Category: Documentary

HarmonicaUK started life as a Hohner marketing activity in 1935 and remained so until it was handed over to the members in 1981. It was first called the Hohner National Song Band League (SBL), then the National Harmonica League (NHL) in 1982 and finally HarmonicaUK in 2021.

Roger Trobridge takes over from Colin Mort and John Walton

The new millennium, 2000, brought about a rebirth of the National Harmonica League. John Walton and then Colin Mort had created and kept the now independent NHL running since 1981, but at a personal cost to themselves. The membership of about 300 was not growing and many of the members who had helped to run and inspire it had stood down or died.

The friction between the John and Colin and their respective organisations, the IHO and the NHL, was not helping. The successful International Millennium Festival in Bournemouth run by John Walton marked the end of the IHO and Colin asked me to take over as Chairman of the NHL. Apparently my experience developing Mars/Dove ice cream made up for my inability to play the harmonica. Larry Adler died in 2001 and Paul Jones agreed to take over as President.

Moving into the digital age

Times had changed and I was familiar with the (then) new world of the Internet and I had already started integrating our activities into a website packed with information about what we did, plus educational resources and forums to bring the membership together. The improved communication by Skype and email also meant that meetings no longer had to be held face to face and documents could be shared instantly rather than sent by post. Another effect was that the committee could now function with members based in their home. Administration costs almost disappeared.

Other things had changed. The older members had been mainly chromatic players but younger diatonic blues players were getting involved. I am a researcher at heart and it was apparent that there was no archive of what had been achieved so I set about collecting what I could from previous Chairmen (John Tyler, John Walton and Colin Mort) as well as Steve Proctor (Sutherland Trading) who was part of Hohner at that time, and collectors like John Bryan and Brian Holland. These showed that the tremolo and traditional music, particularly English music, were not really represented in the NHL. A meeting with Ernie Gordon and his friendship with Will Atkinson was instrumental in remedying this.

The expanded annual festivals

In 2001, I attended the SPAH Convention in Denver and the World Harmonica Festival (WHF/Hohner) in Trossingen, Germany.

Both of them lasted for four days and showed the value of “total immersion” festivals.

The contacts I made with artists, enthusiasts and administrators turned out to be vital as the NHL began to evolve and grow its range of activities.

We needed to find a way to do the same and we were very fortunate that Ben Hewlett was teaching at the Folk House, in Bristol. In 2001 we convinced them to hire out the whole building to us from Friday night to Sunday afternoon and we established a long running, tolerant, agreement with Jurys (The Bristol Hotel), and as they say, the rest is history.

Taking part in the official side of the SPAH and WHF festivals showed that we were a member of the international harmonica community.

We became more outward looking both in the magazine and the many overseas artists we invited to our annual festivals, including a young Greg Szlap and Rachelle Plas, and established artists like Joe Filisko, Willi Berger, Will Galison, Pete ‘Madcat’ Ruth, Fata Morgana and Antonio Serrano. Howard Levy gave a workshop and concert in London.

The new committee members

Colin Mort and Frank Eatwell stayed on to help the new committee which was fortunate to pick up some very useful members. Pete Wheat had great contacts with the European Blues Association, Gerry Ezard combined a business background with a lifetime playing chromatic at the highest level. Phil Leiwy kept a tight grip on the finances and Dave Hambley modernised the membership systems. Barbara Tate looked after our IT needs. Many others helped where they could especially at the annual festival which Ben Hewlett organised. The membership rose steadily to over 600.

The Chromatic Weekend and Blue Saturdays

By 2005 it was clear that we needed to provide support for chromatic players as we had been doing with Blue Saturday tuition days for diatonic players.

We decided to run a weekend residential course in Birmingham partly for the location but also to be near to Jim Hughes and Philip Achille. The Chromatic Weekend started up in June in 2006 and following work by Gerry Ezard, Steve Dooley, Colin Mort, Neil Warren, David Hambley, Davina Brazier, and Hilvert Scheper. It is still running and is now located at the Hillscourt Hotel.

The NHL becomes a Charity

The NHL had wanted to be officially recognised as a charity like many other similar organisations, for a long time. In 2009 the NHL was granted Charity Status in recognition of the work it does. This had financial implications but it also is a public record of status of the organisation.

Ben Hewlett takes over as Chairman

I stood down as Chairman in 2012 and Ben Hewlett took over.

This the end of the history as I need to tell it.

I stayed on as editor of the magazine which I had edited since 2002 and continued its development as the modern, international magazine that it had become.

Pete Hewitt becomes Chairman

Ben kept the NHL moving and tackled the three major problems he inherited. How to find a new editor for the magazine as I was long past retirement age, what to do about the name of the organisation, and to find successor to run the organisation? Dave Taylor took over as editor in 2019. The name change took a few years to happen but finally he solved his biggest problem when he persuaded Pete Hewitt to take over as Chairman in 2020.

Pete has revolutionised and reinvigorated the organisation using his management and people skills to find and entrap many new volunteers. The responsibilities are now spread more broadly making the organisation more resilient, as shown by its reaction to Covid restrictions. A series of On-line Festivals, regular workshops and a coffee morning were established to expand the contact with members. Barry Elms, Dave Colclough and Steve Pardue brought a totally professional approach to the magazine.

Working with Richard Taylor, Pete oversaw an impressive brand relaunch program which has resulted in the official change in name to HarmonicaUK. A set of brand images and core values which have been applied to the new web site, the magazine and all other activities like the Outreach programme.

Into the Future with Barry Elms and Dave Colclough

HarmonicaUK has a secure and developing future, building on it’s deep roots in harmonica history.

Barry Elms took over as Chairman in 2022 and Dave Colclough succeeded him in 2023.

Back to History of HarmonicaUK home index page.

HarmonicaUK started life as a Hohner marketing activity in 1935 and remained so until it was handed over to the members in 1981. It was first called the Hohner National Song Band League (SBL), then the National Harmonica League (NHL) in 1982 and finally HarmonicaUK in 2021.

In the Part 6, John Walton stood down as President of the National Harmonica League having tried to build up a sustainable organisation. His move to a more International, monthly A4 magazine in 1986 had resulted in both his personal company, Able Music Ltd, and the NHL becoming unprofitable. Colin Mort agreed to take over as President in 1987, and he began a series of loans needed to keep the NHL running. John Walton became the Secretary, Treasure and Magazine Editor.

Colin needed to make more fundamental changes to the organisation to help it break even. John’s A4 glossy magazine was soon replaced by a much simpler and cheaper A5 version. Larry Adler agreed to become President of the NHL with Norm Dobson remaining as Vice President. Colin became Chairman and he invited more people onto the committee to share the load and make it more democratic. Dave Beckford, David Michelsen Pat Missin, Jim Hughes, Victor Brooks, Tony Perry, and Ken Howell are just some of the ones who helped over the years. Steve Jennings edited the magazine until 1995 when Colin took it over. John Walton became more involved with the International Harmonica Organisation (IHO) and when its President, Peter Janssen, died in 1993, John replaced him.

The winners of the 1987 Open Competition took part in The First Harmonica World Championships organised and run in Jersey by Jim Hughes with support from some NHL members.

The NHL settled into an annual cycle of events with a small informal Spring Hoolie, an Open National Harmonica Championships and a weekend Convention/AGM. This broke down after a dispute at the 1994 Open Championships when the judges decided that none of the chromatic players reached the standard expected of a National Champion and the prizes were not awarded. The competition restarted two years later but as a best on the day event rolled into the annual festival and AGM.

Mike Sadler ran courses in the Victoria Adult Education Centre in Gravesend using his own method to teach harmonica and he formed a group called The Blowhards. Derek Yorke and Dave Bedford were members. The only recent UK quartet, Four in Accord, started there. Colin Mort set up Southern Harmonics for players in the Hampshire area.

About the same time, 1989, Norman Ives was introducing the scouts in the 5th St Mary’s Group in Great Yarmouth to all types of harmonica. David Michelsen joined to provide more teaching and with financial support from NHL members and its own magazine, Kiddin’ Around.

This group of children progressed over the next 6 years from beginners to performing at Glastonbury, playing for Disney in the USA and appearing at numerous festivals and TV shows. Known as Harp Start, they achieved a very high standard of solo and group playing, including winning World Championships in Trossingen, Germany in 1993. Unfortunately the activity had to stop.

Norman Ives ran the best known harmonica shop in the UK with the tag line – You can get one of
those from Norman. Along with David Michelsen he held a popular series of Residential Blues Tuition Weekends in Caister from 1994-96. David then worked with Steve Jennings and later, Pat Missin, to develop a one day event which could be held anywhere. This was called a Blue Saturday and the first one took place in Corby in July 1996, They continued up to 1999 and Johnny Mars and Colin Mort assisted at some of them. The experiences learned from the Blue Saturday events led to similar events being run by other players around the country. Another off-shoot of this activity was the attempt to provide certification for harmonica teachers, The Harmonica Teachers Accreditation Board (HTAB). This is no longer active.

After 1995 Colin found himself short of volunteers and he was doing much of the committee work himself. I joined the committee in 1999 as Colin tried to find a way to pass on the control to someone else. My role was to build an Internet presence for the NHL which we did very successfully that year, with the harmonica.co.uk website (now harmonica.uk) and an email based forum for members. Volunteers were found for some of the other roles.

There had always been a strained relationship between the IHO and the NHL despite there having been a shared Hoolie festival in 1994. Some players were members of both organisations. Things came to a head when the IHO decided to hold an International Centennial Festival in Bournemouth in 2000. John Walton wanted to run it with financial support from the NHL, but Colin had worked hard to make the NHL sustainable and he wanted assurances about financial liabilities.

Colin did not get them so John Walton went ahead alone. John pulled it off but both he and Colin were worn out. The IHO organisation had also run out of steam and when Colin asked me if I would take over as Chairman said I would do the job if the infighting stopped.

Next time we will see what the new century would bring.

Back to History of HarmonicaUK home index page.

Forward to The History of HarmonicaUK – Part 8

HarmonicaUK started life as a Hohner marketing activity in 1935 and remained so until it was handed over to the members in 1981. It was first called the Hohner National Song Band League (SBL), then the National Harmonica League (NHL) in 1982 and finally HarmonicaUK in 2021.

Life after Hohner

We left Part 5 in our history at the point where Hohner had enlisted a prominent NHL member, John Tyler, to reinvigorate their organisation, the NHL. Things came to a head in 1980 when John Tyler felt he had done all he could and the Hohner management decided that they could not continue to promote the NHL in the way they had done for the previous 50 years. They needed a way forward.

John Walton was born in South Africa in 1940. He was a successful chromatic harmonica player and entertainer who had met many of the top performers.

John had worked in Variety and on cruise ships before moving to the UK in 1978. He settled in Bournemouth with his family and immediately got involved with the NHL.

John Walton was born in South Africa in 1940. He was a successful chromatic harmonica player and entertainer who had met many of the top performers. John had worked in Variety and on cruise ships before moving to the UK in 1978. He settled in Bournemouth with his family and immediately got involved with the NHL.

In 1981 John had meetings with John Tyler who had decided to step down and dedicate more time to his job as a headmaster. John Walton agreed to take over as Director in 1982. He had always wanted to start a harmonica club – now he had one and he set out to make it successful. A new membership card and a lapel badge was produced.

At the time of the handover, the membership of the NHL was over 2000 but the majority of them had paid £1 to receive the magazine. Once Hohner decided to withdraw its financial support for the NHL, John had to raise the membership fee to £6 to cover the forecast running costs, and the membership fell to a couple of hundred.

Initially Hohner continued to edit, print and distribute Harmonica News and John Walton provided the content. John became frustrated when Hohner edited his writing and controlled some non-Hohner content.

By the time of John’s first NHL event, The Convention, at the Guildhall in Southampton in Nov 1982 he had decided on some major changes. At the AGM it was agreed that the name of the magazine would be changed to Harmonica World because Harmonica News was registered to Hohner. Operating costs had to be brought under control so they reduced the magazine size from A4 to A5, and the Walton family printed and posted out the magazine themselves.

The NHL was fully independent of Hohner but controlled by John Walton. John became President with his wife Jeanette as Secretary. Norm Dobson (US) was appointed as Chairman and Area Secretaries were set up to encourage local activities.

The Convention became the NHL’s main annual event with the 1983 event being held in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Stratford upon Avon. John held a competition for the Young Harmonica Player of the Year, which was won in 1982 and 1983 by Rowena Gelling (now Millar). She was awarded the Fred Southern Trophy. Many familiar names were members at this time – Frank Eatwell, Colin Mort, Jim Hughes, Doug Tate, Ken Howell, Jimmy English, Alf Clay, Windsor Carlisle and a future Chairman, Pete Hewitt.

The Convention became the NHL’s main annual event with the 1983 event being held in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Stratford upon Avon. John held a competition for the Young Harmonica Player of the Year, which was won in 1982 and 1983 by Rowena Gelling (now Millar). She was awarded the Fred Southern Trophy. Many familiar names were members at this time – Frank Eatwell, Colin Mort, Jim Hughes, Doug Tate, Ken Howell, Jimmy English, Alf Clay, Windsor Carlisle and the current Chairman, Pete Hewitt.

Subsequent Conventions were held in Westcliff-on-Sea (1984), Blenheim Palace (1985), Bournemouth (1986) and Western-Super-Mare (1987).

An additional event was added to the calendar in 1986 when Frank Eatwell held the Open Harmonica Championship in Banbury. Jim Hughes organised a similar British Harmonica Championship and Gala Concert in Shirley, Birmingham in 1987. Later that year, Jim produced the first genuine World Championships in Jersey (Channel Islands) which was the template on which the subsequent Hohner four yearly festivals were based.

John Walton always wanted the NHL to be an international organisation and he travelled to many overseas harmonica events. In 1984 he visited SPAH with this family harmonica group, the Harmonaires, and in 1985 he took a party of NHL members, including Jim Hughes, to a week long HarmonicaFest run jointly with the renowned chromatic player, Cham’ber Huang, in Silver Bay in Upstate New York.

Towards the end of 1985 John Walton made a big decision. He changed the focus of Harmonica World and renamed it Harmonica World International. The simple, quarterly A5, personally printed magazine became a new glossy, monthly A4, international harmonica magazine printed by his family company, Able Music. John continued to feature NHL News but he opened it up to all harmonica clubs around the world. He had wanted to build a world wide harmonica magazine with up to date news, but he was about thirty years too soon. It would need the Internet and live, online digital magazines before this could be done profitably.

At the same time that John changed the magazine he became a founder member and Treasurer of the new International Harmonica Organisation (IHO) set up by Peter Janssen from Holland. The IHO decided to use Harmonica World International as their official organ. NHL members were encouraged to join both organisations.

John Walton stepped down as President at the AGM at the end of 1986, having agreed that Colin Mort would take over. John stayed on as Treasurer/Secretary. He had achieved a lot in his 5 years in charge, raising standards and building up the organisation, but a new approach was needed. The losses incurred by the new magazine had become too great and the 18^th issue in June 1987 was the final one.

The next part of our history will cover the move to a true members’ organisation and the recovery of the NHL finances.

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Forward to The History of HarmonicaUK – Part 7