Michael Flanders of Flanders and Swann - writers and performers of comic masterpieces such as The Hippopotamus Song (aka Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud), The Gasman Cometh, The Gnu and Transport of Delight is the father of finance/economics expert and journalist Stephanie Flanders. There's very little footage of Flanders and Swann. Possibly there was a reluctance in the 50s to show a disabled performer. In some TV shots, they clearly seem to be cropping to hide Flander's wheelchair, but he kept moving about! In this video clip, he also clearly has difficulty breathing, which makes his singing and comic timing even more remarkable. (As a further bit of (non-absurd) trivia, the only other famous performer I know to have been disabled by polio before starting a succesful musical career is Ian Dury) Flanders and Swann Stephanie
Well, I didn't know the trivium about Hendrix, so I for one am grateful to the poster who mentioned that fact.
One take as in they didn't have to splice together multiple takes in the cutting room? Or one take as in he nailed it on the first take, and there was no need for additional takes? Either would be mightily impressive, but the latter would be flat out astounding.
Thanks for your fascinating post: you sent me down a Wikipedia rabbit hole. Apparently when Flanders came back from WWII with polio he was not allowed to return to Oxford and complete his studies because he was now disabled. I thought that was barbaric until I remembered the Top of the Pops incident thirty years later when Robert Wyatt was told he could appear on the show seated, but not in a wheelchair, because that would not be acceptable for "family viewing". He wheeled on anyway and was banned from the show. Later, of course, this got retreaded as a 'classic performance'.
don't be weird!. not everyone knows everything like you do. relax. i'm thankful for these posts. sue me.
that's just you, perhaps? one who maybe takes life a bit too seriously? after all, isn't it just music?
Although more famous in his later years as a songwriter, not a performer, Doc Pomus was also disabled by childhood polio:
I remember watching that episode. My mother remarked on him being in a wheel-chair. I said – yes, he fell out of a window. I think I must have mentioned about him being drunk at the time. My mother was non-too complimentary about his strength of character after hearing that. Aside from Robert Wyatt, it was also very exciting to a me, as a 16 yr-old, seeing a member of Henry Cow on Top of The Pops.
That version of I’m A Believer is longer than what’s on the single. It has an extended instrumental ending on this YouTube clip. Very nice
It's odd in a way that there are not more disabled musicians, that is with the kind of disability that requires a wheelchair. It probably has more to do with accessibility issues like access to the stage, issues with air travel etc than with the difficulty of performing, especially if the performance consists of singing.
I think you can fill your lungs up more when you're standing, so it would definitely affect vocalists if they had to perform from a wheelchair.
