Join Thos and Tim as they discover the hidden influence of British Music Hall on today's musical scene and see if they find gold amongst the any old iron.

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, it brought back memories of The Good Old Days which used to be on on a Sunday Night with Leonard Sax.

There is a new musical in London at the moment (November 2008) called Newley - the Fool Who Dared to Dream. This is a musical version of the life of one of Britain's best composers and performers, Anthony Newley and can be found at the fringe venue, Upstairs At the Gatehouse, in Highgate. In it, David Boyle (who I interviewed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2007) recreates Newley very well and sings many of his well known and less well know songs, including Pop Goes the Weasal which of course is the nursery rhyme which originally was about people spending their money in various london pubs, including The Eagle, which is attributed by some as being the original music hall.

How wonderful to think that a song that is over 150 years old is still being included in musicals in the 21st century! That's staying power!

Thos