Allan Smethurst - Hev Yew Gotta Loight Boy?

Allan Smethurst (November 19, 1927 - December 23, 2000), aka 'The Singing Postman' was an English postman and singer.

Smethurst was raised in Sheringham, Norfolk, although he may have been born in Lancashire. His mother came from the village of Stiffkey.

Smethurst hummed tunes on his daily post round for many years, before writing and singing songs in his native Norfolk dialect in the 1950s. An audition tape sent to the BBC earned him a spot on Ralph Tuck's local radio show, and Tuck promoted Smethurst under his own record label, "The Smallest Recording Organisation in the World".

In 1966, the Singing Postman's best known hit "Hev Yew Gotta Loight, Boy?" won Smethurst the Ivor Novello Award for best novelty song of the year. The hit knocked the Beatles from the top of the East Anglia hit parade and remained in the charts for nine weeks. The song had a small comeback in 1994 when it was featured on a television commercial for Ovaltine.

After appearing on The Des O'Connor Show, he signed with EMI and went on to record over 80 songs. He quit the music business in 1970.

Smethurst died in December 2000 after living the last twenty years of his life in a Salvation Army hostel in Grimsby.

--------------------------------------
Words c/o en.wikipedia.org
--------------------------------------

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Allan
• Smethurst
• Hev
• Yew
• Gotta
• Loight
• Boy
• have
• you
• got
• light
• singing
• postman
• norfolk
• grimsby
• salvation
• army
• 2000
• 1927
• 73

[adchas]

Great to see this - real nostalgia. It got in the charts (temporarily outsold the Beatles and the Stones)! Pity you saddos who just 'don't get it' - it's just a bit of fun and wot's wrong with that? Don't take life so seriously - I love music and there's room for everything!!

[Xpinger]

I agree ;)

[lightlycrazed]

The true Norfolk accent? is a joy to hare, and its getting harder to foind, but if yew goo to the little villages inland, yew moight just catch it. Thanks for posting.

[eatingkorpsez]

i know a relatively young bloke (23 or 24). if you recorded his speech and then went to the archival sound recordings and heard some retired farm labourer born in 1870's speak (back in the 1950's)... YOU WOULDN'T KNOW WHICH ONE WAS WHICH. no joke.

[Born2Tri1]

Wikipedia apart from being an affront to spelling is compiled by its users so is only as accurate as the people who decide to put the information on there.

[Born2Tri1]

he is definitely singing in a Suffolk accent, not Norfolk. He was the postman for a little village outside Ipswich, my brother knew him. Having grew up in Norfolk just on tha border he was always thought of as a foreigner, and I'm not kidding. Having married a Suffolk gal I am pretty well qualified to tell the difference :-)

[msmethurst]

Smethurst name is from Lancashire... I should know!!!! Accent doesn't seem to be....

[fauxsham]

@lightlycrazed thuts bralliant, hares tu yew fer kaypin it gooin, I hent hared many peopl doo a praper accent like I hare 'vry day ooover hare in crummer, hare's tew us arl, cum yew on tergether, keep yew a troshin on :)

[lewis72]

@lightlycrazed

Well, strictly speaking, I guess this is a Suffolk accent as I think he war frum Loo-stuft.

[jcs1965]

Born in Walshaw, Lancashire, the son of Allan and Gladys Mabel (née Curson) Smethurst was raised in Sheringham, Norfolk. His mother came from the nearby village of Stiffkey. He later became a postman in Grimsby....

[katiespictureshow]

@youknowwhonarfolk I think this is a SUFFOLK accent in fact...

[youknowwhonarfolk]

Wikipedia is always accurate?

[youknowwhonarfolk]

True Narfolk accent,got to agree with lightlycrazed,a joy to hare.Did you know he was born in Bury,Lancshire!