The 1950s was the ‘Golden Age’ of the harmonica on radio, TV and the theatre, but the decreasing enthusiasm for the harmonica bands and the increasing popularity of the guitar meant that Hohner could no longer continue to support the National Harmonica League as a separate organisation after 1958. Their solution was to move the harmonica into the much bigger National Accordion Organisation (NAO). Prominent harmonica players like Douglas Tate, Brian Chaplin and John Tyler took up senior positions on the NAO committee. The change meant that harmonica meetings and competitions could continue alongside those for the accordion. The Accordion Day had been running as a national event since 1935. The annual Harmonica Championships continued as before, but as a part of Accordion Day, initially in a major London venue and later in the De Montfort Hall in Leicester. The successful players continued to represent the UK in the FIH (Fédération Internationale de l’Harmonica) World Championships.
THE HISTORY OF HARMONICAUK Part 4 1959–1974 Roger Trobridge Chairman 2000-2012
Harmonica News was also discontinued, and some harmonica content was included into Accordion Times from January 1959. It was not much, but it covered the National and International Championships. As before, the majority of harmonica content was related to chromatic performers and harmonica groups. There was some tuition material, and the Three Monarchs had a regular column. There was little mention of the British Blues Boom apart from a piece about the Manfred Mann song: 5-4-3-2-1. 1967 was a significant year. Dr Otto Meyer, who had set up and run the Hohner UK offices and teaching organisations since the early 1930s, retired, Douglas Tate won the FIH World Championship in Karlsruhe, and Jim Hughes, Brian Chaplin, John Tyler and Carol Axford (Bloxham) all did well. Much… of the success in the late 1960s came from teaching, led by Tommy Reilly. He was disappointed by what was happening, and he produced a teaching course for beginners which was sold as a booklet with two LPs or a tape cassette. He also established the Tommy Reilly International Club (TRIC) to raise the standards. This was really for top players and was outside of the NAO organisation.
Accordion Times 1959.
pion.
Douglas Tate Cham
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The magazine for HarmonicaUK
