, the N e w C i t y Players, the Longueville Little
Theatre C o m p a n y , the W o u g h t o n Theatre W o r k s h o p , and various d r a m a
groups based o n the Stantonbury C a m p u s w h i c h had developed a striking
series of musical plays based on local history. T h e y produced musical plays
and pantomimes f r o m time to time, or co-operated w i t h the operatic groups'
productions by encouraging their o w n members to participate.
Pantomimes also played an important part in the musical and theatrical
year. M o s t local dramatic societies put one o n during the Christmas season,
and for some, like the Bletchco Players, the M i l t o n Keynes A m a t e u r
Operatic Society, and N e w C i t y Players, it had become an annual o b l i -
gation. O t h e r groups w h o d i d not aspire to regular musical or theatrical
productions also put o n pantomimes at Christmas - W o m e n ' s Institute
branches, for example, church or village groups, and schools. These were
especially p o p u l a r w h e n , as often, they were specially written or adapted to
include local and topical references, and built o n a long local t r a d i t i o n of
amateur Christmas pantomimes directed to 'family entertainment'. H e r e
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again, however unpretentiously the p a n t o m i m e was produced, a huge

amount of w o r k was always i n v o l v e d , not only i n the many rehearsals but
also i n the c o - o r d i n a t i o n between large numbers of people exhibiting several

art forms - dancing, speaking, acting, singing, p l a y i n g .
O n e of the striking characteristics of the w o r l d of musical theatre was the
amount of co-operation between the individuals and groups i n v o l v e d . There
were joint occasions, for example, like the charity concert i n December 1979
by the M i l t o n Keynes A m a t e u r Operatic Society and the M i l t o n Keynes
G i l b e r t and Sullivan Society. Singers and players f r o m one society w o u l d
also come along to help i n productions by others: A m a t e u r Operatic Society
performances, for instance, included actors f r o m the Bletchco Players and
singers f r o m the G i l b e r t and Sullivan Societies. M a n y of the same soloists
appeared i n the performances of several different groups d u r i n g the yearly
cycle, even though each society had a core of its ' o w n ' leading singers w h o
reappeared year after year, to the delight of the regular audiences.
Because of the complex of arts i n v o l v e d there was also contact w i t h
musical groups outside the theatrical w o r l d . T h i s was partly due to
overlapping membership, for many operatic singers also belonged to church
choirs, and players i n the accompanying orchestras often played i n one or
another of the local orchestral or instrumental groups. T h i s c o u l d set up
conflicts of loyalty, of course, w h e n a musician had concurrent obligations
w h i c h c o u l d not be met simultaneously, a situation that c o u l d and d i d lead
to f r i c t i o n ; alternatively it c o u l d be avoided by careful p l a n n i n g , as w i t h the
W o l v e r t o n and District G i l b e r t and S u l l i v a n Society, w h i c h h a d extra
rehearsals i n the summer because the W o l v e r t o n L i g h t Orchestra, w h i c h
shared the same conductor and (in some cases) members, took a rest then.
O t h e r contacts were at a more f o r m a l level, as w h e n the N e w p o r t Pagnell
Singers joined the Stantonbury D r a m a G r o u p i n a p r o d u c t i o n of The Pirates
of Penzance. T h e local dancing schools too regularly co-operated i n musical
plays and pantomimes, adding a sparkle to the presentation that was m u c h
appreciated by local audiences (themselves swelled, of course, by parents
and other relations of the dancers).
Besides the societies specifically f o r m e d to produce performances of
musical theatre, this art f o r m was also p o p u l a r as one a m o n g a number of
possible activities by groups such as churches, schools or c o m m u n i t y social
clubs. T h e example of pantomimes at Christmas has already been men-
tioned, but the same pattern was also noticeable for many other kinds of
musical. M a n y schools - especially those w i t h younger pupils - l i k e d to have
a musical play o n a nativity theme as their Christmas p r o d u c t i o n , w h i l e both
p r i m a r y and secondary schools sometimes put o n musicals as their m a i n

annual p r o d u c t i o n . T h i s sometimes led to complications because of copy-
right difficulties for w e l l - k n o w n musicals, so many schools turned to w r i t i n g
their o w n . Such occasions necessitated a huge amount of effort and
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enthusiasm by children and staff alike a n d - t h o u g h scarcely attaining the

professionalism and scale of the A m a t e u r Operatic Society's productions -
still i n their o w n w a y demanded the same range of theatrical skills o n and

off the stage. C h u r c h social groups too produced musical plays, sometimes
composed and written by their o w n members, and these too c o u l d involve
the members i n many months of w o r k and the need to d r a w o n the varied
resources of a w i d e number of people - not just chorus and actors, but also
people to provide the costumes, props, backcloth and stage management
generally.
Despite the heavy demands o n time and expertise i n this particular f o r m
of musical expression it still attracted considerable numbers both i n societies
organised specifically for the purpose and i n other groups for w h o m this
f o r m was appealing i n itself and p o p u l a r w i t h their potential audiences.
Clearly the ' f i n i s h ' of the various productions throughout the city varied
considerably, but they all w o r k e d recognisably w i t h i n the same musical
theatrical f r a m e w o r k .
T h e ideal m o d e l drew o n the expert and lavish productions w h i c h were
k n o w n f r o m visits to professional shows (or to some extent f r o m seeing
broadcast or filmed versions), and this i n f o r m e d both the productions of the
leading societies a n d , perhaps through their performances i n t u r n , the
smaller-scale events i n the schools and other groups. But though this model
helped to f o r m the aspirations and expectations of local participants, the
local amateur performances were not just imperfect copies of professional
productions but made up a w o r l d i n their o w n right w h i c h both transmitted
and, i n a sense, constituted the w o r l d of operatic and theatrical music for its
admirers and executants i n M i l t o n Keynes a n d , no doubt, for many others
through parallel institutions elsewhere i n B r i t a i n .
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8
Jazz
T h e w o r l d o f jazz was more fragmented than those discussed so far, i n its

musical styles, social groupings, training, a n d the model d r a w n o n by
participants. Jazz was regarded as distinctive, but at the same time as
shading o n one side into rock o r f o l k , o n the other into brass b a n d o r
classical music. W i t h i n 'jazz' too there were several differing traditions each
w i t h its o w n devotees, m a k i n g up networks o f individuals and groups rather
than the more explicitly articulated w o r l d s of, say, brass band or f o l k music.
But, as w i l l become clear i n this chapter, jazz was certainly played a n d
appreciated i n M i l t o n Keynes. T o the outsider it was less visible than
classical, operatic and brass band music o n the one h a n d o r the plentiful
rock bands o n the other, but for enthusiast ' i n the k n o w ' there were many
opportunities for both playing and hearing jazz. 1
T a k e first the various playing groups. In the early 1980s there were about
a dozen jazz bands i n o r a r o u n d the M i l t o n Keynes area. Some were local
only i n the sense o f having one member living i n the locality and m a k i n g
regular appearances there, but for many most of their members were locally
based. A few were short lived, but some h a d been going for years (often w i t h
some change of personnel or developing f r o m an earlier group) and i n many
cases put o n regular performances w i t h a healthy local f o l l o w i n g . Three o f
the bands playing i n M i l t o n Keynes i n the early 1980s - the O r i g i n a l G r a n d
U n i o n Syncopators, the Fenny Stompers and the T - B o n e Boogie B a n d - can
illustrate some of the accepted patterns as w e l l as differences i n the local jazz
scene.
T h e first t w o had m u c h i n c o m m o n . T h e y shared the same basic jazz
format of six players: clarinet o r saxophone, trumpet o r cornet, a n d
trombone (the 'front line' where the solo spots were concentrated) w i t h a
r h y t h m section of banjo, percussion and (string) bass, some players d o u b l i n g
o n occasion as vocalists. B o t h bands p u t o n regular performances b o t h

locally and (less often) further afield to enthusiastic audiences.
In other ways they differed considerably. T h e O r i g i n a l G r a n d U n i o n
Syncopators started up i n Bletchley i n 1975, reputedly the first real jazz b a n d
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Jazz
in M i l t o n Keynes. F r o m the start they were favoured by the new city

planners, w i t h w h o m the band leader (himself a senior management officer
in local government) seemed to have consistent g o o d relations. In contrast to

other small bands they were encouraged to appear alongside the classical
groups o n large-scale occasions like the February Festival or the televised
city centre Sunday Service i n December 1981, and to represent M i l t o n
Keynes i n cultural exchanges w i t h its t w i n t o w n of Bernkastel. Despite this
official interest, the band very definitely regarded itself as an independent
group, m a k i n g a point of t a k i n g its name not f r o m anything redolent of the
'new city' but f r o m the historic G r a n d U n i o n canal.
T h e i r m a i n performances were i n local pubs and clubs, where they had
built up a core of 50 or 60 regular followers. By the early 1980s they were
putting o n a r o u n d 60 gigs a year, mainly of 'trad jazz' music, and reckoned
they had a repertoire of a r o u n d 200 tunes. T h e y h a d occasional rehearsals i n
the winter (about once a month), but for the rest of the year were busy
enough w i t h performances not to need additional practice, appearing
frequently i n the B u l l i n Stony Stratford, the Swan i n W o b u r n Sands, or the
K i n g ' s A r m s i n N e w p o r t Pagnell. T h e i r most favoured engagements - as for
most jazz b a n d s - w e r e 'residencies', as when they appeared regularly o n
alternate Sunday evenings at the W h i t e H a r t i n 1980 and fortnightly at the
jazz evenings at the C o c k i n N o r t h C r a w l e y , as w e l l as regular appearances
at (among others) the W o u g h t o n Centre and the Great L i n f o r d A r t s Centre
in M i l t o n Keynes itself and W A P i n W a v e n d o n . T h e y also travelled further
afield to p e r f o r m at jazz clubs at W a t f o r d or N o t t i n g h a m as well as playing
for private occasions like weddings or, f r o m time to time, free for causes like
C h r i s t i a n A i d or local charity organisations.
T h e y took themselves seriously as musicians and as propagators of trad
jazz, but had no intention of turning professional or regarding their playing
as anything but a h o b b y , and so were content just to earn enough f r o m fees
to cover expenses like transport, amplification, advertising and telephone.
T h e current members were i n full-time p a i d employment: art lecturer, local
government officer, teacher, musical instrument repairer, artificial l i m b
maker and graphic artist. T h e y c o u l d thus afford to engage i n their passion
for jazz i n both the O r i g i n a l G r a n d U n i o n Syncopators and the other bands
they f r o m time to time played or guested i n , w i t h o u t having to w o r r y unduly
about finance. T h e y d i d encounter the f a m i l i a r difficulties of competing
commitments, and the frustration of never quite being able to get a really
flourishing jazz club going. Despite the problems, the band had stayed
together as a named group for ten years or so, though, typically for a jazz
band, there had been occasional changes both i n instrumental c o m p o s i t i o n

and i n personnel as people moved to other areas intending to resurrect jazz
there too i n the same w a y as the O r i g i n a l G r a n d U n i o n Syncopators had
done for M i l t o n Keynes.
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Figure 15 The Fenny Stompers in 1987: popular traditional jazz band playing since 1978,
based on a constant nucleus of two brothers, Dennis and Brian Vick: publicity photograph
in their band uniform
T h e Fenny Stompers had the same enthusiasm for traditional jazz but i n
other respects were very different. In contrast to the higher education or art
diplomas of most of the O r i g i n a l G r a n d U n i o n Syncopators all but one of
the Fenny Stompers had finished full-time education at 15 or 16 a n d , by n o w
in their thirties or forties, were i n v o l v e d i n such w o r k as warehouseman,
self-employed plumber, school lab technician and carpenter; there was one
teacher. U n l i k e the O r i g i n a l G r a n d U n i o n Syncopators, some of w h o m h a d
had some f o r m a l musical training, they were mostly self-taught as instru-
mentalists. T h e y were formed i n M a y 1978 under the title of R e d R i v e r
Stompers, soon changed to Fenny Stompers after Fenny Stratford, where
their leader Dennis V i c k lived. Despite some changes of personnel, especially
among the drummers, the band w i t h its nucleus of t w o brothers q u i c k l y
took off, not least because of its leader's effective exploitation of free
publicity i n local newspapers. W i t h i n a few years their smart u n i f o r m of
p i n k and white or red shirts w i t h black trousers became w e l l k n o w n to jazz
audiences a r o u n d the area and beyond.
By the early 1980s they were i n demand for gigs t w o or three times a week.
T h e y performed not only at local pubs and clubs like the B u l l H o t e l i n Fenny
Stratford, the Bletchley Conservative and N a v a l C l u b s or the C r a u f u r d
A r m s i n W o l v e r t o n , but also for p a i d performances at, for example, the
Riverboat Shuffle for the W i m b l e d o n Squash and B a d m i n t o n C l u b , the
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Account: s6468359
Jazz
H o r w o o d H o u s e fête arranged by British T e l e c o m , or the B r i t i s h Stock C a r

R a c i n g Supporters' D i n n e r Dance i n S o l i h u l l , as well as w o r k i n g men's clubs
around the area. T h e y also played for fund-raising events, charitable

occasions for senior citizens, and a W o m e n ' s Institute Christmas party for
the disabled. T h e y also managed to arrange some regular bookings like the
m o n t h l y Sunday lunchtime spot at the S w a n H o t e l i n Fenny Stratford d u r i n g
1979, and regular appearances at Y e O l d e S w a n , W o u g h t o n - o n - t h e - G r e e n ,
or the Coffee Pot at Y a r d l e y G o b i o n .
L i k e other bands, they too failed to get a permanent jazz club going w i t h i n
M i l t o n Keynes to match the long-continuing jazz evenings at the C o c k i n
N o r t h C r a w l e y to w h i c h many enthusiasts went, and their various local
attempts (like the S w a n sessions i n Fenny Stratford) were short-lived. But
their playing regularly drew audiences of 70-100 people, and their total of
around 140 performances a year by 1982 showed the appeal of jazz i n the
area despite its relatively fragmented organisation. T h e y were said to be less
adventurous musically than the O r i g i n a l G r a n d U n i o n Syncopators and
w i t h a smaller repertoire, but their particular version of D i x i e l a n d N e w
Orleans jazz for people 'to sing along to and have a g o o d time' was p o p u l a r
w i t h local audiences f r o m a whole range of social backgrounds and
organisations.
T h e T - B o n e Boogie B a n d was different yet again. A s they themselves
publicised it, they went i n for ' r h y t h m and blues w i t h an element of self
ridicule', for 'blues and m a d jazz' and, as one of their admirers expressed it,
'boogie, ragtime, bop and r i d d u m ' n ' blooze'. T h e y presented themselves as
a zany ' f u n b a n d ' , but their act f o l l o w e d many t r a d i t i o n a l jazz and blues
sequences, w i t h beautiful traditional playing interspersed w i t h their o w n
wilder enactments of blues. T h e y spoke of these as ' i m p r o v i s e d out of
nowhere, o n the spur of the moment', but they were i n practice based o n
long hours of j a m m i n g together as a g r o u p .
T h e nucleus of the band was the headmaster of a local school for
handicapped children, T r e v o r Jeavons, an expert o n the boogie p i a n o , and
Tracey Walters, a local y o u t h w o r k e r w h o played the h a r m o n i c a as w e l l as
p r o d u c i n g extravagant vocals and w i l d c l o w n i n g a r o u n d for the audience. In
all by 1982 it consisted of six players, including a schoolboy and a social
w o r k e r . T h e somewhat unexpected but extremely p o p u l a r c o m b i n a t i o n of
instruments was acoustic p i a n o , saxophone, lead and bass guitars (some-
times replaced by string bass), h a r m o n i c a , drums and vocals. T h e group had
g r o w n gradually f r o m a series of i n f o r m a l j a m m i n g sessions by T r e v o r
Jeavons and Tracey Walters i n the foyer of the W o u g h t o n Centre at Sunday
lunchtimes under the i n f o r m a l title of the J a m B a n d w h i c h used to d r a w i n a

large and enthusiastic audience. By September 1981 they had taken o n the
name of T - B o n e Boogie B a n d to indicate both their rhythm-and-blues
character (with a passing reference to T - B o n e W a l k e r as well as the T for
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Figure 16 Trevor Jeavons and Tracey Walters in action: the two leading members of the
T-Bone Boogie Band, the popular 'community mad jazz and blues band'
their lead vocalist Tracey) and T r e v o r Jeavons* boogie piano w i t h its

D i x i e l a n d overtones. T h e y started getting widespread invitations to gigs,
b u t - a l l busy people - preferred to keep these to about one a week,
appearing regularly at their home base o f the W o u g h t o n Centre as w e l l as
for a scattering of local social occasions and a few pub and o u t d o o r
performances.
T h e y saw themselves as 'a c o m m u n i t y b a n d ' , playing 'to give other people
enjoyment ... and for our o w n enjoyment as w e l l ' , a hobby rather than
professional enterprise. W h e n they were approached by a recording c o m -
pany and offered money to go professional, they turned it d o w n . T h e y d i d
agree to do a recording live at W o u g h t o n w i t h a local amateur recording
engineer (which immediately sold out to local fans), but then decided to
disband for a time, saying their performances were getting too serious and
they wanted a rest. T h e upshot was the first of several ' F i n a l R e n d i t i o n s ' and
' F i n a l T h r a s h G o o d b y e Concerts' - but both then and later, they were soon
back again for a 'triumphant return' w i t h only m i n o r changes; their playing
was too enjoyable and too well appreciated locally to keep away f r o m for
long.
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Jazz
T h e i r entertainment a i m was obvious i n their performances. T h e lead

singer's extravagant antics, the excited and active audience, the explicit air
of enjoyment and their unconventional clothes were a l l part of the occasion.

' W e like to entertain people', as T r e v o r Jeavons explained it, ' w h i c h is w h y
we dress rather outrageously sometimes. People like i t . ' T h e y themselves
encouraged this extravagant image further by the i r o n i c a l l y d r a w n self-
portraits i n their advertisements, designed to bring out the 'madness' so
m u c h appreciated by their fans. O n their favourite home g r o u n d , the foyer
in the W o u g h t o n Centre, their audiences regularly included people of a l l
ages ' f r o m babies to O A P s ' , w h i c h was just h o w they wanted it, and it was
usual wherever they played for the venue to be filled to capacity. Some
groups f o l l o w e d them f r o m gig to gig, replying energetically to their jokes
(musical, verbal and gestural), and T - B o n e Boogie playing always stirred up
the audience, not so m u c h to actual dancing or singing along but to an active
engagement w i t h the performance. T h e band's o w n enjoyment was also
clear as they played, w i t h an air of m u t u a l interaction, appreciation a n d , i n a
sense, pleased surprise as they presented their pieces f r o m jokey songs like
'Little fishy' or ' M y baby's gone d o w n the plug hole' to a more t r a d i t i o n a l
slow b a l l a d .
T h e presentation of the T - B o n e Boogie Band's music was designed to
bring out their 'crazy' image, eliciting active audience p a r t i c i p a t i o n and a
' f u n ' atmosphere. T h e emphasis o n enjoyment s h o u l d not obscure the
enduring musical centre of their performances, however. T h e cassette that
they recorded ' L i v e at W o u g h t o n ' i n 1982 was treated seriously i n the
' A l b u m of the W e e k ' c o l u m n i n one of the local newspapers - w h i c h seldom
took a local example - o n the grounds that the band h a d ' p r o v e d that " f u n
m u s i c " can also be g o o d m u s i c ' i n their 'remarkably professional sounding
debut offering'. There was certainly far more to their playing than the visual
c l o w n i n g , not least the lyrics, music and p i a n o playing of T r e v o r Jeavons
himself, and the band's practised i m p r o v i s i n g i n the t r a d i t i o n a l blues style.
In some eyes the T - B o n e Boogie Band's light-hearted e x h i b i t i o n i s m made
them less o r t h o d o x than the O r i g i n a l G r a n d U n i o n Syncopators, Fenny
Stompers, M o m e n t u m or the M a h o g a n y H a l l Jazzmen; but, whatever their
idiosyncratic presentation, they were still part of the local jazz and blues
offerings, one of the few local jazz groups p e r f o r m i n g at the local Great
L i n f o r d Jazz Festival i n July 1982, and immensely a d m i r e d by some local
jazz enthusiasts for their musical as well as ' f u n ' interest. Together w i t h the
other jazz bands i n the area - a l l i n practice varied i n terms of instruments,
personnel, b a c k g r o u n d and detailed musical t a s t e s - t h e T - B o n e Boogie
B a n d f o r m e d part of the contemporary realisation at the local level of the

traditional jazz and blues storehouse of musical themes and i d i o m s i n a f o r m
no less 'real' than the more 'serious' offerings of other bands.
These three bands were not the only jazz groups functioning i n M i l t o n
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Keynes, and the picture must be completed by briefly mentioning some of

the others. These included the five-piece M o m e n t u m , putting o n about
twenty performances a year, m a i n l y early fifties bebop, on a c o m b i n a t i o n of

flugelhorn/trumpet, reeds/saxophone, bass, keyboards and d r u m s ; the
M a h o g a n y H a l l Jazzmen playing D i x i e l a n d early jazz and ragtime regularly
once a fortnight or so i n local pubs; and the long-lasting Wayfarers Jazz
B a n d performing 'mainstream' and D i x i e l a n d jazz i n pubs, wine bars, social
clubs, colleges and fetes i n both the M i l t o n Keynes and the L u t o n - D u n s t a b l e
a r e a - not quite a ' l o c a l ' jazz band, though one very active member lived
locally. A m o n g the other local or near-local jazz bands (several of them
overlapping i n personnel w i t h those already mentioned) were the A l a n
Fraser B a n d , the twosome blues and early jazz Bootleg B a n d , the C o n c o r d e
Jazz B a n d , the H o l t Jazz Quintet, the zany 1920s N e w T i t a n i c B a n d w i t h its
stage pyrotechnics, the very fluid Stuart Green B a n d , the C o l i n James T r i o ,
O x i d e Brass and the J o h n D a n k w o r t h Quartet (this last based o n W A P and
giving occasional performances there); there were also the short-lived D e l t a
N e w Orleans Jazz, the N e w C i t y Jazz B a n d , the Pat A r c h e r Jazz T r i o and
(for a few struggling months) the M K B i g B a n d .
A l l these bands put o n public performances, sometimes singly, sometimes
o n a regular basis at particular pubs and clubs i n the area. In a d d i t i o n there
were probably several other groups w h o met more for the pleasure of
j a m m i n g together or playing o n private occasions than for t a k i n g o n p u b l i c
engagements. T h e Saints group of six 11-year olds o n clarinet, flute,
trumpet, percussion and p i a n o , for example, played jazz or p o p together and
performed i n school assemblies and the end-of-term concert, w h i l e the
highly educated all-female Slack Elastic B a n d played ' b i g b a n d ' and p o p u l a r
jazz of the thirties o n trumpet, saxophone and string bass as a rehearsal
rather than performing band, and the newer Jack and the L a d s w i t h
trumpet, saxophone, guitar, bass guitar and drums were initially p e r f o r m i n g
just for enjoyment o n the O p e n University campus. There were doubtless
other groups playing privately - an opportunity more open to them than to
the larger and louder brass bands, operatic groups or amplified rock bands.
T h e administration of jazz bands differed f r o m classical, operatic and
brass band groups i n that they seldom adopted the f o r m a l voluntary
organisation f r a m e w o r k . T h e numbers were smaller, for one thing: w i t h a
couple of exceptions like the short-lived M K B i g B a n d , there were usually
five or six players so that jazz groups were r u n o n personal, not bureaucratic
lines, geared to i n d i v i d u a l achievement rather than the hierarchical musical
direction characteristic of larger groups. T h i s also fitted their open-ended
f o r m , for though there were certain c o m m o n groupings of instruments, the

actual instrumental c o m p o s i t i o n of jazz groups was more variable than i n
most other musical w o r l d s .
T h i s fluidity was also evident i n the m u s i c - m a k i n g itself. Jazz musicians
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Jazz
were tied neither to written forms nor to exact memorisation, but rather
engaged i n a f o r m of composition-in-performance f o l l o w i n g accepted
stylistic a n d thematic patterns. T h i s , of course, is a w e l l - k n o w n characteris-

tic of jazz more generally - not that anyone has ever managed to define 'jazz'
too precisely - so it was no surprise to find it at the local level i n the views
and behaviour of those classifying themselves as jazz players. L o c a l
musicians often commented o n the freedom they felt i n jazz as compared to
either classical music or rock. O n e commented that w i t h rock 'it's a l l
happened already' (i.e., already developed i n p r i o r rehearsals), whereas i n
jazz the performance itself was creative; another player explained his
enthusiasm for jazz through the fact that 'it allows a lot of expression for the
i n d i v i d u a l ' . S i m i l a r l y a local jazz d r u m m e r talked about h o w i n classical
playing, unlike jazz, he had had 'no real chance to create i n a number, no
choice about w h a t to d o ' and so ultimately preferred playing jazz to classical
music.
T h i s aspect was also very apparent i n the performance of local jazz
players. Far more than other musicians they w o u l d break into smiles of
recognition or a d m i r a t i o n as one after another player took up the solo spot,
and l o o k e d at each other i n pleasure after the end of a number, as if having
experienced something newly created as w e l l as f a m i l i a r . A s one l o c a l jazz
player put it, 'we improvise, w i t h the tunes used as vehicles, so everything
the group does is o r i g i n a l ' . L o c a l jazz musicians often belonged to several
jazz bands, m o v i n g easily between different groups. A musician w h o played
both jazz and rock explained this i n the f o l l o w i n g terms: w i t h a rock band
y o u are dependent o n joint practising since the w h o l e performance is very
tight, whereas w i t h jazz, p r o v i d i n g y o u have learnt the basic conventions, T
can play t r a d i t i o n a l jazz w i t h a line-up I've not met before.' Jazz groups
were thus less likely to have regular rehearsals than the other small bands:
when they d i d play together it was often based o n their general jazz skills
rather than specific rehearsals of particular pieces. T h i s open nature i n
performance also explained the high p r o p o r t i o n of jazz 'residencies' by
w h i c h the same b a n d was b o o k e d to appear at the same venue once every
fortnight or so. Audiences were likely to get tired of the same music time
after time (a p r o b l e m for rock and country and western bands), but were not
bored by the more fluid jazz performances: 'numbers are practically made
up o n the spot'.
W h e n jazz enthusiasts spoke of local jazz they often described it i n terms
of the venues where one c o u l d regularly hear jazz bands p e r f o r m i n g . Jazz
was less prominent locally than other kinds of music and apparently d i d not
have the historical roots f o u n d a m o n g local brass bands, operatic groups or

choirs. But by the early 1980s there was a series of jazz clubs and pubs i n and
around M i l t o n Keynes w h i c h c o u l d be visited i n rotation by an enthusiast
over any given week, chief among them being the C o c k and the B u l l H o t e l s
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Account: s6468359
in Stony Stratford, the B u l l ( N e w p o r t Pagnell), the G a l l e o n (Wolverton), the

H o l t H o t e l i n Aspley Guise, and the C o c k Inn i n N o r t h C r a w l e y . O t h e r
venues included the Swan at Fenny Stratford, the Coffee Pot at Y a r d l e y

G o b i o n , Levi's bar at W o u g h t o n H o u s e H o t e l , the Bedford A r m s , R i d g -
mount, the M a g p i e H o t e l , W o b u r n , the foyer bar at the W o u g h t o n Centre,
the Swan i n W o b u r n Sands, the regular 'Jazz at the Stables' evenings at
W A P , M u z a k s at the N e w Inn, a n d , for a few weeks i n m i d 1981, the Eight
Belles i n Bletchley. Some pubs organised weekly or fortnightly 'jazz clubs':
for example the B u l l i n N e w p o r t Pagnell at one point ran a jazz club every
Wednesday alternating the M a h o g a n y H a l l Jazzmen and the A l a n Fraser
B a n d , w h i l e the H o l t H o t e l Jazz C l u b functioned every T h u r s d a y . O t h e r
pubs put o n either occasional jazz groups or, more often, arranged weekly,
fortnightly or monthly jazz performances o n a regular basis.
Some of these arrangements lasted longer than others, but at any one time
there was live jazz being played i n the area at least once or twice i n the week,
often more. F o r example June 1982 saw the f o l l o w i n g : the O r i g i n a l G r a n d
U n i o n Syncopators on alternate T h u r s d a y nights at the W o u g h t o n H o u s e
H o t e l , w i t h the C o c k Inn i n N o r t h C r a w l e y continuing its fortnightly jazz
nights (already going for five years) on the other Thursdays; M o m e n t u m o n
alternate Fridays at the C o c k H o t e l , Stony Stratford; the Fenny Stompers o n
the last Saturday of every m o n t h at the Coffee Pot, Y a r d l e y G o b i o n ;
Tuesday jazz evenings at the W o u g h t o n Centre, alternating between the
A l a n Fraser B a n d and the O r i g i n a l G r a n d U n i o n Syncopators; and the
M a h o g a n y H a l l Jazzmen on the first and t h i r d Wednesday of every m o n t h at
the B u l l i n N e w p o r t Pagnell. M o s t of these performances were i n l o c a l pubs,
and thus i n a sense financed through market mechanisms and private
enterprise. U n l i k e classical music and to some extent brass bands, jazz
groups and performances, w i t h the possible exception of the O r i g i n a l G r a n d
U n i o n Syncopators, had relatively little patronage f r o m p u b l i c bodies.
T h e regular jazz evenings i n local pubs and clubs were the most visible
performances. But bands were also asked to p e r f o r m at private occasions
like parties or weddings, or to entertain at local clubs (above all the w o r k i n g
men's clubs), at special evenings for, say, the A n g l i n g C l u b , Bletchley T o w n
C r i c k e t C l u b , a local Conservative C l u b or W o m e n ' s Institute, or at fetes
out of doors. G r o u p s also played free for such causes as a local scouts
jamboree appeal, C h r i s t i a n A i d , the J i m m y Savile Stoke M a n d e v i l l e A p p e a l
and W o b u r n Sands Brownies. Enthusiasts, of course, were also listening to
broadcasts (including jazz o n local radio stations, some not far away) and
the occasional professional appearances i n the area, like the successful
concerts organised at W A P or the ambitious but sparsely attended Jazz

Festival at the local L i n f o r d A r t s Centre i n m i d 1982. In a d d i t i o n , music w i t h
a jazz flavour c o u l d be heard at other local events, notably at the Bletchley
M i d d l e School Festivals, when the specially composed pieces sometimes
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Account: s6468359
Jazz
included jazz, and i n events otherwise m a i n l y devoted to f o l k , brass band o r

classical music modes. T h e m a i n jazz w o r l d , however, insofar as it existed as
something separate i n M i l t o n Keynes, was p r i m a r i l y represented b y the

players i n the established jazz groups and their followers i n the area.
W h o were these local jazz players i n M i l t o n Keynes? Practically all fell
towards the amateur end o f the 'amateur/professional' c o n t i n u u m i n the
sense both of relying o n other means than jazz for their income and i n their
view o f their musical activity as basically enjoyment rather than job. T h e 2
question is an interesting one, however, because o f the conflicting general

views about this. F o r some, jazz is 'the people's music' (Finkelstein 1975),
whereas others suggest that it is n o w a n intellectual rather than truly
popular f o r m (see C o l l i e r 1978, p p . 3-4; L l o y d 1974). T h i s ambiguity
actually fitted quite well w i t h the heterogeneous membership o f local
groups. O n the one hand there were many highly educated jazz players,
including teachers, administrators and c o m m u n i t y workers, and several
w h o had developed their jazz enthusiasm at art school. But as demonstrated
by the Fenny Stompers among others, there were also players w h o had left
school early, were i n skilled o r semi-skilled m a n u a l w o r k rather than
professional jobs, o r were unemployed; some were still at school. T h e one
clear pattern was that they were overwhelmingly male (apart f r o m the one
explicitly female band) and predominantly i n their thirties or forties. There
were a few younger players like the p r i m a r y school group, but essentially
jazz playing seemed not to be a teens o r twenties pursuit.
T h i s lack o f any single set o f social characteristics also came out i n the
different channels through w h i c h local players were recruited into jazz.
Some began through classical music at school, w i t h the characteristic
classical emphasis o n reading music and executing it w i t h little variation.
Players c o m i n g through this route were usually confident about their
instrumental skills and musical understanding but less happy performing i n
a context w h e r e - a s i n j a z z - c l o s e reliance o n written music was n o t
appropriate; indeed such players were sometimes criticised by co-players for
their lack of flexibility. Rather more players h a d taught themselves,
sometimes via an interest i n rock music. T h i s often included some hints o r
i n f o r m a l help f r o m friends or colleagues, but seldom any f o r m a l teaching (as
that is understood i n the classical music w o r l d ) , and meant learning jazz
skills through listening to and copying recordings a n d , above a l l , playing
w i t h i n a group - a basic aspect o f the jazz experience, whatever the original
channel. Others again had a mixture o f backgrounds, like the player w h o
confessed he c o u l d 'read the dots' but had essentially 'learnt o n the job'.
M u s i c a l l y as w e l l as socially, jazz musicians in M i l t o n Keynes came f r o m

varied backgrounds.
T h e same complexity applied to audiences, for an interest i n jazz d i d not
appear t o be the special preserve of any one section i n M i l t o n Keynes.
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Account: s6468359
Certainly it was not confined to a single age group and included w o m e n as

w e l l as men. ' F r o m babies to O A P s ' was the T - B o n e Boogie Band's boast,
and this was p r o b a b l y the picture for other bands too, perhaps w i t h
particular emphasis o n middle-aged groups. There was also the c o m p l i c a -
tion that some jazz clubs attracted audiences enthusiastic about one camp of
jazz and u n w i l l i n g to listen to others ('trad' as against ' m o d e r n ' jazz i n
particular). Some bands, like the O r i g i n a l G r a n d U n i o n Syncopators,
M o m e n t u m or the T - B o n e Boogie B a n d , built up their o w n fan groups w h o
f o l l o w e d them f r o m gig to gig and made up a large p r o p o r t i o n of the
audience w h e n they appeared as the resident b a n d . A s w i t h other kinds of
performance, of course, such groups were p r o b a b l y attracted not only by the
particular type of music offered but also by the company and social
occasion, the dancing or t a l k i n g i n a pleasant atmosphere, o r because of
some link w i t h the players. A s one band member put it, y o u couldn't expect
all the audience necessarily to be ' m a d o n jazz'; for another - as he explained
not unappreciatively - his wife quite liked jazz, but really went along 'to
chat w i t h the other musicians' wives, laugh at us, and have a g o o d
chin-wag'.
Jazz i n M i l t o n Keynes, then, was more a fluid and impermanent series of
bands and venues than an integrated and self-conscious musical w o r l d .
There were not strong historical precursors i n the area, and the local players
never managed to set up a permanent venue where they c o u l d be sure of
regularly hearing jazz by local and regional players over a matter of years. In
addition, apart f r o m the (general purpose) M u s i c i a n s ' U n i o n , to w h i c h few
local players belonged, there was no national association to w h i c h local
groups c o u l d affiliate (unlike the classical, f o l k , operatic and brass b a n d
worlds) - or, if there was, it was apparently of little interest to M i l t o n
Keynes players. In a l l , there seemed to be a less distinctive view of what
'jazz' was and should be than w i t h some of the other forms of music i n
M i l t o n Keynes, and the experiences of jazz players and enthusiasts were
defined more by the actual activities and interactions of local bands that
labelled themselves as 'jazz' than by any clearly articulated ideal m o d e l .
Despite this, there were shared perceptions and experiences - u n f o r m u -
lated though these were - of what it was to be a jazz player and to play jazz.
T h i s was s h o w n most vividly i n the w a y jazz players, far more strikingly
than rock musicians, went i n for membership of more than one jazz group
and moved readily between bands; it was easy to ask guests to come and
jam, f r o m named stars f r o m outside or ex-members w h o happened to be
around to a ten-year-old boogie-woogie pianist f r o m the audience. F o r
though both the f o r m of m u s i c - m a k i n g and the constitution of the groups

were i n a sense fluid, there were definite shared expectations about the jazz
style of p l a y i n g , the traditional formulae, and the modes of i m p r o v i s i n g
w i t h i n recognised conventions: ' a l l jazz lovers k n o w the tunes already', as
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Account: s6468359
Jazz
one player expressed it. Players i n other groups were recognised as fellow
experts - more, or less, accomplished - i n the same general t r a d i t i o n of
m u s i c - m a k i n g , and bands engaged i n friendly rivalry w i t h each other, going

to each other's performances 'to smell out the o p p o s i t i o n ' or - o n occasion -
to l o o k for a new player themselves. S i m i l a r l y they were prepared to help
out other bands, filling i n at short notice if they were i n difficulties.
Even though for practically a l l the players discussed here jazz was o n l y a
part-time leisure pursuit and not widely acclaimed throughout the city, both
the musical activity itself, and the shared skills, pride and conventions that
constituted jazz playing seemed to be a continuing element i n their o w n
identity and their perceptions of others. O n c e involved, 'as a musician, y o u
need to play ... something you've got to d o ' ; for, as another player put it, 'it's
a b l o o d thing, it's i n your veins'.
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Account: s6468359
9
The country and western world
A m o n g certain sections of the M i l t o n Keynes p o p u l a t i o n the music labelled

'country and western' was extremely p o p u l a r , and country and western
events attracted a large and regular f o l l o w i n g . There were t w o established
bands w i t h regional - even national - reputations as w e l l as local engage-
ments; other more fluid bands; a flourishing country and western club w i t h a
healthy bank balance, k n o w n i n the region as well as the immediate locality;
several pubs putting o n country and western evenings; ' W i l d West' groups
whose shows added variety and g l a m o u r to country and western musical
performances; and a p o o l of regular attenders, based o n family rather than
just i n d i v i d u a l loyalty.
A s w i t h f o l k music I w i l l start w i t h the club organisation, before going o n
to explain the background and wider ramifications. In this case there was
just one leading club, so a description of one of its events can provide a g o o d
introduction to the country and western w o r l d .
T h e M i l t o n Keynes D i v i d e d C o u n t r y and Western C l u b had been going
strong since the m i d 1970s, w h e n it was founded by a small group of local
enthusiasts i n Bletchley. It held fortnightly Sunday meetings i n a hall
b o r r o w e d f r o m the local football club next to the large sports fields o n the
edge of Bletchley. It was not easy to find for the n e w c o m e r - o f f the bus
routes, across a n a r r o w hump-back bridge over the canal, and past the
playing fields - but, once k n o w n , the path was familiar to its many regular
attenders w h o came o n foot, bus, cycle, or (most frequently) i n a shared car
or t a x i .
O n this particular occasion - typical of many - the visiting b a n d was due
to start a r o u n d 8.00 p . m . w i t h the doors opening at 7.00. By 7.45 the h a l l
was already w e l l filled w i t h 80 or so people (it rose to about 120 later on).
M u s i c was c o m i n g f r o m records o n the stage at one end, where the b a n d
members were setting up their instruments. T h e bar was at the opposite end
and a table set up by the entrance for committee members ' o n the d o o r ' to
take entrance money, greet o l d and new members w i t h a flourish and sell
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Account: s6468359
club mementoes. In contrast to rock and jazz events, the audience sitting
r o u n d the tables was family based, w i t h roughly equal numbers of men and
w o m e n , several children, and people of every age f r o m the twenties

upwards, including middle-aged and elderly people; only the late teenagers
were absent. It was a ' f a m i l y night out' w i t h most people i n groups rather
than singly, a p o l i c y encouraged by the club's organisers.
T h e club's n a m e - t h e D i v i d e d C o u n t r y and Western C l u b - indicated
certain options. O n e of these was i n dress: ' d i v i d e d ' between those w h o
chose to come dressed 'just as y o u l i k e ' and those w h o preferred 'western
dress'. Either was acceptable, and a r o u n d half had opted for one or another
version of 'western' gear. Some had only a token cowboy-style hat or scarf,
but many of the men h a d elaborate c o s t u m e s - a leather-look waistcoat,
large leather belt w i t h a holster and replica revolver o n one side and bullets
o n the other, coloured neckcloth, jeans, badges (a star m a r k e d 'Sheriff
T e x a s ' for example), leather boots, a decorated c o w b o y hat, and sometimes
a long coat w h i c h c o u l d be pushed back w i t h a swagger to reach the belt and
holster. Some w o m e n too were wearing hats or jeans, or i n some cases
leather jerkins or guns. T h e men i n particular showed off their finery,
strutting a r o u n d i n their long coats w i t h hands o n holsters. O n e strikingly
smart group were dressed i n matching black neckcloths and decorations:
they were the local ' W i l d B u n c h ' , western enthusiasts w h o took a prominent
part i n l o c a l country and western events.
T h e band was introduced soon after 8 p . m . by the compère, the club
secretary. It was an all-male group w h o h a d been to the club before and
were k n o w n to many members; c o m i n g f r o m A y l e s b u r y , about half an
hour's drive away, they were regarded as nearly l o c a l . T h e y were given a big
build-up and personal welcome by the compere, while the secretary
welcomed i n d i v i d u a l visitors f r o m other clubs to interest and smiles f r o m his
listeners - an established custom i n country and western clubs, i n keeping
w i t h their general atmosphere of friendliness and personal w a r m t h .
T h e b a n d then started up w i t h electric guitars, pedal steel guitar, drums
and vocals, w i t h the m a i n singer very m u c h in the lead. T h e audience were
free to talk, d r i n k and w a l k r o u n d during the band's playing and later o n to
d a n c e - a sociable evening out. But there were also some restraints o n
audience behaviour, and the setting was recognised as at least partly a
musical one; children were discouraged f r o m running r o u n d noisily d u r i n g
the performance and the close of each song was clearly m a r k e d . T h e band's
playing was not just unheard b a c k g r o u n d , either: the music was f a m i l i a r to
the audience - part of its appeal - and there was a lot of beating time and
occasionally some quiet joining i n w i t h the catchy and r h y t h m i c songs; the

applause after each item was almost invariably highly enthusiastic. A s the
evening went o n , more and more people got up to dance, adding to and
developing the music through their r h y t h m i c movements i n the dance - one
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Account: s6468359
of the age-old modes of musical expression and appreciation. T h e atmos-

phere was relaxed and unselfconscious, and most people whatever their age,
sex or b u i l d l o o k e d remarkably carefree as they danced to the b a n d - t h e

middle-aged w o m a n i n her tight jeans, jersey and big leather belt over her
well-rounded bulges, the visiting technician and grandfather w i t h his b r o k e n
smoke-stained teeth, gleaming gun and c o w b o y gear, the y o u n g wife out for
an evening w i t h her husband, d r a w n i n by his interest i n country and
western music and n o w sharing his enthusiasm - and scores of others.
A b o u t half-way through the evening there was the expected interval of
fifteen to twenty minutes. T h i s was both to give the b a n d a break and to fit
in announcements and other forms of entertainment.
Central to the interval was the 'shoot out' so typical of country and
western events. T w o men competed at a time. T h e y took up their stand
facing each other i n the middle of the floor, their hands hovering over their
holsters w h i l e the umpire counted out r a n d o m numbers; w h e n he reached
the agreed figure each m a n seized his gun and after a great flash and bang,
the quickest o n the d r a w was declared the winner. T h e contest took about
ten minutes and was regarded by the musicians and a few others as a noisy
interruption, but for most it added the c o l o u r and glamour w h i c h was an
accepted part of their country and western t r a d i t i o n .
T h i s was f o l l o w e d by the regular fund-raising raffle. T h e entrance fee for
the evening was regarded as relatively l o w at £ 1 . 2 5 , but a substantial
additional amount was expected f r o m the attenders' c o n t r i b u t i o n to the
raffle, w i t h the committee members t a k i n g the lead i n lavish b u y i n g , often
returning any prizes to the p o o l . T h e interval ended w i t h some more
personal club matters. O n e member stood up to make a short speech
thanking friends for their letters, phone calls, and wreaths i n her recent
bereavement and finally, a m i d laughter, the club secretary was presented
w i t h a colossal birthday card.
A s the evening went o n , many people were o n the floor dancing to the
music, others chatting i n groups, teasing, telling funny stories, a l l i n an
atmosphere of playfulness and light-hearted f u n . T h e b a n d - a n d the
evening - were due to end at 11.00 p . m . , and by 10.45 t n e
audience were
thinning out, calling c o r d i a l farewells as they left. A n o t h e r of the fortnightly
evenings of the M i l t o n Keynes D i v i d e d C o u n t r y and Western C l u b was
d r a w i n g to its end, and the 120 members of the audience, the eight
committee members and the six musicians went off i n their various
directions.
T h e tradition of country and western music w h i c h lay behind this event
and the club w h i c h organised it was an accepted one i n the locality. A s i n the
folk music w o r l d , it was supported by a network of clubs throughout the
country, publicised through national and regional publications, and visited
readily by devotees f r o m other areas, sometimes travelling i n a jointly hired
92
Account: s6468359
coach. Established country and western bands moved through this n e t w o r k ,

as w e l l as being i n demand f r o m other more general sports and social clubs
like the British L e g i o n and w o r k i n g men's clubs, and if successful were

advertised and reviewed i n the national music press. T h e broadcast media
too - including local radio - regularly had country and western spots, the
t i m i n g and details a l l naturally k n o w n to enthusiasts. C o u n t r y and western
recordings were plentiful and i n big d e m a n d , possibly second only to rock, a
fact w e l l appreciated by the local record shop r u n by a (self-styled) 'country
and western music fanatic'. C o u n t r y and western festivals and competitions
were also established institutions, and the annual gathering at W e m b l e y
drew thousands (including many f r o m M i l t o n Keynes). A t the national level
country and western music had become big business i n B r i t a i n , a commer-
cial entertainment area i n w h i c h a great deal of money changed h a n d s - a
contrast to some other musical w o r l d s , i n particular to the more intimate
and less lavish f o l k clubs.
A t the local level the social organisation of country and western music
kept it distinct f r o m other musical w o r l d s . T h e M i l t o n Keynes D i v i d e d
C o u n t r y and Western C l u b was the major focus, and its regular fortnightly
meetings and big yearly events like the annual dance formed a consistent
thread i n many enthusiasts' lives. But there were also other specifically
country and western events, advertised and recognised as such. There were
country and western evenings for charity (like the one described i n chapter
12), keenly anticipated by those o n the network, and the occasional large-
scale concert. C o u n t r y and western evenings were also laid o n by local
p u b s - n o t as frequent as the regular jazz, f o l k or rock entertainments but
clearly differentiated as country and western nonetheless; some p u b discos
were also specifically advertised as country and western. T h e success of the
M i l t o n Keynes D i v i d e d C o u n t r y and Western C l u b , however, pre-empted
the development of other local clubs. Some pubs tried it: first the W h i t e
H a r t , then L e v i ' s Bar put o n a fortnightly 'Blue Y o d e l C o u n t r y M u s i c C l u b '
c o m b i n i n g records w i t h live bands and attracting a nucleus of forty to fifty
enthusiasts; but the income was not enough to meet expenses (generally
heavier for country and western than for f o l k or rock bands), and their
attempt d i d not last l o n g . T h e social clubs too sometimes had country and
western entertainment, often w i t h bands f r o m outside M i l t o n Keynes. In
this w a y , even w h e n attending only local events local audiences shared the
experience of t a k i n g part i n the wider country and western w o r l d .
T h e same awareness of both a national and local f r a m e w o r k was also
evident i n the locally based country and western bands. These were not
professional i n the sense of being made up solely of players whose p r i m a r y

income was f r o m the band, but the t w o leading bands - C u t t i n ' Loose and
C o u n t r y T h i n k i n g - both had some members whose m a i n occupation was
music; the other players held full-time jobs elsewhere but were prepared to
93
Account: s6468359
miss o r rearrange their w o r k for the b a n d . F o r these t w o ambitious bands

their performance venues were regional, indeed near-national, rather than
confined to the immediate locality.

C o u n t r y T h i n k i n g - to take that group as one illustration - first began i n
Kent, but w h e n some o f its members m o v e d to M i l t o n Keynes i n the late
1970s it re-formed locally under the influence of its leader. It was currently a
five piece band (having started off smaller); the players were all male and o f
various ages f r o m the twenties upwards. Between them they played electric
lead and r h y t h m guitars, bass guitar, keyboards, percussion, pedal steel
guitar and synthesiser. T h e lead singer took a prominent part, to support
singing f r o m one o r t w o of the others, including m u c h - a d m i r e d high
harmony vocals. T w o of the five had jobs (coach w o r k e r w i t h British R a i l
and piano tuner/builder respectively), but they still managed to p e r f o r m
widely throughout the country, mainly i n country and western clubs but
also for private occasions and, f r o m time to time, at U n i t e d States A i r Force
bases. These were organised by their energetic manager, w h o was also the
secretary o f the M i l t o n Keynes D i v i d e d C o u n t r y and Western C l u b a n d
effectively exploited his network o f connections throughout the country.
T h e y c o u l d c o m m a n d high fees, but since all expenses had to be met directly
f r o m these fees, i n the long r u n made relatively little f r o m their perfor-
mances; travelling costs were among their heaviest e x p e n s e s - n o t only
petrol but insurance and a van (they had gone through three i n t w o years) -
and telephone: the k i n d of expenses w h i c h bands playing only locally d i d not
incur.
By the early 1980s C o u n t r y T h i n k i n g had built up a repertoire w h i c h
stretched to many hours, but they still practised about once a week i n a local
village h a l l , especially if they were learning new material or settling i n a new
member. T y p i c a l l y o f country and western bands, their songs were mostly
familiar ones played i n their o w n arrangements - mainly 'songs that tell a
story' - but their leader also composed some original songs for them. O n e o f
them, ' M a r r i a n n e ' , had quite a success i n 1982-3 and was played o n regional
radio stations, and they were currently marketing the cassette they recorded
in a local studio w i t h both that and older pieces like ' O l d flames', ' R a i n b o w '
and 'Just one time'. T h e y had to w o r k h a r d for their success, but this i n n o
w a y damped their enthusiasm f o r their music a n d the subtleties o f its
performance - about w h i c h they and their manager c o u l d talk for hours - or
for the particular c o m b i n a t i o n o f 'pleasure a n d leisure' that they h a d
achieved, utilising their talents to entertain both themselves and others o n
the country club circuit.
There were also a few other country and western bands like C o u n t r y Jems
and M i s s i s s i p p i Showboat (which later became the T e r r y A n n e D u o , then
T e r r y A n n e and the C o u n t r y Dudes). These tended to be more amateur and
short-lived than the t w o leading 'semi-pro' bands, but they t o o tried to
94
Account: s6468359
micron KEMES
* * FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY! J

A RARE CHANCE TO S E E YOUR TOP LOCAL
* COUNTRY BANDS UNDER ONE ROOF
* * * t oo*** * C
° H \ * *
***** * ^
*Terry Anne Duo ¥ ' * * t \ G ,
* Hole in the Head Gang * Country Jems
Jf FRIDAY 7th NOVEMBER 1980 *

at j>
DENBIGH SCHOOL
éj Cornwall Grove West B letch ley + *
From 8~30pm.
Doors Open 8-00pm. *
Admission Tickets Available From Gordon M.K.76947

El-20p Adults, Children
ren 60p ">•""£ M . 4 I 2 6 7
REFRESHMENTS
M.K. DIVIDED
Country & Western Club
Ring (Milton Keynes)76178
Figure iy Country and western musical events: poster for a local show, and publicity in
form of a car sticker for the popular M i l t o n Keynes Divided Country and Western Club
EBSCO Publishing : eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 9/30/2017 2:18 PM via UNIVERSIDADE DO VALE
DO RIO DOS SINOS - UNISINOS
Account: s6468359
get engagements o n the club circuit rather than just i n M i l t o n Keynes. T h e y

preferred the specialist country and western clubs but also appeared i n
country and western spots i n p o l i t i c a l , sports and w o r k i n g men's clubs. T h e

resulting networks of personal relationships throughout the country rein-
forced the awareness of a wider country and western w o r l d i n w h i c h local
performers took part.
T h e characterisation of this w o r l d as a rich and meaningful one i n its o w n
right was also supported by its participants' consciousness of harnessing a
distinctive musical tradition of their o w n . T h e music that came to be classed
as 'country and western' shared some of the same roots as ' f o l k ' music,
developed probably f r o m a c o m b i n a t i o n of the ballads and country music of
white settlers i n the A m e r i c a n south-east w i t h south-western rural music,
and given further impetus and f o r m u l a t i o n by commercial recording and
radio broadcasts. By the 1980s, however, ' f o l k ' and 'country and western'
1
were perceived as very different. W h e n I asked h o w , the answer was usually

' Y o u just feel it' or 'hear it': even w h e n the songs were about the same basic
topics - marriage, divorce, life, death - and i n similar melodic and strophic
f o r m the 'feel' was different. Some put it more explicitly: 'there's something
missing i n folk music: there's not that little extra zing that y o u get i n country
music', or explained that even though some tunes were i n c o m m o n the
presentation was not the same. A few country and western enthusiasts
tolerated what they called ' f o l k y ' music and its shared characteristic, as they
saw it, of being music 'close to the people'; but mostly the music was
experienced as distinctive: 'either y o u like country music or y o u like f o l k
m u s i c - t h e t w o are worlds apart'.
T h e presentation was indeed very important. T h i s included the settings i n
w h i c h country and western music was generally performed and the expected
nature and behaviour of the audience. T h e actual instruments partly
overlapped w i t h those of folk bands, but were also different because of the
stress o n electric instruments and steel guitars as against the often acoustic
f o l k . T h u s the standard country and western instrumentation was electric
lead, r h y t h m and bass guitars, vocals, drums/percussion, and i n some cases
pedal steel guitar, keyboards or synthesisers, w i t h an emphasis o n r h y t h m
that was sometimes more a k i n to rock than f o l k presentation.
T h e background organisation was also important. L e a r n i n g and playing
f o l l o w e d the self-taught mode, w i t h performance f r o m memory and ear
rather than written music. N e w items were learnt f r o m recordings or r a d i o ,
sometimes w i t h the help of c h o r d charts, one c o m m o n method being to sit
and listen to a cassette, perhaps w r i t i n g out the words then gradually
w o r k i n g out the instrumental arrangement. M a n y of the songs were of

A m e r i c a n origin and were little changed, for one of the characteristics of
country and western performances was that the tunes were f a m i l i a r , but the
actual arrangements often i n d i v i d u a l to the band itself, w i t h the occasional
96
Account: s6468359
composition of new songs. But i n sharp contrast to the rock w o r l d , where

the band's o w n ' o r i g i n a l material' was a constant theme, the m a i n emphasis
was o n w e l l - k n o w n music, presented i n the band's o w n version. M u s i c i a n s

said they liked to take an o l d favourite and 'put a country accompaniment to
it'.
O n e reason w h y there was little pressure to verbalise the boundary
between f o l k and country and western music was that there was little direct
encounter between the exponents of the t w o traditions. C o u n t r y and
western musicians and admirers operated w i t h i n their o w n w o r l d . T h e y h a d
their recognised bands w h i c h played 'the circuit' of country music clubs, got
reviewed i n country and western publications (from the national Country
Music Round-up to smaller regional newssheets like Southern Country,
distributed through the local clubs), played o n country and western slots i n
local radio stations and m i x e d w i t h k n o w n country and western fans at
specialist clubs and festivals. F o l k clubs were emphatically not part of their
circuit.
T h e description so far also indicates the divisions between the country
and western and rock w o r l d s - t h e music w i t h w h i c h it overlapped at the
other side f r o m ' f o l k ' . ' C o u n t r y r o c k ' was a category recognised by some,
but by and large most M i l t o n Keynes country and western music enthusiasts
experienced their w o r l d as distinct f r o m rock i n the same kinds of ways as
f r o m f o l k : that is, i n part musically b u t - e v e n more important - socially.
There were perceived differences i n musical content and presentation,
particularly the emphasis o n familiar themes i n the country and western
songs - 'country stories' and 'western' themes were regarded as the appro-
priate and traditional t o p i c s - a n d on the relative 'quietness' of country
music: 'people dance nice and quietly to country and western music', not
like 'that rock music'. T h e social definition was important too: country and
western clubs and bands were labelled as such and attended regularly,
contrasting w i t h the more haphazard nature of rock venues and rock
records. It was often assumed that teenagers were likely to be attracted to
rock for a time, but that the general family commitment to and experience of
country and western music w o u l d continue.
T h e k n o w n historical overtones as w e l l as current experience thus
provided a shared b a c k g r o u n d w h i c h helped to shape participants' aware-
ness of p a r t a k i n g i n a w o r l d w i t h its o w n distinctive musical t r a d i t i o n .
C o u n t r y and western music was felt to be the k i n d of music w h i c h h a d
developed f r o m , and expressed the feelings of, ' o r d i n a r y people', treating
everyone o n a level w i t h no false snobbery or show. ' O r d i n a r y people' were
featured i n the music w i t h its emphasis o n 'stories w i t h a tune'. T h e loves

and trials depicted i n the songs were those of c o m m o n humanity - or at any
rate rang a sympathetic c h o r d w i t h those w h o frequented country and
western performances. A t the same time the music also had its romantic
97
Account: s6468359
side: the vision of the simple country life, the evocation of the great frontier
days, the railroads, the cowboys and all the glamour of 'the West'. T h e
k n o w n development of the country and western recording industry i n

A m e r i c a , especially in N a s h v i l l e , was also part of the shared consciousness,
together w i t h some emphasis on the British contributions. ' N e w m a r k e t is
our N a s h v i l l e ' , one said, or 'we take an A m e r i c a n tune and t u r n it into our
version'. G i v e n the m i x e d influences that have led into what is n o w defined
as country and western m u s i c - b l u e s , jazz, ' p o p ' , ballads, black r u r a l dance
music, gospel - it was striking h o w clearly the country and western tradition
was experienced as distinctive. A s it was summed up by one enthusiast: ' y o u
either take to country music or y o u detest it 100 per cent'.
W h a t k i n d of people participated in this music? T h e answer to this too
brings home the separate identity of the country and western w o r l d , for - at
least i n M i l t o n K e y n e s - i t s membership was distinctive. In other musical
w o r l d s there was considerable overlap at the edges: classical musicians i n
touch w i t h brass bands or jazz, folk club attenders recognising the existence
of both classical and rock genres. But practically all such musicians equally
professed ignorance of the country and western scene. Occasionally they
voiced distaste but more often reacted b l a n k l y , expressing surprise if t o l d of
the local club and bands. Despite overlaps in some of the music itself, the
paths of those i n the country and western w o r l d seldom crossed those i n the
f o l k , classical, brass band or jazz w o r l d s .
T h e regular audience at the M i l t o n Keynes D i v i d e d C o u n t r y and Western
C l u b consisted largely of skilled manual workers and their families. There
was a preponderance of train drivers (not surprising i n the r a i l w a y t o w n of
Bletchley), but a l s o - t o give a sample list - long-distance lorry drivers, bus
drivers, workers i n the gas, electricity and water industries, builders, f o r k l i f t
drivers, factory line w o r k e r , clerk, butcher, security officer, shop assistant,
and unemployed.
It was the same i n the bands. T h e i r players were mostly i n jobs such as
lorry driver, m i l k m a n , dustman, builder, motor fitter, factory w o r k e r ,
coachbuilder or turner i n the local British R a i l w o r k s , and b l i n d p i a n o tuner
at the local piano factory; others were unemployed, sometimes supplement-
ing their band income by i n f o r m a l w o r k o n the side (as a motor mechanic,
for example). A m o n g local country and western performers the age of
completing f o r m a l education was consistently l o w , i n striking contrast to
the high educational qualifications i n the folk music w o r l d , and literacy
could not be taken for granted. There were certainly exceptions, i n c l u d i n g
some key figures active i n the local organisation of country and western
performances; the audience at the local club included the occasional member
in junior or even senior management, and, especially among the ' W i l d
B u n c h ' and other costumed 'western' performers, a few highly educated
professionals. But by and large the country and western w o r l d , unlike all the
98
Account: s6468359
others discussed so far, was largely a working-class one - at least i n terms of

the occupations of the majority of its members. Interestingly this was the
only musical w o r l d i n M i l t o n Keynes (not excluding the brass b a n d and the

rock worlds) that it seemed appropriate to characterise i n class terms at a l l .
T h i s d i d not mean that the concept of ' w o r k i n g class' or 'working-class
culture' was particularly i n people's minds. Certainly there was the ' o r d i n -
ary' people image, and the bands p r i d e d themselves o n 'being close to the
people', ' k n o w i n g what the people (i.e. their audiences) w a n t ' , but no
explicitly 'class' ideology was evident. If one defines class i n terms of
occupation and perhaps educational or housing b a c k g r o u n d then it is
correct to speak of the local country and western w o r l d as p r i m a r i l y a
'working-class' one; but that was not h o w the participants themselves
seemed to envisage it.
There was no overt shortage of money - w i t h i n the country and western
setting, that is, whatever the situation outside. W i t h i n the club people
bought raffle tickets lavishly o n top of the entrance fees and their d r i n k s .
Those w i t h western costumes sometimes managed ingenious economies, but
even so a full costume, complete w i t h guns, was not cheap. T h e outfits of the
' W i l d B u n c h ' and their emulators cost hundreds of pounds each, w h i l e the
w o m e n went i n for glamorous western costumes o n gala occasions like the
annual club dance. There was also m u c h emphasis o n raising money for
charity, often by 'giving shows' ('western' shoot-outs or mini-dramas) or by
performing free for a g o o d cause. C o u n t r y and western bands were more
expensive than most to hire, and the whole entertainment business of w h i c h
they formed part was one i n w h i c h m u c h money changed hands. A l l i n all it
was not surprising that starting f r o m near nothing seven years before, the
turnover i n the M i l t o n Keynes D i v i d e d C o u n t r y and Western C l u b was i n
the region of £6,000 to £7,000 p . a . by 1982.
A m o n g the co-members of the country and western w o r l d there was a
great sense of comradeship and co-operation. T h e atmosphere at the clubs
was conspicuously friendly and i n f o r m a l , w i t h people always prepared to
get into conversation w i t h visitors and a general use of C h r i s t i a n names a l l
r o u n d . F o r some, country and western commitments took up m u c h of their
n o n - w o r k i n g time. O n e engineering w o r k e r , for example, described h o w
travelling for w o r k gave h i m an opportunity to visit country and western
clubs throughout the region. H e w o u l d get home at 1.30 a.m., be up at 6.00
for w o r k the next m o r n i n g , be back at 4 p . m . for a wash and rest for a
'couple of hours', then off to a club again. H i s record was fourteen nights
in a r o w at different country and western clubs, at all of w h i c h he met
friends.
M a n y stories were t o l d of the camaraderie of fellow enthusiasts up and
d o w n the country, linked through their music. O n e local band broke d o w n
twenty miles f r o m their gig and far f r o m home; w h e n they finally arrived,
99
Account: s6468359
the local club organisers not only changed the order of play for them but fed
them, unloaded their equipment and b o o k e d them into an hotel at local
expense. T h e local garage proprietor - a country and western fan - mended

their van's gearbox, another lent them his car, and the local club members
invited them i n turns for meals. A s the band leader ended u p , 'we spent £85
o n Interflora o n the way home to thank t h e m ' . A g a i n , one y o u n g local player
lost a l l his money away at one of the big country music festivals, a n d , as his
friends put it, 'being a bachelor he was carrying a g o o d few s h e k e l s - £ 1 0 0 ' .
W h e n none of it turned u p , 'the hat went r o u n d ' for h i m . A n o t h e r l o c a l b a n d
t o l d h o w they too had broken d o w n miles f r o m home - the constant fear of
any w o r k i n g band - stranding not only themselves but all their heavy
equipment. T h e y were rescued by the lead singer of a competing M i l t o n
Keynes b a n d , w h o hired a van and t o w e d them the w h o l e w a y home: ' T h a t ' s
the country and western w o r l d for y o u - t h e r e are no friends like country
music friends.'
T h i s k i n d of support was not just i n crises, but extended to routine
behaviour. F e l l o w enthusiasts helped each other out and exchanged their
skills i n p r o v i d i n g material for western outfits, helping to make the dresses
for a country and western occasion or the new costumes for b a n d
performers, engraving badges for a friend, starting up a recalcitrant car,
d o i n g the a r t w o r k to advertise a performance, using personal contacts to get
equipment cheap or to persuade a local group to put o n a show for a
particular charity, lending or exchanging records, getting a band's v a n
mended through friends ' i n the trade' - and a whole range of similar
i n f o r m a l exchanges: ' y o u can call o n help any time'. It was this k i n d of
n e t w o r k as w e l l as shared interest i n a particular f o r m of music that
differentiated and maintained the country and western music w o r l d . So too
d i d the less tangible acts of friendship and support - the f o r m a l and i n f o r m a l
recognition of the central life events of co-members (the m a r k i n g of both a
bereavement and a birthday at the club evening was typical); the widespread
enthusiasm for the c o l o u r f u l trappings of the country and western music
w o r l d ; and joint travelling i n shared cars or taxis to local events and i n
coach expeditions to festivals like the annual W e m b l e y event. T h e general
sense of involvement was further intensified by the family rather than
i n d i v i d u a l basis of m u c h of the country and western allegiance, r u n n i n g
across just about all ages (more like brass bands, therefore, than most rock
settings) as w e l l as by the sociableness characteristic of country and western
music events: ' C o u n t r y music is a great leveller', I was t o l d , 'a great binder,
where age, grade and area don't matter.'
N o t all country and western music admirers, of course, were as closely

l i n k e d as the leading members or organisers of the influential local c l u b , or
as performers i n the local country and western bands. But a network of this
sort was at the heart of the l o c a l country and western music w o r l d , w i t h
100
Account: s6468359

Ruth Finnegan - Hidden Musicians

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I

The existence and study of

A choir of local residents - men, w o m e n and children - file i n special

devoted: grass-roots m u s i c - m a k i n g as it is practised by amateur musicians i n

local music i n this country. W h a t exactly does it consist of? H o w is it

they fall? A r e they still robust or by n o w fading away? W h o are these l o c a l

patrons today? A n d what, finally, is the significance of local m u s i c - m a k i n g

k i n d of i l l u m i n a t i o n i n depth not p r o v i d e d by more thinly spread a n d

have been able to d r a w o n lengthy experience of local music practices as w e l l

supplemented by local documentary sources and surveys (more fully des-

understanding i n some depth o f the patterns o f local m u s i c - m a k i n g . T h e

and a plethora o f variegated w o r k o n the mass media and the nationally

to o u r understanding o f E n g l i s h music. There is also plenty o f w r i t i n g by

music i n a contemporary English t o w n - for there is n o comparable study -

explained away) as the creature of class divisions o r m a n i p u l a t i o n , o r i n any

ethnographic description that forms the necessary f o u n d a t i o n for the later

both differentiate and to some extent unite these differing w o r l d s as a basis

course enlarged by this study (though I continue to have my o w n prefer-

of the practice of music across the w h o l e spectrum to be f o u n d i n the

l o o k i n g at one's ' o w n ' i n the setting of comparisons w i t h others can (as I

o n the practice of music: o n what people actually do o n the g r o u n d . T h a t

do not w i s h to dispute. But for the purposes of uncovering the local

focus is one that, unlike more 'formalistic' analyses, leads to a greater

M o s t studies of music and musicians are of professionals. T h i s is the t h i r d

practitioners. W h y should we assume that m u s i c - m a k i n g is the m o n o p o l y

of full-time specialists or the prime responsibility of state-supported institu-

d r a w i n g inspiration f r o m a b r o a d if somewhat unsystematic range of

ethnographic findings and the theoretical approaches w h i c h I f o u n d useful

in many approaches to urban s t u d y - turns out to be neither formless nor,

as we might suppose, just the product of i n d i v i d u a l endeavour, but to be

detachment and at the same time w i t h a f u l l personal appreciation of the

to be swept away by the facile romanticising of 'art'. By considering m a i n l y

'Amateur' and 'professional'

recreation outside w o r k , and some treat it as a part-time occupation for the

o n w h i c h this study claims to focus? Unfortunately there is no simple

'professional' musicians. T h e reasons for this as well as the complexities

the interrelationship and overlap between these t w o is both highly signifi-

the status of their continuing musical activities. Others again w o r k e d i n f u l l -

occasions as, for example, p r o v i d i n g the instrumental accompaniment for a

is about amateur musicians needs some modification. It w o u l d be more

that one of the interesting characteristics of local music organization is

behaviour' as such is not the m a i n focus audiences too are treated as i n a

Keynes C h a m b e r Orchestra's local concerts. Other local musicians, h o w -

publicity by the orchestra had been seriously misleading w h e n it stated that

'professional' and 'amateur' spheres and it is impossible, therefore, to keep

These overlaps and interactions between the (relatively) 'amateur' and

soloist's side also sometimes play a part). T h i s is particularly c o m m o n i n

societies too engage performers - both individuals and small ensembles - to

part f r o m the brochures or letters w i t h w h i c h secretaries of local music

Introduction to Milton Keynes and

In M i l t o n Keynes local music was unquestionably flourishing. A q u i c k

functioning musical groups based and p e r f o r m i n g i n and a r o u n d the

special position of M i l t o n Keynes as one of Britain's 'new t o w n s ' w i t h

Figure i Borough of Milton Keynes and surrounding area

M i l t o n Keynes originated f r o m 1960s plans to create new towns to relieve

22,000 acres i n N o r t h Buckinghamshire was designated i n 1967 as a ' n e w

long been part of the local connections i n this part o f N o r t h B u c k i n g h a m -

Figure 3 New and old in M i l t o n Keynes

COMPARISON WITH NATIONAL A G E STRUCTURE CHANGE IN AGE STRUCTURE SINCE 1976

. MILTON KEYNES MILTON K E Y N E S

• E N G L A N D & WALES MILTON KEYNES

not strikingly, high p r o p o r t i o n engaged i n skilled m a n u a l (and perhaps later

40% - CHI Milton Keynes 1979

professional and other non-manual skilled manual semi and unskilled