The Styrous® Viewfinder: The Singing Detective

Today is the birthday of Irish-English actor, Michael Gambon who was born in 1940, in the Cabra suburb of Dublin. He performed with Laurence Olivier as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre. He received four BAFTA Awards for the British film The Singing Detective.

The Singing Detective - vinyl LP front cover

photo of album cover by Styrous®

	The Singing Detective is a six-part BBC television serial drama, written by Dennis Potter, starring Michael Gambon and directed by Jon Amiel. Its six episodes are "Skin", "Heat", "Lovely Days", "Clues", "Pitter Patter" and "Who Done It". The serial was broadcast in the United Kingdom in 1986 on Sunday nights from 16 November to 21 December, with later PBS and cable television showings in the United States. It won a Peabody Award in 1989 and ranks 20th on the British Film Institute list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, as voted by industry professionals in 2000. It was included in the 1992 Dennis Potter retrospective at the Museum of Television & Radio and became a permanent addition to the museum's collections in New York and Los Angeles.

The plot: Mystery writer Philip E. Marlow is suffering writer's block and is hospitalized because his psoriatic arthropathy, a chronic skin and joint disease, is at an acute stage, forming lesions and sores over his entire body and partially crippling his hands and feet. Dennis Potter suffered from this disease and he wrote with a pen tied to his fist in much the same fashion Marlow does in the last episode. (Although severe, Marlow's condition was intentionally understated compared to Potter's, whose skin would sometimes crack and bleed.) Being a sufferer of this condition, it is one of my favorite films of all time.

As a result of constant pain, a fever caused by the condition and his refusal to take medication, Marlow falls into a fantasy world involving his Chandleresque novel The Singing Detective, an escapist and noir adventure about a detective (also named "Philip Marlow") who sings at a dance hall and takes the jobs refused by "the guys who don't sing". Marlow is "plot-dreaming", trying out various solutions to a working plot in his head, deciding as he goes what plot element works best with what character or situation, interspersed with bits of ideas that occur to him off the top of his head and discarding (with some afterthoughts) parts of his story that no longer work when other changes have been made.

Some members of the cast play several roles. Marlow and his alter ego, the singing detective, are played by Michael Gambon. Patrick Malahide plays three characters—the contemporary Finney, who Marlow thinks is having an affair with his ex-wife Nicola, played by Janet Suzman; the imaginary Binney, a central character in the murder plot; and Raymond, a friend of Marlow's father who has an affair with his mother (Alison Steadman). Steadman plays Marlow's mother and the mysterious "Lili", one of the murder victims. At the end of the serial, Marlow and Nicola appear to have repaired their relationship.

Dennis Potter ~ The Singing Detective

vinyl LP back cover

photo of album cover by Styrous®

In Potter's original script, the hospital scenes were to be shot with television (video), the noir scenes with film cameras, and the period material (Marlow's childhood) filmed in black-and-white. All scenes were shot on film, over Potter's objections.

Potter added autobiographical aspects (or, as he put it, deeply "personal" aspects), along with 1940s popular music and the noir style. The result is regarded by some as one of the peaks of 20th-century drama.

Dennis Potter ~ The Singing Detective

vinyl LP back cover details

photos by Styrous®

The Singing Detective - vinyl LP side 1

photos by Styrous®

The Singing Detective - vinyl LP side 2

photos by Styrous®

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Max Harris & His Novelty Trio – Peg O' My Heart, written by Bryan*, Fisher*
A2 - Ambrose & His Orchestra – Limehouse Blues, written by Furber*, Braham*
A3 - Anne Shelton – Blues In The Night, written by Arlen, Mercer*
A4 - Fred Waring & The Pennsylvanians – Dry Bones, written by Livingston Gearhart
A5 - Duke Ellington And His Famous Orchestra* – Rockin' In Rhythm, written by Ellington*, Carney*, Mills*
A6 - Lou Preager & His Orchestra – Cruising Down The River, Vocals – Paul Rich, written by Beadle*, Tollerton*
A7 - Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters – Don't Fence Me In, written by Cole Porter
A8 - Dick Haymes – It Might As Well Be Spring, written by Rodgers, Hammerstein*
A9 - The Mills Brothers – Paper Doll, written by J. Black*
A10 - Lale Anderson* – Lili Marlene, written by Leip*, Schultze*, Connor*

Side 2:

B1 - Sam Browne With The Lew Stone Band* – I Get Along Without You Very Well, written by Carmichael*
B2 - The Ink Spots – Do I Worry?, written by Worth*, Cowan*
B3 - Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters – Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive, written by Arlen, Mercer*
B4 - The Mills Brothers – You Always Hurt The One You Love, written by Roberts*, Fisher*
B5 - Al Jolson With Matty Malneck's Orchestra* And The Four Hits And A Miss* – After You've Gone, written by Creamer*, Layton*
B6 - Jack Payne & His Orchestra* – It's A Lovely Day Tomorrow, written by Berlin*
B7 - Ella Fitzgerald & The Ink Spots – Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall, written by Roberts*, Fisher*
B8 - Al Bowlly With The Ray Noble Orchestra* – The Very Thought Of You, written by Noble*
B9 - Henry Hall & His Orchestra – The Teddy Bears' Picnic, written by Kennedy*, Bratton*
B10 - Vera Lynn With Arthur Young (2) – We'll Meet Again, Organ [Novachord] – Arthur Young (2), written by Charles*, Parker*

Companies, etc.

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – BBC Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © – BBC Enterprises Ltd.
Manufactured By – EMI Records
Distributed By – EMI Records

Credits:

Liner Notes – Dennis Potter, Kenith Trodd
Producer [Album Production] – Bruce Talbot
Remastered By [Re-mastering Engineer] – Paul Gilham

Notes:

Track A5: Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra are also credited as "The Jungle Band". Recorded 14th January 1931.
Track B10: credited as "Vera Lynn with Arthur Young at the Novachord".

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Barcode: 5011755130213
Rights Society: MCPS
Matrix / Runout (Stamped runout side A, variant 1): REN 608 A-4C-1-1- D
Matrix / Runout (Stamped runout side B, variant 1): REN 608 B-1U-1-
Matrix / Runout (Stamped runout side A, variant 2): REN 608 A-4C-1-1- D
Matrix / Runout (Stamped runout side B, variant 2): REN 608 B-3C-1-1- 11 D
Matrix / Runout (Stamped runout side A, variant 3): REN 608 A-3C-1-1-1 D
Matrix / Runout (Stamped runout side B, variant 3): REN 608 B-1U-1-2-
Matrix / Runout (Stamped runout side A, (?=unreadable char) variant 4): REN 608 A-3C-1-1-? D
Matrix / Runout (Stamped runout side B, (?=unreadable char) variant 4): REN 608 B-3C-1-1-? D
Matrix / Runout (Stamped runout side A, variant 5): REN 608 A-2C-1-1 D
Matrix / Runout (Stamped runout side B, variant 5): REN 608 B-1U-1-3 (Unreadable)

Various – The Singing Detective (Music From The BBC-TV Serial)
Label: BBC Records And Tapes – REN 608
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Compilation, Mono
Country: UK
Released: 1986
Genre: Jazz, Pop, Stage & Screen
Style: Music Hall, Big Band, Vocal, Easy Listening

Viewfinder links:

Andrews Sisters

Bing Crosby

Duke Ellington

Ella Fitzgerald

Michael Gambon

Dick Haymes

The Ink Spots

Al Jolson

Vera Lynn

The Mills Brothers

Fred Waring

Net links:

YouTube links:

Max Harris & His Novelty Trio – Peg O' My Heart

Ambrose & His Orchestra – Limehouse Blues

Anne Shelton – Blues In The Night

Fred Waring & The Pennsylvanians – Dry Bones

Duke Ellington And His Famous Orchestra – Rockin' In Rhythm

Lou Preager & His Orchestra – Cruising Down The River

Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters – Don't Fence Me In

Dick Haymes – It Might As Well Be Spring

The Mills Brothers – Paper Doll

Lale Anderson – Lili Marlene

Sam Browne With The Lew Stone Band – I Get Along Without You Very Well

The Ink Spots – Do I Worry?

Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters – Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive

The Mills Brothers – You Always Hurt The One You Love

Al Jolson With Matty Malneck's Orchestra & The Four Hits And A Miss – After You've Gone

Jack Payne & His Orchestra – It's A Lovely Day Tomorrow

Ella Fitzgerald & The Ink Spots – Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall

Al Bowlly With The Ray Noble Orchestra – The Very Thought Of You

Henry Hall & His Orchestra – The Teddy Bears' Picnic

Vera Lynn With Arthur Young – We'll Meet Again

Styrous® ~ Sunday, October 19, 2025

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