Billy Cotton

English bandleader and entertainer. Born 6 May 1899 in Smith Square, London England, Died 25 March 1969 in Wembley, London, England. Billy Cotton was one of the few whose orchestras survived the British dance band era. Today, he is mainly remembered as a 1950s-60s radio and television personality, although his musical talent emerged as early as the 1920s. He had a long-running variety show on BBC Radio, "The Billy Cotton Band Show" (1949-68). In his younger years Billy Cotton was also an amateur footballer for Brentford F.C. (and later, for the then Athenian league club Wimbledon, now AFC Wimbledon), an accomplished racing driver and the owner of a Gipsy Moth which he piloted himself.