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John Bowdler brilliant organist and the tune is Nat King Cole’s Unforgettable.

is it an optical illusion, or is this actually going uphill most of the video ? It doesn't look like the descent to me...

Can anyone tell me the name of the second piece played? Thanks!

JOhn Bowdler - is tops on the organ - and fun to watch as well as enjoy....

i love blackpool tower and the ballroom is beautiful i hope they never get rid of either

..acoustic win forever!..

What a very nice sounding instrument.

see nigel ogdens part video , you wouldnt believe how cramped below stage it is

also the Grand Piano is no more. It was replaced in 2000 by a digital one.

huh heh ???

Yes its a wonderfull instrument to play. She is by far the best WurliTzer I have played. The sound is compleatly differant to any outher WurliTzer. It so magical.

Yes The Kiss Waltz was a very good one. Phil and David Lobban used it quite a few years ago. Mark Allen uses his sig tune at the moment Fly Me To The Moon. Its a nice change. My Favorite is Around The World.

That's easy to say when you're not paying the bills. When theh organ is for commercial use you need reliability and cheap maintenance. If solid state was around in the 30s they'd have used it. Installing solid state does nothing to alter the sound. But in any case, theatre organs have been modified (added to etc) throughout their history.

I got a tour in the organ chambers 2 years ago, it's a supercalifragilistic experiance!

Oops, did it get stuck for a minute?

I wonder how the purists would feel if there was no Wurlitzer to listen too because the old control system was too expensive to maintain. I gather the current control system was quite revolutionary for its time, being done in the very early 80s

So have they done away with the pneumatic piston action then? If so then yes that would make a difference to the weight. I thought you meant just the main pipe relays. Cheers Peter

Wurlitzer control gear (the relay stack) is all in with the pipe chambers, not in the console back. I doubt therefore that a new control system would have made much difference to the weight of the console.

My mum gave me a cassette recording of Phil playing Beatles stuff. It was was ace & I love the casette I have but where can I find a CD copy of the recording that I have? His rendition of the Beatles classics was superb. I love it but I really want a CD of it. If anyone can help me find a copy it would be gratefully received.

It is a bit nippy . . . did you ever get to Ashorne Hall? The lift for the Compton there was a scissor-jack. Talk about sea sickness! When I came up on it, I never played anything "Blackpoolish" straight away for fear of being thrown off.

David Lobban

A good clip none the less however. I'm amazed though at how fast the lift comes up. If you compare it to the Hammersmith Apollo organ you'll see what I mean. Search TH-cam for "reborn theatre organ". Peter

The Wurli sounds great as ever - the wersi sounds naff though - you can't beat pipes!!

the tower rules!

I agree, glenny56, but have you heard Chris Hopkins in full flight on the Tower's Wersi? Now that is something else !

About time we had some videos of the tower wurlitzer. All the american organists, Jim Riggs, Jelani Eddington are posting organ videos on youtube.

Thanks for posting this. Great to see Britains best loved WurliTzer doing it's stuff!