brianbuck Posted June 13, 2019 Report Share Posted June 13, 2019 "Imperial Echoes" wasn't the original March-on music at Coventry. I made my first ever visit to Brandon in 1956 for the Final of the Midland Riders' Championship, and music played then was called "The King's Guard" which was a very stirring march. After Birmingham closed down in July 1957, I became a regular at Brandon and the "King's Guard" continued to be the introductory march for about a another season when so I was told, there was a break-in at the stadium, the record was broken and a replacement couldn't be obtained, so "Imperial Echoes" took its place. In those days, all tracks had a distinctive introductory march - there was "Entry of the Gladiators" at Wembley (which a lot of other tracks tried to copy), and "Marching Along Together" at New Cross, and my all-time favourite "We're on our Way" at Perry Barr. Birmingham's march-on was magnificent - all of the staff wore pristine white coats and marched in step with arms swinging, and at the end of the meetings the staff lined up and marched off just as smartly - a far cry from the way the staff come shambling out from the pits these days. Too many people seem to think that it doesn't matter these days, which is a great pity I think. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oleoleole Posted June 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2019 6 hours ago, brianbuck said: "Imperial Echoes" wasn't the original March-on music at Coventry. I made my first ever visit to Brandon in 1956 for the Final of the Midland Riders' Championship, and music played then was called "The King's Guard" which was a very stirring march. After Birmingham closed down in July 1957, I became a regular at Brandon and the "King's Guard" continued to be the introductory march for about a another season when so I was told, there was a break-in at the stadium, the record was broken and a replacement couldn't be obtained, so "Imperial Echoes" took its place. In those days, all tracks had a distinctive introductory march - there was "Entry of the Gladiators" at Wembley (which a lot of other tracks tried to copy), and "Marching Along Together" at New Cross, and my all-time favourite "We're on our Way" at Perry Barr. Birmingham's march-on was magnificent - all of the staff wore pristine white coats and marched in step with arms swinging, and at the end of the meetings the staff lined up and marched off just as smartly - a far cry from the way the staff come shambling out from the pits these days. Too many people seem to think that it doesn't matter these days, which is a great pity I think. What a great reply. A brilliant piece of information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaykay2PT Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 As far as I can remember, didn't the track staff at Brandon all wear berets as well? "Imperial Echoes" is the tune I remember fron the early sixties happy days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midland Red Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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