Donald Peers

Peers was born in the Welsh mining town of Ammanford, Carmarthenshire on 10 July 1908.[2] His father was a colliery worker and a prominent member of the Plymouth Brethren who disapproved of the variety theatre, and never heard or saw his son work. Peers' family were hoping he would become a schoolteacher, but he had other ambitions and left home at the age of sixteen.

Peers travelled around the country working as a house painter and, for a time in January to March 1927,[3] went to sea as a mess steward on ships. In September 1927, he decided to enter show business and he made his debut in a concert party called "Tons of Fun" at the New Theatre in Lowestoft.[3] He continued with the touring company in a show called "Comedy Concoctions - on Tour" for a few weeks until it disbanded.[3] He auditioned for the BBC and his first BBC Radio broadcast on 2LO took place on 17 December 1927, with the London Radio Dance Band.[4][3] One of the songs he sang was, "In a Shady Nook by a Babbling Brook", which became his most requested song and, later, his signature tune.

He made several more radio broadcasts and these led to him touring the variety stages in a concert party called "Pleasure" where he accompanied himself on the ukulele and also gave ukulele solos.[5] He was engaged to appear in the "Babes in the Wood" pantomime at the Grand, Plymouth in December 1928.[6] Following that he went into a touring revue called "Spare Time" and received very good notices.[7] His London debut took place in a revue at the Bedford Theatre in 1929. December 1929 found him back at the Grand, Plymouth where he starred in the pantomime "Cinderella" playing Dandini[8] and then he toured in a revue called "Laugh, Hang It, Laugh".[9] The latter half of 1930 was spent touring with another revue called " A Vaudeville Voyage" when he was described as a light comedian.[10]

In May 1926 he met Gertrude Mary Thomson[3] in Richmond, North Riding of Yorkshire[11] and they eventually married on 7 June 1930 [12] in Harrogate.[3] Their daughter, Sheila, was born on 25 April 1931.[3] He continued to tour with revues and with appearances on the variety stage and from February 1932 he was being billed as "The Laughing Cavalier of Song".[13] In November and December 1932, he took part in two experimental television broadcasts playing banjo solos.[14] In 1933, after an appearance on the BBC Music Hall programme booked as The Laughing Cavalier of Song,[4] he got a recording contract with HMV Records. He soon moved to Eclipse Records who sold through Woolworths on 8" records[15] and he made a number of records for them during 1934 and 1935.[16]

In 1940 Peers enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps[17] as a clerk, where he served until D-Day in 1944, when he was invalided out. When in service, he entertained his fellow troops in shows. He continued to make records for Decca during the war and in 1944 he recorded "In a Shady Nook by a Babbling Brook", written by E.G. Nelson and Harry Pease in 1927.

Peers began a new radio series for the BBC's Light Programme on 5 August 1947[18] and this was very successful over the next two years. It resulted in a string of hit records in the late 1940s with recordings such "I Can't Begin To Tell You", "Bow Bells", "Far Away Places", "On The 5.45" (a vocal version of "Twelfth Street Rag", with lyrics by Andy Razaf), "Powder Your Face With Sunshine" (one of his biggest successes), "Lavender Blue (Dilly Dilly)", "A Strawberry Moon (In A Blueberry Sky)", "Everywhere You Go", "Clancy Lowered the Boom", "It Happened in Adano", "A Rose in a Garden of Weeds", "I'll String Along with You" and "Down in the Glen". His popularity was such that on 9 May 1949 he performed his two-hour one-man show at the Royal Albert Hall in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 8692.[3] Henry Hall booked him with Billy Russell and Norman Wisdom for a new show called Buttons & Bows which opened for a summer season at the Grand in Blackpool on 20 June 1949. Unfortunately Peers had to withdraw from the show at the end of August because of throat trouble.[19] This led to a throat operation and he was unable to sing for six months.[20] He recovered to headline the London Palladium[21] in August 1950 and he appeared in the Royal Variety Performance.[22] on 13 November that year. Peers continued recording with songs such as, "The Last Mile Home", "Dear Hearts and Gentle People", "Out of a Clear Blue Sky", "Music! Music! Music!", "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake", "Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)", "Dearie", "I Remember the Cornfields", "Beloved, Be Faithful", "Me and My Imagination", "Mistakes", "In a Golden Coach" (a celebratory number for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II), "Is It Any Wonder" and "Changing Partners".

Peers found a favourable audience in Australia. In 1950 alone he placed the following 12 songs into Australia's Top 20: "Music! Music! Music! (Put Another Nickel In)", "I Told Them All About You", "(If I Knew You Were Comin') I'd've Baked a Cake", "Harry Lime Theme", "Twenty Four Hours of Sunshine", "Dearie", "Tennessee Waltz", "Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)", "Oh, You Sweet One", "Rolling 'Round the World", "My Golden Baby", and "Daddy's Little Girl".[23] On 31 May 1954 he went to Australia to tour and remained there for 2½ years.[24] His wife and daughter did not accompany him and on his return in 1956 he announced that he was seeking a divorce.[25] There was a maintenance dispute which was the subject of a legal battle[26] but his wife would not agree to a divorce as she was a Roman Catholic. His long term partner became Kay O'Dwyer who managed his affairs and had accompanied him to Australia.[27]

During his absence in Australia, his fans had forgotten him and the pop music scene had changed dramatically with the arrival of rock 'n' roll. He returned to TV and radio work but eventually Peers found work via the club circuit, which had taken over from the variety theatres. In May 1962, Peers was given his own BBC Wales television programme, Donald Peers Presents,[28] and during the series he introduced Tom Jones and also scientist and writer Brian J. Ford, this time playing boogie piano.

Peers kept busy with many guest appearances on TV shows and in February 1964 he became the compere of BBC TV's new "Club Night" programme, a 40-minute show televised from provincial social clubs with new and well-known entertainers.[29] The show was very successful and he made 18 appearances over the next year or so.[30] Shows for the BBC Light Programme[31] and for BBC2[32] followed. He made a comeback to the record charts with "Please Don't Go" (a ballad set to the tune of Offenbach's "Barcarolle" from The Tales of Hoffmann), which reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart in 1969.[33] He made several appearances on BBC-TV's Top of the Pops in February 1969 to promote his record. Eddy Arnold had pop and country success with his cover version. This was followed by a string of singles and albums by Peers, but it was not until 1972 that he had another minor hit with "Give Me One More Chance", which reached the UK Top 40.[33]

He suffered a serious accident in Australia in 1971 when he fell and broke his back. The recovery took a long time and for a while he was confined to a wheelchair.[34]