This astonishing find (unearthed after much delving into the Dutch archives) features the youngest member of the George Mitchell Singers, the film-actress-to-be Vanessa Howard (star of 'Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly'), who was just 16 years old when this recording of the company performing 'Strolling' and 'Side-by-Side' was made in 1965.
An on-off member of the Singers for a couple of years, she left temporarily at the end of 1965 to develop a budding solo career in London's theatreland before returning in the early summer of 1966 for the recording of yet more TV programmes, including solo singing appearances in the now completely lost BBC2 series 'A World of Song'.
Eventually, she left the Singers for the cult film career she is now almost wholly known for (see my Vanessa Howard playlist for full details of this).
The George Mitchell Singers made two TV specials in Holland in 1965 under the title 'Midavondserenade' ('Mid-evening Serenade'), with the only surviving performance from either of these shows being this sparkling routine from the second edition, which survived by virtue of being included on a still-extant New Year compilation called ' '65 Extended', shown on the first day of 1966 on Dutch TV.
The original (now missing) edition of 'Midavondserenade' this footage came from was made by the organisation KRO (Katholieke Radio Omroep). It was recorded on 625-line videotape at the Hilversum TV studios via microwave link from the Singer Museum, Laren, near Hilversum, and the programme was broadcast on Nederland 1 on 5 June 1965.
I would like to thank the Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid for their invaluable help in tracing this footage.
Much more information on Vanessa Howard's life and career can be found at / vanessahowardchartoff .
(Vanessa is the one with her nose in the flower at 1:24, for those unfamiliar with who I am describing.)