The post-war 'Coca-Colonisation' of countries by the US insinuated American culture into people's lives across the world for generations – and the UK was particularly affected. Indeed, the UK experienced what some dubbed a 'friendly invasion' of American military personnel during World War II. They brought music like jazz and its jitterbug variant with them, as well as consumer goods such as Coca Cola, chewing gum and Lucky Strike cigarettes.
East Anglia was a hotbed of military activity from 1942 as it was home to over 50 airfields and their squadrons of Liberator bombers and fighter planes. As many as 350,000 US servicemen passed through Norfolk and Suffolk bases, which were visited by wartime stars such as Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore. The Glenn Miller Orchestra played Halesworth (Holton) airfield in August 1944, four months before the bandleader perished in the English Channel, his aircraft lost en route to France.
As seen in the recent TV series Masters of the Air, American servicemen fraternised fairly freely with East Anglians on and off the bases. It meant that, more than any other part of the UK, local people would also be able to hear the latest American popular music on record.
And what riches they bought. In 1943 the US government had formed the V-Disc (meaning Victory) record label and regular shipments of discs featuring big recording stars like Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington were sent to their forces around the world.
After WWII, through the Cold War and into the 1990s the US still maintained a strong military presence in England at a handful of big bases – and the sound of America continued to permeate rural East Anglia. But much of the cultural impact of these postwar USAF bases and their Black service personnel is hidden in folk memory.
But not for long. A project called Super Fly is underway to shed light on the influence of black American music coming out of the Bentwaters (which closed in 1993), Mildenhall and Lakenheath bases. It has asked for people to get in touch with their stories, photographs, posters and flyers from the 1960s through to the 1990s, to add to the research and interviews already carried out. The results will be showcased during the Woodbridge Festival of Art and Music at the end of August.
Ben Osborne, founder of art collective Noise of Art, which is behind the project, says the Super Fly project has been well received.
“The second we went public, stories started coming in,” he says. “For example, on the first day we put flyers up and a complete stranger started telling me about his dad’s experiences on the bases. Another guy messaged his mum and a minute later was showing me a poster she has on her wall from the period. Things like that are gold dust and they would probably have been lost without this project.”
It’s important to remember that before the internet music travelled by different routes, for example via DJs and independent record shops. It’s commonly assumed, says Osborne, that the influence of American Black music in the UK arrived through London or major port cities such as Liverpool. But feedback to Super Fly reveals that this groundbreaking music, from blues and soul to funk and hip-hop, was also coming into the UK via East Anglian US air bases.
In Suffolk, it meant that otherwise unavailable black music might be heard in coffee bars, pubs and venues. Says Osborne: “There were American cars playing the music, while the bases had their own events that local people were able to attend and sometimes play at.”
Contributors to Super Fly so far include legendary club DJ and former head of Motown UK Les Spaine. “Les is a very good friend of mine and while I was telling him about this project back in 2020, he started telling me about his experiences DJing in Suffolk airbases in the 1970s,” says Osborne. “Les and I did an on-stage Q&A about his memories of the USAF bases and he’s now a principal part of the Super Fly project.”
Other names likely to surface include R&B singer Geno Washington, who was stationed with the USAF at RAF Bentwaters in the 1960s. His career took off while he was still serving there. The 1980 hit single by Dexys Midnight Runners “Geno” was a tribute to Washington.
“People’s stories have revealed that some of the names you’d normally associate with London and Liverpool were also connected with Suffolk,” says Osborne. “It’s still a bit too early to reveal some of those connections so readers will have to come to Woodbridge Festival’s annual event in Elmhurst Park on 30 August to find them.”
Find out more at www.woodbridgefestival.com