245 Goodbye Joe Brown - Hey Mama

Chart  entered : 14  April  1973

Chart  peak : 33

Here's  another  one  that  didn't  make  a  deposit  in  the  memory  bank. This  was  Joe's  first  hit  for  nearly  six  years  and his  only  release  on  the  Ammo  label. By  this  time  The  Bruvvers  had  been  dissolved  and  although  he  went  out  on  tour  as  Brown's  Home  Brew  ( which  included  wife  Vicki )  this  single  was  credited  to  Joe  alone

Ammo  was  a  short lived  offshoot  of  EMI  run  by  the  songwriting  trio,  Chris  Arnold, Geoff  Morrow  and  David  Martin. They  wrote  and  produced  this  one  for  Joe. It  was  planned  to  be  in  the  shops  for  Mothers'  Day  but  a  strike  at  EMI's  pressing  plant  put  paid  to  that. Far  from  Joe's  rock  and  roll  roots  this  sounds  like  a  Jewish  funeral  dirge  with  Joe's  fragile  vocal  emerging  from  a  bed  of  murmured  chanting. The  lyrics  from  a  penitent  son  - "all  too  soon  you'll  pass  away  Mama"  - are  quite  touching  but  it's  the  sort  of  thing  you'd  only  play  on  certain  occasions . It  certainly  isn't  a  radio  record.

While  the  label  was  discontinued  Joe  stuck  with  the  trio  for  his  next  single, "Always  Laughing"  on  Decca  in  October  1975.  Despite  the  time  lag  this  continues  in  the  same  vein  , a  collection  of  fireside  memories  of  "Momma"  set  to  a  klezmer  arrangement  with  a  Jewish  fiddle  prominent. The  label  says  "Adapted  from "The  Noss  Story""  but  I've  drawn  a  blank  on  what  this  refers  to. Although  it  never  charted  it  was  something  of  an  underground  hit  and  was  released  twice  more  in  the  seventies.

By  1977  he  was  on  Power  Exchange  releasing  "The  Boxer"  in  April, not  the Simon  and Garfunkel  song  but  a  Ralph  McTell  composition. That  same  year an  appearance  on  Celebrity Squares   sparked  off  a  second  career  as  a  TV  face, his  chirpy  Cockney  persona, somehow  less  annoying  than  Tommy  Steele, being  much  in  demand  for  panel  shows  including  Juke  Box  Jury, Blankety  Blank  and  Punchlines.  His  next  single  was  a  duet  with  Vicki  and  the  Dovedale  Junior  School  Choir  on  "All  Things  Bright  And  Beautiful". I  can't  tell  you  how  gutted  I  am  not  to  find  that  one  anywhere.

The  revival  of  Oh  Boy  gave  Joe  a  new  platform  for  his  music  and  he  tried  to  capitalise  with  an  EP   headed  by  "The  Ted's  Song" ,  an  embarrassing  mid-life  crisis  romp  that  must  have  had  young  Sam  hiding  behind  the  sofa. The  mid  song  rant  is  unlistenable.  His  next  single was  "Free  Inside"  in  July  1979,  the  theme  tune  to  the  Porridge  film   sadly  overshadowed  by  the  death  of  Richard  Beckinsale  just  before  its  release.  Written  by  the  series  writer  Ian  La  Frenais  and  producer  Lem  Lubin  it's  passable  but  owes  quite  a  lot  to  Maggie  May.

After  that  Joe's  TV  career  took  precedence  and  he  presented  the  short-lived  Let's  Rock  in  1981  then  did  three  years  as  host  of  daytime  quiz  Square  One  ( I  don't  remember  it  either ). His  only  single  in  the  eighties  was  the  theme  tune  to  forgettable  snooker  drama  Give  Us  A  Break.  After  another   short-lived   quiz  show  Show  Me  in  1987 and  losing  out  to  Leslie  Crowther  to  host  The  Price  Is  Right   the  TV  work  dried  up  and  he  took  time  out  to  foster  the  career  of  daughter  Sam, appearing  in  the  video  for  Can  I  Get  A  Witness .  

As  Sam  settled  for  being  an  in-demand  backing  vocalist,  Joe  released  a  few singles  on  very obscure  labels  in  the  nineties  but  it  was  his  good  friend  George Harrison's  death  in  2001  that  brought  him  back  into  the  limelight. Joe  had  been  best  man  at  Harrison's  second  wedding  and  had  appeared  on  a  couple  of  albums. He  was  prominent  at  the  Concert  For  George  in  2002  performing  "I'll  See  You  In  My  Dreams"  on  the  ukelele.

Since  then  he  has  worked  steadily, touring  and  acting  as  an  elder  statesman  of  British  music  on  TV  and  radio  shows. In  2008  a  number  of  stars  including  Mark  Knopfler  and  Jools  Holland  played  at  a  concert  celebrating  his  50  years  in  the  business  at  the  Royal  Albert  Hall  and  an  OBE  followed  in  2009.

Earlier  this  year  he  had  to  pull  out  of  a  festival  appearance  for  health  reasons  so  I  hope  he's  OK.

244 Hello Mud - Crazy

Chart  entered  : 10  March  1973

Chart  peak : 12

Number  of  hits : 15

These  guys  are  another  good  example  of  sixties  strugglers  getting  a  lift  from  glam  rock. Their  hits  total , all  but  one  in  the  Top  20 , is  pretty  impressive  given  their  chart  career  ended  less  than   four  years  after  it  had  begun.

Mud  were  all  from  suburban  Surrey, three  from  Carshalton  and  one  from  Guildford. They  were  all  born  within  18  months  of  each  other  in  1946-7 .Guitarist  Rob  Davis  and  singer  Les  Gray  were  schoolmates, something  that  became  very  hard  to credit  when  you  compared  their  appearance  in  later  years. Along  with  bassist   Ray  Stiles  and  Les's  brother  Pete on  drums  they  formed  Mud  in  February  1966.

Mud's  live  act  was  based  on  audience  participation  and  humorous  elements. They  found  it  hard  to  please  London  audiences  and  increasingly  worked  in  the  Northern  clubs. They  were  signed  by  CBS  and  released  their  first  single, Rob's  "Flower  Power"  in  October  1967. This  blatant  bandwagon-jumper  failed  to  pay  off  though  it's  not  a  bad  song  with  some  nice  harmonies. Rob  also  wrote  the  follow-up  "Up  The  Airy  Mountain"  a  jaunty  pyschedelic  nursery  rhyme  where  Keith  Mansfield's  brassy  arrangement  almost  drowns  the  band  out, apart  from  the  military  tattoos  by  new  drummer  Dave  Mount  who  joined  after  Pete  decided  to  become  a  draughtsman  instead.Dave  had  played  with  Rob  and  Ray  before  in  local  bands.

When  that  failed  to  take  off  in  March  1968,  the  band  were  dropped  by  CBS  and  went  on  tour  in  Sweden  and  Germany. They  were  given  a  second  chance  by  Philips  who  initially  recruited  them  for  a  tour  as  backing  band  for  Hair  star  Linda  Kendrick. Their  first  single  for  the  label  was  1969's  "Shangri-la"  written  by  Miki  Anthony, a  superior  slice  of  sunshine  pop  with  a  string-laden  Johnny  Arthey  arrangement  that  makes  the chorus  sound  remarkably  like  ELO.  I'm  presuming  lack  of  airplay  did  for  it  as  it  certainly  holds  up  well.  Their  next  single  came  out  over  a  year  later. "Jumping  Jehosaphat" ,  written  by  the  successful  Murray/ Callendar  partnership,  is  a  competent  bubblegum  effort  but  even  an  appearance  on  The  Basil  Brush  Show  couldn't  break  it.

The  band  toiled  away  in  provincial  obscurity  for  the  next  two  years  before  a  very  lucky  break. As  The  Sweet  grew  more  successful  their  desire  for  more  creative  control  of  their  output  increased  and  their  songwriters  Nicky  Chin  and  Mike  Chapman  started  looking  for  a  band  that  would  be  less  fussy  about  what  they  recorded. Mud  seemed  to  fit  the  bill. It's  hard  to  believe  Mickie  Most  didn't  have  reservations  about  signing  a  band  with  such  a  long  track  record  of  failure  but  he  went  along  with  it  and  so  they  joined  the  RAK  stable. Their  visual  contribution  to  the  glam  phenomenon  was  eyeliner  and  garish  striped  suits  while  Rob  would  soon  start  to  cultivate  an  androgynous  look  like  The  Sweet's  Steve  Priest.

This  was  their  first  single. As  the  sleeve  suggests  it  was  written  with  a  tango  rhythm. The  tub-thumping  beat  and  Rob's  contorted  guitar  work  anchor  it  in  the  glam  sound   and  Les  does  a  fair  impersonation  of  Brian  Connolly  increasing  the  suspicion   that  the  song  was  originally  pitched  at  The  Sweet. Both  the  ( slightly  dodgy  )  lyric  of  awed  admiration  for  a  precocious  girl  who  doesn't  follow  the  rules  and  brooding  atmosphere  put  me  in  mind  of  Talk  Talk's  Mirror  Man , a  connection  I've  not  made  before.  Though  overshadowed  by  the  monster  hit  they  enjoyed  less  than  a  year  later  it's  one  of  their  better  records  and  though  rarely  played , a  worthy  addition  to  the  glam  canon.

243 Goodbye Val Doonican - Heaven Is My Woman's Love

Chart  entered :  10  March  1973

Chart  peak : 34

I  don't  remember  this  one  either. Given  that  his  TV  show  ran  until  1986  this  is  a  surprisingly  early  exit  for  Val  but  I  suppose  his  audience  had  stopped  buying  singles.
Val's  biggest  hits  were  in  the  mid-sixties  but  the  TV  gig  hd  kept  his  chart  career  reasonably  buoyant  since  then.

"Heaven  Is  My  Woman's  Love"  was  written  by  S K  Dobbins  and  was  a   big  country  hit  for  Tommy  Overstreet  the  previous  year.  The  lyrics  are  as  chocolate  box  as  you'd  expect  from  the  title. Val's  musical  director  Ken  Woodman  takes  the  song  away  from  country  towards  MOR  pop  with  a  surprisingly  heavy  bassline  which  gives  the  song  more  heft  than  you'd  expect. Val  does  his  usual  relaxed  croon. It's  not  for  me  but  it's  certainly  not  a  bad  record.

Val's  fans  haven't  put  that  much  stuff  on  youtube  as  yet  so  it's  hard  to  hear  his  subsequent  singles  starting  with  "Oh  Woman"  in  November  1973. After  that  he  seemed  to  lose  interest  in  the  singles  market  and  his  next  one  wasn't  until  April  1976  when  he  lost  out  to  Canadian  J J  Barrie  in  the  battle  to  put  the  execrable  "No  Charge"  in  the  charts.

That  was  Val's  last  single  for  Philips. He  re-emerged  in  October  1980  on  RCA  with  "French  Waltz"  working  with   producer  Chris  Neil  ( Paul  Nicholas , Dollar )  then  "Light  The  Candles  Round  The  World" in  June  1981, a  sickly  peace  anthem  with  a  world  music  feel  that's  slightly  ahead  of  its  time. Next  came  "Mississipi  Mud"  in  May  1982  and  that  was  almost  it.
His  last  single  was  in  1990, a  version  of   "Somewhere  Out  There"  as  a  duet  with  Lynn  Clare  ( ? )  on  a  small  label.  She  actually  has  a  nice  voice  but  the  cheap  production  lets  it  down.

By  that  time  the  TV  series  had  ended  shortly  before  his  60th  birthday. Val  agreed  with  the BBC  that  it  had  come  to  the  end  of  its  shelf  life.  He  eschewed  any  TV  work  away  from music  saying  "that's  the  tail  wagging  the  dog" .  He  divided  his  time  between  family life , in   England  and  Spain , painting , golf , the  odd  CD  of  covers  and  re-recordings   and  a  sensibly  paced  touring  schedule. In  2009  at  the age  of  82  probably  the  most  level headed   of  all  performers  announced  his  retirement.  

242 Goodbye Chuck Berry - Reelin' And Rockin'

Chart  entered : 9  February  1973

Chart  peak : 18

It  hasn't  taken  long  to  reach  the  first  hit, post - Crazy Horses, of  which  I've  no  recollection. This  was  quite  obviously  a  hit  in  the  slipstream  of  his  giant  comeback  hit  "My  Ding-A-Ling"  which  was  slipping  down  the  charts  as  I  got  interested. I  certainly  remember  that  but it was  a  while  before  I  understood  the  reason  behind  the  looks  my  mum  and  gran  exchanged whenever  it  came  on.  Both  songs  were  edited -down  versions  - I've  yet  to  steel  myself  for  11 and  a  half  minutes  of  "My  Ding-A-Ling"-  from  the  live  side  of  his  "London  Sessions"  album  ,which  was  actually  recorded  at  the  Lanchester  Arts  Festival  in  Coventry  in  February  1972.

"Reelin'  and  Rockin' "  was  originally  the  B-side  of  "Sweet  Little  Sixteen"  in  1958.  It's  quite  conceivably  about  sex  as  well  with  Chuck  checking  his  watch  every  eleven  minutes  while  apparently  dancing  the  night  away. Otherwise  it's  a  routine  12  bar  boogie  performed  with  gusto  by  the  45-year  old  who's  in  good  voice  and  the  crowd  are  obviously  enjoying  it. It  was  his  last  hit  on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic.

Chuck  headlined  at  the  Wembley  concert  in  August  1972  then  returned  to  the  USA  to  make  the  album  "Bio" The  title  track  appeared  on  the  B side  of  Chuck's  next  single  "South  Of  The  Border"  a  slightly  rude  two  minute  version  of  Frank  Sinatra's  "South  Of  The  Border"  released  in  December  1973. It's  mildly  funny   on  the  first  play  but  lightning  wasn't  going  to  strike  twice  for  him.

It  appeared  two  years  later  on  his  final  album  for  Chess, "Chuck  Berry". The  other  single  was  a  decent  version  of  "Shake  Rattle  And  Roll"   released  in  February  1975  ( when  Elvis  was  riding  high  in  the  chartys  with  a  cover  of  Chuck's  Promised  Land  ) .  Chuck's  voice  seems  to  be  losing  some  of  its  power  but  there's  good  guitar  work. The  solo  however  was  played  by  Elliott  Randall  who  was  brought  in  to  do  some  overdubs  on  the  LP  without  Chuck  being  involved. He  was  furious, ended  his  long  association  with  the  label  and  eventually  resurfaced  on  Atlantic  releasing  what  seems  to  be  his  last  studio  album  "Rock  It"  in  1979.  His  last  single  was  "Oh  What  A  Thrill"  which  sounds  strikingly  like  Rockpile ; even  the  vocals  sound  like  Dave  Edmunds. It's  a  good  natured  piano  boogie  but   the  energy  level  has  dropped  and  I  think   the  52  year  old  Chuck  realised  the  time  for  new  material  had  passed.

Chuck's  approach  to  touring  was  fairly  unique  ; he'd  just  turn  up  with  a  guitar  and  pick  up  local  musicians  assuming  they'd  all  know  his  songs  from  the  first  riff. Bruce  Springsteen  backed  him  at  one  gig  in  the  early  seventies. Unsurprisingly  the  results  were  often  terrible  and  his  reputation  as  a  live  act  inevitably  started  to  suffer. He  was  also  often  performing  for  cash  and  eventually  the  tax  man  caught  up  with  him  so  he  spent  four  months  of  1979  in  prison  for  tax  evasion.

In  1986  Keith  Richards  organised  a  concert  to  celebrate  his  sixtieth  birthday  with  guests  including  Linda  Ronstadt  and  Eric  Clapton. It  was  filmed  as  "Hail ! Hail! Rock  And  Roll" . Chuck  used  some  of  the  proceeds  to  buy  a  restaurant  in  Missouri. This  venture  came  to  grief  when  a  number  of  women  sued  him  for  putting  a  camera  in  the  women's  toilets. Chuck  claimed  it  was  to  catch  an  employee  he  suspected  of  embezzlement  but  he  chose  to  settle  out  of  court  for  over $1million. A  police  raid  on  his  house  incriminated  him  further  and  he  had  to  plead  guilty  to  drug  possession  as  a  plea  bargain  for  which  he  received  a  suspended  sentence.

He  hasn't  officially  retired  yet  but  since  collapsing  on  stage  at  the  beginning  of   2011  he's  only  performed  short  sets  at  a  restaurant  near  his  home.    

241 Hello Thin Lizzy - Whisky In The Jar

Chart  entered : 20  January  1973

Chart  peak : 6

Number  of  hits : 18

We  move  into  1973 , my  first  full  year  as  a pop  fan  and  really  the  first  calendar  year  I  appreciated  was  a  distinct  entity  with  its  own  character  and  events. The  pop  chart  certainly  helped  in  this  process  by  providing  a  framework  and  instant  aide-memoires  in  the  records.  I  recall  certain  news  events  like  the   death  of  Dad's  Army's  James  Beck  (  a  profound  shock  that  someone  famous  couldn't  be  saved  by  going  into  hospital )  and  the  Yom  Kippur  War.  Like  all  years  it  was  a  mixture  of  good  and  bad. The  spring  and  summer  terms  at  St  Mary's  were  the  bad ; Mrs  Smith  was  replaced  by  the  wife  of  a  bloke  who  taught  at  the  same  school  as  my  dad. There  was  some  joking  about  potential  favouritism  over  the  Christmas  holidays  but  nothing  could  have  been  further  from  the  mark. While  her  husband  always  seemed  OK  she  was  absolutely  horrendous, a  classic  example  of  the   self-righteous   joylessness  of  the  ultra-religious. It  was  gratifying  some  years  later  to  find  out  that  some  of  her  colleagues  had  similar  reservations  about  her.  I  spent  the  summer  holiday  in  the  dog  house  after  a  wildly  over  the  top  negative  school  report  from  her. At  the  far  end  of  that  holiday  I   received  a  sudden  influx  of  new  toys  as  my  cousins  ( both  boys )  were  emigrating  to  New  Zealand  and  had  to  surrender  them. Though  they  only  lasted  a  fortnight  there  only  the  microscope  was  ever  reclaimed. The  rest  of  the  year  passed  peacefully  enough.

As  Roy  Wood  was  an  established  chart  force  by  the  time  of  Wizzard's  first  record  , Thin  Lizzy  are  the  first  substantial  new  act  to  emerge  on  my  watch. Guitarist  Eric  Bell  had  been  in  Them  but  not  at  the  time  they  had  their  hits.  The  band  were  formed  in  Dublin  in  1969  after  Eric  met  organist  Eric  Wrixon  who  had  an  on/off  relationship  with  Them  in  a  bar  and  they  decided  to  put  a  group  together. They  approached  two  guys  from  a  band  called  The  Orphanage ,  singer  Phil  Lynott   and  drummer  Brian  Downey  who  agreed  on  two  conditions, that  Phil  could  play  bass  as  well  as  sing  and  that  they'd  perform  some  of  his  own  songs. The  band  were  named  by  Eric  B  after  a  robot  Tin  Lizzie  in  The  Dandy.  

Phil  was  born  in  England  in  1949  to  an  Irish  mother  and  Afro-Guyanese  father  but  went  to live  with  his  grandmother  in  Dublin  when  they  split  up. He  met  Brian  at  the  Christian Brothers  school  there.  In  1968  he  formed  the  band  Skid  Row  with  a  bass  player  Brendan Shiels; Brian  turned  down  the  invitation  to  join. A  young  guitarist  named  Gary  Moore joined them  shortly  afterwards. They  soon  released  a  single "New  Faces  Old  Places"  an  acoustic folky  item  written  by  Shiels  about  a  compulsory  purchase  order  on  the  family  home  which got  some  support  from  Peelie  but  was  only  available  on  a  small  label. It's  a  bit  clumsy  and the  tin  whistle  played  by  Planxty's  Johnny  Moynihan  is  a  little  too  prominent  but  not  bad   for  a  first  effort.

Phil's  vocal  on  the  single  is  a  bit  lispy  and  there  was  a  general  concern  about  the  quality  of his  singing. A  problem  with  his  tonsils  was  identified  and  while  he  was  having  that  fixed Shiels  took  over  on  vocals  and  the  band  decided  that  worked  better. Feeling  guilty  at bumping  his  friend  Shiels  sold  him  a  bass  guitar  and  taught  him  how  to  play  it. Phil  then formed  The  Orphanage  with  Brian.

The  first  Thin  Lizzy  single  was  "The  Farmer" only  released  as  a  limited  pressing  in  Ireland  in  July  1970    and  very  valuable  if  you've  got  one. Phil  wrote  it  as  a  mournful  invitation  to  a  funeral  and  it's  lachrymose  Celtic  rock  heavily  influenced  by  Astral  Weeks-era  Van  Morrison. The  plus  point  is  a  terrific  guitar  solo  from  Eric  B. After  its  release  the  restless  Eric  W  quit  leaving  the  group  a  trio. By  the  end  of  the  decade  they  had  a  deal  with  Decca and  travelled  to  London  to  record  their  eponymous  debut  LP.

"Thin  Lizzy"  was  not  a  commercial  success. It's  not  without  merit  but  Phil's  songwriting  is  not  quite  up  to  scratch  and  Eric's  Gilmour-esque   playing  seems  wasted  on  some  very  formless  songs. "Return  Of  The  Farmer's  Son"  is  little  more  than  an  excuse  for  a  lengthy  guitar  and  drum  workout  but  I  do  like  the  rhyming  of  "smack  me  on  the  ass"  with  "Sunday  Mass".

A  few  months  later  they  released   the "New  Day" EP  headed  by  the  track  "Dublin"  where  they  start  getting  it  together. Phil's  lovely  spare  lines  convey  the  conflicting  emotions  of  a  departing  son  for  his  home  town  "that  has  no  jobs" and  are  underpinned  by  Eric's  lyrical  lines. The  final  track  "Things  Ain't  Working  Out  Down  At  The  Farm"  hints  at  child  abuse  and  locates  the  classic  Lizzy  sound. The  less  said  about  the  intervening  tracks  the  better.

Now  based  in  London  the  band  released  their  second  album  "Shades  of  a  Blue  Orphanage" . The  promise  of  the  EP  wasn't  realised  on  an  album  that's  poorer  than  their  debut  with  the  songs  sounding  either  unfinished  or  stretched  well  beyond  the  length  that  the  germ  of  an  idea  can  support. "Sarah" , Phil's  tribute  to  his  grandmother,  is  touching  but  underdeveloped  and  the  Elvis  parody  "I  Don't  Want  To  Forget  How  To  Jive"  is  one  of  the  most  vacuous  things  I've  ever  heard.

Decca  correctly  judged  that  there  wasn't  a  single  on  it  and  were  happy  for the  band  to  record  a  Deep  Purple  covers  album  for  a  German  businessman  Leo  Muller  ; Lord  knows  who  the  intended  audience  was. Lizzy  did  it  for  the  cash  but  were  keen  to  obscure  their  involvement. They  called  themselves  Funky  Junction  and  brought  in  a  different  vocalist  who  would  sound  more  like  Ian  Gillan. They  only  actually  recorded  five  Purple  songs  and  made  up  the  LP  with  four  instrumental  jams  which  they  credited  to  Muller  himself. Once  that  was  done  they  went  out  on  tour  as  support  for  Slade  which  did  them  no  harm   and  Decca  decided  to  release  this  one  as  their  new  single.

"Whiskey  In  The  Jar"  besides  being  a  tremendous  record  , holds  a  special  place  in  my  heart.  Having  as  yet  no  record  player  the  next  best  thing  was  to  buy  pop  magazines  to  learn  more  about  the  stars  and  their  songs  and  I  soon  picked  up  the  latest  copy  of  Words : Record  Song  Book. For  those  who  don't  remember  it  this  was  a  cheap  and  cheerful  A5 , mostly  b & w  , monthly  magazine  cobbled  together  from  song  lyrics, press  releases  and  publicity  shots  and  a  brief  editorial  feature. I've  never  been  particularly  good  at  discerning  lyrics  by  ear  so  this  was  a  godsend   ( I  think  it  ceased  in  1980, crushed  by  Smash  Hits ). The  lyrics  to  "Whisky  In  The  Jar"  revealed  something  I'd  not  picked  up  ; the  narrator's  adversary  and  ultimate  victim  had  my  own  surname* , still , I  think,  its  only  appearance  on  a  hit  song  although  we'll  be  meeting  an  "artist"  ( no  relation )  with  it  before  this  decade's  through.

"Whisky  In  The  Jar"  is  a  traditional  folk  song  from  the  wild  south  west  of  Ireland. The  tale  is  told  by  a  highwayman   who   relieves  a  soldier  of  the  cash  he  is  escorting  then  finds  him  in  bed  with  his  woman  with  inevitable  results.  It  was  first  popularised  by  The  Dubliners  who  released  a  version  as  a  single  in  1968. Lizzy   recorded  their  version during  the  Orphanage  sessions  for  what   turned  out  to  be  an  unnecessary  B  side  and  didn't  want  it  to  be  released  as  it  wasn't  representative  of  their  material. Decca  correctly  judged  that  that  was  a  selling  point .  The   arrangement  credit  was  shared  between  the  three  of  them  but  it's  Eric's  record  with  that  instantly  recognisable  lyrical  guitar  riff   ( I  think  James  Dean  Bradfield  might  have  been  listening )  and  then  a  blistering  solo. Nevertheless  Brian  's  drumming  keeps  it  punchy  and  Phil's  hoarse  desperate  vocal  invites  sympathy  for  this  not  very  nice  character. In  the  mid-nineties  I  worked  with  a  guy  who  played  in  an  Irish  showband  and  asked  him what  he  thought  of  their  version  and  he  said  it  was  definitive.    

   
( * This  is  not  the  case  with  every  version  of  the  song; the  names  are  often  changed. )
 

240 Hello Roy Wood ( solo and Wizzard ) *- Ball Park Incident

(* this  one  was Wizzard )

Chart  entered  :  9  December  1972

Chart  peak : 6

Number  of  hits : 12  ( 7  with  Wizzard , 5  solo )

I  don't  know  the  exact  date of  my  pop  epiphany. It  was  around  the  middle  of  December   1972  at  the  Junior  1  Christmas  party  at  St  Mary's  RC  Primary , Littleborough. The  party  was also  a  send-off  for  our  departing  class  teacher  Mrs  Smith. My  memories  of  her  are  scanty - dark-haired , middle-aged ( perhaps  only  seemingly  so )  and  justifiably  concerned  about  my atrocious  handwriting - but  by  bringing  in  some  contemporary  music  for  the  party  she deserves the  credit  for  introducing  me  to  pop. It  was  there  I  heard  the  song  that  everyone  in  class had been   talking  about  for  the  past  week  or  two  - Crazy  Horses  by  The  Osmonds - and  I thought it  was  fantastic. Tuning  in  to  Top  Of  The  Pops   to  hear  it  again  revealed  other  treats  and introduced  me  to  the  concept  of  the  charts. Soon  afterwards  the  record  I  thought  surpassed Crazy  Horses  for  excitement  - Block  Buster  by  The  Sweet - soared  to  number  one  and  the deal  was  sealed.

But  neither  of  those  are  the  record  we're  discussing. We  need  to  go  back  to  the   Birmingham story. Even  before  10538  Overture   hit  the  charts  Roy  had  decided  to quit  ELO. A  lot  of  hot air  has  been  expended  on  this  event  mainly  by  fiftysomethings  who  still  regard  Roy  as  the great  lost  genius  of  pop   and  view  ELO's  subsequent  success  as  the  triumph  of  perspiration over  inspiration. As  one  put  it  to  me  "It  should  have  been  Jeff  Lynne  that  left  not  Roy" but that's  wrongheaded; Roy  quit  to  get  away  from  manager  Don  Arden  not  Jeff  and  the  two  are still  on  good  terms. The  new  band  was  christened  Wizzard.

Bill  Hunt  and  Hugh  McDowell  decided  to  go  with  him  and  with  Bev  Bevan  staying  put Rick  Price  came  back  to  work  with  Roy  bringing  the  two  drummers  from  his  band  Mongrel, Charlie  Grima  and  Keith  Smart. Two  saxophone  players  Mike  Burney  and  Nick  Pentelow were  added.

The  new  band  were  christened  Wizzard. This  presented  me  with  another  tricky  decision  as viewing  Roy's  solo  singles  and  Wizzard's  as  completely  separate  would  disqualify  both  of  them. In  this  case  I  don't  think   Wizzard  really  qualify  as  an  independent  band; apart  from  a  couple  of  instrumentals  on  their  first  LP  Roy  was  the  sole  composer of  all  their  songs  and  the  fact  that  their  singles  came  out  simultaneously  with  "solo"  releases  suggests  they  were  more  of  a  cover  for  Roy  to  separate  his  commercial  and  experimental  material.

The  band  had  to  gel  pretty  quickly  as  they  were  booked  to  appear  at  the  London  Rock  and    Roll  Show  at  Wembley  in  August.  Nothing  from  their  set  made  it  on  to  the  concert  film  ( which  does  briefly  capture  a  certain  Malcolm  McLaren  selling  his  clothes from  a  pitch  outside )  which  may  indicate  they  hadn't  quite  got  it  together  yet. After  going  on  to  the  Reading  Festival  this  was  their  debut  single.

This  is  the  first  record  featured  here  which  I  remember  in  situ.  I   liked  it   ( though  I  liked  pretty  much  everything  at  this  point  apart  from  Billy  Paul's  Me  And  Mrs  Jones   which  I  didn't  get  at  all  )  but  haven't  got  it  and,  as  it  isn't  played  on  the  radio, hearing  it  again  mainlines  me  straight  back  to  rushing  out  into  the  windswept  yard  at  St  Mary's  ( still  there  but  now  only  used  as  the  church  car  park )  to  turn  on  my  transistor  especially  on  Tuesday  lunchtimes  when  the  new  chart  came  out.

With  this   song  Roy  went  back  to  the  sound  of  the  latter-day  Move  singles  , traditional  rock  and  roll  filtered  through  a  Phil  Spector-aping  wall  of  sound  production. The  twin  drums  and  saxes  give  the  melodramatic  song  a  real  heavy  swing. Roy's  girl  has  been  shot  by  the  police  and  his  brother  is  somehow  involved  although  Roy  chooses  to  repeat  the  earlier  verses  rather  than  resolve  the  story  so  we  never  find  out  what  exactly  has  transpired. He  barks  it  out  at  full  pelt  and  if  Wizzard  had  been  a  bit  more  popular  in  the  USA  you  could  confidently  suggest  that  it  influenced  a  young  songwriter  in  New  Jersey  whose  first  album  was  released  shortly  afterwards  with  the  word  "Park"  in  the  title. For  me  this  is  good  as  it  got  for  Wizzard ; afterwards  the  fact  that  my  mum  liked  them  made  them  a  bit  suspect   but  I'll  always  give  this  one  a  listen.

239 Goodbye Rick Nelson - Garden Party

Chart  entered : 21  October  1972

Chart  peak : 41

Another  comeback  hit  for  a  pre-Beatles  rocker, this  was  Rick's  first  single  to  chart  since  " For  You "  in  1964. After  that  single  his  sales  had  nosedived  both  here  and  in  the  US  and following  contemporaries  Brenda  Lee  and  Jerry  Lee  Lewis  he  started  dabbling  in  country although  his  singles  only  sporadically  appeared  in  the  country  charts, His  comeback in  the  US charts  started  with  a  countrified  version  of  "She  Belongs  To  Me"  in  1969. He  acquired  a backing  band  the  Stone  Canyon  Band  that  included  Randy  Meisner  who  would  become  one of  the  founding  members  of  Eagles. He  also  continued  to  enjoy  steady  TV  work  as  an  actor.

When  I  prepared  the  lists  I  didn't  think  I  knew  this  one  but  it  does  sound  vaguely  familiar. There's  an  interesting  back  story  to  it  as  the  whole  song  refers  to  Rick's  experiences  at  Richard  Nader's  Rock  And  Roll  Revival  Concert  at  Madison  Square  Garden  the  previous  year. He  appeared  in  long  hair  and  jeans  and  played  contemporary  material  as  well  as  his  old  hits. When  the  crowd  started  booing  during  his  version  of  Honky  Tonk  Women  he  flounced  and  didn't  return  for  the  finale. Subsequent accounts  have  suggested  the  booing  was  caused  by  some  heavy-handed  bouncers  but  Rick  took  it  as  disapproval  of  his  new  image  and  material.

The  song's  interest  lies  mainly  in  the  lyrics  with  its American  Pie-esque  references  to  Chuck  Berry  ( who  performed ) , John  and  Yoko  and  George  Harrison  ( who  attended ). Harrison  had  a  pad  close  by  to  Ricky's  house  and  Ricky  knew  that  he  used  the  alias  "Hughes"  to  travel  and  so  he's  referred  to  as  "Mr  Hughes  hid  in  Dylan's  shoes"  as  he  was  planning  an  album  of  Dylan  covers  at  the  time. Musically  it's  a  pleasant  country  rock  strum  with  Rick's  voice  as  flat  and  neutral  as  ever,  conveying  little  of  the  anger  that  inspired  the  song.

It  was  a  big  hit  in  the  U.S.  reaching  number  6. Airplay  and  its  featuring  in  an  episode  of  McCloud  ( remember  that ? Probably  the  last  one  that  would  come  to  mind  if  you  listed  the  classic  70s  cop  shows )  nudged  it  into  the  bottom  end  of  the  charts  here.

Its  success  proved  a  false  dawn. The  "Garden  Party "  LP  reached  number  32  in  the  US  and  produced  another  hit  ( number  65 )  there  with  "Palace  Guard"  which  is  musically  ponderous  but  has  some  of  the  most  poisonous  lyrics  this  side  of  Marvin  Gaye's  There  My  Dear . Thereafter  his  sales  fell  off  a  cliff.  The  taster  single  for  his  next  LP  "Windfall"  entitled  "Lifestream"  a  John  Denver-ish  strum  with  none  of  the  venom  of  his  last  two  singles  sank  without  trace.  The  vaguely  Mexican-flavoured  title  track  was  a  minor  hit  in  Australia  and  the  album  just  scraped  a  placing  in  the  US  charts. A  third  single  "One  Night  Stand"  which  sounds  very  like  Eagles  made  a  minor  showing  in  the  country  charts.

In  1975  he  released  two  more  singles  with  The  Stone  Canyon  Band  , both  covers. Neither  "Try  ( Try  To  Fall  In  Love) "  nor  "Rock  And  Roll  Lady"  bothered  any  chart  and  both  are  irredeemably  bland. After  that  he  was  dropped  by  the  label  and  his  personal  troubles  started  to  get  more  attention  than  his  records.  His  marriage  was  disintegrating  with  wife  Kris  wanting  him  to  stop  touring  ( and  bonking  everything  that  moved  apparently )  and  concentrate  on  acting  and  both  were  spending  more  than  he  was  earning. In  October  1977  she  filed  for  divorce  overshadowing   his  soft  rock  comeback  single  "You  Can't  Dance"  which  failed  to  trouble  the  charts.  The  parent  LP  "Intakes"  sank  without  trace  and  the  rest  of  his  seventies  output  wasn't  released  in  the  UK.

Kris  was  persuaded  to  shelve  the  suit  but  retained  the  services  of  her  attorney  and  turned  to  drink. "A  second  single  from  "Intakes",  the  Hall  and  Oates-ish    "Gimme  A  Little  Sign"  came  and  went  in  January  1978.  At  the  beginning  of  1979  a  countrified  cover  of  "Dream  Lover"  ignited  a  brief  spark  of  hope  when  it  was  a  moderate  country  hit. It  wasn't  enough  for  Epic  who  dropped  him.

In  1981  he  re-emerged , now  looking  alarmingly  like  Mike  Read, on  Capitol  with  a  cover  of  John  Hiatt's  "It  Hasn't  Happened  Yet"  which  has  a  good  Jack  Nitzsche  arrangement  but  Rick's  voice  sounds  shot  to  pieces. Although  it  didn't  make  the  singles  chart  it  enabled  the  album  "Playing  To  Win", his  last  to  feature  new  songs  to  make  a  minor  showing  on  the  album  chart.

The  following  year  Rick  and  Kris  finally  divorced  and  the  settlement  hit  him   hard  dooming  him  to  more  endless  touring. He  took  up  with  a  woman  called  Helen  Blair  who  became  his  "personal  manager". His  ex-wife  and  family  believed  that  one  of  her  main  duties  was  keeping  him  supplied  with  drugs  including  cocaine, marijuana  and  quaaludes. In  1985  blood  tests  confirmed  that  another  woman's  child  was  his  so  maintenance  payments  were  added  to his  financial  pressures. He  declined  to  play  Atlantic  City  to  avoid  contact  with  them. That  same  year  he  re-recorded  his  old  hits  for  an  album  "All  My  Best"  and  played  a  TV  concert  to  promote  it  in  August.

After  that  it  was  back  on  the  road. Back  in  May  he  had  leased  a  private  plane  which immediately  gave  him  problems. In  September  a  malfunction  forced  him  to  miss  the  first Farm  Aid  concert. On  New  Year's  Eve  1985  the  plane  crash-landed  just  short  of  Dallas  and caught  fire. All  but  the  two  pilots  who  escaped  through  the  cockpit  perished. Helen  Blair  died with  Rick. If  it  made  the  news  in  the  UK  at  all  I  missed  it. A  welter  of  unseemly  lawsuits failed  to  establish  the  precise  cause  although  did  put  to  bed  scurrilous  rumours  that they  were freebasing  cocaine. The  most  likely  explanation  is  that  a  faulty  cabin  heater  caught  fire  and caused  the  pilots  to  panic.

In  the  US  the  re-recorded  "You  Know  What  I  Mean"  failed  to  cash  in  on  Rick's  death. In 1991  a  re-release  of  "Hello  Mary  Lou"  reached  number  45  after  featuring  in  an  Impulse  ad.

This  post  concludes  the  "prehistoric"  phase  of  this  blog. All  subsequent  singles  discussed  post-date  my  awareness  of  the  charts  and  pop  music  in  general. That's  not  to  say  I  remember  them  all - far  from  it - but  this  is  the  major  watershed.





      

238 Hello 10cc- Donna

Chart  entered  : 23  September  1972

Chart  peak : 2

Number  of  hits : 13

It's  difficult  to  know  where  to  start  this  one  as  we've  covered  some  of  the  threads   of  this  band's  genesis  before  ( particularly  in  The  Mindbenders  posts ).

Let's  start  with  Graham  Gouldman   if  only  because  he  was  at  one  time  a  resident  of  Rochdale.  He  was  actually  born  in  Salford  in  1946  and  by  his  early  teens  was  playing  in  bands  around  Manchester. He  settled  into  one  called  The  Whirlwinds  which  got  a  regular  spot  at  the  local  premises  of  the  Jewish  Lads  Brigade. In  May 1964  HMV  let  them  cut  a  single  , a  version  of  Buddy  Holly's  "Look At  Me" which  has  a  nice  surf  guitar  solo  but  is  otherwise  regulation  beat  group  fare. The  B-side  was  written  by  an  even  younger Jewish   teen  Laurence "Lol" Crème  who  played  in  a  rival  outfit  The  Sabres  with  drummer   and  school friend  Kevin  Godley.

The  Sabres  never  got  to  make  a  record  so  Kevin  was  ripe  for  the  picking  when  Graham  dissolved  The  Whirlwinds  and  formed  The  Mockingbirds. They  had  a  deal  with  Colunbia  already  lined  up  but  the  label  didn't  like  Graham's  first  offering  , "For  Your  Love"  and  so their  first  single  was  "That's  How ( It's  Gonna  Stay)" . This  pleasant  but  utterly  generic  beat  pop  item  stiffed  but  even  before  the  follow-up  was  released,  "For  Your  Love"  became  a  huge  hit  for  The  Yardbirds  and  thereafter  Graham's  prowess  as  a  hot  young  songwriter  completely  overshadowed  anything  he  did  with  his  own  band.

In  May  1965  they  released  "I  Can  Feel  We're  Parting"  which  sounds  a  lot  like  The  Hollies  with  a  nice  wistful  melody. When  that  flopped  they  moved  to  Immediate  and  released  "You  Stole  My  Love"  in  October. Written  by  Graham  it  was  arranged  by  Yardbird  Paul  Samwell-Smith  and  that  band's  manager  Giorgio  Gomelsky. Unsurprisingly  it  sounds  a  lot  like  The  Yardbirds  (  who  later  recorded  it  themselves )  and  benefits  from  having   a  young  Julie  Driscoll  on  backing  vocals,  In  February  1966   he  put  out  his  first  solo  single  on  Decca "Stop!  Stop!  Stop !  " , not  The  Hollies  song  but  a  mod  stomper  with  an  impressive  bluesy  vocal  from  Graham.  The  next  band  single  was  on    Decca  with  "One  By  One",  written  by  "Wayne" ( ? ) . It's  another  upbeat  track  decrying  the  pressure  to  conform  although  they're  now  sounding  a  bit  dated. Their  final  single  "How  To  Find  A  Lover"  was  written  by  Peter  Cowap  and  released  in  October  1966. It's  an  enjoyable  psychedelic-tinged  pop  ditty  but  the  game  was  up  for  them.

Just  a  month  later  Graham  and  Cowap  re-emerged  as  High  Society  with  the  former's  song  "People  Passing  By"  which  I  haven't  heard.  They  changed  their  name  to  The  Manchester  Mob  for  a  rock  and  roll  medley  "Bony  Maronie  At  The  Hop"  which  suffers  from  over-polite  vocals  and  very  bad  timing.  Graham  was  then  persuaded  to  record  as  a  solo  artist  and  his  February  1968  single  "Upstairs  Downstairs "  presaged  an  album  "The  Graham  Gouldman  Thing."  The  single  is  excellent, a  bittersweet  tale  of  lovers  crossing  paths  in  an  apartment  building  with  some telling  oboe  work. Whether  intentionally  or  not  the  album  serves  as  a  postscript  to  the  first  phase  of  his  career  as  it  contains  re-workings  of  some  of  his  biggest  hits  for  others  such  as  "For  Your  Love"  and  "No  Milk  Today". It's  worth  a  listen  for  the  inventive  arrangements  of  John  Paul  Jones  although  Graham's  indifferent  voice  is  a  bit  wearing  over  eleven  tracks.  It  went  unreleased  in  the  UK  until  the  CD  era  due  to  the  single's  failure.

These  were  the  circumstances  which  led  to  Graham  accepting  the  invitation  from  Eric  Stewart  to  join  The  Mindbenders  which  we  covered  earlier. What  I  didn't  mention  then  was  that  Eric  also  persuaded  him  to  invest  in  the  studio  he  was  developing  in  Stockport. This  decision  would  have  an  impact  on  the  Manchester  music  scene  that  lasted  well  beyond  10cc's  hitmaking  days.

When  The  Mindbenders  wound  themselves  up  Graham  was  at  a  loose  end. He  had  few  takers  for  his  songs  with  his  nemesis  Clapton  apparently  God. What  he  did  have  on  the  table  was  an  offer  from  bubblegum  supremos  Kasenetz  and  Katz  to  churn  out  some  songs  for  them  in  New  York  so  off  he  went. Graham  became  a  transatlantic  nomad  flitting  between  New  York  and  Stockport  seriously  over-worked. On  one  visit  to  the  studios- now  named  Strawberry- he  found  his  old  pals  Lol  and  Kevin  who'd  been  keeping  out  of  mischief  at  art  college  and  along  with  Eric  they  helped  him  record  a  song  "Sausalito"  which  came  out  in  the  US  under  the  banner  of  The  Ohio  Express   and  carrying  a  completely  undeserved  production  credit  for  Kasenetz  and  Katz.

Graham  then  pitched  the  idea  that  he  could  record  much  more  cheaply  at  Strawberry  with  the  help  of  his  buddies  rather  than  pay  New  York  session  fees  and  got  a  three  month  deal  in  December  1969  which  helped  finance  the  development  of  the  studio  equipment. It's  almost  impossible  ( a  project  for  the  future  perhaps )  to  track  everything  they  put  out  in  this  period  and  beyond  under  a  variety  of  silly  names. Lol  has  said  he  has  no  idea  how  many  records  they  churned  out. The  most  important  was  "Neanderthal  Man"  by  Hotlegs  which  Graham  was  not  directly  involved  in  as  he  was  back  in  New  York  at  the  time.  It's  little  more  than  a  heavy  drum  pattern  with  a  vocal  chant  low  in  the  mix  behind  it  but  Philip's  Dick  Leahy  thought  it  had  hit  potential  and  it  was  an  enormous  hit  worldwide  reaching  number  2  in  the  UK  in  1970.

Their  subsequent  releases   - of  singer-songwriter  type  material - were  not  successful  although  one , "Umbopo"  recorded  under  the  name  Doctor  Father  attracted  the  attention  of  Neil  Sedaka . He  and  Graham  met  at  a  party  and  the  upshot  was  that  he  came  over  to  England  ( where  he  had  been  performing  at  nightclubs  in  the  late  sixties )  to  record  a  couple  of  albums  with  the  guys  at  Strawberry  and  successfully  revived  his  recording  career.  After  that  , with  Graham  now  back  in  the  UK  on  a  more  permanent  basis,  the  quartet  decided  over  a  meal  in  a  Chinese  restaurant  to  eschew  studio  anonymity  and   constitute  themselves  as  a  proper  band  who  would  tour.


They  originally  approached  Apple  with  a  song  called  "Waterfall"  but  it  was  rejected  as  uncommercial. They  changed  tack  and  started  plugging  "Donna"  instead, a  Godley/Creme  song  earmarked  as  a  possible  B side. Eric  knew  Jonathan  King  and  invited  him  up  to  Strawberry  to  hear  it. King  instantly  recognised  its  potential  and  signed  them  up  to  his  UK  label  under  the  name  10cc  , apparently  the  average  volume  of  semen  produced  in  ejaculation  although  you'll  still  read  King's  covering  story  of  a  poster  in  a  dream  he  had.

"Donna"  is  a  doo  wop  pastiche  which  references  the  earlier  song  of  the  same  name  by  Ritchie  Valens  and  the  Beatles'  Oh  Darling  from  Abbey  Road.  It's  perfectly  indicative  of  1972 , a  song  recalling  the  first  age  of  rock  and  roll  produced  in  a  state of  the  art  studio  with  fat  glam  rock  guitars  and  a  falsetto  vocal  from  Lol  mimicking  the  recent  spate  of  child  stars. The  latter  feature  is  counterpointed  by  a  very  lugubrious  second  vocal  from  Kevin  in  the  role  of  a  continuity  announcer. The  band's  denim-clad,  smirking  appearance  on  Top  of  the  Pops  indicated  it  wasn't  to  be  taken  too  seriously  but  didn't  adversely  affect  the  record's  performance. Irony  was  in !!

Here's  Lena's  take 10cc
 

237 Hello Judge Dread - Big Six

Chart  entered : 26  August  1972

Chart  peak : 11

Number  of  hits : 11

Anyone  who  used  to  listen  to  Tom  Browne's  Top  20  countdown  on  Sunday  nights  in  the  seventies  ( and  I  did  religiously, the  rest  of  the  day  being  a  write-off  of  church, unvarying  roast  dinner  and  crap  old  films  on  the  TV )  will  remember  there  was  often  a  gap  where  this  guy  had  a  record  which  was  just  mentioned    and  then  Tom  moved  swiftly  on  to  the  next. It  was  actually  a  boon  to  Tom  and  the  producers  as  squeezing  20  records  into  a  one  hour   show  was  always  a  tall  order  and  having  one  less  to  play  made  things  a  lot  easier. I'd  be  interested  to  know  who  was  actually  buying  these  singles  that  they  couldn't  hear; no  one  I  spoke  to  at  school  had  much  of  a  clue  what  the  story  was  beyond  a  vague  idea  that  they  were  "rude".

Alexander  Hughes , the  original  "wigga" , was  born  in  Kent  a  week  before  the  end  of  World War  Two. In  his  teens  he  lodged  with  a  West  Indian  family  and  became  immersed  in  their culture. A  rather  large  guy  he  got  work  as  a  bouncer  in  the  sixties  and  met  ska  musicians such  as  Prince  Buster  in  the  clubs  he  served. For  a  time  he  wrestled  professionally  as  "The Masked  Executioner"  then  got  a  job  as  a  debt  collector  with  Trojan  Records.

In  the  meantime  the  skinhead  movement  had  revived  Prince  Buster's  career  and  he  had  an  underground  hit  with  the  very  rude  ( and  weed -  referencing ) "Big  Five"  at  the  turn  of  the  decade. Through  his  work  at  the  label  Alex  got  the  opportunity  to  record  this  tribute / follow-up  which  was  a  real  sleeper  hit  spending  over  six  months  in  the  chart. His  stage  name  referenced  another  Prince  Buster  song.

Anyone  familiar  with  Eminem  or  the  like  will  find  the  Max  Miller  smut  and  a  reference  to  Ganja  in  "Big  Six"  very  tame  by  comparison  and  smile  at  a  time  when  this  could  be  thought  of  as  potentially  corrupting  to  the  nation's  youth.  And  actually  there's  not  much  of  it,  three  little  nursery  rhyme  verses  and  a  lot  of  "Uh  Huh's  and  "Ai-ya's"   over  a  pleasantly  chugging  bluebeat   backing  ( someone  from  The  Specials  was  listening )  to  fill  the  three  minutes  up. I  suspect  it  was  made  as  a  joke  and  that  Alex  was  as  surprised  as  anyone  that  it  led  to  a  decent  ( in  one  sense  of  the  word  ) recording  career.
  

236 Hello Roxy Music - Virginia Plain

Chart  entered : 19  August  1972

Chart  peak : 4

Number  of  hits : 16

From  one  groundbreaking  single  to  another  and  these  guys  really  did  bring  something  new  to  the  party.

I  think  it  helped  that  only  one  of  them  had  made  a  record  before. There's  no  trail  back  into the sixties ; this  was  music  by  and  for  the  new  decade. And  it  caught  people  out ; "Whispering" Bob  Harris  never  recovered  his  reputation  after  sniffily  dismissing  their  Whistle Test  appearance  and  now  inhabits  the  netherworld  of  small  hours  radio  where  he  has  to bloody  whisper  because  everyone's  gone  to  bed.

The  group  was  the  brainchild  of   ex-pottery  teacher   ( sacked  for  playing  records  in  the  classroom ) Bryan  Ferry  who  was  not , as  usually  reported,  a  miner's  son  from  Newcastle. His  father  was  a  farmer  who  looked  after  some  pit  ponies. He  went  to  Newcastle  University  to  study  fine  art  under  Richard  Hamilton  in  the  mid-sixties. His  other  passion  was  soul  music  and  he  formed  covers  bands  to  gig  in  the  evenings  including  The  Banshees  ( not  to  be  confused  with  a  Belfast  band  who  put  a  handful  of  singles  out )  and  The  Gas  Board  with  housemate  Graham  Simpson  on  bass. After  graduating  in  1968  he  moved  to  London  to  pursue  his  musical  ambitions.

In  February  1970  he  auditioned  to  replace  Greg  Lake  as  vocalist  in  King  Crimson. Robert  Fripp  and  Pete  Sinfield  felt  his  angst-ridden  style  wasn't  a  good  fit  for  the  band  but  encouraged  him  to  start  his  own  band. He  brought  Simpson  down  from  Newcastle  and  advertised  in  Melody  Maker  for  a  keyboard  player. Andy  Mackay   responded  although  he  was  actually  a  saxophonist  and  oboe  player. He'd  been  at  Reading  University  studying  music  and  literature. He  was  classically  trained  but  interested  in  the  avant  garde  and  had  recently  bought  a  synthesiser. He  brought  along  a  friend  Brian  Eno, another  art  student  from  Winchester  College  who  experimented  with  tape  recorders. He  had  no  musical  training  but  was  willing  to  have  a  go  on  the  synthesiser.

The  original  drummer  Dexter Lloyd  left  after  a  few  rehearsals  so  another  ad  was  placed  which  brought  in  Paul  Thompson , fresh  from  a  building  site  where  he  had  been  working  as  a  hod  carrier. Paul  was   a  working  class  lad   from  Newcastle  and  had  been  drumming  in  local  bands  since  he  was  15  and  one, The  Influence, also  featuring  John  Miles,  had  got  to  make  a  single  in  1969. It  was  called  "I  Want  To  Live"  and  I  haven't  heard  it. A  final  ad  for  a  guitarist  brought  in  former  Nice  man  David  O ' List  and  another  candidate  from  the  auditions,   a  young  well-connected  Anglo-Columbian,  Phil  Manzanera,  was   invited  to   become  their  roadie.

The  band  named  themselves  Roxy  Music  partly  in  homage  to  1930s  cinema  and  part  as  a  subversive  pun  on  rock. Sinfield  arranged  an  audition  for  EG  Management  which  saw  O' List  quit  after  a  row  with  Paul. Phil  was  promoted  into  the  band  and  a  deal  was  signed. EG  signed  them  and  financed  the  recording  of  their  first  eponymous  album  with  Sinfield  producing. I  can't  do  justice  here  to  such  an  epochal  record; each  track  deserves  a  considerable  appraisal  with  each  member  getting  a  chance  to  shine.  I  can't  even  pick  out  a  highlight ; it's  all  great.

Chris  Blackwell's  Island  snapped  them  up  and  released  the  album  in  June  1972. By  that  time  the  band  had  had  to  change  the  line  up  once  more. Graham  Simpson's  mother  died almost  immediately  after  the  album  was  completed  and  he  fell  into  depression. In  his  own  words  "I  was  not  compos  mentis. I  couldn't  concentrate  or  appreciate  anything  they  were  doing".  Bryan  reluctantly  let  him  leave  and   all  subsequent  Roxy  bassists  were  temporary  in  the  hope  that  he'd  return  but  it  never  happened. Once  fit  again  he  travelled  the  world  as  a  perma-stoned  cultural  tourist  and  at  one  point  criminal  - he  did  time  in  Morocco  for  safe  cracking - before  returning  to  London  and  living  a  quiet  life  from  the  royalties ( which  must  have  dwindled  in  the  download  era). He  died  a  couple  of  years  ago. After  a  brief  try  out  with  some  guy  called  Peter  Paul  the  new  bassist  was  Rik  Kenton.  He  was  a  young  pretty  boy  who  had  been  playing  with  eccentric  songwriter  G  F  Fitzgerald.

The  album  was  selling  respectably  through  their  appearance  on  Whistle  Test  and  support  from  Peel  but  really  needed  a  hit  single  to  boost  its  fortunes. None  of  the  existing  tracks  fitted  the  bill  so  the band  returned  to  the  studio  to  cut  "Virginia  Plain". Bryan  was  influenced  by  ideas  of  collage, slinging  together  disparate  musical  and  lyrical  ideas   into  a  coherent  new  whole. In  1964  Bryan  had  produced  a  Warhol-influenced  painting  of  a  packet  of   Virginia  cigarettes  with  one  of  the  American's  muses  Baby  Jane  Holzer  on  the  front  who  is  referenced. Also  mentioned  is  EG's  lawyer  Robert  Lee  but  Bryan  makes  a  playful   connection  with  the  American  Civil  War  general  Robert   E  Lee  who  operated  out  of  Virginia.  Much  of  the  song  is  an  escapist  fantasy  about  a  jet-setting  lifestyle  although  delivered  in  a  mocking  tone. Musically  it  sounds  like  nothing  that  had  gone  before  with  Paul's  sledgehammer  drumming  the  rock  on  which  all  the  diversions  such  as  Andy's  atonal  sax  break  and  Phil's  improvised guitar  solo  are  hung. Despite  the  now-primitive  sound  of  the  VCS-3  synthesiser   the  highlight  is  still  the  second  instrumental  break  after  the  telling  line  "Gotta  search  for  something  new"  where  the  hard  slamming  guitar  chords  are  repeatedly  answered  by   Brian's  simple  synth   phrase, each  time  played  a  little  louder  than  the  last. Once  they  got  on  Top  of  the  Pops  and  people  checked  out  their  retro-futurist  look  and  the  lead  singer's  cheekbones  the  deal  was  sealed.