The Post War Years

Denny’s Story

 

In November 1945, Corporal Denny Dennis was demobilised from the RAF. Denny still had his Decca recording contract, and he was still making broadcasts. But what Denny really wanted now was a radio show of his own, and given his popularity, and star status, it should have been forthcoming. But it never did fully materialise, and despite his tremendous popularity, Denny struggled a little during these years.  

Denny did eventually appear on a regular show called ‘Band Call’, singing four or five numbers per show, and he continued to perform on variety shows at the many theatres and music halls, as one act amongst many. But essentially, Denny was still involved in the constant touring that he hated so much.

The music scene was changing. The old days of the dance band era were declining, and solo singers were coming gradually into their own. In the States, a series of recording bans due to Union wrangling led to the emergence of many fine ex dance band singers such as Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, Jo Stafford and Perry Como. One might expect that Denny’s career should therefore have blossomed in similar fashion, especially given his continued popularity with the public, but careers are dependent upon opportunity, and such opportunity was not always evident, and post war Britain was not the United States.   

Despite continuing to make many fine recordings, Denny felt that he was not receiving equal treatment with some of the other stars within the ‘Decca’ fold. As a result of the establishment of the new ‘London’ label, designed to promote British Decca recordings in the United States, there was a new publicity drive that promoted the recordings of Vera Lynn, Anne Shelton and Gracie Fields. Denny was not included, whether intentionally or not. Denny also felt that he was not getting a good choice of titles with Decca and in 1946 he decided to let his Decca contract lapse and try his luck elsewhere.