English Music Hall had been around for ages before the 19th century, but it really blossomed as a professional form of entertainment in the middle to late 19th century, with certain performers becoming legendary stars of the genre by the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries...and others fighting to get there!

Performers like the irrepressible Harry Champion, who sang "I'm Henery The Eighth, I Am" many decades before Herman's Hermits, Albert Chevalier, Gus Elen, Dan Leno, Harry Lauder, Marie Lloyd, Charlie Penrose, Vesta Victoria, George Formby, George Robey, Jack Pleasants, Little Tich, Mark Sheridan, Eugene Stratton, Ella Retford, Albert Whelan, Florrie Forde, Wilkie Bard, Nelson Jackson, and George d'Albert surely weren't classical, high-brow singers or actors, but that was not what the public expected or wanted from them anyway. What they wanted, and what they got, were laughs, laughs, and more laughs. And these laughs still hold up today, albeit in rather ancient acoustical recordings, but still charming nevertheless. 

I have done my best to restore some of these vintage acoustic recordings, removing as much background hiss as possible, without sacrificing quality of expression. Available in MP3 and/or MIDI music files, with original lyrics and nice photos of the artists.