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| Melody Maker Readers Poll (1946)... |
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For 74 years the "Melody Maker" was the weekly 'trade paper' for the dance band and jazz musician as well as all those interested in the modern music scene. One of it's continuing features and talking points were the annual Readers Polls where readers voted under different categories for individual musicians, singers, big bands and a host of other categories. The annual jazz polls were a major event in the jazz world but were also an important historical record of the state of British jazz through the years and preserve some of the historical perspective on British Jazz. This page carries the full results of the 1946 poll published on August 17th, 1946. |
In addition Jack Parnell and his Quartet -an outfit drawn from within the Heath Band- won the Small Combination section, and Heath himself was voted our readers favourite bandleader. To complete the story five of the Heath individualists won the sections for their own instruments - Johnny Gray tenor, Kenny Baker trumpet, Jack Parnell drums, Norman Stenfalt piano and Charlie Short bass. Ted himself was second in the trombone section of the Poll. |
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Favourite Bandleader 1 Ted Heath 2 Jimmy Miller 3 Geraldo 4 Harry Roy 5 Carl Barriteau 6 Paul Fenoulhet 7 Joe Loss 8 Ambrose 9 George Evans 10 Teddy Foster 11 Harry Parry 12 Frank Weir 13 Harry Leader 14 Harry Davis 15 Henry Hall 16 George Elrick 17 Harry Hayes 18 Eric Winstone 19 Nat Gonella 20 Phil Green 21 Vic Lewis 22 Roy Fox 23 Duncan Whyte 24 Lou Preager 25 Billy Cotton 26 Leslie Hutchinson 27 Lew Stone... Alto sax 1 Harry Hayes 2 Bertie King 3 Les Gilbert 4 Ronnie Chamberlain 5 Doug Robinson 6 Derek Hawkins 7 Reg Owen 8 Tommy Bradbury 9 Carl Barriteau 10 Monty Levy 11 Freddy Gardner 12 Harry Bence 13 Cliff Townshend 14 Ken Mackintosh 15 Wally Stott 16 Derek Neville 17 Cyril Pressling 18 Joe Crossman 19 Ivy Benson... Bass 1 Charlie Short 2 Coleridge Goode 3 Tommy Bromley 4 Jack Collier 5 Arthur Maden 6 Joe Nussbaum 7 Russ Allen 8 Bert Howard 9 Tiny Winters 10 Syd Burke 11 Jock Reid 12 Peter Akister 13 Teddy Wadmore 14 Lou Nussbaum... Guitar 1 Ivor Mairants 2 Dave Goldberg 3 Lauderic Caton 4 Vic Lewis 5 Frank Deniz 6 Joe Deniz 7 George Elliott 8 Archie Slavin 9 Alan Metcalfe 10 Pete Chilver 11 Bert Weedon 12 Johnny Denis 13 Freddy Phillips 14 Stan Musgrave 15 Laurie Deniz 16 Jack Llewellyn 17 Jim Knowles 18 Howard Lucraft 19 Sid Colin... Miscellaneous Instruments (Instruments not shown) 1 Stephane Grappelly 2 Roy Marsh 3 Robin Richmond 4 Ron Chamberlain 5 Jack Simpson 6 Johnny Dennis 7 Eddie Palmer 8 Dave Shand 9 Ronald Peachey 10 Lew Stone 11 Phil Green 12 Bernie Fenton 13 Ron Chesney 14 Art Streatfield... |
Trumpet 1 Kenny Baker 2 Tommy McQuater 3 Duncan Whyte 4 Dave Wilkins 5 Jimmy Watson 6 Freddy Clayton 7 Arthur Mouncey 8 Leslie Hutchinson 9 Nat Gonella 10 Eddie Calvert 11 Stan Roderick 12 Tommy Ashworth 13 Freddy Randall 14 Archie Craig 15 Billy Riddick 16 Ray Davies 17 Teddy Foster 18 Chick Smith 19 Reg Rigden 20 Allan Franks 21 Harry Letham 22 Roy Landis... Tenor sax 1 Johnny Gray 2 Aubrey Frank 3 Jimmy Skidmore 4 George Evans 5 Ronnie Scott 6 Kathleen Stobart 7 Buddy Featherstonhaugh 8 Reg Dare 9 Andy McDevitt 10 Harry Gold 11 Tommy Whittle 12 Jimmy Durrant 13 Moss Kaye 14 Len Wood 15 Billy Amstell 16 Ken Oldham 17 Johnny Walker 18 Freddy Gardner 19 Freddy Grant 20= Bert Tobias 20= George Harris 22 Norman Impey 23 Alfie Khan 24 Joe Appleton... Clarinet 1 Carl Barriteau 2 Frank Weir 3 Andy Mcdevitt 4 Nat Temple 5 Harry Parry 6 Reg Owen 7 Robert Feldman 8 Johnny Dankworth 9 Cliff Townshend 10 Wally Fawkes 11 Derek Hawkins 12 Dougie Robinson 13 Sid Phillips 14 Wally Stott 15 Jackie Bonser 16 Ronnie Chamberlain 17 Harry Bence 18 Ken Franklyn... Trombone 1 George Chisholm 2 Ted Heath 3 Lad Busby 4 Eric Breeze 5 Harry Roche 6 Jock Bain 7 Don Macaffer 8 Eddie Harvey 9 Micky Mickelborough 10 Woolf Phillips 11 Nobby Clark 12 Dennis Croker 13 Jack Webb 14 Dave Goldberg 15 Paul Fenoulhet 16 Jimmy Wilson... Drums 1 Jack Parnell 2 Jock Cummings 3 Victor Feldman 4 Maurice Burman 5 George Fierstone 6 Billy Lonsdale 7 Billy Wiltshire 8 Roy Wykes 9 Phil Watts 10 Micky Greeves 11 Tommy Callaghan 12 Joe Daniels 13 Dave Fullerton 14 Joe Watson 15 Ray Ellington 16 Norman Burns 17 Freddy Crump... |
 Tenor sax player Johnny Gray, who topped the tenor sax section in this 1946 MM poll, was a featured player with Ted Heath and his Music from September, 1945 until October, 1949... Small Combination Dance Band 1 Jack Parnell Quartet 2 Frank Weir and his Orchestra 3 Harry Hayes and his Band 4 Harry Gold Pieces of Eight 5 Harry Parry and his Sextet 6 Vic Lewis and his Sextet 7 George Webb's Dixielanders 8 Feldman Trio 9 Lauderic Caton Trio 10 Art Thompson and his Band 11 Duncan Whyte and his Rhythm 12 Joe Daniels and his Hotshots 13 Johnny Denis Novelty Swingtet 14 Stephane Grappelly Swingtet 15 Freddy Mirfield and his Band 16 Kenny Baker Swing Group 17 Jack Simpson and his Sextet 18 Jive Bombers 19 Buddy Featherstonhaugh and his Sextet 20 Billy Penrose and his Quartet 21 Sid Phillips and his Band 22 Billy Munn and his Band 23 Howard Lucraft and his Band 24 Roy Marsh and his Swingtette... Swing Band 1 Ted Heath and his Music 2 Squadronaires Dance Orchestra 3 Geraldo and his Orchestra 4 Skyrockets Dance Orchestra 5 Teddy Foster and his Band 6 Carl Barriteau and his Band 7 Joe Loss and his Band 8 George Evans and his Orchestra 9 Leslie 'Jiver' Hutchinson and his Orchestra 10 Harry Roy and his Band 11 Blue Rockets Dance Orchestra 12 Frank Weir and his Orchestra 13 Oscar Rabin and his Orchestra 14 Harry Parry and his Sextet 16 Freddy Mirfield and his Band 17 Ambrose and his Orchestra 18 Harry Gold and his Pieces of Eight 19 Nat Gonella and his Georgians 20 Eric Winstone and his Band 21 George Webb and his Dixielanders 22 Lou Preager and his Orchestra 23 Vic Lewis and his Jazzmen 24 Duncan Whyte and his Rhythm 25 Buddy Featherstonhaugh and his Sextet... Male Vocalist 1 Benny Lee 2 Denny Dennis 3 Paul Carpenter 4 Jimmy Miller 5 Johnny Green 6 Len Camber 7 Steve Conway 8 Archie Lewis 9 Cyril Shane 10 Alan Dean 11 Howard Jones 12 Dick James 13 Dennis Hale 14 Jack Parnell 15 George Evans 16 Eric Whitley 17 Sam Browne 18 Alan Kane 19 Leslie Douglas 20 Gene Crowley 21 Alan Breeze 22 Freddy Randall... |
Sweet Band 1 Geraldo and his Orchestra 2 Ted Heath and his Music 3 Skyrockets Dance Orchestra 4 Maurice Winnick and his Orchestra 5 Joe Loss and his Band 6 Squadronaires Dance Orchestra 7 Ambrose Dance Orchestra 8 Oscar Rabin and his Orchestra 9 Billy Ternent and his Band 10 George Evans and his Orchestra 11 Stanley Black and his Orchestra 12 Carroll Gibbons and his Dance Orchestra 13 Eric Winstone and his Band 14 Lou Preager and his Band 15 George Melachrino and his Orchestra 16 Teddy Foster and his Band 17 Harry Leader and his Band 18 Blue Rockets Dance Orchestra 19 Frank Weir and his Orchestra 20 Harry Roy and his Band 21 Henry Hall and his Band 22 Lew Stone and his Band 23 Mantovani and his Orchestra 24 Felix Mendelssohn and his Hawaiin Serenaders 25 Ivy Benson and her Girl's Band 26 Roy Fox and his Band 27 Billy Cotton and his Band 28 Ronnie Munro and his Orchestra 29 Jack Payne and his Orchestra 30 Billy Munn and his Band 31 Reg Leopold and his Band 32 George Elrick and his Band 33 Harry Hayes and his Band 34 Carl Barriteau and his Band 35 Nat Allen and his Band 36 Roland Peachey and his Orchestra 37 Edmundo Ros and his Rumba Band 38 Reg Pursglove and his Orchestra... Piano  1 Norman Stenfalt 2 George Shearing 3 Pat Dodd 4 Ronnie Aldrich 5 Ralph Sharon 6 Art Thompson 7 York de Sousa 8 Billy Penrose 9 Dick Katz 10 Ronnie Selby 11 Stanley Black 12 Sid Bright 13 Billy Munn 14 Carroll Gibbons 15 Tommy Saville 16 George Webb 17 Tony Short 18 Stan Walker 19 Charlie Kunz 20 Alan Clare 21 Hamish Menzies 22 Bill McGuffie 23 Malcolm Lockyer... Female Vocalist 1 Anne Shelton 2 Beryl Davis 3 Doreen Lundy 4 Carole Carr 5 Dinah Kaye 6 Rita Williams 7 Dorothy Squires 8 Dorothy Carless 9 Sally Douglas 10 Elizabeth Batey 11 Doreen Stephens 12 Terry Devon 13 Paula Green 14 Betty Driver 15 Norma Clarke 16 Edna Kaye 17 Phyllis Frost 18 Triss Henderson 19 Rita Marlowe 20 Billie Campbell 21 Julie Dawn 22 Diane... |