PICCADILLY DANCE ORCHESTRA

The Piccadilly Dance Orchestra was founded by Michael Law in 1988. In October of that year the orchestra met for the first time to record two songs, Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town and Two Sleepy People, which were issued privately as the two sides of the orchestra's first ever release, a vinyl single. The orchestra's first female vocalist was Janice Day, whose sweet tones contributed much to it's original success. There manager at the time, Rod Smith, took a copy of the single to PRT records (formerly PYE records), who liked it and reissued the single in time for Christmas 1988, then recorded our first album, Let Yourself Go, which was released in April 1989 on CD, cassette and vinyl LP record. In 1993 the orchestra began a series of recordings for John Yap's TER/JAY records at the world famous Abbey Road studios, with four CD's released to date.

In 1992, manager Alan S. Bennett joined the orchestra with the aim of matching the standard of administration, technology and customer service to the already high standards of the music. With Alan's backing and encouragement, Michael and the orchestra have gone from strength to strength, playing for many top events and parties, as well as developing musical programmes for concert performances.

Performance highlights have included many years playing for dancing for the Henley Festival, Earl Spencer's 30th Birthday Party (where Princess Diana asked the orchestra to play In The Mood - twice!), special BAFTA awards parties for Julie Andrews and Sean Connery, the first ever Proms In the Park and a residency at The Ritz Hotel in Piccadilly. Michael Law achieved a lifelong ambition when the twelve-piece version of orchestra began a series of Saturday night dinner dances at the cradle of British Dance Band music, the Savoy Hotel (Stompin' At The Savoy) in October 1997, which continues to this day.

The orchestra have been seen on television for Wogan, Daytime Live, Pebble Mill, Play It Again and Lorraine Live. BBC live radio broadcasts include: for Radio 2 (Sheridan Morley's Radio 2 Arts Programme and the VE Day celebrations from Hyde Park), Radio 3 (a live lunchtime concert from the Wigmore Hall) and Radio 4 (a special edition of Ned Sherrin's Loose Ends to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the BBC).

A Marvellous Party is the orchestra's concert programme for the centenary of Noël Coward's birth. With narrator (and Coward's biographer and friend) Sheridan Morley, this programme is still touring following its sold out first performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 18 February 1999. This performance featured choreography by Irving Davies, who performed in Coward's 1945 revue Sigh No More and a guest appearance by one of Coward's favourite actresses Judy Campbell, who toured with him during the war in three of his plays. Judy regaled a rapt audience with her hilarious memories of Coward and read from his diaries. Judy also sang the song which drew her to "The Master's" attention - A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square, which she introduced to the world in 1940 in a revue called New Faces. This was a night to remember and led to a tour, which included performances at Bexhill, Buxton Opera House, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Exeter Festival, Kew Gardens, Snape Maltings Concert Hall and The Savoy Hotel. Another concert programme, Hollywood Party, featuring songs from the Golden Age of the Hollywood film musical, also premiered at the QEH and is currently touring. Both concerts are produced by Alan S. Bennett and directed by Emmy Award winner, Ruth Leon.

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