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.
dancing with tears in my eyes
Al Bowlly Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They seem so happy and gay
Though they sing and they swing as they sway
Somehow I can't feel that way
For I'm dancing with tears in my eyes
'Cause the boy/girl in my arms isn't you
Dancing with somebody new
Trying to smile once in a while
But I find it so hard to do
For I'm dancing with tears in my eyes
'Cause the boy/girl in my arms isn't you
While the throng's in the spell of a song
My thoughts keep drifting to you
While each pair seems to share their affair
They're making me blue
For I'm dancing with tears in my eyes
'Cause the boy/girl in my arms isn't you
Dancing with somebody new
When it's you that my heart's calling to
Trying to smile once in a while
But I find it so hard to do
For I'm dancing with tears in my eyes
'Cause the boy/girl in my arms isn't you
The song "Dancing With Tears in My Eyes" by Al Bowlly depicts the pain of dancing with someone new while your heart still longs for the one you lost. The song begins by acknowledging the happiness and joy others experience in their romances on the dance floor, yet the singer cannot feel the same way. As they dance with someone new, they cannot help but feel tears in their eyes as they realize that the person they truly want is not there. The chorus makes this theme more explicit by repeating the idea that the person in their arms is not the one they long for.
The second verse further emphasizes this melancholic feeling, as the singer's thoughts keep drifting back to the person they lost, ultimately making them feel blue. Despite trying to put on a happy face and smile, the pain is too much to bear. The song ends with another repetition of the chorus, amplifying the intensity of the heartache the singer is feeling.
Overall, "Dancing With Tears in My Eyes" captures the anguish of trying to move on while still feeling the loss of someone who meant so much. It highlights the difficulty of being happy with someone new when you can't shake the memory of a past love.
Line by Line Meaning
Those who dance and romance while they dance
People who enjoy dancing and being romantic with their partner while they dance.
They seem so happy and gay
They appear to be in a joyful and euphoric state.
Though they sing and they swing as they sway
Even though they sing and move their bodies while dancing with their partner.
Somehow I can't feel that way
However, I cannot feel that same sense of joy while dancing with someone else.
For I'm dancing with tears in my eyes
Because even though I am dancing, tears are in my eyes due to my sadness.
'Cause the boy/girl in my arms isn't you
It's because the person I am dancing with is not you.
Dancing with somebody new
I am dancing with someone else who is not you.
When it's you that my heart's calling to
My heart belongs to you, and I wish I was dancing with you instead of this person.
Trying to smile once in a while
I am attempting to put on a happy face for a moment.
But I find it so hard to do
However, it is a difficult task for me to fake a smile in this situation.
While the throng's in the spell of a song
Everyone else is lost in the allure of the music.
My thoughts keep drifting to you
My mind is distracted and keeps thinking of you.
While each pair seems to share their affair
It appears that every other couple on the dance floor is having a great time and is deeply in love.
They're making me blue
All of the happy couples are making me feel sad.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Joe Burke, Al Dubin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
diween
on Midnight,Stars And You
Midnight with the stars and you
Midnight and a rendezvous
Your eyes held a message tender
Saying: I surrender all my love to you
Midnight brought us sweet romance
I know all my whole life through
I'll be remembering you
Whatever else I do
Midnight with the stars and you
Midnight brought us sweet romance
I know all my whole life through
I'll be remembering you
Whatever else I do
Midnight with the stars and you