Take Me In A Taxi, Joe

Take Me In A Taxi, Joe
Vesta Victoria
c1900

Despite the affected cockney accent in which she delivered her music hall songs, Vesta Victoria was born and grew up in Leeds. If you’re reading the Song Tunnel songs chronologically this is where it begins, sometime around the start of the 20th Century Vesta (real name Victoria Lawrence) was a huge music hall star, both in the UK and America. Her most popular hit was ‘Daddy Wouldn’t Buy Me A Bow-wow’.

No musical history of Leeds is complete without mentioning the music hall tradition  (have a look at fellow Song Tunnel entry, Frankie Vaughn). Although many music halls vanished, Leeds’ City Varieties (where the long running BBC TV show ‘The Good Old Days’ was broadcast from) is still a vibrant theatre including hosting contemporary pop music concerts.

There’s a fabulous internet archive of Leeds Music Hall posters here.