Informatics Educational Institutions & Programs

Ken "Snakehips" Johnson

"Snakehips" was an intriguing figure. A swing band leader who had an early influence in British swing music who promised to have a bigger impact on the style, but his life was unfortunately cut short by a German bomb on the Café de Paris at the age of just 26. A trip to FAC is considered, unless there are good reasons not to. Cheers - SchroCat (talk) 11:15, 23 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by Ceoil

Consecutive sentances begin with "he" are jarring - (lead) He showed some.... He was schooled
"He was schooled in Britain" - its not 1920 anymore :) - educated
He returned and set up the West Indian Dance Orchestra - returned to where
legally took over the band, causing Thompson and several musicians to leave - not sure about this, was baffled on first reading but took control of?
the band began broadcasting alliteration
The article is on a musical period have a real love for; more later. Ceoil (talk) 13:46, 29 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

All things being equal, I think I probably agree about losing the moniker from the page title. And does 'My Husband' need upper casing? A shame perhaps to have three images crammed into the first section and then no others (e.g., Café de Paris seen in 2013). The first blockquote begins with a l/c ("was amused by...") unlike all the others. But it's well-written and a sad story. It made me cry a bit. Nice work SN54129 17:07, 29 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Many thanks to you both. - SchroCat (talk) 14:26, 30 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comments from Tim riley

~~Just a placeholder for now, but more shortly. Tim riley talk 16:23, 2 February 2023 (UTC)~~[reply]

A few comments

Not much from me. Clearly of FA quality in my view. A few carps and cavils, more meo:

Lead

"his attraction to dancing was opposed by his father" – this reads a bit oddly. Can one oppose someone else's attraction to something? In the main text you write "His early interest in dancing was opposed by his father", which seems to me better, but still not ideal. The point is, I take it from the context, that Johnson senior opposed the idea of dancing as a profession for his son.
"1937 he control of the band" – word missing
"As an all-black orchestra ... Johnson was seen as a pioneer" – There's an odd form of dangling modifier here: Johnson was not an orchestra. I think you want "As leader of an all-black orchestra..." or some such.

Early life

"Through Bradley, Johnson was recorded" – Makes Bradley sound like a microphone. Perhaps "Through Bradley's influence..."?

Professional career

"form an all-black jazz band ... which made its debut that April" – you generally use plural verbs and pronouns for "band", "group" etc, which is of course fine (see p. 161 of the current edition of Fowler) but it might be as well to stick to that convention throughout rather than have the occasional singular, as here.
"seen as an all-black ensemble.[17][8][18]" – the order of the citations needs a tweak.
"Leslie Perowne, the BBC's Head of Music" – oh no he wasn't! The BBC's head of music throughout the 1930s was Sir Adrian Boult. At the time you're writing about, Perowne was working in the BBC's Variety Department (of which he later – 1942– became head). See Times obit 6 Nov 1997, p. 23. Best just to call him "Leslie Perowne of the BBC's Variety Department".
"It was the first of several broadcasts they were to make" – as you have detailed them all below, you can easily give the precise number rather than "several", and I'd be inclined to do so. There are eleven "several"s in the article and it wouldn't harm to have one less.

Impact and legacy

"Al Bowlly, the singer who sometimes accompanied the band" – I doubt if Mr Bowlly looked on it like that: I imagine he thought the band was accompanying him. Perhaps "the singer who sometimes performed with the band"?

Notes

"many new talents were had their breaks there" – a word too many.

Ping me when you get to FAC, please. – Tim riley talk 13:00, 3 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Many thanks for these, even if I was very late in picking up on them! Thanks for the reminder. Pip pip - SchroCat (talk) 15:59, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]