( * as part of Fame And Price Together )
Chart entered : 10 April 1971
Chart peak : 11
Well here's one that's got lost in The Fog, a decent -sized hit duet between two name performers but I've never heard it on the radio. Perhaps it's just too laddish for modern sensibilities
Georgie had had two other number ones after breaking through with "Yeh Yeh" but since the opportunistic "Ballad Of Bonnie and Clyde" he'd had more misses than hits. Alan and Georgie , both keyboard players of course had been friends and drinking pals since the former was in The Animals. According to Georgie the decision to work together was taken in the toilets of Bradford University.
"Rosetta" was the first fruit of the partnership, a likable piano boogie written by Liverpudlian Michael Snow about the sort of lass who likes a good scrap on a Friday night. No doubt the type was familiar in Newcastle and Wigan too. Alan does the first verse, Georgie the second and they sing the bulletproof chorus and reprise of the first verse together. I'm presuming neither played the guitar solo but I can't find out who did. It's singable , maddeningly so, after just one listen so it was always going to be a hit. Holly Hughes has done a good piece on the song here Rosetta.
Georgie's public profile was never higher than in the early seventies so why his chart career should end now isn't immediately obvious. He was involved in a highly publicised scandal when the son and heir of the Marquess of Londonderry was revealed by blood tests to be his child . In 1972 he married the ex-Marchioness when her divorce came through leading to the enduring misconception that he's posh himself. Fame and Price made such an impression on It's Lulu in July 1971 when their performance of "Back In The USSR" ended in a staged fight that they were given their own show The Price Of Fame. They also had a season as the musical act on The Two Ronnies.
The lads' album clumsily titled "Fame And Price, Price And Fame Together" was well reviewed but didn't make the charts . Their follow-up single in November 1971 was "Follow Me" a Tony Hiller song originally recorded by Brotherhood of Man .It's cut from the same musical cloth as "Rosetta" and is catchy enough but somehow it didn't connect with the public.
Georgie's next release was a solo effort "Hey Baby I'm Getting Ready" which I haven't heard but may have been connected with the film he scored The Alf Garnett Saga the ill-received second spin-off film from the TV series ( which I've never found remotely funny ). There was one more single from the duo, Georgie's song "Don't Hit Me When I'm Down" in February 1973 before the partnership was amicably dissolved.
Georgie put together a new Blue Ntes line up and signed for Island. His first single for them in September 1974 was a cover of a song by country blues man J.J.Cale. "Everlovin' Woman" is just awful. Georgie sings in a low-register growl that you can barely hear at times , the guitar sound is horrible, it's tuneless and it sounds like it was recorded in a shed . If it had been played blind to me I wouldn't have had a clue that it was him.
The next one "Ali Shuffle" was a calypso workout with uninspired lyrics about the charismatic boxer written by Georgie and someone called J Ryan. Georgie's Caribbean accent doesn't work very well and you can understand why Johnny Wakelin got the Ali-related hits instead.
Georgie started working in commercials and his next single didn't come out until March 1976, the theme tune to forgotten ITV sitcom "Yes Honestly". I haven't heard it but obviously the exposure wasn't enough to get him back in the charts. "Sweet Perfection" from June 1976 is a loosely Latin MOR shuffle which chugs along inoffensively. "Daylight" from March 1977 was the title track to his next LP and is a discofied version of a Bobby Womack song. It's not bad , sounding a lot like Boz Scaggs , although the organ sound is a bit anachronistic.
By now Georgie was struggling and appeared in a coffee commercial to keep the wolves from the door. He was dropped by Island and went to Pye, releasing "A Different Dream" in March 1979. It's another competent disco outing with suitably urban lyrics but by now Georgie had been consigned to Radio Two and wasn't getting heard. "Maybe Tomorrow" from September 1979 sounds like Billy Joel and is competent enough AOR with synthesisers getting their first outing in Georgie's music.
In 1980 Georgie hopped labels again and released "Give A Little More" which I haven't heard on Piccadilly. He then decided to switch to making jazz records and visited Hoagy Carmichael to ask his blessing for an LP, "In Hoagland" of his songs recorded with Annie Ross."Drip Drop" was optimistically released as a single in July 1981 but it was never going to trouble the charts.
In July 1982 he released a one-off single "The Hurricane" on a small independent label as a tribute to snooker bad boy Alex Higgins who had just won the World title for the second ( and final ) time. It's a suitably fast piano rocker in the Elton/Billy mould and the lyrics aren't too embarrassing but he didn't get it out fast enough to capitalise on the victory.
After that one Georgie largely ignored the singles market, singing with the Count Basie Orchestra and big bands and releasing jazz albums. In 1984 though he agreed to do a duet with light entertainment stalwart Patti Boulaye on a version of "Swinging On A Star" which was released as a single then two years later recorded "Samba" with, of all people, Stock, Aitken and Waterman. Surprisingly this unlikely pairing actually works quite well and it was a big hit in Spain although didn't come back here with the hordes.
In 1989 Georgie began a long association with Van Morrison working on every album between 1989 and 1997 and credited as a co-artist on his 1996 single "That's Life". He also played in Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings after the bassist left The Stones.
In 1993 Georgie suffered personal tragedy when his wife jumped off the Clifton Suspension Bridge ( possibly noted by an agitated young Welsh guitarist ) after a long battle with depression. Two years later Georgie formed a trio Three Line Whip with their two sons. He's kept working, mainly in jazz, ever since.
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