308 Hello Darts - Daddy Cool / The Girl Can't Help It

Chart  entered :  5th  November  1977

Chart  peak  : 6

Number  of  hits : 12

This  lot  provided  some  welcome  competition  for  Showaddywaddy  in  the  rock  and  roll  revivalist  market.  They   were  mainly  formed  out   of  refugees  from  two  separate  bands  so  we'll  start  with  the  strand  that  goes  back  the  furthest.

Drummer  John  Dummer  was  born  in  Surbiton  in  1944. In  1963  he  formed  the  band  Lester  Square  and  the  GTs  who  played  the  German  club  scene  for  a  couple  of  years. Returning  to  London  in  1965  he  formed  the  John  Dummer  Blues  Band  with  another  drummer  so  he  could  be  the  lead  vocalist  and  harmonica  player  though  he  soon  realised  his  talents  in  this  direction  were  limited  and  retreated  back  to  his  kit. The  band  had  a  residency  at  the  Studio  51  Club   and  had  the  respect  of  visitors  such  as  John  Mayall  and  Alexis  Korner. Bassist  Iain  "Thump"  Thompson  ( born  1946  in  Aberdeen )  had  joined  by  the  time  they  got  a  record  contract  with  Mercury  in  1968. I  haven't  heard  their  first  single  "Travelling  Man"  which  wasn't  included  on  their  debut  LP  "Cabal"  which  is  half  covers  and  half  originals  written  by  guitarist  Dave  Kelly  whose  sister  Jo  Anne  handled  some  of  the  vocals. It's  a  competent  enough  approximation  of  the  music  they  loved  but  like  the  Bluesbreakers  they  lacked  that  commercial  spark  to  attract  a  wider  audience. Their  second , self-titled  album  let  in  some  country  influences  as  on  the  single  , Kelly's  "Try  Me  One  More  Time"  which  is  a  decent  country  rock  number  although  Kelly  doesn't  have  the  strongest  of  voices. For  the  third  album "John  Dummer's  Famous  Music  Band " in  1970  he'd  gone  to  be  replaced  by  Nick  Pickett  whose  violin  helped  them  break  out  of  the  blues  straitjacket. He  wrote  the  opening  track  "Nine  By  Nine"  a  moody  jazz  instrumental  which  , when  released  as  a  single  went  all  the  way  to  number  one  in  France  early  in  1971  though  it  was  ignored  over  here. The  band  had  actually  split  up  but  John, Iain , Pickett  and  a  guitarist  quickly  got  together  again. The  trailer  single  for  the  fourth  album  "Blue ",   the  near-instrumental  "Medicine  Weasel" sounds  more  like  Jethro  Tull  than  Fleetwood  Mac  and  was  credited  to  The  John  Dummer  Band  featuring  Nick  Pickett.   Pickett  left  before  the  next  album  and  Kelly  returned. The  band's  name  was  changed  to  "The  John  Dummer  Oobeedoobee  Band"   for  the  1973  album  "Oobleedooblee  Jubilee". The  title  track  was  the  single  and  sounds  like  Mike  Oldfield  jamming  with  Matchbox  and  elsewhere  country  influences  temper  the  workmanlike  blues  numbers.  John  got  together  a  final  line  up  which  featured  future  Dire  Straits  man  Pick  Withers  for  another  album but  it  wouldn't  be  released  until  2008.  John  packed  up  his  drum  kit  and  went  into  A &  R  work  with  MCA, Elektra  and  A & M  although  he  didn't  mind  a  new  line  up  of  The  John  Dummer  Band  forming  to  play  the  London  pub  scene  without  him. This  involved  Kelly, Iain  and  a  new  guitarist  George  Currie  ( born  1950 in  Dundee ) .

In  the  meantime  down  in  Brighton  in  1974  a  guy  named  Robert  Podsiadly  re-christened  himself  Rocky  Sharpe  and  put  together  a  doo  wop  revival  group  to  back  him  called  the  Razors. The  line  up   included  three  other vocalists  Den  Hegarty  ( born  1954  in  Dublin ) , Rita  Ray  (  born  Lydia   Sowa  in  Ghana  in  1954 ) and   Griff  Fender  ( born  Ian  Collier  in  1954)   and  a  saxophonist    Horatio  Hornblower  ( born  Nigel  Trubridge  in  1957 )  . They  became  a  popular  live  act  and  got  to  do  a  couple  of  numbers  on  Janet  Street-Porter's  show  on  LWT  but  record  companies  weren't  very  interested. The  band  played  their  last  concert  in  May  1976. Almost  immediately  Rocky  got  a  deal  with  Chiswick  for  his  new  outfit  the  Replays  but  persuaded  them  to  put  out  a  four  track  EP  of  Razors  material ; actually  it's  all  covers , competently  executed  but  nothing  to  get  excited  about.

Den    was  the  main  instigator  in  getting  Darts  together  in  August  1976. He  kept  Rita, Griff  and  Horatio   on  board  then  recruited  Iain  and  George  and  persuaded  John  to  pick  his  sticks  up  again. The  line  up  was  completed  by  another  singer  Bob  Fish  ( born  1949 )  who'd  been  working  with  Southend  pub  rocker  Mickey  Jupp  and  piano  prodigy  William  "Hammy"  Howell  ( born  1954 ).   After  appearing  on  BBC  Radio  London  they  were  signed  up  by  Magnet  and  this  was  their  first  single.

It's  actually  a  medley  of  two  songs , "Daddy  Cool"  originally  a  B-side  for  US  doo-wop  outfit  The  Rays  in  1957  but  a  big  Australian  hit  for  the  band  Drummond  in  1971  and  Little  Richard's  "The  Girl  Can't  Help  It". Griff  does  the  lead  vocal  for  the  former  then  Den  takes  over  for  the  latter. Both  parts  - and  the  changeover  is  a  bit  clunky  -  are  performed  with  enough  energy  for  Darts  to  be  , at  least  initially, taken  under  the  "New  Wave"  umbrella  and  receive  favourable  reviews  despite  their  obviously  retro  stance . When  they  appeared  on  Top  of  the  Pops  , bonkers  bass  vocalist  Den  did  a  typically  manic  turn  which  involved  taking  out  Hammy  as  he  "played"   and  the  record  was  a  big  hit. It's  telling  that  all  subsequent  Showaddywaddy  singles  featured  a  prominent  bass  vocal  part  from  Romeo  Challenger.