Have some Madeira m'dear (Flanders & Swann)

[Peter Reutter]

Of course you all know this song, but this is a youtube-video of an original performance by Flanders and Swann - bravo!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW_zi8n4HDQ
Enjoy!
Peter

[Peter Reutter]

uuups, Roy, and sorry about "Port is a wine I can well do without...", must have been a mistake of some kind
Peter

[Joe Dachille]

Very funny and very entertaining.

I am not at all familiar with F&S or the song. Any background you can provide would be appreciated.

Joe D'Achille
Orlando

[Andy Velebil]

quite entertaining for sure. Thanks for sharing this with us Peter.

[Peter Reutter]

dear Joe
the following is taken from wikipedia:
The British duo "Flanders and Swann" were the actor and singer Michael Flanders (1922–1975) and the composer, pianist and linguist Donald Swann (1923–1994) who collaborated in writing and performing comic songs.
Between 1956 and 1967 they performed some of their songs in their long-running two-man revues At the Drop of a Hat and At the Drop of Another Hat. Both revues were recorded in concert along with several studio-based tracks.
Flanders and Swann both attended Westminster School — where in July and August 1940 they staged a revue called Go To It — and Christ Church, Oxford, two institutions which are linked by ancient tradition, but the pair went their separate ways during World War II. However, a chance meeting in 1948 led to a musical partnership writing songs and light opera, Flanders providing the words and Swann composing the music. Their songs have been sung by performers such as Ian Wallace and Joyce Grenfell.
In December 1956, Flanders and Swann hired the New Lindsey Theatre, Notting Hill, to perform their own two-man revue At the Drop of a Hat, which opened on New Year's Eve. Flanders sang a selection of the songs that they had written, interspersed with comic monologues, and accompanied by Swann on the piano. An unusual feature of their act was that, due to Flanders' having contracted poliomyelitis in 1943, both men remained seated for their shows: Swann remained behind his piano, and Flanders used a wheelchair. The show was successful and transferred the next month to the Fortune Theatre, where it ran for over two years, before touring in the UK, the United States, Canada and Switzerland.
In 1963 Flanders and Swann opened in a second revue, At the Drop of Another Hat. Over the next four years they toured a combination of the two shows in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, the United States and Canada, before finishing up at the Booth Theatre on Broadway. On April 9, 1967 they performed their last live show together. Ten days later, they moved into a studio and recorded the show for television.
Over the course of 11 years, Flanders and Swann gave nearly 2,000 live performances. Although their performing partnership ended in 1967, they remained friends afterwards and collaborated on occasional projects

I first heard a song called "The hippopotamus" a couple of years ago on radio. Being a non-native speaker I could still understand most of it and thinking it was a very funny song I bought a cd. On this cd I found "Have some Madeira m'dear" and since its top-issue is Madeira wine it has been a favorite song of mine ever since.
Peter