Bowlly was born in Lourenço Marques in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique. His parents were Greek and Lebanese. They met en route to Australia and moved to South Africa.
Bowlly was brought up in Johannesburg. After a series of odd jobs across South Africa in his youth, including being a barber and a jockey, he sang in a dance band led by Edgar Adeler on a tour of South Africa, Rhodesia, India and Indonesia during the mid-1920s.[citation needed] He was fired from the band in Surabaya, Indonesia.
Jimmy Liquime hired him to sing with the band in India and Singapore. In 1927 Bowlly made his first record, a cover version of "Blue Skies" by Irving Berlin that was recorded with Adeler in Berlin, Germany. During the next year, he worked in London, England, with the orchestra of Fred Elizalde.
The onset of the Great Depression in 1929 resulted in Bowlly being made redundant and returning to several months of busking to survive. In the 1930s, he signed two contracts—one in May 1931 with Roy Fox, singing in his live band for the Monseigneur Restaurant in London, the other a record contract with bandleader Ray Noble in November 1930.
During the next four years, he recorded over 500 songs. By 1933 Lew Stone had ousted Fox as bandleader, and Bowlly was singing Stone's arrangements with Stone's band. After much radio exposure and a successful British tour with Stone, Bowlly was inundated with demands for appearances and gigs—including undertaking a solo British tour—but continued to make most of his recordings with Noble. There was considerable competition between Noble and Stone for Bowlly's time. For much of the year, Bowlly spent all day in the recording studio with Noble's band rehearsing and recording, then the evening with Stone's band at the Monseigneur. Many of these recordings with Noble were issued in the United States by Victor, which meant that by the time Noble and Bowlly came to America, their reputation had preceded them.
He performed in England with his band, the Radio City Rhythm Makers. But by 1937 the band broke up when vocal problems were traced to a wart in his throat, which briefly caused him to lose his voice. Separated from his wife and with his band dissolved, he borrowed money from friends and traveled to New York City for surgery.
His absence from the UK in the early 1930s damaged his popularity with British audiences, despite his association with pianist Monia Liter as his accompanist. His career began to suffer as a result of problems with his voice, which affected the frequency of his recordings. He played a few small parts in films but never professed to be an actor. The parts he did play were often cut, and scenes that were shown were brief. Noble was offered a role in Hollywood, although the offer did not include Bowlly, as a singer had already been hired. Bowlly moved back to London with his wife Marjie in January 1937.
With diminished success in Britain, he toured regional theatres and recorded as often as possible to make a living, moving from orchestra to orchestra, working with Sydney Lipton, Gerald Bright and Ken "Snakehips" Johnson. In 1940 there was a revival of interest in his career when he worked in a duo with Jimmy Messene in Radio Stars with Two Guitars on the London stage. It was his last venture before his death in April 1941. The partnership was uneasy. Messene had a drinking problem. When he showed up for work, he was occasionally unable to perform. Bowlly recorded his last song two weeks before his death. It was a duet with Messene on Irving Berlin's satirical song about Hitler, "When That Man is Dead and Gone".
In December 1931, Bowlly married Constance Freda Roberts (died 1967) in St Martin's District, London; the couple separated after a fortnight, and sought a rapid divorce. He remarried in December 1934, to Marjie Fairless; this marriage lasted until his death.
On 16 April 1941, Bowlly and Messene had just given a performance at the Rex Cinema in Oxford Street, High Wycombe, now demolished. Both were offered the opportunity of an overnight stay in the town, but Bowlly opted to take the last train home to his flat at 32 Duke Street, Duke's Court, St James, London. His decision proved to be fateful. He was killed by a Luftwaffe parachute mine that detonated outside his flat at ten past three in the morning.
His body appeared unmarked: although the massive explosion had not disfigured him, it had blown his bedroom door off its hinges and the impact against his head proved fatal. He was buried with other bombing victims in a mass grave at what is today known as Hanwell Cemetery, Uxbridge Road, Hanwell, where his name is given as Albert Alex Bowlly.
Bowlly is sometimes credited with inventing crooning or "The Modern Singing Style", releasing a book of the same name. He experimented with new methods of amplification, not least with his Melody Maker advert, showing him endorsing a portable vocal megaphone. With the advent of the microphone in 1931, he adapted his singing style, moving away from the Jazz singing style of the 20s, into the softer, more expressive crooning singing style used in popular music of the 1930s and 1940s.
A Blue Plaque commemorating Bowlly was installed, in November 2013, by English Heritage at Charing Cross Mansion, 26 Charing Cross Road, described as "his home at the pinnacle of his career".
In the late 1980's, the BBC used his song 'Sweet and Lovely' as the theme tune to 'First of the Summer Wine' - the prequel to long-running comedy 'Last of the Summer Wine'. 'First of the Summer Wine' ran for two seasons of six episodes plus a pilot and, like the main series, was written by Roy Clarke.
The song "Guilty" was used by the BBC soap opera EastEnders in 2000, playing over the end credits instead of the programme's usual title music to signify the final appearance of character Ethel Skinner (Gretchen Franklin) who had persuaded her friend Dot Cotton (June Brown) to help her die.
My Hat's on the Side of My Head
Al Bowlly Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Take a little look at me
Yesterday was so blue
Bluer than the deep blue sea
Now I′m singing
Whistlinng a tune
All the live long day
If you want to know just why
I've got a feeling i′ve found her
It was something she said
She's got me walkin on
The tip of my toes and my hat
On the side of my head.
All my troubles are mended
Cause she's my needle and thread
She′s got me walkin on the
Tip of my toes and my hat
On the side of my head.
Oh that wonderful smile
Oh i fell from the start
You should listen a while
To the thump thump thumping
Of my poor old heart.
She′s got a wonderful future
One that's rosy and red
Cause she′s got me walkin on
The tip of my toes and my
Hat on the side of my head.
Cause she's got me walkin on the side
Of my head and my hat on the tip
Of my toes - on the tip of my toes
In "My Hat's on the Side of My Head" by Al Bowlly, the singer expresses the joy and elation that comes with finding true love. The first stanza of the song acknowledges the transformative power of love, turning the singer's previously blue emotions upside down, putting him in a carefree and happy state. He sings and whistles all day, a clear indication of his new-found happiness. He then credits his joy to his new love, a woman who he says he has found. In the following stanzas, the singer describes how his love interest has transformed his life. She's mended all his troubles and made him feel complete like she's his needle and thread. The lyrics also make references to symbols of his newfound happiness: his hat on the side of his head, and being on the tip of his toes. The song ends with the singer acknowledging how his love's future is bright and rosy.
Line by Line Meaning
Funny thing what love can do
Love has the power to change things unexpectedly.
Take a little look at me
Notice how I've changed since I found love.
Yesterday was so blue
I was sad and unhappy before meeting my love.
Bluer than the deep blue sea
I was extremely unhappy and downhearted.
Now I'm singing
Now I'm happy and content.
Whistling a tune
I'm so happy that I can't help but whistle a tune.
All the live long day
I'm happy all day, every day.
If you want to know just why
If you're wondering how I became so happy.
I can truthfully say;
Here's the reason why.
I've got a feeling I've found her
I think I've found the one I love.
It was something she said
Her words made me fall in love with her.
She's got me walkin on
She's made me feel like I'm walking on air.
The tip of my toes and my hat
I'm so happy that I'm walking on my tiptoes and my hat is on the side of my head.
All my troubles are mended
My problems have disappeared since I found love.
Cause she's my needle and thread
She's like a fixer that has patched my life together.
Oh that wonderful smile
Her beautiful smile is one of the reasons I fell in love with her.
Oh I fell from the start
I fell in love with her instantly.
You should listen a while
If you listen attentively, you'll hear my heart pounding from love.
To the thump thump thumping
My heart is beating rapidly because of her.
Of my poor old heart.
My heart is overwhelmed with emotions.
She's got a wonderful future
She has great things ahead that I know we'll achieve together.
One that's rosy and red
Our future is full of love and passion.
Cause she's got me walkin on
She's made me feel so happy that I'm walking on air.
The tip of my toes and my
My feet are not even on the ground, I'm so happy.
Hat on the side of my head.
I'm so happy that my hat is askew on my head.
Cause she's got me walkin on the side
She's made me so happy that I'm walking on the side of my head.
Of my head and my hat on the tip
I'm so happy that my hat is on the tip of my head.
Of my toes - on the tip of my toes
I'm so thrilled and excited that I'm up on my toes.
Writer(s): Harry Woods, Claude Hulbert
Contributed by Avery H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@SheilaB
This is my favourite version of this song - Al Bowlly and Ray Noble's Orchestra were just made for eachother!
@konst125
Me too! I've been looking for that song for years after hearing it in "Murphy's War". Finally Travcat88 was so friendly to send me the title & singer's name. Now that I've found it I want to thank Bricwood for posting it. It's an excellent tune! Once again thank you so much!!
@ianblakesley3349
Ray Noble is playing piano and producing the record at the same time. Al Bowlly is , as ever, on superb form.
@apassionateman
Excellent! This is a very hard song to find. I have been looking for this song for a long time. It plays in the movie Murphy's War staring Peter O'Toole. Please post more of Al Bowlly if you find them. Thank you so much. Bill
@orchardist1965
The wonderful sound of its time still gives sensational enjoyment. Thank you.
@alfie081
This one and Bowlly's "Im so use to you now" (the fast version)are my favourites they're so uplifting I have them as Ringtones.
@joeok8641
An absolute tonic; blithe spirits! Al swings!
@1knowUknow
Just can't stop singing this. I have a friend who performed this.
@LKayL1
I've always loved the last sentence, "Cos she's got me walking on the side of my head..." and when he cries "Mammy" at the end!
@joeok8641
All fun and joy from Al.