Along with "Salad Days", "The Boyfriend" represents the very best of the British musical of the 50's. This original London cast recording is now available through Sepia Records for the very first time.

The 1950s produced two gigantic home-grown musicals in Britain - 'Salad Days' and 'The Boy Friend'. Both dominated the West End for most of the decade and The Boy Friend also triumphed on Broadway before being turned into a film starring Twiggy.

Set in the 1920s The Boy Friend was composer Sandy Wilson’s affectionate tribute to a bygone era. Called “A new musical of the 1920s” The Boy Friend is the obvious brother of Rodger’s and Hart’s The Girl Friend and follows much of the same structure as two by Vincent Youman - 'No, No, Nanette' and 'Hit the Deck'. To illustrate the point we have included as bonus tracks songs from the three shows The Boy Friend pays homage to, all re-mastered from recordings made in the 1920s.

Anne Rogers made her stage debut in this production of The Boy Friend and every track is a gem. The original London cast recording has not been available for a long time and has never been issued on CD until now. All tracks have been re-mastered using the CEDAR system.

"Although there have been several other recordings, the original cast, led by Anne Rogers, Joan Sterndale Bennett and Anthony Hayes, has never been surpassed, and (Sandy) Wilson's original score for two pianos and percussion has a straightforward charm that avoids any feeling of coy pastiche. Some vintage recordings from shows that were Wilson's inspiration, including The Girl Friend and Hit the Deck, makes this disc a real pleasure."
Patrick O'Connor, Gramophone, July 2005