Brass Banding Goes Pop: EM60’s 2020 Advent Calendar: 12. The Floral Dance

That rare beast of a pop music and brass band crossover hit!

• Piece: The Floral Dance
• Composer: Katie Moss (lyrics);
• Arranger: Derek Broadbent.

If it wasn’t for Paul McCartney’s Mull of Kintyre, this tune would have been 1977’s Christmas Number One. Brighouse and Rastrick’s The Floral Dance peaked at Number Two and introduced many new converts to brass banding. So much so that Derek Broadbent’s tune could be both a godsend and an albatross.