{{Infobox song | name = Fanlight Fanny | cover = File:Fanlight Fanny.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Clinton Ford | album = | B-side = "Dreamy City Lullaby"<ref name="45-rpm">{{cite web |url=http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirc/clintonf.htm |title=Clinton Ford |website=45-rpm.org.uk |access-date=2016-04-09}}</ref> | released = 1962 | format = | recorded = 1962 | studio = | venue = | genre = Traditional pop | length = 2:49<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.addlong.co.uk/UK-Hits/1962minor.html |title=UK Minor Hits of 1962 |website=Addlong.co.uk |date=2014-04-13 |access-date=2016-04-10}}</ref> | label = Oriole Records - CB 1706<ref name="Disc"/> | writer = George Formby, Harry Gifford and Fred E. Cliffe | producer = John Schroeder<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.johnschroeder.co.uk/pages/recordingcareer.html |title=John Schroeder, Alaska Records, Pye, Oriole, Oriole American, Sounds Orchestral, Helen Shapiro, Status Quo, Mersey Beat |website=Johnschroeder.co.uk |date=1961-12-04 |access-date=2016-04-10}}</ref> | prev_title = Too Many Beautiful Girls | prev_year = 1961 | next_title = What More Can I Say | next_year = 1962 }}

"'''Fanlight Fanny'''" is a song written in 1935 by George Formby, Harry Gifford and Fred E. Cliffe, and recorded by Formby in May that year.<ref name="Discogs"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/se/ID_No/108224/Product.aspx |title=Fanlight Fanny chords by George Formby (Melody Line, Lyrics & Chords – 108224) |website=Sheetmusicdirect.com |access-date=2016-04-09}}</ref> Another notable version was released in 1962 by Clinton Ford.

==Song information== The original recording by George Formby was released on Decca Records (F5569) on 29 May 1935.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.georgeformby.co.uk/records/rec3.html |title=The George Formby Discography |page=3 |website=Georgeformby.co.uk |access-date=2016-04-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304224634/http://www.georgeformby.co.uk/records/rec3.html |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The song also appeared in Formby's 1939 film ''Trouble Brewing'',<ref>{{cite web |author=Trouble Brewing |url=http://www.tvguide.com/movies/trouble-brewing/review/121286/ |title=Trouble Brewing - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings |website=TVGuide.com |access-date=2016-04-09}}</ref> in which it bore an additional verse.<ref name="Discogs"/> It tells the tale of a tawdry, West End-based woman of a certain age, full with alcohol and shoplifted goods, trying to earn a living in a Soho night spot, where she is "Fanlight Fanny the frowsey night-club queen".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/formby-song-book/fanlight_fanny-1935c.htm |title=Fanlight Fanny-1935c by George Formby, with lyrics and chords for Ukulele, Guitar Banjo etc |website=Traditionalmusic.co.uk |access-date=2016-04-09}}</ref>

The version recorded by Clinton Ford in 1962 had accompaniment by the 'George Chisholm All Stars'.<ref name="Disc">{{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/Clinton-Ford-Fanlight-Fanny-Dreamy-City-Lullaby/release/2301615 |title=Clinton Ford - Fanlight Fanny / Dreamy City Lullaby (Vinyl) |website=Discogs.com |access-date=2016-04-09}}</ref> It also, with permission, had added new words written by Ford.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/clinton-ford-singer-and-entertainer-whose-versatility-was-both-his-strength-and-his-weakness-1807575.html |title=Clinton Ford: Singer and entertainer whose versatility was both his strength and his weakness &#124; Obituaries |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=2016-04-09}}</ref> "Fanlight Fanny" was Ford's third UK chart hit and his most successful single, reaching {{Numero}}22 in the UK Singles Chart in March 1962. It spent ten weeks in that chart.<ref name="AMG">{{cite web |author=Sharon Mawer |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/clinton-ford-mn0000788168 |title=Clinton Ford &#124; Biography & History |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=2016-04-09}}</ref><ref name="RPM">{{cite web |url=http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirc/clintonf.htm |title=Clinton Ford |website=45-rpm.org.uk |date=1931-11-04 |access-date=2016-04-09}}</ref> His album ''Clinton Ford'', also known as ''Clinton Ford Sings Fanlight Fanny'' (1962), peaked at number 16 in the UK Albums Chart.<ref name="AMG"/><ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book |first=David |last=Roberts |year=2006 |title=British Hit Singles & Albums |edition=19th |publisher=Guinness World Records Limited |location=London |isbn= 1-904994-10-5 |page=207}}</ref>

Ford later recorded the Wally Lindsay-penned "Fanlight Fanny’s Daughter" (1963),<ref name="45-rpm"/> a track also released as a single, albeit with less success.<ref name="Discogs">{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Clinton-Ford-With-George-Chisholm-And-Inmates-Clinton-The-Clown/master/617370 |title=Clinton Ford With George Chisholm And The Inmates (3) - Clinton The Clown |website=Discogs.com |date=2014-12-30 |access-date=2016-04-09}}</ref> In 1968, on Ford's album ''Clinton The Clown'' (re-released in 1970 on Marble Arch Records), the song's character reappeared as "Fan-Dance Fanny", a renaming and re-recording which had a small change in lyrical content.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMNwf7i0ms0 |title=Clinton Ford: Fan-Dance Fanny (1968) |publisher=YouTube |date=2013-02-17 |access-date=2016-04-09}}</ref> With the passage of six years, Fanny wore "dustbin lids on her chest" rather than her earlier "saucepan lids".<ref name="Discogs"/>

==Other uses== Formby's original version was used on the soundtrack to the 2008 horror film ''Chemical Wedding''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0974536/soundtrack?ref_=tt_trv_snd |title=Chemical Wedding (2008): Soundtracks |website=IMDb.com |access-date=2016-04-09}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/formby-song-book/fanlight_fanny-1935c.htm George Formby Songbook - Lyrics and music] *[http://thedorsetknob.co.uk/5140/fanlight-fanny-frowsy-night-club-queen/ Link to both Formby's and Ford's versions]

{{authority control}}

Category:British comedy songs Category:1935 songs Category:1962 singles Category:George Formby songs Category:Songs written by George Formby Category:Songs about fictional female characters Category:Songs written by Fred E. Cliffe Category:Songs written by Harry Gifford (songwriter)

{{1930s-song-stub}} {{1960s-pop-song-stub}}