Ernest Hastings

Ernest Walter Hastings (15 June 1879 – 2 September 1940) was an English singer, pianist, composer, and performer of comic monologues who also appeared on the Broadway stage. Born in Manchester, he initially worked as a shipping clerk before his abilities at the piano, combined with a talent for mimicry and monologue performance, drew him toward a theatrical career in music halls prior to 1900. He went on to achieve popularity in Britain and the United States through the 1900s to the 1930s, during which period he was described as "England's Greatest Entertainer at the Piano."

His Broadway appearances spanned the years 1897 to 1905 and encompassed a range of productions, including Siberia, the plays Lover's Lane, Her Majesty the Girl Queen of Nordenmark, and The Gadfly, as well as The Heart of the Klondike. These credits coincided with his early rise as a performer and his touring activity in the United States. Among his early recorded successes were "The Commissionaire" (1899, with lyrics by Charles H. Taylor), "A Blooming Ballad" (with lyricist Astley Weaver, 1901), "The Three Ages of Man" (with lyrics by Nelson Jackson, 1909), and "The Emigrant's Letter" (with lyrics by Percy French, 1912).

During the First World War, Hastings performed material on both sides of the conscription debate. Songs such as "We're All Plain Civilians" (with lyrics by Foden Williams, 1914) supported recruitment efforts, while "Exemptions and Otherwise" and "The Military Representative," written by R. P. Weston and Bert Lee in 1916, satirized military recruitment tribunals by depicting the approval of increasingly unsuitable candidates for active service. The latter piece was notably well received. His postwar output included "The Bolshevik" (written by Lee and Weston, 1919) and "Seaside Posters Round the Home" (by Edgar Bateman and Henry E. Pether, 1919).

Hastings recorded for the Columbia and His Master's Voice labels between 1914 and 1929. His recordings included "A Soldier's Reminiscences" (with lyrics by Bert Lee, 1914), the earliest known recording of Lee and Weston's "My Word, You Do Look Queer" (1922, a song later popularized by Stanley Holloway), "There's Nothing Over Sixpence in the Store" (with lyrics by Frank S. Wilcock, 1927), "In My Young Days" (with lyrics by Percy Beck, 1930), and "The Nut Brown Ale of England" (with lyrics by Percy Beck, 1931). Beyond recording, he appeared in the 1919 Royal Variety Performance, made BBC radio broadcasts in the late 1920s, and toured the Australian vaudeville circuit in 1925 alongside J. Milton Hayes. Hastings died in Willesden, London, in 1940 at the age of 61. A compilation of his recordings, titled The Seaside Posters, was released on CD in 2018.