Two well-educated African Americans had considerable success as entertainers in Britain from 1924 to 1935, appearing in select night clubs, performing for royalty, touring towns all over Britain at the best theatres, broadcasting on the radio and making many recordings. John Turner Layton (1894-1978) and Clarence “Tandy” Johnstone (1885-1953) are said to have sold millions of gramophone records.

Their act was simple – Johnstone would stand at the piano and Layton would be at the keyboard, and they would present the latest US songs – their two voices being well matched, and Layton’s piano playing was both jazz-like and melodic. Such duettists were not rare in British inter-war entertainment circles, but Layton and Johnstone were the very best.

The act folded in 1935 following a divorce case in London in March 1934. Widely reported in the newspapers, the Birmingham Daily Gazette’s “Wife’s Infatuation for Coloured Singer” (8 March 1934, page 9) was typical. Johnstone had been involved with Raymonde Sandler, the wife of a highly respected violinist. Albert Sandler was a radio and recording star, having led orchestras in Eastbourne 1925-1928 and then in the exclusive Park Lane, London, into 1930. The Liverpool Echo of 6 March (page 12) described him as a “Jew who married a Roman Catholic”.

The Echo of 7 March (page 7) reported the jury had awarded Sandler £2,500 damages against Johnstone, that the affairs started in 1930, and that she had never denied adultery. The pair were “wife and coloured singer”.

The Eastbourne Gazette (7 March page 15) had “the coloured vaudeville artist” and the Daily Mirror had “the coloured singer” as did the Sheffield Independent (also 8 March 1934).

Sandler continued his musical career, remarrying and making records into 1947. He died in 1948, aged 42. Layton remained in England with his wife and daughter, and was a well respected person, making recordings as a solo vocalist to his own piano. He died in London in 1978. Johnstone married Raymonde Sandler and they settled in New York but his career was no longer a success, they divorced and he worked as a janitor. He died in 1953.

There are several CDs of the recordings of Layton and Johnstone.