My Old Man’s A Dustman – Lonnie Donegan (1960)

Description

Additional information about this, Lonnie Donegan vinyl art.

Lonnie Donegan – The Artist

Anthony James Donegan MBE (1931 – 2002), known as Lonnie Donegan, was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the “King of Skiffle”, who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was Britain’s most successful and influential recording artist before the Beatles.Donegan had 31 UK top 30 hit singles, 24 being successive and three at number one. He was the first British male singer with two US top 10 hits. Donegan received an Ivor Novello lifetime achievement award in 1995 and, in 2000, he was made an MBE. The skiffle style encouraged amateurs and one of many groups that followed was the Quarrymen, formed in March 1957 by John Lennon. Lonnie Donegan is particularly well known for the songs “Cumberland Gap”, “Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?)” and “My Old Man’s a Dustman”. Donegan’s group had a flexible line-up, but was generally Denny Wright or Les Bennetts, playing lead guitar and singing harmony, Micky Ashman or Pete Huggett—later Steve Jones—on upright bass, Nick Nichols—later Pete Appleby, Mark Goodwin and Ken Rodway on drums or percussion, and Donegan playing acoustic guitar or banjo and singing the lead. He continued in the UK charts until 1962, before succumbing to The Beatles and beat music.

My Old Man’s A Dustman – The Song

‘My Old Man’s A Dustman’ is a song first recorded by the British skiffle singer Lonnie Donegan. It reached number one in the British, Irish, Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand singles charts in 1960. The song was written by Lonnie Donegan, Peter Buchanan (Donegan’s manager between 1956 and 1962), and Beverly Thorn; Thorn was not credited on the original release. The melody is borrowed from Stravinsky’s Petrushka and it is thought that the song probably has its origins in “My Father Was a Fireman”, a song sung by British World War I troops.The song represented a change in style for Donegan, away from American folk and towards British music hall.

The Vintage Dustbin  – The Shape

This record has been modelled into a vintage metal dustbin and lid which was a common site in the UK before the introduction of disposable waste sacks and the plastic wheelie bin.

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