Born Joshua Alexander Loss on 22 June 1909 in Spitalfields, London, England, the bandleader died on 6 June 1990 in the same city. Violin lessons were intended to launch a classical path, yet after securing a scholarship to the Trinity College of Music and additional study at the London School of Music, he assembled his first orchestra at sixteen and performed in neighbourhood venues while providing accompaniment for silent films. The group relocated to London’s Astoria Ballroom in 1930 and appeared at the Kit-Kat Club the following year. Broadcasting began in 1933, and early the next year the band headed the variety programme at the Holborn Empire. Later in 1934 Loss returned to the Astoria for an extended engagement and introduced “Let’s Dance At The Make Believe Ballroom” as his initial signature melody. That same year he began recording for Regal Zonophone Records, which later became part of EMI, and remained with the label for more than five decades.
Vocalists who helped sustain the orchestra’s popularity through the 1930s included Paula Greene, Betty Dale, Adelaide Hall, Shirley Lenner, Elizabeth Batey, Marjorie Kingsley, Monte Rey—whose “The Donkey Serenade” proved especially successful—and Chick Henderson, whose version of “Begin The Beguine” became widely known before his death in Royal Navy service. Additional hits from the period were “Woodchopper’s Ball” and “Honky Tonk Train Blues.” In 1935 Loss provided Vera Lynn with her first broadcast slot, during which she performed “Red Sails In The Sunset.” He departed the Astoria in 1940 to entertain British Expeditionary Forces in France, then spent the remainder of the war touring British ballrooms. Post-war residency at the Hammersmith Palais followed, and during the 1950s the band weathered the rise of rock ’n’ roll while Loss also operated a thriving agency. Early-sixties chart entries comprised “Wheels Cha Cha,” “Sucu Sucu,” “The Maigret Theme,” “Must Be Madison” and “The March Of The Mods,” together with numerous bestselling albums.
During the war years Loss had adopted Glenn Miller’s “In The Mood” as his theme, and that recording later appeared on the 1989 Jive Bunny And The Mastermixers novelty single. His World Championship Ballroom Dances series of albums accompanied frequent BBC Television appearances on Come Dancing and coincided with fourteen Carl Alan Awards. While working aboard the QE2 in 1978 he became the first dance-band leader to perform in communist China. Post-war vocalists encompassed Howard Jones, who sang on the 1948 American hit “A Tree In A Meadow,” Larry Gretton, Rose Brennan—who remained for more than fifteen years—and Ross McManus, father of Elvis Costello. McManus and Costello shared a stage for the first time during a 1994 charity tribute at London’s Barbican Theatre. Loss performed at numerous royal events, among them the Queen’s fiftieth-birthday celebrations and the Queen Mother’s eightieth birthday. Officially retiring in 1989 after sixty years at the forefront, the most energetic and mobile of bandleaders had earlier received an OBE in 1978, Her Majesty’s Silver Medal in 1977 and a Lieutenancy in the Royal Victorian Order in 1984.
