George Formby was a popular entertainer who reached the height of his fame during the second world war. He was born in Lancashire, in the North of the UK, and became famous playing comic songs on his Banjo Ukulele. He made over 300 records and appeared in 22 films.

I like his music because it's catchy, and represents a period in British history so well. You grow to either love or hate the cliches of Formby's recordings, be it the orchestration, solos, or catch phrases. Personally, I think it's well cool.

Some of his films aren't so good (especially the ones he made for Columbia Pictures), but some have interesting plots, most are funny, and all contain some good tunes.

Let George Do it was released in 1940, and apart from being a great Formby film, is a fansicating piece of wartime propoganda. It's quite chilling to think that people went to see this film as an escape from bombing, rationing, and the threat of invasion.

The conductor of a band is transmitting the positions of allied ships to German U-boats. The instrumental breaks in his radio broadcasts contain morse-code, allowing the U-boats to find and sink the allied ships. George has unwittingly become a part of this dance band, and before the track Count your Blessings and Smile, he has informed the British authorities of the devious plan, so they too are tuning into the broadcast, ready to intercept the U-boats.

Below is a selection of recordings, taken from the soundtrack of the film "Let George Do it".
There are some images from Let George Do it at www.britmovie.co.uk.

TITLE	LENGTH	DATE	SOURCE	RESTORED	FILE SIZE
Opening title music	1:13	1940	video	© 1999		299KB
Count your Blessings and Smile	4:23	1940	video	© 1999		1.02MB