Page "Josef Locke" Paragraph 3

Known as The Singing Bobby, he became a local celebrity before starting to work the UK variety circuit, where he played 19 seasons in the northern English seaside resort of Blackpool.

The renowned Irish tenor John McCormack ( 1884 – 1945 ) advised him that his voice was better suited to a lighter repertoire than the operatic one he had in mind, and urged him to find an agent — thus he found the noted impresario Jack Hylton ( 1892 – 1965 ) who booked him, but couldn't fit his full name on the bill, thus Joseph McLaughlin became Josef Locke.