Jim Davidson (bandleader)

Career

Davidson began his career with Jimmy Elkins's dance orchestra in the mid-1920s, staying on until the group dissolved in 1928. He then kept playing at the Ambassadors restaurant until a fire destroyed it in 1931. In August 1932, he led a notable concert at Hillier's Café, widely recognized as Sydney's first jazz concert. By 1933, his band was a major draw at the Palais Royal dance hall, pulling in 10,000 people each week.

After signing with the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1936, he expanded the orchestra, which became known as Jim Davidson’s ABC Dance Band and broadcast nationally. Columbia Records issued hundreds of his recordings, and from 1937 to 1939 the band completed three interstate tours. Davidson enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1941, creating the Army Entertainment Group to stage variety shows for troops in the Middle East and South-West Pacific.

Jim Gussey then took over the ABC Dance Band. Post-war, Davidson failed to land the role of Director of Light Entertainment at the ABC.

In 1948, he moved to England as Assistant Head of Variety and Musical Productions at the BBC, where he helped support shows like The Goon Show. He retired in September 1963 and returned to Australia in 1964. With few broadcasting opportunities, he turned to house renovation and gardening alongside his wife.

Did You Know?

• Davidson began playing brass instruments in 1917 with the Compulsory Military Training Band.
• He left school at 14 and started playing drums in cinema pit ensembles and dance bands.
• His memoir, A Showman's Story, was published posthumously in 1983.