Born Today In Music

November 2nd

2002 - Lonnie Donegan

Lonnie Donegan, died mid-way through a UK tour and shortly before he was due to perform at a memorial concert for George Harrison with The Rolling Stones. He was aged 71. Donegan who launched the skiffle craze in the UK had the 1959 hit ‘Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour’, the 1960 UK No.1 single 'My Old Man's A Dustman', 'Rock Island Line', plus over 30 other UK Top 40 singles.

Lonnie Donegan


Lonnie Donegan in the 1970s

Background information
Birth name: Anthony James Donegan
Also known as: The King of Skiffle
Born: 29 April 1931; Bridgeton, Glasgow, Scotland
Died: 3 November 2002 (aged 71); Market Deeping, Lincolnshire, England

Anthony James Donegan MBE (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002), known as Lonnie Donegan, was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the "King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotland and brought up in England, Donegan began his career in the British trad jazz revival but transitioned to skiffle in the mid 1950s, rising to prominence with a hit recording of the American folk song "Rock Island Line" which helped spur the broader UK skiffle movement.

Donegan had 31 UK top 30 hit singles, 24 being successive and three at number one. He was the first British male singer with two US top 10 hits. Donegan received an Ivor Novello lifetime achievement award in 1995 and, in 2000, he was made an MBE. Donegan was a pivotal figure in the British Invasion due to his influence in the US in the late 1950s.

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Life

Donegan was born in Bridgeton, Glasgow, Scotland, on 29 April 1931. He was the son of an Irish mother and a Scots father, a professional violinist who had played with the Scottish National Orchestra. In 1933, at age 2, he moved with his family to East Ham in East London. Donegan was evacuated to Cheshire to escape the Blitz in the Second World War and attended St Ambrose College in Hale Barns.

Donegan married three times. He had two daughters (Fiona and Corrina) by his first wife, Maureen Tyler (divorced 1962), a son and a daughter (Anthony and Juanita) by his second wife, Jill Westlake (divorced 1971), and three sons (Peter, David and Andrew) by his third wife, Sharon, whom he married in 1977. Peter Donegan is also a singer and a musician.

Donegan died on 3 November 2002, aged 71, after a heart attack in Market Deeping, Lincolnshire mid-way through a UK tour, and before he was due to perform at a memorial concert for George Harrison with the Rolling Stones. He had cardiac problems since the 1970s and several heart attacks.

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Lonnie Donegan - Does Your Chewing Gum Loose Its Flavour (Austrian TV, 1975)

Spotlight Music Show
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23,639 views May 5, 2020
Lonnie Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002), known as the "King of Skiffle", was the most popular and influential British musician before the Beatles. Between 1956 and 1962, he had more than 30 top hits in the UK and US charts. This is his first concert appearance in Austria.

Spotlight was a music show for the youth, which was aired between 1968 and 1978 by the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF). It was the counterpart to the shows "Beat Club" or "Musikladen" in Germany.

Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?)

Released: late January 1959 (United Kingdom); 21 July 1961 (United States)
Recorded: New Theatre Oxford, 13 December 1958
Genre: Skiffle, novelty song

"Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?)" is a novelty song by Lonnie Donegan. Released as a single in 1959, it entered the UK Singles Chart on 6 February 1959 and peaked at number three. It was also Donegan's greatest chart success in the United States, reaching number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1961.

The song is a cover version of "Does the Spearmint Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?" written by Billy Rose, Ernest Breuer, and Marty Bloom and first released in 1924 by The Happiness Boys (Ernie Hare and Billy Jones), and later a hit for Lulu Belle and Scotty and The Two Gilberts. The song is humorous in content, the verses each describing a dramatic or urgent scenario leading up to the asking of the titular question.

The title and lyrics of the Donegan version were changed in the UK because "Spearmint" is a registered trademark there, and the BBC would not play songs that mentioned trademarks. Donegan's version of the song was recorded live at the New Theatre Oxford in December 1958, and was released both as a single and as a track on the album King of Skiffle. An extended version with more banter was released on the live album The Last Tour.

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