A superb cinema organ
The ABC Royal cinema Plymouth was built in 1938 on the site of the old Theatre Royal and was equipped with a Compton cinema organ typical of the times. The organ was specified with eight ranks of pipes plus a Compton Melotone unit all housed within two chambers built into the right-hand side wall behind a fancy grill. The Melotone was an electrostatic sound generator that the company invented and was using at that time to provide additional tone colours to their cinema pipe organs. The pipe ranks for the ABC organ were made and voiced particularly well and over the years the organ became very well known for its superb tonal qualities.

The ABC cinema Plymouth before conversion to bingo.
The organ console can be seen bottom right

Many larger organs produced by Compton or other manufacturers have not equaled the 'Plymouth' sound and the organ's capabilities. To this day the ABC organ is regarded as the finest smaller Compton cinema organ ever built and arguably the finest and most musically flexible cinema pipe organ of any make of its size. It features very rich and vibrant theatre organ voices for lighter music but is also superb in the role of a more serious instrument for the classical or sacred repertoire.

The resident organist at the ABC, since a few months after the cinema opened, was Dudley Savage. He was only 18 when appointed and although he resigned after the war as the resident organist he soon found himself back in the seat where he remained the main man until the original cinema closed for conversion to bingo in 1976.

A young Dudley Savage at the ABC organ taken before the war. The console originally had these glass illuminated sides

The organ on the air
In 1948 Dudley started a request programme on BBC radio called ‘As Prescribed’, which ran for nearly thirty years and was extremely popular. It had been suggested by the BBC that he might like to use either the BBC Theatre Organ or the Odeon Leicester Square or Southampton Guildhall organs. Dudley however decided upon the ABC Plymouth Compton, partly because he lived near but also because he knew it so well and new how good it was. When the BBC tried to axe the programme at one point they received a huge petition, reputedly the largest ever submitted, and subsequently reinstated the broadcasts. See the Radio Times article in the Photo Gallery. The BBC went on to produce LP records of Dudley at the Plymouth organ, which also proved very popular. Dudley also played all over the country, and indeed the world, on many different organs and toured with a Hammond organ. See the About the organ section to download some of Dudley’s recordings made on the ABC organ and the Photo Gallery for more pictures of Dudley.

Dudley Savage on air in the 1960s. The console’s glass sides had previously been removed and the angle poise lamps added to assist Dudley’s broadcasts

Decline and rejuvenation
The organ remained in the building after it was converted to bingo and was indeed still played by various organists. However over the years it fell into disuse and suffered from neglect. The console was subsequently boarded over and a new false ceiling was built through the middle of the auditorium which almost blocked off the pipe chambers.

In the Summer of 2005 HWS Associates got to hear that Blackheath Halls in South London were contemplating the installation of a pipe organ, preferably a cinema organ. Already being aware of the fine instrument laying dormant at Plymouth, HWS put together a proposal to Blackheath for its acquisition and the deal was done by the end of 2005. Prior to the organ’s purchase HWS undertook an initial inspection of it and found that despite being entombed and unused for years it was actually still just about playable. On 6th February 2006 work started to safely remove this fine instrument and to commence the process of returning it to its former glory and full public use.

It's a great shame that Dudley Savage died late in 2008 and never saw his beloved Compton organ after he last played it at the ABC. However he knew of its rescue and of its new home and was delighted that not only was it going to a wonderful venue but that music students were likely to have the chance to play it. Dudley's son Peter has also been kept informed of the organ’s acquisition and has pledged his support for the project.

TV Documentary
HWS has teamed up with TV Production company Swan Media to produce a full-scale TV documentary about the Blackheath Compton organ project. We are most fortunate to have gained the interest and kind cooperation as presenter of none other than keyboard legend Rick Wakeman. Below is a sneak preview of some of the footage already shot, taken from an interview Rick conducted in February 2006 with the man himself - Dudley Savage.

Dudley Savage interview - Windows Media video clip. 33MB