261 Hello Showaddywaddy - Hey Rock And Roll

Chart  entered  : 18  May  1974

Chart  peak  : 2

Number  of  hits : 23

Showaddywaddy  are  usually  instantly  dismissed  as  a  cabaret  covers  band  catering  for  the  nostalgia  market; Bob  Stanley's Yeah  Yeah  Yeah  doesn't  even  mention  them. Yet until  Cheryl  and  her  cohorts  in  this  century,  they  were  by  some  distance  the  most  successful   band  ever  launched  through  a  TV  talent  show  ( they're  actually  tied  with  Girls  Aloud  on  number  of  hits  but  the  girls  take  them  on  average chart  position )  and  in  big  Romeo  Challenger  they  had  pop's  first  black  drummer  ( both  Hot  Chocolate  and  The  Equals  had  a  white  guy  behind  the  kit ).

Despite  their  retro  image  the  band  were  all  still  in  their  twenties. They  were  based  in  Leicester  but  didn't  all  come  from  the  city originally. The  first  two  to  work  together  were  singer  Bill  "Buddy"  Gask  and  drummer  Malcolm  Allured  who  formed  The  Golden  Hammers  a  covers  band  who  worked  the  European  club  circuit  in  the  mid-60s. After  a  couple  of  years  they  went  their  separate  ways   but  reunited  in  the  early  seventies  and  reformed  the  band  with  guitarist  Russ  Field  and bassist  Rod  Deas. They  had  something  of  a  biker  image.

Another  band  on  the  Leicester  scene  were  Choise  featuring  Dave  Bartram (vocals), Trevor  Oakes ( guitar) and  Geoff  Betts  who  later  changed  his  name  to  Al  James  ( bass ) . They  got  to  make  a  single  in  1970  with  a  young  Mike  Batt  as  producer  and  arranger, a  cover  of  Simon  and  Garfunkel's  "Cecilia". Despite  that  they  generally  wrote  their  own  material. In  1973  they  sacked  their  drummer  and  recruited  Romeo  through  a  newspaper  ad. Romeo  had  spent  the  past  couple  of  years  playing  in  the  Leicester  hard  rock  band  Black  Widow  who'd  started  out  as  Satanists  and  had  a  hit  album  ( before  Romeo's  time )  on  the  coat-tails  of  Black  Sabbath. They  then  toned  the  occult  stuff   down  to  reach  a  wider  audience  but  only  succeeded  in  losing  their  original  following  and  neither  of  their  subsequent  albums  sold; CBS  dropped  them  before  the  third  one  with  Romeo  came  out.

Romeo  had  hardly  sat  down  behind  his  kit  before  Choise  decided  to  amalgamate  with  The  Hammers  after  both  played  in  the  same  pub  one  night. Reluctant  to  sack  anybody , Showaddywaddy  had  two  men  for  every  role  which  allowed  some  of  the  musicians  to  drop  their  instrument  and  join  the  two  frontmen  in  slick  dance  routines. I'm  not   quite  sure  when  they  adopted  the  multi-coloured  teddy  boy  look  but  it  was  in  place  for  their   appearance   on  New  Faces  in  autumn  1973. They  performed   a  medley  of  Cochran  and  Holly  classics  and  won  hands  down.  Mickie  Most  was  very  impressed  and  tried  to  sign  them. They  came  second  in  the  All  Winners  show  at  the  end  of  the  year; Dave  has  alleged  that  the  winner  was  already  under  contract  to  Most. The  band  had  a  queue  of  record  companies trying  to  sign  them  but  settled  for  Bell.

Showaddywaddy's  colour  coded  drapes  removed  the  last  vestiges  of  menace  and  rebellion  attaching  to  the  teddy  boy  style  from  the  fifties. Down  in  World's  End,  a  half-Jewish  entrepreneur  who'd  previously  made  a  living  selling  ted'  threads  realised  it  was  time for  something  new...

"Hey  Rock  And  Roll"  was  their  debut  single  released  in  April  1974. Like  most  of  their  early  singles  it  was  their  own  composition  ( they  only  stuck  exclusively to  covers  for  their  singles  after  1976  when  their   self-written  flop  "Take  Me  In  Your  Arms"  was  immediately  followed  by  "Under  The  Moon  Of  Love"  just  missing  out  on  a  platinum  disc )   with  a  lead  vocal  by  Buddy  . Former  Springfield  Mike  Hurst  was  the  producer.

The  song  is  rock  and  roll  through  the  glam  filter  of  label mate  Gary  Glitter  ( minus  his  now-cloying  narcissism ) and  Cozy  Powell.  The  hook  is  the  almighty  triple  bass  drum  thump  punctuating  each  line  of  the  football  chant  chorus  inviting  their   platform-booted  audience  to  stamp  along  on  a  ( hopefully ) sprung  floor. It's  as  subtle  as  a  headbutt  but  effective  enough. Like  Sweet's  Teenage  Rampage  earlier  in  the  year  the  intro  rises  out  of  crowd  noise  and  Dave  shouts  an  introduction  to  the  band. The  rest  of  the  song  is  just  fluff, recycled  Chubby  Checker   stuffing  in  as  many  lyrical  cliches  about  "record  machines " hand  jives" "my  limousine" and  "blue  jeans"  as  will  scan  or  rhyme. Buddy  delivers  it  with  his  limited  range  of  Holly  and  Presley  mannerisms  while  Dave  ad  libs  on  the  final  chorus. Within  a  year  he  would  completely  eclipse  Buddy  as  lead  singer  with  his  more  distinctive  voice,  at  least  as  far  as   singles  were  concerned.

No  they  weren't  going  to  change  the  world  but  they  were  contenders  for  the  rest  of  the  decade.