GUS ELEN sang
songs in the character of a cockney
coster. Elen was a genuine cockney and his songs were truer to life than the more sentimental numbers of his closest rival,
Albert Chevalier. As pictures of Elen show, his characters appeared bad tempered and pugnacious. Born in Pimlico in 1862,
Elen had worked as a barman, a draper's assistant and had packed eggs for the Co-op before becoming a singer. At first he
busked in the street and at small music halls. His first big success was in 1891 with a song called 'Never introduce your
Donah to a pal' ('donah' meaning girlfriend). Click below to see video
Musician Lonnie Donegan
Best known for novelty songs like My Old Man's a Dustman,
Lonnie Donegan enjoyed a worldwide reputation among musicians as exalted as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Van Morrison.
Donegan's enthusiastic espousal of skiffle, blues, gospel
and American folk music was instrumental in igniting the 1960s British blues revival.
He was born in Glasgow in 1931, the son of a classical
violinist. Although he moved to London's East End aged just two, and always considered himself a Glaswegian. Click below to
see video
