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Toby's career continued right into the 1970's. In June 1970, his resident orchestra at the Bray Head Hotel featured female vocalists The Bannanettes - guest artists included female impersonator Mr Pussy (still on the go today) - and in October of the following year, he was performing in Leitrim "direct from a successful English cabaret tour". In July 1974, a Sunday Independent review of one of his final performances in the Crofton Hotel, Bray, marvelled at how his band could swing effortlessly from “hokey-pokey to disco thunder”! In September 1975, Toby Bannan, aged 59, died in his home in Bray. 
Note that this (publicity?) shot was taken at the seaside. More than likely Bray. The most obvious shortcoming of this article is, of course, the absence of any music by any of his bands. I hope I'm wrong but, as far as I could discover, no professional recordings exist today. I know that his orchestra played a mixture of jazz standards and popular tunes of the day, and I can guess at what they sounded like, but should anyone reading this know of any recordings of any of the Bannan bands, I would love to hear from you. But I have been able to locate one recording, an informal home tape made by the family in 1959. The occasion was the imminent departure to America of Toby's sister Nancy1 and the tape's mixture of music and personal greetings was intended as a gift for relations in Connecticut. The sound quality is far from perfect and, from speaking to many people who remember the bands' heyday, I believe that the music conveys little idea of Toby and Marie at their professional best. Click here for Toby playing the violin; here to hear him singing or here for Marie playing a waltz on the piano.
* Thanks for reading this and I will leave you with a picture of Paddy, Marie, Toby and Pixie in the Royal Spa Hotel, Lisdoonvarna, sometime in the early 1950's. 
1 A talented visual artist, Nancy Bannan Elgin lived in Eureka, California for over thirty years and died there on January 13, 2017. I am much indebted to her for the help she gave me in the preparation of this article . |
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