Ivor Moreton and Dave Kaye were an English musical variety double act who were known for performing syncopated piano duets together from the 1930s to the 1950s.
The duo consisted of pianists Ivor Arthur Moreton (born Arthur Lethbridge; 18 March 1908 – 9 December 1984) and David "Dave" Kaye (born David Keigel; 13 March 1906 – 15 December 1996), who had both been members of Harry Roy's dance band, the act developing from Roy's small group, the Tiger Ragamuffins.
[1][2] Ivor Moreton and Dave Kaye were a headline act in variety and radio, regularly appearing at venues run by Moss Empires, who were responsible for the largest chain of theatres and music halls in the UK.
[9] He worked in a timber merchant's office for three years, before getting a job accompanying a woman who sang songs in a store advertising sheet music.
[15] Following Dave Kaye's job in the shop, he formed his own band, and worked as a pianist for Jerry Hoey, Sydney Lipton and Jack Harris.
[2] In 1926, he joined drummer and xylophonist Julian Vedey's new band at the Cosmo Club in Wardour Street, Soho, in a residency which lasted around six months.
Coinciding with the end of this period was the departure of Kaye's brother Cyril for Sydney, to lead a band at the Wentworth Hotel.
In 1929, it was reported that Dave was part of a new band at The Piccadilly Hotel, led by Jim Kelleher on alto sax, with Kaye on piano and Joe Daniels on drums.
[2][18] In autumn 1932, Moreton sang his first solo vocal refrain for Roy on his version of "Love Is the Sweetest Thing", a song which became a standard.
[18] In December that year, a Parlophone record credited to "Ivor Moreton & Dave Kaye" was released, with the label describing them as "Harry Roy's Famous Pianists On Two Pianos".
The record consisted of two medleys of jazz standards: one side featured them performing "St. Louis Blues" and "Some of These Days", whilst the other had "Dinah", "After You've Gone" and "Nobody's Sweetheart".
[19] Perhaps aided by his role in the spotlight as the band's singer, it was reported in early February 1934 that Moreton was receiving fan mail of more than 200 letters a week.
[2] The Silver Jubilee Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium in October 1935 featured the duo as part of Roy's band.
Moreton and Kaye also appeared in the 1936 musical film Everything is Rhythm, which starred Roy; however, by the time it made it into cinemas, the duo had left the band to concentrate on their own career as duettists in variety.
[2] They were referred to in the press and on theatre bills as "The Original Tiger Rag pianists", having played on Harry Roy's 1933 recording of the song.
Billed as "The Original Tiger Ragamuffins", cinema audiences could see them playing "Peter Pan" at two grand pianos in an August 1938 Pathétone newsreel.
[20][28][29] In October that year, they topped the Concert Hall bill for the final week of the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow, where Kaye played the electric Hammond organ as part of their stage act for the first time.
[44] In October that year, they once again played at the Royal Variety Performance: this time, as part of a Keyboard Quintette, with Carroll Gibbons, Charlie Kunz and Billy Thorburn.
[17] Ivor Moreton and Dave Kaye's last billed BBC appearance was in October 1954 on Piano Playtime, a radio broadcast on the Light Programme.