Al Starita and His Piccadilly Band - Try To Learn To Love (Music & Lyrics Noel Coward) Fox-Trot from “This Year Of Grace” with Vocal Chorus (by Eddie Grossbart) Columbia 1928 (UK)
NOTE: “This Year of Grace” was an English revue with music and lyrics written by Noël Coward. It opened in March 1928 at the London Pavilion and ran for 10 months. In November 1928 the show opened in Broadway, NY at the Selwyn Theatre, where it ran for 157 performances. The revue was included into the Cochran's 1928 Revue, containing several catchy songs, some of which became evergreens, such as Noël Coward’s \"A Room With a View\", \"Dance, Little Lady\" or “Try To Learn To Love”- the last one relatively less remembered than the other two.
Al STARITA (b. 1897 in Naples, Italy – d. 1960 in Palm Beach, USA) was an American /Italian bandleader, one of four Starita brothers (Al, Ray, Rudy and Julio) who in the 1920s got imported into UK. Their start in the vicinity of Boston where their family lived, was a dance band they formed in 1921 which during two years of activity gained certain popularity. In 1923 Ray and Al traveled to UK where they signed with the renowned dance orchestra The Savoy Orpheans at the Savoy Hotel in London. In 1925-1928 Al and Ray Starita recorded with Jack Hylton's Kit-Cat Band. In this time the prestigious Piccadilly Hotel put the show staged by Edward, brother of the Dolly Sisters, called 'Dolly's Revels.' This show continued under the name of the 'Piccadilly Revels' and had its own band. Jack Hylton, who was busy with his own orchestra, asked 22 year old Ray to take over the Piccadilly Revels band. In 1928 Ray’s brother Al Starita formed the equally successful Piccadilly Players (also billed as The Piccadilly Band) and both orchestras became sensation in the West End night clubs and hotels and two younger Starita brothers Rudy and Julio sailed from USA to play with them.
