musicscores

The Sunshine State by prolific Queensland composer Clyde Collins was written for the centenary of Queensland in 1959. It is still performed regularly by bands and choirs, especially on Queensland Day, 6 June. The State Library owns the Clyde Collins Papers, a collection of his musical compositions, arrangements, and writings. Songwriter, harmonicist, and clarinetist Horrie Dargie (1917-1999) recorded the song in 1959 with the famous Horrie Dargie Quintet. The quintet’s farewell concert in Sydney Town Hall before their tour of England (1952) became Australia’s first Gold Record, selling 75,000 copies. Source: www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/sunshine-state

Fred Whaite - Composer, librettist, music director, musician. The son of Harry Whaite, one of Australia's leading scenic artists during the late 1890s and early twentieth century, Fred Whaite established himself in the Australian variety industry as a music director and composer. He studied piano as a youth under Henri Kowalski and gained his orchestral training with Gustave Slapoffski. Showing an early liking for operatic composition, he was encouraged and assisted by J. C. Williamson's music director Andrew MacCunn and Thomas A. Ricketts. Two of his earliest compositions to be published were 'The Coronation: Grand Galop de Concert' (1907) and 'Golden Wattle Schottische' (ca. 1909). Between 1906 and 1909 Whaite was largely associated with the British Pianoforte Depot in Sydney, being engaged as the society's pianist for its series of regular Apollo recitals. Although much of Whaite's career during the remainder of the 1920s is still to be determined, it is believed that he remained with the Fullers until 1929, at which time he joined the ABC as a music arranger and performer. Between 1930 and 1934, for example, he regularly appeared as a novelty pianist on Sydney stations 2FC and 2BL, with these often being relayed around the country on the ABC network. The 1930s also write and direct the music for a number of radio dramas - notably The Tin Soldier (1931, musical comedy) and Waratah (1931, pantomime) - as well as leading his own radio vaudeville company and orchestra. In addition to this, he collaborated (as composer) on the Clipper and Brown comedy detective radio series with author John 'Jock' Macleod. Fred Whaite remained with the ABC until his retirement in 1962. He died in 1964. Known to have written countless songs throughout his career, at least twenty-five songs are known to have been published, including 'Rose of My Dreams' (1924), 'My Wollondilly Home' (1925, with John Moore), 'Into the Barrel' (1940, which he dedicated to the Red Cross), 'In-doo-roo-pilly' (1940, with Billy Maloney), 'I'm Cutting up the Rainbow' (ca. 1947), and 'The Little Green Wood' (1953, with John Wheeler). Whaite also reportedly wrote two radio plays in collaboration with S. D. Douglas - Kabula Love Song and Moon. Source: www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A112240

Bohemia Theatre and Stadium This opened in March 1923 as a live theatre venue with a performance of ‘Mr. Rawdon Blandford’s ‘Classics of 1923’’. By the end of the decade, the theatre was struggling in the face of the thriving cinema industry, and during the 1930s the lease was held by Greater Brisbane Amusement, whose policy was not to compete with the neighboring Cremorne Theatre. The Bohemia was then predominantly used as a wrestling and boxing venue known as ‘Bohemia Stadium’. The last bouts appear to have taken place there in April 1940. In 1947 it was taken over by the Brisbane City Council and leased out for use as a depot and store before being demolished in 1954 to make way for a car park fronting Stanley and Grey streets. Source: mappingbrisbanehistory.com.au/history-location/bohemia-th...

Reginald Septimus Boys was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on 11 Nov 1883 to Joseph William Augustus Boys and Sarah Ann Cooper. Reginald Septimus Boys had 2 children. He passed away in 1973 in Country Queensland. One of his children, his son Kelvin Reginald Boys, born in 1919, served as a lieutenant during WW2 and died of wounds accidentally received on August 17, 1945, at Torokina, Bougainville. His remains were buried in the Torokina War Cemetery on 18th August 1945. At the time of his death, Kelvin Boys was 26 years of age. After the war, his remains were interred in the Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery and his headstone contains the family inscription of: “Loved boy and loving son. Hope has forever gone”. Sources: ancestry.com tgsoba.twgs.qld.edu.au/record/boys-kelvin-reginald/