UK's Largest Manufacturer & Distributor of Modern Sequence, Ballroom and Old Time Dance Music
OUR
HISTORY
The Savoy Record Co. was a successor of the old Dancetime Record Company which was formed in the late 1950’s and produced much of the recorded music for dancing, which in those days was virtually all old time.
The company was an immediate success and became one of the leading producers of strict tempo dance music in the U.K. and under the guidance of its musical director – Ray Downes, The Dancetime Orchestra became one of the most popular dance orchestra’s of the 1960s & 1970s.
Ray Downes was not only a prolific composer but also a great orchestral arranger for the other dance orchestras of the day such as Harry Davidson & Sidney Thompson.
On the Dancetime Label alongside the Dancetime Orchestra were other popular recording artists of the day such as George Blackmore, Bernard Monshin, Gerald Crossman, Harry Engleman as well as a young Bryan Smith and Dennis Hayward.
By the early 1980s the great demand for the modern and latin sequence dance music had all but eclipsed old time, so to reflect this change to the more modern style of music and dancing, the Dancetime Record Company amalgamated with Savoy Records to provide the very best of old time and modern sequence dance music.
From 1984, Wendy & David Griffiths of Savoy Records together with their Musical Director Dennis Hayward went on to provide some of the most popular dance music in the country and Dennis went on to be something of a legend in his own right with his dance orchestra, The “Organisation” as well as a solo artist playing all over the U.K. as well as on B.B.C radio.
The rich heritage of British Old Time Music prompted us to create and form the Society for the Preservation of Old Time Music and Dancing in October 1983 at our hotel in Cliftonville, Kent (Granville Clifton Hotel).
Since then, Savoy has always sponsored the preservation of old time music for dancing and in the respect have produced what is the greatest collection of old time music there is which includes not only all of the Dancetime Recordings but also most of the Recordings of the old time greats such as Harry Davidson, Sydney Thompson, Sidney Bowman as well as the only recordings of the old time set dances so whatever your taste or preference in dance music you will be sure to find something from the oldest to the latest on Savoy.
CONTACT US
0771 071 9997
Spring Copse
Hermongers Lane
Rudgwick
West Sussex
RH12 3AH