| The Jack Streeter Band | |
| The information and pictures here are all from the archives of John Streeter, son of Redhill band leader Jack Streeter, and I am indebted to him for making it available for inclusion on this website. It may well be that vistors to this site have memories of the Jack Streeter Band, and if so, and if they are so inclined, I would be pleased to hear from them, as any such recollections might well be worth including with the information below - AJM April 2005 | |
| The Band | |
| ....The
band was known as 'Jack Streeter and his Band' and it was
well known in the Redhill and Reigate area and beyond
from the late 1920s until 1957, during which time it
regularly played at well known public locations such as
the Redhill Market Hall, Lakers Hotel and Warwick Hotel,
the Wagon Shed at Horley, the Court School of Ballroom
Dancing at Reigate, the Dorking Halls, the Orchid
Ballroom at Purley and many more similar locations in
Sussex and Kent, as well as for private parties and
wedding receptions. .....During its heyday the band, which was entirely amateur, played as many as four engagements each week and there was rarely any Saturday evening when they weren't performing somewhere or other. John Streeter recalls the main musicians as being Jack Streeter, leader and saxophone; Tony Marchant, saxophone, clarinet, and rythmn guitar; Bill Barnard, piano; Tom Wales, drums; Don Thornton-Smith, trumpet and trombone; and Johnny Tree, trumpet and trombone.  The band featured a type of music still identified as 'dance band' which will be familiar to those of a 'certain age' as well as to any others, possibly younger, who enjoy harmonic and syncopated music with a melody which isn't too noisy on the ears. Such music was made popular by the great band leaders of the 1920s onwards, even unto the time of the likes of Victor Sylvester (slow, slow, quick, quick, slow)! The era, which was classic, came to an end with the birth of 'Rock 'n' Roll' in the 1950s when anyone with a knowledge of three simple chords played on a guitar could make their own music and become a highly paid 'artist' overnight. Jack Streeter and his fellows in the dance band, all of whom loved the dance band style, were unable to adapt to the changing style and yielded the stage to the younger three chord wonders. |
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| This
picture from the early 1950s shows the band members in
the traditional 'black tie' evening dress that they invariably wore. From left to right the musicians are Don Thornton-Smith, Johnny Tree, Tony Marchant, Tom Wales, Jack Streeter and Bill Barnard. |
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| More
About the Band Members ...Jack Streeter was employed until his retirement in the West End of London by the now defunct North Thames Gas Board. Educated at Reigate Grammar School he started his working life as a journalist with the Surrey Mirror Newspaper where his father, who died on active service in France at the Battle of The Somme, had earlier been a linotype operator. He served in the Fleet Air Arm during the Second World War and lived all his married life in Rural Way, Redhill. ...Tony Marchant was a partner in the well known local photograpic business known as 'Phelps and Marchant' and lived for many years in Garlands Road Redhill. ...Bill Barnard was a radio and television engineer who spent several years in the USA. After returning to England he rejoined the band and lived near Reffels Bridge. ...Tom Wales was a skilled bricklayer and lived in Colesmead Road, Redhill. ...Don Thornton-Smith was an accountant about whom nothing else is known. ...Johnny Tree is believed to have lived in Brambletye Park Road, Redhill, but again, nothing else is known. |
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