When I was young, it was quite the same set of circumstances. My parents listened mostly to classical. That followed me through life; I played bass in a few orchestras as a sub, and french horn in orchestra and concert bands. I still fall back on it for background music, something on whilst in the workshop.
My dad (naturally) had a few recordings of the Cockney music hall classics, music that my mother found abhorrent since she was a music snob and social wannabe.
Back to "Dustman", he had a few records, LP and 45, of Stanley Holloway's collection of all that sort of thing, "My Old Dutch", "My Word You Do Look Queer", a 45 with "Dustman" on it.
That LP had the old music hall version of "Sweeney Todd the Barber" on it. When I was a boy we had one of those talent things in school everyone had to participate in (and everybody feared). I memorised "Sweeney" off that LP and the teachers, being uptight Americans, were horrified! There was quite the stink from that little episode!
Almost fifty years later, I was auditioning for the local theatre and was supposed to prepare some song or another, preferably a Broadway tune (which as a genre I know little and like less). I discovered I still had that old Sweeney version firmly in memory, so I did that one. I landed the part.
Grin!
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