Alan Kane

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If you would like to listen to a short section of the interview as you read, please press the play button on the right. If you would like to read the whole interview transcript please follow the download link at the bottom.

EXCERPT:

Marjorie             This is a conversation between Alan Kane and Marjorie Monickendam on the 14^th January 1987. Alan Kane was a professional singer and during his career he sang with bands including Ambrose, Lou Stone and Mantovani. He became a band leader in 1949 and he retired in 1984. Alan tell us about your memories of the Jewish East End.

Alan                      A Certainly I’d be very glad to- hello everyone. Firstly, to reassure myself I would like to preface what observations I make by saying that I feel that so many books have been written by writers of varying talents about pre war life in the east End of London, including particularly the Jewish community, in the 20’s and 30’s, that what I have to say may not be so very revealing. I think it may be rather too specific and not general, nevertheless I’ll do my best. Secondly I feel that as I grew up in Victoria Park/E.9. district of London, my experiences can not be about the heart of the East End. I was not obviously an East Ender myself, perhaps more’s the pity.

I worked in the famous Petticoat Lane for some years, an experience which I value greatly and my late father he was a cantor in the Jubilee St Great Zionist synagogue which incidentally he eventually served for over 43 years so from about 1905 on it meant he spent practically eighty percent of his life or six days a week and sometimes even seven in the heart of the east end. I therefore may be able to recall some worthwhile events pulled from both our working lives during those memorable times.

To tell you about my parents. My mother came from Vilna. I think she arrived when she was about eleven or twelve with my grandma and grandfather. And she had only two years schooling at, what may be remembered by people still alive and old enough to remember, Old Castle St School in Petticoat lane. In spite of only two years schooling she had a beautiful handwriting and spoke very well, I don’t know how she did it, there your are.

Now my dear Dad, who officiated until he was seventy-eight years old, he started as a Chazzan at the age of twenty-five and he lived in what was Bessarabia, it seemed to change according to the little wars that went on. Once it was Romania and then it was Russia or something like that. And he joined a military band and there was a War going on at the time, I don’t know which one, and eventually he came to London and through his official duties as a minister he got to know thousands of East Enders, having officiated at numerous marriage ceremonies in his synagogue. Blessing the newly born children, visiting hundreds in hospital when they were sick, officiating at the family funerals and so on, a very mixed life. So I think after arriving in London, about 1900, or so that he had a very full life and his command of the language wasn’t too bad either. He used to philosophise with me and tell me his ideas on Politics, very interesting, he used to guide me and inspire me and in spite of him being in the ministry and my veering towards the profession of entertaining he didn’t show any resentment. He felt that was what I really wanted to do and he gave me encouragement, infact he gave me my first loan to get my first drum set and I paid him back over a year and he was very supportive and I have fond memories of the relationship between my father and myself.

M            What language did you speak with your parents, did you speak Yiddish or English or a mixture.

A             Well I, regretfully, only spoke in English but my mother spoke yiddish to my father, especially when she lost her temper. But my father mostly speak to me in either broken English or in yiddish. When he wanted to express himself fervently it would be Yiddish and he was able to converse in English, but as I say a little broken English. But the grammatical sense was quite good.

I would like to make the point that dad joining the shule in Jubilee St in the first instance was very conscious how important a choir was to the service. How much it beautified the service, how it enhanced the spirituality of the service and he was ardent about having a choir because it would make his performance better and the general service would be enhanced and so he pleaded with what they call the govvers – the governors of the synagogue, who were big businessmen – and they said “we can’t afford a choir.” So dad said “right I’ll go ahead and I’ll get one on a semi voluntary basis and he organised a choir. It was one tenor – Billy Bunter proportions he was – pink angelic rotund face, he could have been the double of Lord Kitchener, and a very deep voice. And six mischievous choir boys, schoolboy choristers. These boys got twopence a week from Dad plus an extra penny for each rehearsal and if they did a very good rehearsal they got a bag of chips. He was very warm towards them and very strict when they didn’t pay attention and he used to lose his temper when they were naughty.

Soon the choir became very popular with the congregation and I think dad made most of the vocal arrangements and often adapted operatic arias for the hymns, much to the delight of the regular sabbath congregants.

This page was researched by University of Greenwich Student Sufyan Hanif, as part of the 2nd Year HIS1078 History in Practice work placement.