Hello, Mum!
SPECTATOR COMPETITION No, 443: Report by Eric Wagstaff
Conipetiiors were asked to supply a message to Mum and name the record asked for on a record request programme by any three of the following: Electra, CEdipus, Romulus and Remus, Nell Gwyn, Hamlet, Siegfried, Oswald (`Ghosts').
THE record department at the BBC would have had a busy time finding all the records requested. These included Handel's • 'Total Eclipse' (sug- gested by Rhoda Tuck Pook for Oswald), songs by Wolf and 'Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf' (named by several competitors as requests from Romulus and Remus) and 'Charlie is my darlin" (which appeared several times as Nell Gwyn's choice). I agree with A. Whigham Price that if there isn't a record called 'The Strumpet Voluntary' (Hamlet's choice), there ought to be. In many entries Hamlet had great difficulty in making up his mind, finally selecting, for example, 'Hesitation Waltz' (Rev. J. M. Forster, J. S. Fidgen), Perchance to dream' (G. R. Smith), or 'Bewitched, bothered and bewildered' (R. W. Dargavel), but in others he hit out—'Haste to the wedding' (Miss H. Broun), 'Tommy, make room for your uncle' (A. M. Laing, Miss V. Telfer), 'Merry Widow Waltz fGranville Garley, D. Rawson), and 'Who were you with last night?' (H. Hardman). B. Dudley Stamp's 'Elsinor Rock' was an apt choice. Electra obviously enjoyed choosing 'Heaven is just round the corner' (Russell Edwards) and the slow movement from Haydn's Surprise Symphony (Mrs. V. R. Ormerod), and Mum would have got little corn- fort from these messages: 'I've got a one-track mind' (R. A. McKenzie), 'Don't worry about me, Mum, I've such a helpful brother' (Gloria Prince) or 'This piece simply sends me, so 1 hope it will really slay you' (Simia). Oswald's messages were full of the joy of life, and his records were mostly sunny, like 'Arise, 0 Sun,' suggested by A. W. Price. The messages from CEdipus were anxious and complex, but he chose some uncomplicated records, such as 'I'd like a girl just like the girl that married dear old Dad' (D. Drummond) and 'It had to be you' (Sgt. J. Wallis).
It was refreshing after hearing from all these crazy, mixed-up kids to read the cheerful messages from Nell Gwyn—'Don't believe all you hear, Mum,' record requested 'A virgin unspotted' (J. S. Fidgen), 'Mum, I'm in the best possible hands' (Cinna), 'I've got a right royal Charlie here' (Nancy Gunter) and 'No orange blossom—not on your Nelly! But plenty of clover, Mum, for both of us' (P. W. R. Foot)— and she made a happy record choice with 'Love for three oranges' (I. A. Lindon, W. H. Johnson). Romulus and Remus too were full of high spirits —'Very happy on our new construction job; lovely country here, with seven hills which remind us of the old milk-bar at home' (A. W. Price). Sometimes they had vague memories of their real mother, requesting the record 'Who is Sylvia?' (Simia), but in Rhoda Tuck Pook's entry they confessed '0 Mater, we wish we remerbbered you, but milk is thicker than blood.'
Some very good entries (notably from A. W. Price and Simia) put themselves out of the prize field by disregard of the word-limit., Though many competitors scored palpable hits with either message or record, few did with both and no one managed to do it three times. A prize of two guineas is awarded to D. R. Peddy and of one guinea to each of the four other competitors quoted below: PRIZES
NELL Gwviv : ,Giving up the fruit business, Mum, but Charlie won't let me starve—not on your
Nellie! His brother Jim will handle the Oranges. Record: `Ma. he's making eyes at me. CEDIPus: Hello, Mum. Things are pretty complex here. Tell Rex if he gets savage we'll have him put to sleep. Ring you some time.
Record: 'When we are married.
(D. R. PEDDY) ELECTRA: Hello, 'Mum. The family is always very much in my mind.
Record: 'Anything you can do, I can do better.' (R. W. DARGAVEL) SIEGFRIED: It's me, Mum. Love to Dad, Uncle and you. Tell Grandad I'll give him a ring some time. Record: 'Down in the forest something stirred.' (A. D. BENNETT JONES) (EDiPus: Wish me luck, Mum! I'm marrying Queen Jocasta tomorrow. She's a dear, but old enough to be my mother—complex, isn't it?
Record : 'Che sara, sara.' (MRS. 1. M. CONNOR) ROMULUS AND REMUS: We've had a dog's life, but we're comfortably kennelled now, and our new nursemaid's a howling success.
Record: Theme music from 'I Was a Teenage Werewolf.'
(BLUEBOTTLE)
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