@diamondogz That accent's real 'cos I've got it too.
LOL, you Britishers are really proud of your quaint, backwater accents. You need to learn to speak international English, which is predominately American.
I want to dedicate this song to my neighbour - you could stand her on Beachy Head to warn the ships and even in her normal voice they'd still hear her :S
The boy from bermondsey ..two eyes cafe ..great to watch ..a performer of note ..married a 'Rhodie' ..then Pantomime ..Mother Goose my kids loved it as I do his songs esp. The Shiralee Good on yer Tom.. Mike
He is singing it in the style of the Cockney music hall acts. Of course he is exaggerating the accent. Let's not forget, Tommy was a succesful singer in the 50's/60's, with a string of hit records.You can't please everyone. Anyway to us northerners, everyone in London is a Cockney ?:-)
Tommy Steele was a working class boy from london who worked as a merchant seaman before he was discovered singin in a small cafe in London, from ever so humble beginings to the world stage, you people who knock him are just jealous because you were never brave enough or talented enough to git of your arses and try yo make something of yourselve's ! Well done Mr Steele
normwebs "Tommy is a joke cockney". Won't get you on Chas and Dave then,one from Edmonton and one from Ponders End (Enfield). But ain't Tommy just playing to what people want to hear?.
Chas and Dave are far more musical than Tommy, and sound more genuinely cockney, though they come from the borders of East London.
Tommy never played wot I want to 'ear. 'e is an hembarrassment. Can't sing, can't hact. 'Rock with Caveman', 'Little White Bull', 'Flash Bang Wallop.' My good gawd.
Has he ever tried 'The Way you look tonight', or 'Someone to watch over me' or 'Body and Soul' and the like.
muckypup7. You have ignored my comments that Tommy is a 'ham', and exaggerates every movement, expression and accent. He really is a joke cockney, even though he was born and bred in London. I'm not quite sure if Bermondsey qualifies him as a cockney.
I don't really think there is an awful lot of difference between the accents of Tommy and Dick Van Dyke. Certainly, Dick is a far superior actor. How does Tommy do an American accent ?
@normwebs no it don't, you are right, he does exaggerate the cockney accent, but he's a harmless entertainer, and he's a brit, so i think he's ok, and I'm a cockney, no exaggeratin'
The photographs accompanying this item are supposed, presumably, to be all of Tommy Steele. Perhaps someone will notice that two of them are not this Tommy, but of Tommy Bruce, a slightly later, more robust performer.
Some years ago i was in a pub in Wales and asked for packet players(cigarettes ) and was told after a strange look "Sorry, this is a pub we don't sell pliers.
but when I did National Service, a wren I met thought I was talking about a skin disease when she asked me where I lived in London. So after, I always said Dalston, which was true. We subsequently moved to (H)ackney, the well known skin disease. I suppose I could have said 'Oxton, or 'Aggerston, but it wouldn't 'ave been as hamusing.
You're not the first to say it sounds put on, and I don't s'ppose you'll be the bleedin' last- (me own bloody mother says it, for God's sake!), but for the record, this is the accent I've talked with ALL me bloody life, and frankly, I'm proud to talk like that, cock! :)
Oh, you put it on as well, eh ? Tommy, despite all the support in these comments, was/is a ham, though he does seem to appeal to many as the loveable cockney 'sparrer'. To us real cockneys (Hackney in my case), he was a joke, rather like Dick Van Dyke (well - not quite).
As far as talent is concerned, do you remember the reaction of Johnny Matthis on hearing 'Flash, Bang, Wallop', on Juke Box Jury years ago ? Genuine incredulity.
I didn't say he was not a Londoner., or even a cockney, though there are certain criteria to qualify. My point is that he goes way over the top when acting or singing (if you can call it that) sounding like an imitation cockney much like actors striving for the accent and becoming embarrassing. He is a ham, even though he was, of course, born in London.
It is as though he needs to convince simpletons of his credentials.
@normwebs I understand what you mean, most singers accents are not heard when singing, except a rare few, but tommy certainly likes to emphasize it, and coming from bermondsey, he would not sound as londonish as he makes out, he's a ham
He's in his 70s now and still out there doing it. Although he became something of a family entertainer, people who grew up in the 50s will remember him as one of Britian's early rock n' rollers. He took Singing The Blues to No. 1 in direct competition with Guy Mitchell's version (which also hit the top spot)
I met Tommy when I was camping with the Boy Scouts at Wooton Bridge on the Isle of Wight in about 1958. I think that he had been doing a gig at Ryde the night before, and yes I did get his Autograph then and I've still got it!
HISTORICAL NOTE for the benefit of 'younger listeners': At the time nobody would have associated 'lumps of coke' with the now well known beverage, or the drug.
'Coke' is a type of solid fuel derived from coal in the manufacture of 'coal gas'. It was used for industrial and home heating, steel manufacture, etc, being delivered to homes in sacks by coal merchants from horse drawn flat-bed wagons or lorries.
We (as kids) had the original on 78rpm as recorded by an act called "the two bills from bermondsey". Sometimes comes up on eBay - more authentic than the Steele bloke...
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Absolutely. Tommy Steele has always been way over the top. A real ham. Why did he put on those ridiculous, patronising voices. 'All round entertainer' - do me a favour.
The recording by 'Two Bills from Bermondsey' was authentic - a joy. Am I correct in remembering that L
Great fun and unique. I think Liza was followed by 'Knees Up, Mother Brown', in the medley. No putting on funny cockney accents, just authentic London voices.
I am amazed the number who obviously love Tommy Steele. I always thought, from the early 50s, he was a joke, manufactured by the popular music press, and I still do.
I was born in London and lived here all my life. I have never heard any one talk like him. Find 'What a mouth', by the two Bills. Authentic London voices not striving for affect - a la Steele. Strange, the more exaggerated and embarrassing his performance, the more popular he is with some (and only some). Did you ever see his interview with Michael Aspel a few years ago? Very pleasing.
I have to say, though, that no one else can sing (??) 'Little White Bull' like him - thank God.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
My earlier comment 'Absolutely' relates to that made by CityMuso some five months ago - not to any thought of praising this talentless so called 'all-round entertainer'.
'Little White Bull' 'Rock with the Caveman'
My good God. His only half decent record, 'Singing the Blues' was a cover for the far superior original version by Guy Mitchell.
Why didn't tommy Steele do Mary Poppins instead of that insult of a yank doing an apalling Cockney accent.
MsSmallthings 2 months ago
Grew up listening to this and now so have my children, lots of fun!
arrowhead878 2 months ago
12-17-2011. Sake's alive, sake's alive, look who's 75. Happy Birthday, Tommy.
mkl62 2 months ago
@harrythedog3 No doubt that would be due to the Islamization of what has always been a great country.
pungooer 3 months ago
@pungooer
My very thought! :(
Babyhowdy233 2 months ago
Saw him in his film when I was 10...
Awsome Guy
Dannyboyfaye 4 months ago
I loved this lyric when I was a little kid.....and still do...only a Pom could carry this off...
kevinherbert 8 months ago
top man luv im t bitz
mcunk1 1 year ago
Our Tommy wos a real geezer.
bobbybyxby 1 year ago
2-13 is Tommy Bruce not Tommy Steele...ooooooooooops
CATHERINEDAVIES123 1 year ago
WOT A MOUF WOT A MOUF WOT A NORF AND SAOFF...LUV IT.......True Cockneys are born within the sound of Bow Bells..........
CATHERINEDAVIES123 1 year ago 3
That accent's real 'cos I've got it too.
diamondogz 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@diamondogz That accent's real 'cos I've got it too.
LOL, you Britishers are really proud of your quaint, backwater accents. You need to learn to speak international English, which is predominately American.
NeverMindTheBLX 9 months ago
That AIN'T an exaggerated London accent at all, actually- (that's pretty much how most of my family, (me included, I hasten to add), talk!) :/
CockneyRebel1979 1 year ago
I want to dedicate this song to my neighbour - you could stand her on Beachy Head to warn the ships and even in her normal voice they'd still hear her :S
Love this song anyway ;D
maskiflynn 1 year ago
This man was a PHENOMENAL talent, god he could do it ALL:sing, dance, act, you name it! They just don't make performers like him nowadays!
Babyhowdy233 1 year ago 2
@Babyhowdy233 He's still going!! :-)
reetpeet 2 months ago
hehehe
itsureisnicebeingsob 1 year ago
The boy from bermondsey ..two eyes cafe ..great to watch ..a performer of note ..married a 'Rhodie' ..then Pantomime ..Mother Goose my kids loved it as I do his songs esp. The Shiralee Good on yer Tom.. Mike
michaeal053 1 year ago
He is singing it in the style of the Cockney music hall acts. Of course he is exaggerating the accent. Let's not forget, Tommy was a succesful singer in the 50's/60's, with a string of hit records.You can't please everyone. Anyway to us northerners, everyone in London is a Cockney ?:-)
frankiehiyo 1 year ago
my uncle tommy came frop the blue thats near tower bridge
keyboardprince 1 year ago
I enjoyed the song!
-------Ellen
Shabannie 1 year ago
picture at 2:13 is actually tommy bruce.
do i win a fiver?
norristerse 1 year ago
@norristerse
TZEITEL10 1 year ago
@TZEITEL10 !
norristerse 1 year ago
Tommy Steele was a working class boy from london who worked as a merchant seaman before he was discovered singin in a small cafe in London, from ever so humble beginings to the world stage, you people who knock him are just jealous because you were never brave enough or talented enough to git of your arses and try yo make something of yourselve's ! Well done Mr Steele
outbackaddict 1 year ago
Don't get me wrong i ain't having ago at Chas and Dave i think their great to.
tony13a 2 years ago
He shot the lot (his load)right into his mouth, no joke? That sort of thing was illegal back in yhe early 60's!!
pab70 2 years ago
lumps of coke??
Blokecameuptome 2 years ago
@Blokecameuptome the coke they mean is the type you get from coal ;)
maskiflynn 1 year ago
normwebs "Tommy is a joke cockney". Won't get you on Chas and Dave then,one from Edmonton and one from Ponders End (Enfield). But ain't Tommy just playing to what people want to hear?.
tony13a 2 years ago
Chas and Dave are far more musical than Tommy, and sound more genuinely cockney, though they come from the borders of East London.
Tommy never played wot I want to 'ear. 'e is an hembarrassment. Can't sing, can't hact. 'Rock with Caveman', 'Little White Bull', 'Flash Bang Wallop.' My good gawd.
Has he ever tried 'The Way you look tonight', or 'Someone to watch over me' or 'Body and Soul' and the like.
Please God he never does, with that voice.
normwebs 2 years ago
@normwebs Chas and Dave....Chas Hodges is from Edmonton, North London, and Dave Peacock is from Ponders End Enfield......
CATHERINEDAVIES123 1 year ago
Normwebs look at Dick Van Dyke if you wanna hear false Cockney,not our Tommy.
muckypup7 2 years ago 5
muckypup7. You have ignored my comments that Tommy is a 'ham', and exaggerates every movement, expression and accent. He really is a joke cockney, even though he was born and bred in London. I'm not quite sure if Bermondsey qualifies him as a cockney.
I don't really think there is an awful lot of difference between the accents of Tommy and Dick Van Dyke. Certainly, Dick is a far superior actor. How does Tommy do an American accent ?
Little White Bull ? oh my gawd.
normwebs 2 years ago
@normwebs no it don't, you are right, he does exaggerate the cockney accent, but he's a harmless entertainer, and he's a brit, so i think he's ok, and I'm a cockney, no exaggeratin'
redredreds100 2 years ago
When was this song recorded was it for a TV show if it was anyone know what.
tony13a 2 years ago
The photographs accompanying this item are supposed, presumably, to be all of Tommy Steele. Perhaps someone will notice that two of them are not this Tommy, but of Tommy Bruce, a slightly later, more robust performer.
A bit of a mistake from a Steele enthusiast.
How did it happen ?
normwebs 2 years ago
Some years ago i was in a pub in Wales and asked for packet players(cigarettes ) and was told after a strange look "Sorry, this is a pub we don't sell pliers.
tony13a 2 years ago 2
Is there an "H" ACKNEY?.
tony13a 2 years ago
When I was younger, I never used the 'H,
but when I did National Service, a wren I met thought I was talking about a skin disease when she asked me where I lived in London. So after, I always said Dalston, which was true. We subsequently moved to (H)ackney, the well known skin disease. I suppose I could have said 'Oxton, or 'Aggerston, but it wouldn't 'ave been as hamusing.
What's this got to do with Tommy the 'Am ?
normwebs 2 years ago
Comment removed
redredreds100 2 years ago
Your articulate, charming response makes me aware of the quality of some of Tommy's fans.
Thank you.
normwebs 2 years ago
Comment removed
redredreds100 2 years ago
You're not the first to say it sounds put on, and I don't s'ppose you'll be the bleedin' last- (me own bloody mother says it, for God's sake!), but for the record, this is the accent I've talked with ALL me bloody life, and frankly, I'm proud to talk like that, cock! :)
CockneyRebel1979 2 years ago
Well done, but I am referring to Tommy the Ham, not you.
normwebs 2 years ago
I bloddy luv this song. I dunno why people dont speak cokney anymore
themickeymouseband 2 years ago
some of us still do but it will be gone forever soon sad but thats what you get when people are swamped?
millwallpaul76 2 years ago
For the record, Normwebs, I was born and bred in London, I lived down there for nigh-on thirty bloody years, and I talk like that, cock! :)
CockneyRebel1979 2 years ago
Oh, you put it on as well, eh ? Tommy, despite all the support in these comments, was/is a ham, though he does seem to appeal to many as the loveable cockney 'sparrer'. To us real cockneys (Hackney in my case), he was a joke, rather like Dick Van Dyke (well - not quite).
As far as talent is concerned, do you remember the reaction of Johnny Matthis on hearing 'Flash, Bang, Wallop', on Juke Box Jury years ago ? Genuine incredulity.
normwebs 2 years ago
what do you mean Tommy s not a cockney he comes from Bermondsey i know his family so get your facts right .
millwallpaul76 2 years ago 2
I didn't say he was not a Londoner., or even a cockney, though there are certain criteria to qualify. My point is that he goes way over the top when acting or singing (if you can call it that) sounding like an imitation cockney much like actors striving for the accent and becoming embarrassing. He is a ham, even though he was, of course, born in London.
It is as though he needs to convince simpletons of his credentials.
normwebs 2 years ago
@normwebs but most actors put on a false cockney accent in them old films it was the way the americans expect us to talk .
millwallpaul76 2 years ago 2
@normwebs I understand what you mean, most singers accents are not heard when singing, except a rare few, but tommy certainly likes to emphasize it, and coming from bermondsey, he would not sound as londonish as he makes out, he's a ham
redredreds100 2 years ago
i never eard any of Tommy steeles songs before but i bluddy luv em
themickeymouseband 2 years ago
cor blimey what a knees up. OY!
greaserleo 2 years ago
Why? Tommy said it all...
Grifiki 2 years ago
brill
timberplod66 2 years ago
tommy steele is a legend
sanjifa 2 years ago 3
Anyone one who knocks Tommy Steele needs good kick in the arsenal.
bolansbestplus 3 years ago 14
He's in his 70s now and still out there doing it. Although he became something of a family entertainer, people who grew up in the 50s will remember him as one of Britian's early rock n' rollers. He took Singing The Blues to No. 1 in direct competition with Guy Mitchell's version (which also hit the top spot)
45collector 2 years ago 2
Great
SG77com 3 years ago
Good old Tommy-no airs and graces with him-natural as they come !!!
FAKERPHONIC 3 years ago
WHAT!!!!!!!
THIS IS GREAT!
Thank you.
genia106 3 years ago
Thats my uncle that is!!
WHUFC71 3 years ago 2
I met Tommy when I was camping with the Boy Scouts at Wooton Bridge on the Isle of Wight in about 1958. I think that he had been doing a gig at Ryde the night before, and yes I did get his Autograph then and I've still got it!
Hi Tommy.
churchwardwen 3 years ago
HISTORICAL NOTE for the benefit of 'younger listeners': At the time nobody would have associated 'lumps of coke' with the now well known beverage, or the drug.
'Coke' is a type of solid fuel derived from coal in the manufacture of 'coal gas'. It was used for industrial and home heating, steel manufacture, etc, being delivered to homes in sacks by coal merchants from horse drawn flat-bed wagons or lorries.
Skeptician 3 years ago
I remember that.
tony13a 3 years ago
My kids love this,and they loved him in Doctor Dolittle. The best entertainer ever.
tony4less 3 years ago
My dream man of all time. He still knows how to entertain.
babs1956 3 years ago
We (as kids) had the original on 78rpm as recorded by an act called "the two bills from bermondsey". Sometimes comes up on eBay - more authentic than the Steele bloke...
CityMuso 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Absolutely. Tommy Steele has always been way over the top. A real ham. Why did he put on those ridiculous, patronising voices. 'All round entertainer' - do me a favour.
The recording by 'Two Bills from Bermondsey' was authentic - a joy. Am I correct in remembering that L
'Liza, you are me Dona' was on the other side.
normwebst
normwebs 3 years ago
That's the one, Norm. The b side was a cockney medley.
CityMuso 3 years ago
Great fun and unique. I think Liza was followed by 'Knees Up, Mother Brown', in the medley. No putting on funny cockney accents, just authentic London voices.
I am amazed the number who obviously love Tommy Steele. I always thought, from the early 50s, he was a joke, manufactured by the popular music press, and I still do.
'Flash, Bang, Wallop'......... Absolutely.
Thank you again for your recall.
Norman
normwebs 3 years ago
Well seing as Tommy is a BERMONDSEY BOY what accent would you expect him to have?
1691bhm 2 years ago
I was born in London and lived here all my life. I have never heard any one talk like him. Find 'What a mouth', by the two Bills. Authentic London voices not striving for affect - a la Steele. Strange, the more exaggerated and embarrassing his performance, the more popular he is with some (and only some). Did you ever see his interview with Michael Aspel a few years ago? Very pleasing.
I have to say, though, that no one else can sing (??) 'Little White Bull' like him - thank God.
normwebs 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
My earlier comment 'Absolutely' relates to that made by CityMuso some five months ago - not to any thought of praising this talentless so called 'all-round entertainer'.
'Little White Bull' 'Rock with the Caveman'
My good God. His only half decent record, 'Singing the Blues' was a cover for the far superior original version by Guy Mitchell.
normwebst
normwebs 3 years ago
Saw the Bermondsey boy in the last night of Singing in the rain at the Palladium, brought the house.... Brilliant.
Thecityslicker 3 years ago
Should have got a kighthood, my all time hero!
Stan
Cartoonsbystan 4 years ago
There's still time, Stan. He's brilliant.
Barbara2012 3 years ago
I used to have this record on a Decca 45
ClownPoet 4 years ago
what are the words after ...if 'e 'ad another marf 'e sure .....?
A.
pandacoll 4 years ago
If e ad another mouth, but a different smeller(nose)
zoebasil 4 years ago
many thanks - I must get my speed looked at!
pandacoll
pandacoll 4 years ago
One of these photos is of Tommy Bruce - NOT Tommy Steele!
zoebasil 4 years ago
tommy steele is a legend
kevinbattyboy 4 years ago
brilliant!
yfrontsdude 4 years ago