As much as I’ve loved immersing myself in 1930s and 1940s American blues and jazz, I had to include some English songs from the era.

When you look into what Britain was listening to back then, George Formby immediately towers over the landscape. Throughout the 1930s and WWII, Formby was Britain’s highest-paid entertainer and biggest box-office star, strumming his trademark banjolele with a toothy grin.

Initially, I had a similar problem with George Formby as I had problem with Kings of Leon: the lyrics don't date well.

(Yes, I did just put George Formby and Kings of Leon in the same sentence).

Where he was aiming for cheeky double entendre, my ears often just hear the plain entendre, and it's not pretty.

That’s why coming across "The Lancashire Torredore" was such a relief.

The Lancashire Torredore by George Formby

Recorded in 1937, the track skips the wink-and-nudge tropes and lands squarely on pure, old-fashioned slapstick. It's Formby at his comic best: a weedy English type trying to pass himself off as a suave Latin lover and failing miserably. Beyond the laugh, I actually like it! It has the clever harmonic shift from major to minor keys which makes it far more engaging the other songs of the era.