351 Goodbye Johnny Mathis - Gone, Gone, Gone

Chart  entered : 11  August  1979

Chart  peak : 15

Another  fifties  survivor   bids  us  adieu  in  unnecessarily  emphatic  fashion. I  couldn't  recall  this from  the  title  alone  but  when  I  heard  it  again  it  was  familiar

Johnny  had  easily  beaten  Jerry  Lee  Lewis's  comeback  record  in  1975  when  he  came  back  with  "I'm  Stone  In  Love  With  You"  twelve  years  after  "What  Will  Mary  Say" ( itself  his  first  hit  for  three  years ). He  ended  the  following  year  at  number  one  with  the  oddly  appealing  schmaltz  of  When  A  Child  Is  Born"  one  of  the  more  forgotten  Christmas  number  ones ( at  least  until  the  Prince  of  Darkness  appropriated  the  institution ). Since  then  he'd  had  a  couple  of  hits  with  light  disco  duets  partnering  the  much  younger  Deneice  Williams  and  this  one  was  in  the  same  vein.

"Gone,  Gone,  Gone "  was  written  by  L  Russell  Brown, who  was  partly  responsible  for  Tie  A  Yellow  Ribbon  Round  The  Old  Oak  Tree  and  the  otherwise  unknown  to  me  Lisa  Hayward. Motown  veteran  Gene  Page  arranged  the  single  and  Jack  Gold  produced. John  Luongo  then  tweaked  it  for  the  dancefloor. All  Johnny  has  to  do  then  is  add  his  effortless  light  croon  to  the  swishing  hi-hats, chattering  percussion  and  Martini-ad  string  flourishes.  His  baby's  left  him  in  the  lurch  but  he  doesn't  sound  all  that  bothered  frankly. The  repetitive  chorus  has  something  of  an  irritant  quality  which  fixes  it  in  your  brain  but  it's  not  exactly  lovable.

Its  high  chart  placing  in  the  UK  (  it  didn't  chart  in  the  U S )  might  have  something  to  do  with  a  pressing  error  by  CBS. The  first  pressings  contained  Luongo's  full  6.30  disco  mix  ( which  no  doubt  sounded  a  bit  tinny  on  7  inch ) . This  was   changed  in  the  second  pressing  to  the  3.40  radio  edit  but  the  actual  label  wasn't  changed  at  all  and  still  gave  the  timing  at  6.30 . No  doubt  some  of  the  punters  who  bought  this   felt  a  bit  short  changed.

His  next  single  in  the UK  was  the  MOR  ballad  "You  Saved  My  Life"  ( written  by  Arnold  and  Morrow )  in  January  1980  , a  duet  with  British  musical  actress  Stephanie  Lawrence  who's  never  had  a  hit  of  any  description. The  parent  album  "Mathis  Magic"  reached  59  in  the  UK  . There  were  no  more  singles  as  CBS  switched  to  promoting  a  compilation  LP  "Tears  And  Laughter "  instead. The  trailer  single  was  a  version  of  Melissa  Manchester's  1975  US  hit  "Midnight  Blue" It's  classy , tasteful  and  all  that  but  strictly  Radio  Two  material  in  1980 . Its  failure  didn't  affect  sales  of  the  album  which  spent  two  weeks  at  number  one  in  March.

A  new  album  followed  very  quickly  , "Different  Kinda  Different  "  ( re-titled  "All  For  You"  in  the  UK  ). In  the  wake  of  the  compilation  it  got  to  number  20  although  the  singles, a  bedroom  soul  duet  with  Chaka  Khan's  predecessor  in  Rufus, Paulette  McWilliams  "I'll  Do  It  All  For  You"  and  a  pointless  cover  of  "Three  Times  A  Lady " ( only  tacked  on  to  the  LP  in  the  UK )  didn't  chart.

Anxious  to  stay  in  touch  with  contemporary  trends  Johnny  booked  the  Chic  duo  to  work  with  him  in  February  1981.  Johnny  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  experience  and  a  full  LP  "I  Love  My  Lady" was  produced   but  Columbia  declined  to  release  it. Johnny  hasn't  been  very  forthcoming  about  what  was  said  at  the  time.  Individual  tracks  have  been  released  for  compilations  by  both  parties  and  the  results  seem  OK  if  not  the  best  work  to  bear  the  Rogers/Edwards  credit. The  full  album  remains  unreleased.

Columbia  went  with  another  compilation  instead  "Celebration- The  Anniversary  Album"  which  reached  number  9  in  September  1981.  An  inferior  re-recording  of  "When  A  Child  Is  Born"  with  Gladys  Knight  and  the  Pips  reached  number  74  at  Christmas  and  marked  Johnny's  last  appearance  in  the  singles  chart.

Johnny's  next   new  album  was  "Friends  In  Love"  , a  safe  collection  of  MOR  ballads  and  recent  covers. The  first  single  was  the  title  track  , a  duet  with  Dionne  Warwick  six  months  before  her  Bee  Gees-assisted  comeback.  It's  standard  superstar  duet  fodder  and  got  to  number  38  in  the  US  though  it  was  ignored  over  here. The  second  single   "Somethin's  Going  On"  is   Latin-tinged  MOR  pop  and  instantly  forgettable.  The  third  was  the  album's  other duet  with  Warwick "Got You  Where  I  Want  You"  a  classy  pop  soul  number  that  perhaps  should  have  been earlier  in  the  schedule.  The  album  reached  number  34  ( much  better  than  in  the  States  where  it  struggled  to  147).  Johnny  then  halfheartedly   admitted  to  being  gay  in  an  interview  with  US  Magazine  which  didn't do  anything  to  boost  his  career.

In  1983  he  did  a  BBC  concert  special  featuring  the  songs  of  his  idol  Nat  King  Cole. The  concert  also  featured  Natalie  Cole  and  the  recording  was  released  as  "Unforgettable". The  album  reached  number  5  in  the  UK  but  there  were  no  singles. Confusingly  it  was  released  at  the  same  time  as  the  unrelated  single  "One  Love",  a  smooth  soul  ballad  with  Johnny  in  impeccable  voice. It  was  included  on  his  1984  album  "A  Special  Part  of  Me"  which  reached  number  45  in  the  UK. The  other  singles  were  "Love  Won't  Let  Me  Wait" , a  sultry  version  of  the  Major  Harris  hit    in  tandem  with  Williams  ( shortly  before  she  broke  back  big  with  Let's  Hear  It  For  The  Boy )  and  "Simple" ,  a  mid-paced  R &  B  number  on  which  Johnny  crosses  into  Luther  Vandross  territory.  It  gave  Johnny  his  last  US  hit  when  it  reached  number  81.

This  minor  success  prompted  Johnny  to  move  into  contemporary  R  &  B  with  his  next   studio   album  "Right  From  The  Heart"  in  1985  which  features  no  covers  and  a  lot  of  synths. The  single  "Hooked  On  Goodbye" is  lumpy  and  tuneless  and  Johnny  sounds  uncomfortable   in  the  midst  of  the  robotic  electro  rhythms. The  album  failed  to  chart  anywhere  even  though  Johnny  did  a  guest  appearance  in  the  US  soap  Ryan's  Hope  at  the  time  of  its  release.

Johnny  retreated  back  into  MOR  with  a  Christmas  album  and  then  , hoping  to  cash in  on  the  recent  success  of  Linda  Ronstadt  and  Barbra  Streisand  with  similar  projects,   an  album  of  standards  "The  Hollywood  Musicals"  with Henry  Mancini. The  single  was  "It  Might  As  Well  Be  Spring"  from  State  Fair.  It  could  have  been  made  in  the  fifties. The  album  got  to  number  46  in  the  UK  in  1986, his  last  charting  album  in  the  UK  for  20  years.

In  1988   he  released  "Daydreamin"  written  and  produced  by  successful  R &B  songwriter  Preston  Glass. Again  Johnny's  old  school  croon  doesn't  really  mesh  with  the  eighties  production  values   and  it  missed  out  despite  an  appearance  and  not  entirely  respectful   interview  on   Wogan. That  seems  to  have  been  his  last  single  in  the  UK.

It  was  really  Johnny's  last  stab  at  being  a  contemporary  artist  and  there's  little  more  to  tell  here. He's  carried  on  making  MOR  albums  for  a  mature  audience  interspersed  with  compilations. Most  of  them  haven't  charted  ( although  2008's  "A  Night  To  Remember "   got  to  number  29  in  the  UK )  but  presumably  sell  well  enough  to  keep  Columbia  happy. His  most  recent   "new"  album   was  2013's  "Sending  You  A  Little  Christmas"  on  which  he  does  "Do  You  Hear  What  I  Hear  ? "  with  Susan  Boyle  !

Still  sprightly  on  the  golf  course, he  turns  eighty  later  this  year.

    

 

350 Hello The B-52s - Rock Lobster

Chart  entered : 11 August  1979

Chart  peak : 37  ( 12  on  re-release  in  1986 )

Number  of  hits : 10

They  only  qualify  by  the  skin  of  their  teeth  and  exit  with  a  stinker  but  they're  an  interesting  band  who've  made  some  good  records.

Continuing   the  personal  story  from  the  last  post  I've  had  a  complicated  relationship  with  this  song. Hearing  a  snatch  on  Juke  Box  Jury  didn't  do  anything  for  me  but  once  it  snuck  into  the  Top  40  I  was  hooked, went  out  and  bought  it  ( at  full  price  for  once )  and  lost  no  time  in  persuading  Him  Next  Door  of  its  charms. Towards  the  end  of  the  holidays  we  spent  about  a  week  organising  a  little  party*  for  a  pre-school  girl  a  few  doors  away  who  was  moving  house  ( to  one  little  more  than  a  mile  away  actually  but  it  was  something  to  do ). This  song  featured  on  the  party  playlist  of  course  and  I  recall  his  little  brother  complaining  when  we  put  it  on  again  towards  the  end. For  that  he  little  mite  got  an  angry  shove  from  me. He  was  only  7  so  that  wasn't  good  at  all  but  I  suppose  it  showed  my  passion  for  the  record.

Then  of  course  we  fell  out  and  this  song  fell  out  of  favour  too. I'm  not  sure  there  was  a  conscious  connection ; I  still   had  relatively  few  singles  at  this  point  and  most  of  those  were  lucky  bag  rubbish  so  maybe  it  just  palled  through  overplay. A  few  months  later  I  agreed  to  sell  it  to  a  punky  schoolfriend  of  my  sister's. When  it  was  re-released   towards  the  end  of  my  time  at  university  and  became  a  much  bigger  hit , I  bought  it  again.

The  B-52s  were  the  first  band  to  put  the   U.S.  college  town  of  Athens, Georgia  on  the  map. They  apparently  came  from  nowhere  in  1976  with  none  of  the  five  members  having  any  real  musical  pedigree. Only  Kate  Pierson , who  was  nearly  ten  years  older  than  fellow  vocalist  Cindy  Wilson , seems  to  have  had  a  previous  band,  The  Sun  Doughnuts  and  that  was  in  high  school. The  band  rose  out  of  an  impromptu  jam  session . Besides  the  girls  you  had  vocalist  Fred  Schneider  who  fancied  himself  a  poet, Cindy's  elder  brother  Ricky  ,  a   guitarist  and  the  musical  leader  and  drummer  Keith  Strickland.  Kate  also  played  bass  and  Cindy  the  keyboards.  Apart  from  Cindy  they  were  all  gay  though  this  wasn't  public  knowledge  until  years  later. 

"Rock  Lobster"  was  originally  released  as  a  single  on  a  minor  label  in  1978  then  re-recorded  with  minor  changes  to  the  lyrics  when  they  signed  to  Island. Chris  Blackwell  produced  the  second , hit  version. It's  a  unique  blend  of  Devo, Beach  Boys  and  The  Surfaris  which  takes  the  tropes  of  surf  music  and  incorporates  them  into  a  new  wave  disco  tune  with  a  bonkers  lyric  about  an  over-sized  lobster  causing  havoc  at  a  surfing  beach.  There's  no  chorus  as  such  as  the  band  cram  a  lot  of  different  ideas  into  its  four  minutes . Kate's  queasy  Farfisa  organ  vies  with  Ricky's  surf  riffs  on  an  effectively  detuned  guitar  to  create  a  disconcerting  backdrop  for  Fred. My  friend  described  him  thus  "He  looks  like  Kenneth  Williams  and  he  sounds  like  him  too". I'd  say  he's  more  like  Dick  Dastardly  but  the  effect  is  the  same  leaving  the  listener  unsure  how  seriously  to  take  their  music. I  tend  to  feel  the  less  Fred  the  better  -  on  my  favourite  B-52s  tune  "Give  Me  Back  My  Man"  he  can't  be  heard  at  all  - but  he  co-wrote  this  with  Ricky. There's  less  room  for  Cindy  and  Kate's  Valley  Girl  harmonies  when  they're  only  backing  vocalists  and  their  main  vocal  contribution  here  is  providing  the  nonsense  noises  when  Fred  starts  listing  various  sea  creatures  he's  spotted  plus  a  piranha  which  of  course  is  a  freshwater  fish . The  B-side  was  a  surf  instrumental  "Running  Around"  that  was  later  developed  into  a  proper  song  on  their  second  album

It  was  a  number  56  hit  in  the  US  and  went  all  the  way  to  the  top  in  Canada. Doubtless  its    success  encouraged  some  other  young  Athenians  to  get  a  band  together  who  would  eventually  eclipse  them  but  it  was  also  cited  by  a  rather  famous  exiled  Liverpudlian   as  a  reason  for  him  getting  back in  the  studio  because  it  reminded  him  of  his  wife's  stuff  ( a  very  dubious  compliment  but  you  can  sort  of  hear  it  in  some  of  the  girls'  screeches ).

The  song  was  re-released  in  1986  as  a  sort  of  tribute  to  Ricky  who  had  died  of  AIDS  the  previous  autumn. The shock  to  the  rest  of  the  band  was  amplified  by  the  fact  he'd  kept  his  condition  secret  from  them , even  Cindy , and  there  was  some  doubt  they'd  record  anything  more  without  him. The  decision, three  weeks  into  its  run,  to  elevate  "Planet  Claire"  on  its  flip  to  double  A  side  status  is  the  reason  they  qualify  here.


*  The  girl's  mum  used  to  bump  into  my  mum  fairly  regularly  and  for  years  afterwards  she  would  mention  the  party  and  ask  how  I  was  doing.

349 Hello The Specials* - Gangsters

( * as  The  Special  A.K.A. )

Chart  entered  :  28  July  1979

Chart  peak  : 6

Number  of  hits  :  12  ( in  various  combinations )

I've  got  this  one  and  I'm  surprised  it  still  plays  because  it  was  an  ex-juke  box  purchase  to  begin  with  and  then  my  sister  loved  it  so  much  she  hammered  it  to  death  on  her  old  Dansette. There's  a  lot  of  personal  memories  bound  up  with  this  one  and  a  couple  of  others  on  the  way  so  I'll  try  and  spread  them  out  so  as  not  to  overload  a  single  post.

This  got  a  lot  of  airplay  on  Radio  One  over  the  summer  holidays  in  1979.  Those  six  weeks  stand  out  for  me  partly  because  they  were  quite  eventful,  starting  with  a  school  hostelling  holiday  in  the  Yorkshire  Dales  and  finishing  with  a  re-activated  friendship  and  new  walking  project  started. In  retrospect  though,  they  have  acquired  a  golden  hue  because  just  a  week  after  they  finished  I  fell  out  with  the  lad  next  door ,  not  over  anything earth-shattering,  but  the  breach  became  set  in  stone  and  an  important  chapter  in  my  childhood  received  its  final  full  stop. It's  the  one  big  blot  in  the  golden  year  of  1979  although  I  don't  think, looking  back, that  there  was  much  mileage  left  in  our  relationship  otherwise  we  would  have  found  a  way  to  patch  things  up; after  all  there  was  only  the  wall  of  a  terraced  house  separating  us. Instead  though , we  studiously  ignored  each  other  and  actively  avoided  situations  that  might  throw  us  together.  I  couldn't  even  tell  you  when  he  finally  moved  out  of  the  family  home.

In  his  own  way  he  was  a  music  fan  too  though  his  tastes  were  usually  refracted  through  his  dad's  love  of  fifties  rock  and  roll , hence  an  enthusiasm  for  Showaddywaddy . On  this  one  we  were  completely  divided . He  hated  it,  saying  he  couldn't  tell  a  word  they  were  singing  ; for  me  that  was  something  of  a  plus,  adding  to  the  alluring  mystery  of  a  record  that  sounded  like  nothing  I  had  ever  heard  before.

So  where  did  it  come  from ?  The  Specials  began  to  gestate  in  1976  when  Jerry  Dammers  ( born   India  1955 )  , son  of  the  canon  of  Coventry  Cathedral  and  an  organist  on  the  Midlands  soul  band  circuit  approached  Horace  Panter   ( born  1953 ) to  work  on  some  new  tunes  he  was  composing. Horace  was  also  on  the  circuit, playing  bass  in  a  dire  group  called  Breaker  but  Jerry  knew  him  from  their  days  doing  art  at  Lanchester  Polytechnic. Jerry  also  invited  his  friend  Lynval  Golding ( born  Jamaica  1952 )  who  was  a  tolerable  guitarist  and  reggae  fan  to  become  involved. Their  band  was  at  first  called  The  Hybrids  playing  a  mix  of  funk  and  reggae  tunes  some  of  which  survived  to  go  on  the  first  Specials  album. In  1978  they    poached  the  awkward   young  singer  from  a  punk  band  called  Squad   who  had  been  known  to  do  an  entire  gig  with  his  back  to  the  audience. Terry  Hall   ( born  1959 )  left  school  early  after  being  raped  by  his  teacher  on  a  school  trip  to  France  and  worked  a  few  dead  end  jobs  while  getting  involved   in  the  Coventry  punk  scene. He  was  credited  as  a  composer  on  Squad's  single  "Red  Alert"  though  it  was  recorded  after  he'd  left  them. A  few  weeks  later  the  group  acquired  another  local  punk,  Roddy  "Radiation"  Byers  ( born  1955 ) in  the  same  fashion. Roddy  sang  but  he  was  wanted  more  as  a  lead  guitarist. Once  he  was on  board  they  changed  their  name  to  The  Automatics.

The  band  quickly  gained  a  reputation  in  Coventry  prompting  a  local  DJ  Pete  Waterman ( of  him  much  more  later, unfortunately ), to  pay  for  a cheap  recording  session  which  came  to  nothing. The  band  acknowledge  he  tried  to  help  them  but  reject  his  claims  of  discovery. Jerry later  said "Discovering  The  Specials  in  Coventry was  a  little  like  discovering  an  armchair  in  your  living  room".

In  the  middle  of  1978  they  were  invited  to  support  The  Clash  on  tour and  did  so  as  The  Special  AKA  ( Jerry  later  bowed  to  fan  preference  in  changing  this  to  The  Specials  after  the  first  single )   having  received  a  threatening  legal  letter  from  another  Automatics  who  had  just  signed  to  Island. This  went  well  and  Bernie  Rhodes  loosely  agreed  to  manage  them.  The  only  positive  thing  to  come  of  this  was  his  suggestion  that  their  reggae-loving roadie  Neville  Staple  ( born  Jamaica  1955 )  join  them  on  stage  as  MC / toaster . Neville  was  a  big  ex-borstal  guy  with  a  reputation  for  being  a  bit  handy  but  he  knew  his  way  around  a  sound  system.

 The  arrangement   with  Rhodes   collapsed  after  a  traumatic trip  to  Paris. When  they  returned  Jerry  and  Horace  persuaded  the  band  that  playing  ska  would  knit  the  punk  and  reggae  elements  in  their  music  together. Lynval  eventually  agreed  with  some  grumblings; the  original  drummer  walked . He  was  replaced  by  John  Bradbury  ( born  1953 )  an  art  teacher  and  ardent  fan  of  all  forms  of  black  music . He  completed  the  classic  line  up.

With  the  line  up  settled  the  priority  now  was  to  get  a  record  out. Jerry  wanted  creative  control  so  the  punk  idea  of  setting  up  your  own  label  appealed  to  him. They  borrowed  £1,500  from  a  dodgy  local  "businessman" and  recorded  three  tracks  in  January  1979. The  only  one  they  were  happy  with  was  Jerry's  song   "Gangsters" . Musically  it  was based  on  Prince  Buster's  Al  Capone,  one  of  the  few  tunes  from  the  original  ska  wave  to  make  the  UK  chart. Jerry's  lyric  coruscates  the  seedier  side  of  the  music  business  as  experienced  by  the  band  so  far  with  Rhodes  and  previous  manager  Mike  Horseman  who  had  apparently  offended  someone  in  the  Birmingham  underworld. But  the  song  is  also  suffused  with  foreboding   -"I  dread  - DREAD  !- to  think  what  the  future  will  bring  when  we're  living  in  real  gangster  time"  and  it's  difficult  to  think  he's  not  anticipating  the  forthcoming  election  result. Terry's  double-tracked  vocals  brought  a  new  voice  into  pop  - harsh, sarcastic  but   intelligent  and   controlled   refusing the  punk  snarl  in  favour  of  an  accusatory  question. Jerry  and  Rod  take  turns  to  add  colour  with  their  different  takes  on  the  eerie  Oriental  melody.  Horace  wrote  later  that  the  bass-heavy  sound  was  due  to  the  primitive  studio  set  -up  which  didn't  allow  for  screening  off  his  instrument.

Deciding  that  the  other  tracks  needed  more  work  Jerry  asked  John  to  record  an  instrumental  tune  he  and  his  friend  Neol (sic)  Davies  had  come  up  with  for  the  B-side. It  was  named   "The  Selecter "  and  credited to  a  "band" of  the  same  name. Davies  quickly  got  together  an  actual  band  but  he  was  the  only  member  who'd  had  anything  to  do  with  the  tune.

Jerry  soon  came  up  with  the  name  2 Tone  for  the  label. Acutely  aware  that  ska  and  blubeat  music  had  a  big  following  among  skinheads  he  wanted  to  make  it  crystal  clear  where  the  band  stood  on  race. The  black  and  white  checkerboard   and  the  Walt  Jabsco  figure , based on an  old   photo   of   Wailer  Peter  Tosh  gave   visual  emphasis  to  his  politics. It  also  exhausted  the  budget  and  the  initial  copies  were  in  a  white  paper  sleeve  hand  stamped  by  Horace  and  Terry.

The  single  quickly  sold  its  initial  pressing  so  Jerry  went  to  Rough  Trade  for a  proper  distribution  deal. With  Peelie  getting  behind  it  as  well, the  majors  became  interested. In  June  Jerry  signed  a  deal  with  Chrysalis  where  they  would  fund  2  Tone , including  up  to  10  singles  by  other  bands  ( obviously  if  some  were  hits  this  was  likely  to  be  extended ). Besides  being  keyboard  player  and  songwriter  with  an  up  and  coming  band,  Jerry  was  now  a  record  company  boss  and  A &  R  man. Chrysalis  also  agreed  to  take  over  the  marketing  of  "Gangsters" once  Rough  Trade's  stocks  ran  out. As  soon  as  that  happened  the  single  started climbing  the  charts.

The  Specials  went  on  to have  two  chart-toppers  and  like  the  other  four  singles  by  the  classic  line  up ( which  all  went  Top  10 )  "Gangsters"  is  neglected  as  far  as  radio  play  is  concerned  but  it  is a  stonewall  classic.    

348 Goodbye Nazareth - Star

Chart  entered : 28  July  1979

Chart  peak : 54

As  Kiss  made  their  UK  breakthrough  , a  home  grown  hard  rock  act  closed  their  account.

As  stated  in  their  Hello  post  Nazareth  never  managed  to  top  the  number  9  peak  of  their  first  hit  in  the  UK  but  elsewhere  they're  best  remembered for  the  cover  of  "Love  Hurts"  which  reached  number  8  in  the  US   in  1976  ( their  only  substantial  US  hit  )  and  was  number  one  in  Norway  for  14  out  of  its  61  week  chart  run.  Here  it  charted  at  15  as  part  of   the  "Hot  Tracks  " EP  in  1977  which  broke  a  run  of  three  flops.  In  1978  they  received  a  fillip  when   guitarist   Zal  Cleminson  joined  the  band  following  the  implosion  of  the  Sensational  Alex  Harvey  Band  ( he  was  the  guy  in  the  clown  make  up )  and   their  first  single  with  him  on  board  , "May  The Sunshine"  made  number  22   early  in  1979.  Sadly  the     best  track  on  the "No  Mean  City"  album, Manny's "Whatever You Want  Babe"  a  proto-indie  jangler  which  is  not  too  far  removed  from  New  Order's  Ceremony   failed  to  chart  when  released  as  the  follow-up  single.

"Star"  was  the  third  single  Written  by  singer  Dan  McCafferty  and  guitarist  Manny  Charlton   it's  a  semi-acoustic  power  ballad   addressed  without  rancour  to  a  girlfriend  who's  made  it  to  the  big  time.  Apart  from  a  couple  of   nicely   harmonised  guitar  solos   and  Dan's  meaty  vocals  it  could  be  REM  or  Soul  Asylum   and  this   wistful   tune  is  a  pleasant  surprise  , having  not  heard  it  at  all  at  the  time.

Nazareth's  subsequent  career  proved  that  unpretentious  hard  rock  could  still  find  an  audience  in  Europe  when  the  English-speaking  markets  demanded  something  more  glamorous.  Some  essence  of  the  early  seventies  remained  potent  on  the  continent  when  it  was  being  ruthlessly  excised  by  Thatcher  and  Reagan.

Nazareth  were  given  immediate  notice  that  their  British  audience  was  sliding  away  when  their  1980  album  "Malice  In  Wonderland"  (  a  title  already  used  by  Paice,  Ashton  and  Lord  of  course )  failed  to  make  the  British  chart.  The  lead  single  , the  amiable  but  low  impact  "Holiday"  was  a  dud. It  was  a  minor  hit  in  the  US  , their  last  to  make  the  Top  100;  the  album  peaked  at  41  in  the  States  and  was  also  a  hit  in  Germany  and  Norway. The  album  considerably  softened  their  sound  for  more  commercial  impact  but  few  bit  and  it  must  have  been  galling  for  them  to  watch  all  the  bands  from  the  New  Wave  of  British  Heavy  Metal  piling  into  the  charts  while  they  were  out  in  the  cold.  Apart  from  a  re-release  of  "Hot  Tracks"  in  the  summer  it  was  their  last  release  on  the  Mountain  label.

Zal  now  quit  the  band  preferring  to  work  with  Elkie  Brooks  for  most  of  the  next  decade. He  also  recorded  and  played  with  Midge  Ure  and  Bonnie  Tyler.  In  1993 he  was  part  of  a  reformed  SAHB  ( despite  Harvey's  death  a  decade  earlier  )  who  issued  a  live  album  "Live  In  Glasgow  93". In  2004, after  time  spent  in  obscure  bands  like  Ze  Suicide  and  Oskura , he  reformed  SAHB  once  more. The  band  toured  for  four  years  releasing  another  live  album  Zalnation   in  2006.  At  the  beginning  of  2008  he  announced  his  permanent  retirement  from  the  business.

With  an  expanded  line  -up  including  Zal's  friend  Billy  Rankin  on  guitar  and  former  Spirit  keyboardist  John  Locke   the  band  signed  for  NEMS. Their  first  release  was  a  double  pack   single  "Nazareth  Live"  of  old  material  still  featuring  Zal. It  was  quickly  followed  by  their  new  studio  album  "The  Fool Circle". The  album  was  recorded  with  Steely  Dan  associate  Jeff  Baxter  and  completely  overhauls  the  sound  to  be  more  contemporary  with  synths, production  polish, the  odd  reggae  number   and  heavy-handed  political  lyrics .  A  live  version  of   J J  Cale's  "Cocaine" , recorded  when  Zal  was  still  in  the  band,  seems  to  be  included  almost  as  a  sop  to  their  original  audience. It's  an  interesting  exercise  but  it  never  quite  gels; when  the  music's  good  as  on  "We  Are  The  People "  the  lyrics  are  terrible. The  only  single  "Dressed  To  Kill"  is  an  undistinguished  synth  rock  number  with  a  vaguely  anti-war  lyric. It  was  their  last  studio  LP  to  chart  in  the  UK peaking  at  60,  ten  places  higher  than  it  managed  in  the States.

The  band, now  based  in  Canada , hurried  to  appease  the  rockers  with  a   heavy   version    of  the  much-covered  "Morning  Dew". This  was  tacked  on  to  the  end  of  the  double  live  album  "It's  Snaz"  recorded  in  Vancouver  in  the  spring  of  1981 . It  was  released  at  the  end  of  the  year  and  became  their  last  charting  album  in  the  UK  peaking  at  number  78.

In  February  1982  they  released  "2XS"  which  continued  their  experimentation  with  current  sounds. "You  Love  Another"  is  a  re-write  of  The  Police's  Bed's  Too  Big  Without  You   on  which  Dan  sounds  like  Buster  Bloodvessel  while  "Gatecrash" rips  off  The  Stray  Cats.  The  three  singles  were  all  released  a  long  time  after  the  album  in  the  UK  which  shows  what  a  low  priority  market  the  UK  had  become  by  this  point.  "Love  Leads  To  Madness"  is  a  passable  pop  rock  effort  curiously  predictive  of  Euythmics '  Thorn  In  My  Side.  It  was  their  last  single  to  make  any  ripples  in  the  US  and  made  number  3  in  South  Africa. "Dream  On" is  a  plodding  power  ballad  which  was  a  big  hit  in  the  German-speaking  countries. "Games"  is  a  slowburning rock  number  like John  Farnham's   You're  The  Voice  which  wasn't  a  hit  anywhere. The  album  reached  122  in  the  US  after  which  that  market  too  lost  interest.

Locke  left  the  band at  this  point  though  synths  remained  an  important  element  in  the  sound  on  their  next  album  "Sound  Elixir", the  only  product of  a  new  deal  with  MCA. Future  Blue  Nile  producer  Calum  Malcolm  was  involved  as  an  engineer  and  played  some  keyboards. It's  a  generally  downbeat  set  of  songs  that  only  charted  in  Germany  and  Norway.

Rankin  was  next  to quit  the  band leaving  them  with  the original  quartet  on  1984's  "The  Catch" which  was  released  on  Vertigo. The  cover  of  "Ruby  Tuesday"   was  their  last  UK  single  apart  from  a  couple of  re-releases  on  Old  Gold  and  it's  utterly  hideous  with  a  robotic  rhythm  and  horrible  drum  sound. The  whole album  is  similarly  devoid  of  inspiration; opening  track  "Party  Down"  is  six  minutes  of  aimless  turgid  synth  work  while  "Love of  Freedom"  aims  for  a  Peter  Gabriel  world  music  vibe  but  just  bores. Still  Germany  and  Norway  remained  loyal. With  1986's  "Cinema"  they  were  down  to  just  the latter.

Three  more  years  (  during  which  time  Manny  did  some  preliminary  production  work  with  a  new  American  band  called  Guns n  Roses  ) elapsed  before  "Snakes 'n' Ladders"  came  out.  Three  covers  including  an  unspeakable  assault  on  "Hang  On  To  A  Dream"  indicated  that  inspiration  was  running   ever  drier  although  it  actually  broke  new  ground  by  charting  in  Switzerland  as  well  as  Norway.

In  1990  Manny  became  the  first  founder  member  to  quit  the  band .  After  being  inactive  for  the  first  half  of  the  nineties  he  started  releasing  a  string  of  solo  albums  on  minor  labels  between  1999  and 2013. He  also relocated  to  Texas. In  2008  he  formed  his  own  version  of Nazareth  and  toured  as  "Nazareth  with  Manny  Charlton" for  a  year. There's  another  solo album  out  soon.

Rankin  was  persuaded  to  rejoin  the  band  for  1991's  "No  Jive"  recorded  in  Germany  and  the  band's sound  got  heavier  once  more. Norway  had  lost  interest   by  this  point  but  Austria  joined  the  Swiss  in  giving  them  a  chart  placing. In  1993  their  bank  balances  got  a  boost  when  Guns 'n'  Roses  covered  "Hair  of  the  Dog " on  The  Spaghetti  Incident ?   though  they  declined  a request to  perform  at  Axl  Rose's  wedding. Rankin  wrote  most  of  their  1994  album  "Move  Me   then  quit  after  it  only  charted  in  Switzerland.

Still  the  band  continued  and  filled  the  gap  with  guitarist  Jimmy  Murrison  and  Ronnie  Leahy  on  keyboards. They  were  on  board  for  the  band's  nadir  in  1998  when  their  next  LP  "Boogaloo"  failed  to  chart  anywhere. The  following  year  drummer  Daryl  Sweet  had  a  heart  attack  while  they  were  on  tour  and  passed  away. He  was  replaced  by  bassist  Paul  Agnew's  son  Lee.

For  the  next  nine  years  Nazareth  released  no  new  material  but  tried  to  keep  interest  alive  with  a  series  of  live  and  compilation  albums.  Leahy  retired  in  2002. At  the  beginning  of  2008  they  started  a  big  European  tour  to  celebrate  their  fortieth  anniversary   and  released  a  new  studio  album  on  a  German  label  , "The  Newz"  taking  on  new  influences  like  the  Chili  Peppers  on  opener  "Goin  Loco"  and  Queens  of  the  Stone  Age  on  "Liar". It's  a  lively  enough  comeback  album  but  the  songs  are  too  long  and  Dan's  voice  is  beginning  to  creak. It  charted  in  Austria,  Sweden  and  Switzerland. In  2011  they  released  a  follow  up  album  "Big  Dogz". Most  of  the  songs  are  at  a  pedestrian  pace  and  several  mourn  the  passing  of  time  like  "Radio"  and  "Time  And  Tide"  ( the  latter  at  a  punishingly  ironic  7  minutes  and  20  seconds ).   It  became  their  first  hit  album  in  Germany  since  1984  as  well  as  scoring  in   her  Alpine  neighbours.

In  the  summer  of  2013  Dan  had  to  pack  it  in  at  a  couple  of  shows  due  to  breathing  difficulties  caused  by  chronic  obstructive  pulmonary  disease. He  announced  his  retirement  at  the  end  of  August. The  band  had  done  enough  work  with  Dan  to  release  their  next  album  "Rock 'n' Roll  Telephone"  in  June  last  year.  It's  turgid  stuff  with  songs  that  sound  like  they've  been  written  not  to  stretch  their  ailing  singer  too  much. He  sounds  particularly  weak  on  the  hip  hop  influenced  "Long  Long  Time". Nevertheless  it  charted  in  Germany , Sweden, Austria  and  Switzerland.

Dan  gave  his  blessing  to  Pete  carrying  on  the  band  without  him  and  endorsed  his  replacement  Linton  Osborne   but  the  band  had  to  cancel  a  UK  tour  in  the  winter  because  he  too  fell  ill.  In  February  this  year   his  replacement  by  ex-Krokus  singer  Carl  Sentance  was  announced  but  it  remains  to  be  seen  whether  they'll  record  anything  more  without  Dan.

347 Hello Kiss - I Was Made For Lovin ' You

Chart  entered : 30  June  1979

Chart  peak : 50

Number  of  hits : 13

Little  cracks  were  starting  to  appear  in  our  resistance  to  American  rock   by  now  and  this  gave  a  band  we'd  mostly  cold-shouldered  a  toehold  in  our  charts.

The  band  had  its  beginnings  in  New  York  City  in  1970  when  Eugene  Klein  ( originally  Chaim  Witz )  ,  the  son  of    Holocaust  survivors  and  born  in  Israel  in  1949  helped  found  a  band  called  Rainbow  in  which  he  would  be  the  bassist. One  of  his  bandmates  suggested  adding  rhythm  guitarist  Stanley  Elsen  ( born  Manhattan  1952 )  to  the  line  up. Stanley  also  had  a  Jewish  background. Shortly  after  that  the  band  discovered  there  was  another  group  called  Rainbow  around  and  changed  their  name  to  Wicked  Lester. Although  they  only  managed  to  play  two  live  gigs  the  band  did  record  a  demo  tape  and  Epic  signed  them  on  the  condition  they  changed  lead  guitarist. The  band  laboured  through  some  difficult  sessions  with  the  new  guy  in  1972  only  for  Epic  to  refuse  to  release  the  album

Gene   ( Simmonds  as  he  now  styled  himself )  and   "Paul"  Stanley  decided  to  start  a  new  band . They  saw  an  advert  in  Rolling  Stone   from  a  drummer  looking  for  a  new  band   and  invited  him  along.  Peter  Criss  ( originally  George  Criscuola  )  was  also  from  New  York  but  from  an  Italian  background. He  was  born  in  1945  and  was  equally  adept  at  jazz  or  rock. In  1970  he  found  himself  in  a  band  called  Chelsea. They  were  signed  to  Decca  and  released  one  eponymous  album . It's  hard  to  classify  , ranging  from  moody  pomp  rock  in  a  Moody  Blues  or  Doors  vein  to  the  country  rock  of  The  Band  and  was  perhaps  difficult  to  market. The  band  imploded  during  sessions  for  a  never  completed  second  album  and  Peter's  faction  called  themselves  Lips. They  never  really  got off  the  ground  hence  Peter's  ad.

In  January  1973  they  completed  the  line  up  with  lead  guitarist  Paul  "Ace" Frehley.  He  was  born  in  New  York  in  1951  from  Dutch  immigrant  stock. He  had  been  in  a   folk / pyschedelic  outfit  called  Molimo  in  the  early  seventies  that  hadn't  got  anywhere.  Soon  after  they  came  up  with  the  name  Kiss. The  hardheaded  and  famously  abstemious  ( apart  from  sex ) Gene  and  Paul  already  had  the  blueprint  for  the  band - straight ahead  hard  rock  and  stage  theatrics  influenced  by  the  glam  rock  acts. When  Bill  Aucoin  offered  to  be  their  manager  they  said  yes  if  he  got  them  a  deal  within  a  fortnight. And  so  , highly  incongruously,  Kiss  were  signed  up  to  premier  disco  label  Casablanca.

Their eponymous  debut  LP  came  out  in   early 1974, an  amiable  collection  of  Stones-y  boogie  tunes  of  no  great  distinction  although  the  closer  "Black  Diamonds"  is  pretty  good. The  album  got  to  number  87  and  second  single  "Kissin  Time"  reached  number  83  in  the  US ,  a  disappointing  return  after  some  intensive  touring.  They  now  had  stage  personas  underlined  by  their  facial  make-up , the  Star  Child  ( Paul ), the  Demon  ( Gene ) , the  Spaceman  ( Ace ) and  the  Cat  ( Peter ).

The  second  album  "Hotter  Than  Hell"  followed  in  October   the  same  year  and  sounded  sludgy  and  uninspired  with  only  "Goin  Blind"  a  power  ballad  drumming  up  some  odd  pathos  for  an  unlikely  relationship  between  a 93  year  old  man  and  a  16  year  old  girl  standing  out  from  the  pack. The  sole  single  , the  instantly  forgettable  "Let  Me  Go, Rock  And  Roll"  didn't  chart, and  with  Casablanca  experiencing  severe  cashflow  problems  the  album   could  only  limp  its  way  to  number  100.

Still  their  reputation  as  a live  act  was  growing  with  Gene's  blood  splitting  and  fire  eating, Ace's  exploding  guitars  and  Peter's  levitating  drums  attracting  some  of  Alice  Cooper's  old  audience.  Despite  this  Casablanca's  Neil  Bogart  pulled  them  off  tour  and  demanded  they  record  a  third  album, this  time  with  him at  the  helm.  The  band  managed  to  come  up  with  the  barely  30  minute  long  "Dressed  To  Kill" in  March  1975. It's  as  superficial  as  you'd  expect  but  Bogart's  shiny  production  edged  them  a  bit  closer  to  glam  rock  (  particularly  Slade )  and  that  seemed  to  do  the  trick  commercially  with  both  the  album  ( number  32  )  and   empty  but  effective  single  "Rock  And  Roll  All  Nite "  ( number  68  )  becoming  their  biggest  hits  to  date.

With   their  sales  still  small  for  the  amount  of  concert  tickets  they  were  shifting,  the  obvious  next  move  was  to  release  a  live  album. Casablanca  probably  couldn't  afford  any  more  studio  time  having  pressed  millions  of  copies of  a  Johnny  Carson  comedy  LP  that  nobody  wanted; perhaps  he  was  only  hilarious  if  you  were  out  of  your  head  on  coke,  By  contrast  sales  of  "Alive! "  a  16  track  double  which  came  out  in  September  1975  exceeded  all  expectations  and  the  company  lived  to  fight  another  day. The  album  reached  number  9  in  the  charts  and  the  single, a  live  version  of  "Rock  And  Roll  All  Nite"  got  to  number  12. "Alive!"  even  made  a  showing  in  our  charts  at  number  49.

The  band  had  clearly  moved  up  a  league  and  hired  Alice  Cooper 's  producer Bob  Ezrin   for  their  next  album  "Destroyer", released  in  March  1976 . They  also  brought  in  some  outside  help  with  their  songwriting  such  as  Kim  Fowley  and  Mark  Anthony. "Destroyer" has  a  bigger  sound  than  its  predecessors  more  suitable  for  the  arenas  they  were playing. With  Ezrin  on  board  the  Alice  Cooper  influence  is  even  more  evident  especially  on  "God  of  Thunder"  which, with  its  yelling  children in  the  background, sounds  like  a  tribute  to  him. the  album  got  to  number  11  and  spawned  three US  hit  singles. "Shout  It  Out  Loud"  and  "Flaming  Youth"  both  utterly  hollow  hard  rock  anthems   reached  thirty-one  and   seventy-four  respectively. Then  the  atypical  "Beth" ,a   touching  Manilow-esque  piano  ballad  addressed  to  a  neglected  partner  co-written  and  sung  by  Peter,  reached  number  7, their  highest  ever  chart  position. Gene  and  Paul  hated  the  song  and  none  of  the  band  actually  play  on  it  but  it  did  give  the  album  a  significant  sales  boost. "Destroyer"  reached  number  22  in  the  UK.

With  their  Jewish  work  ethic  the  band  had  another  album  out  by  the  end  of  1976. "Rock  And  Roll  Over" ,  produced  by  Eddie  Kramer  broke  no  new  ground  apart  from  Paul's  folksy  ballad  "Hard  Luck  Woman"  which  he  originally  intended  to  offer  to  Rod  Stewart  but  was  kept  and  given  to  Peter  to  sing. It  gave  them  another  Top  20  hit  in  the  US. Elsewhere  the  album  was  well  produced, tight  hard  rock  and  the  follow  up  single  Gene's  "Calling  Dr  Love" a  meat  and  potatoes  rocker  did  almost  as  well.  the  album  peaked  at  11 in  the  States  but  didn't  chart  here.

Kiss  were  rapidly   becoming  one  of  the  biggest  bands  in  America  with  a  wide  range  of  merchandise  available  including  comic  books , make  up  kits, dolls, trading  cards  and  Halloween  masks. The  group  ploughed  on  with  "Love  Gun" , released  in  June  1977, another  shortish  set  at  just  under  33  minutes,  and  the  inclusion  of  a  throwaway  cover  of  "And  Then  She  Kissed  Me"  suggests  inspiration  was running  a  bit  dry although  the  other  tracks  are  at  least  up  to  standard.  The  singles were  Gene's  reprehensible  "Christine  Sixteen" - "she's  been  around  but  she's  young  and  clean " - which  unfortunately  got  to  25  in  the  US  charts  and  Paul's  title  track  ,  a  slick  piece  of   light  metal  which  reached  number  55. The  album  got  to  number  4  in  the  US  though  again  it  failed  to  chart  here.

For  those  fans  with  deep  pockets  there  was  the  self-explanatory  Alive  II  double  LP  later  that  year  which  had   five  new  studio  tracks  including  the    Ace-written  single  "Rocket  Ride "  , one  of  their  heavier  offerings   with  a  killer  riff  which  made  number  39  in  the  US  charts.  The  album  got  to  number  7 in  the  US  and  60  over  here. Just  months  later  there  was  a  compilation  LP  "Double  Platinum"  which  reached  number  22. Some  of  the  inclusions  had  been  re-mixed  most  notably  "Strutter"  from  the  first  LP   which  made  number  89  in  the  singles  chart  as  "Strutter  78".

Now  the  band  seriously  began  to  over-reach  themselves. They  agreed   to  a  TV  film  "Kiss  Meets  the  Phantom  of  the  Park"  in  which  they  played  super  heroes. In   the  finished  product  they  looked  like  chumps  who  couldn't  act; the  long  periods  of  down  time  also  gave  Peter  and  Ace  more  opportunity  to  indulge  in  substance  abuse. For  years  afterwards  Kiss  forbade  anyone  to  mention  it  in  their  presence.

In  terms  of   recorded  product  they  came  up  with  the  idea  of  releasing  four  self-titled  solo  albums  on  the  same  day  in  September  1978  , an  act  of  hubris  still  unmatched.  They  all  charted  between  22  ( Gene )  and  43  ( Peter  )   although  Ace's  turned  out  the  best  seller  through  spawning  a  Top  20  single  with  a     routine  cover  of  Hello's  "New  York  Groove". None  of  the  other  singles  charted   in  the  U.S. although  Gene  reached  41  here  with   the  Mott  the  Hoople -ish  glam   tune   "Radioactive" in  a  rare  example  of  a  solo  project  spawning  a  hit  before  the  parent  band  charted.

That  wasn't  long  off  though.  The  band  reconvened  for  the  next  album  without  Peter   who'd  injured  his  hand  in  a  car  accident  ;  Gene  and  Paul  were  having  concerns  about  his  deteriorating  playing  before  that  happened. For  most  of  the  album, including  this  single  he  was  replaced  by  session  man  Anton  Fig  who'd  played  on  Ace's  solo  album.

"I  Was  Made  For  Loving  You" was   written  by  Paul  with  help  from  Desmond  Child  and  Vincent  Ponzia. Paul   says  it  was a  conscious  effort  to  try  and  write  a  hit  disco  song. Ponzia  provides  the  Giorgio  Moroder  synthesiser  pulse  that  the  song  rests  on , Fig  stays  on  the  beat  and  Paul, always  the  best  melodic  songwriter  in  the  band  comes  up  with  the  lover  man  lyrics   and  catchy  tune. The  result  is  not  far  from  Abba's  contemporary  Voulez-Vous  and  set  the  template  for   Blondie's  Call  Me   and   ZZ  Top's   mid-eighties  success. While  we  were  a  bit  laggardly  in  recognising  its  merits  it  was  a  monster  hit  all  round  the  world  reaching  11  in  the  States , 1 in  Canada, New  Zealand , Belgium  and  Holland  and  2  in  Australia, France  and  Germany. And  yet , perhaps  inevitably, many  diehard  Kiss  fans  hate  it, seeing  it as  the  start  of  the  rot  that  would  see  them  struggling   to  maintain  their  position  rather  than  a  last  triumph  before  rock  and  roll  excess  took  its  toll  on  band  solidarity.

346 Hello Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart* - Blind Among The Flowers

( * as  part  of  The  Tourists )

Chart  entered :  9  June  1979

Chart  peak  :  52

Number  of  hits :  Annie  45 (  5  with  The  Tourists,  27 with  Eurythmics ,  13  solo )
                                Dave  39 ( 5  with  the  Tourists, 27  with  Eurythmics, 3  with  Vegas, 4  solo )

We  take  a  step  further  into  the  modern  world  here  as  Annie  is  the  first  person  we've  covered  so  far  who's  had  a  hit  in  2015.

We'll  start  with  Dave  as  the  older  of  the  pair. He  was  born  in  Sunderland  in  1952. In  1972  he  formed  the  band  Longdancer  with  three  other  guys  and  got  a  deal  with  Rocket. In  fact  their  debut  single  "If  It  Was  So  Simple " was  the  first  release  on  the  label. It's  a  glorious  folk  rock  anthem  in  the  Lindisfarne  vein,  building  up  to  an  anthemic  chorus. I  remember  it  getting  a  lot  of  airplay  when  I  was  first  tuning  into  Radio  One   but  it  didn't  chart. Probably  Rocket  had  yet  to  get  their  marketing  and  distribution  worked  out.

Longdancer  never  really  recovered  from that  disappointment. Their  debut  LP  "If  It  Was  So  Simple"  is  a  lost  gem  of  folk  rock  with  Simon  and  Garfunkel, Roy  Harper  and  Jethro  Tull   amongst  its  influences. The  track  "Take  The  Man"  is  particularly  good.  I  haven't  heard  much  from  their  second  album  "Trailer  For  A  Good  Life"  in  1974 .  What's  interesting  is  that  Dave  was  only  a  guitarist  in  the  band  without  any  song  credits to  his  name. After  the  band  split  he  recorded  an  obscure  EP  with  singer  Brian  Harrison on  a   tiny   Sunderland   label  then  left  Wearside  for  London.

He  was  living  in  a  squat  in  London  in  1976  when  he  was  introduced  to  Annie  Lennox.  She  was  born  on  Christmas  Day  1954  in  Aberdeen  and  had  been  studying  flute  piano  and  harpsichord  at  the  Royal  College  of  Music  in  London. In  between  day  jobs  to  keep  herself  going  she'd  had  short  spells  in  the  folk  rock  bands  Windsong  and  Dragon's  Playground. They  soon  became  a  couple  and  Dave  invited  her  to  form  a  band  with  his  friend  from  Sunderland  Peet  Coombes  a  singer-songwriter  in  1977.

The  trio  were  initially  called  The  Catch  and  released  the  single  "Borderline" a  poorly  produced  but  not  bad  soft  rock  effort  with  more  than  a  passing  resemblance  to  Ozark  Mountain  Devils'  Jackie  Blue   and  a  lyric  about  homesickness.  They  then  expanded  the  line  up  to  include  a  rhythm  section  and  re-branded  themselves  as  The  Tourists.

"Blind  Among  The  Flowers "  was  their  first  single.  Even  with  Conny  Plank  now  at  the  helm  they  still  hadn't  sorted  out  their  production  problems  with  a  very  murky  sound  mix  particularly  on  the  vocals  where  he  seems  to  be  trying  to  blend  Peet  and  Annie's  voices  into  one. The  opening  drum  salvo  is  filched  from  The  Ramones ' Teenage  Lobotomy   - it  too  could  sound  crisper - and  Dave's  guitar  solo  is  punky  but  otherwise  they  seem  to  be  aiming   like  Blondie  and  the  Pretenders  for  a  Spector-ish  big  pop  sound. Written  by  Peet  I'd  guess  the  song  is  about  depression  and  it's  so-so  with  some  unwieldy  lines  and   a  chorus  that  doesn't  quite  soar.

345 Hello Scorpions - Is There Anybody There ? / Another Piece of Meat

Chart  entered : 26  May  1979

Chart  peak : 39

Number  of  hits : 10

Test yourself  here - other  than  their  post-Cold  War  biggie  can  you  name  another  hit  by these  guys ?  Thought  not. And  yet  they  were  popular  among  teenage  lads  at  this  time. I  remember  frequently  seeing  this  single's  parent  album,  which  had  pretty  much  the  same  artwork,  being passed  around  the  school  yard. I  wonder  how  many  of  them  actually  played  it  ?

Germany's  most  successful  rock  band  have  celebrated their  50th  anniversary , dating  their  beginnings  to  a  band  formed  by  16  year  old  guitarist  Rudolf  Schenker  in   Hanover  in  1964  initially  with  him  as  the  singer. In  1970  he  was  joined  in  the  band  by  singer  Klaus  Meine ( born  1948 ) and  his  younger  brother  Michael  ( born  1955 ). Two  years  later  they  got  a  deal  to  record  the  soundtrack  to  an  anti-drug  movie  Das  Kalte  Paradies  and  this  became  their  debut  LP  "Lonesome  Crow"  produced  by  Conny  Plank.. Although  its  blend  of  Deep  Purple, Pink  Floyd  and  Hawkwind  isn't  unpleasant  to  listen  to,  it  wasn't  a  hit  anywhere  even  in  their  native  land.

Worse  was  to  follow.  They  toured  the  album in  1973  , playing  some  dates  as  a  support  act  to   British  metallers   U.F.O. who  were  so  impressed  with  Michael's  abilities  they  invited  him  to  join  the  band. Another  guitarist  Uli  Roth  came  in  to  finish  the  tour  after  which  the  band  broke  up. Roth  then  invited   Rudolf  to  join  his  own  band  Dawn  Road  which  included  Francis  Bucholz  ( born  1954 ) on  bass. They  then  suggested  that  Rudolf  invite  Klaus  into  the  band  and  when  he  accepted  they  decided  to  resurrect  the  Scorpions  name  as  having  more  brand  recognition.

Their  second  album  "Fly  To  The  Rainbow"  was  released  in  November  1974.  The  new  line  up  rocked  much  harder  than  the  first  but  wrote  some  terrible  English  lyrics.   The  opening  track  and  single  ,"Speedy's  Coming"  which  namechecks  Alice  Cooper  and  Bowie  has  a  decent  pop  kick and  "This  Is  My  Song"  has  some  nice  melodic  guitar   but  elsewhere  it's  hard  going  for  a  non-metalhead.

The  same  is  true  of  the  follow-up  "In  Trance"  in  1975  which  saw  them  move  towards  shorter  songs  , none  of  which  provide  an  easy  route  in  for  the  casual  listener.  The  album  sleeve  was  the  first  in  a  long  line  of  controversial  covers, this  time  featuring  a  woman's  breast  as  she  straddled  a  guitar.  Members  of  the  band  have  unconvincingly  sought  to  distance  themselves  from  this  in  recent  years.

This  reached  its  apogee  with  the  next  one,  "Virgin  Killer"  in  1976  which  featured  a  naked  ten  year  old  girl  in  a  provocative  pose  on  the  cover  with  the  very  slight  mitigation  that  her  genitals  were  obscured  by  a  broken  glass  effect  ( the  issue  resurfaced  in  2008  when  Wikipedia , fearing  possible  legal  proceedings,  temporarily  blocked  any  representations  of  it ).  Much  of  the  music  is  pretty  ugly  too  although  "In  Your  Park",  "Yellow  Raven "  and  "Crying  Days"  saw  them  add  the  mournful  power  ballad  to  their  repertoire  and  provide  some  relief  from  the  headbanging.  The  album  was  their  first  hit  anywhere  in  the  world  when  it  made  number  32  in  Japan.

In  1977  the  band  finally  found  a  long  term  drummer  in  Herman  Rarebell  ( born  1949  )  .  He  played  on  their  next  album  "Taken  By  Force" . This  time  the  cover  offended  a  different  sensibility  by  having  two  boys  ( thankfully  fully  clothed ) playing  "Cowboys  and  Indians"  in  a  war  cemetery. The  relatively  interesting  tracks  are  at  the  front, the  single  "Steamrock  Fever"  which  incorporates  some  kiddie  chants  and  "We'll  Burn  The  Sky"  which  is  based  on  a  poem  by  Jimi  Hendrix's  last  girlfriend  whom  Roth  was  seeing  at  the  time  although  the  provenance  is  more  interesting  than  the  music.

After  its  release  Roth, unhappy  at  the  group's  more  commercial  bent,  announced  he  would  be  leaving  the  group  at  the  end  of  the  tour  to  form  a  new  group  Electric  Sun. His  last  performances  with  the  group  were  captured  by  the  live  album "Tokyo  Tapes" in  1978 which  surpassed  all  the  previous  studio  albums  by  charting in  Germany, Japan, Sweden  and  France. It  was  their  last  release  for  RCA  as  they  moved  across  to  Harvest.

Roth  was  replaced  by  an  experienced  Hanoverian  guitarist  Matthias  Jabs  ( born  1955 ) . However  he'd  barely  hung  up  his  coat  before  UFO  sacked  Michael  Schenker  for  persistent  drunkenness  and  Rudolf  invited  his  brother  to  participate  in  the  recording  sessions  for  the  next  album  "Lovedrive".  In  this  rather  awkward  situation  the  guitar  duties  were  divvied  up  with  Michael  appearing  on  three  of  the  eight  tracks.

This  was  their  first  single  to  be  released  in  the  UK. Diplomatically,  it  was  a  double  A-side  with  one  track  featuring  Matthias  and  one  featuring  Michael. The  former, "Is  There  Anybody  There ? "is  enjoyably  terrible  , a  rare  reggae / metal  crossover  with  laughably  meaningless  lyrics - "Life's  like  a  pantomime  trick  or  a  laser  illusion ".  The  latter  is  an  execrable  AC/DC  impersonation  which  details  an  encounter  with  a  Japanese  groupie. Neither  song  has  much  in  the  way  of  a  tune  and  almost  certainly  needed  the  green  vinyl  gimmick  to  crack  the  Top  40.
 

344 Hello Gary Numan* - Are "Friends" Electric ?

( * released  as  Tubeway  Army  but  see  below )

Chart  entered : 19th  May  1979

Chart  peak : 1

Number  of  hits : 36  ( Paul  Gardiner's  1981  single  "Stormtrooper  In  Drag"  is,  for  most  intents  and  purposes,  also  a  Numan  hit )

Here  we  have  another  artist  who  polarises  opinion. Few  artists  have  inspired  such  devotion  from  their  fanbase  or  taken  so  much  critical   flack  ( though  not  in  recent  years ). Although  I  can't  claim  to  love  all  his  work  this  is  definitely  one  of  my  all  time  favourite  singles  and  the  fact  it  was  at  number  one  for  four  weeks  just  underlines  what  a  special  year  1979  was.

Gary  Webb  was  born  in  London  in  1958 . His  father  bought  him  a  guitar  and  as  punk  blossomed  he  looked  to  music  to  escape  a  variety  of  dead  end  jobs. He  was  briefly  in  a  punk  band  called  Mean  Streets  and  then  The  Lasers  where  he  met  bass  player  Paul  Gardiner.  They  quit  the  band  to  form  a  new  one,  Tubeway Army  in  1977.

The  other  member  was  drummer  Bob  Simmonds  ( now  a  prison  chaplain ) . They  recorded  a  15  track  demo  ( later  released , to  Gary's  displeasure , as  The  Plan )  to  hawk  round  record  companies  while  gigging  incessantly  on  the  punk  circuit.  After  much  hustling by  Paul,  the  new  Beggar's  Banquet  label  signed  them  up  and  in  February  1978  released  their  first  single  "That's  Too  Bad" .  When  they  came  to  record  it  Gary  dropped  Simmonds  in  favour  of his  uncle  Jess  Lidyard  and  they  gave  themselves  pseudonyms . Gary  was  "Valerian", Gardiner  was  "Scarlett"  and  Lidyard  "Rael" ( though  the  photo  of  "Rael" on  the  back  cover  is  Simmonds ).  Gary  produced  the  next  single  himself. He  gave  up  his  day  job  in  a  warehouse  on  the  day  of  its  release.

"That's  Too  Bad"  was  taken  for  punk  at  the  time  but  has  more  in  common  with  Joy  Division  than  The  Damned.  The  song  is  driven  by  a  highly  melodic  bassline  from  Gardiner   and  coloured  by  Gary's  heavily  treated  guitars. His  instantly  recognisable  reedy  voice  mews    lyrics  already  concerned  with  personal  alienation  and  intrusive  technology. The  future  starts  here.

With  Lidyard  uninterested  in  joining  the  band  on  stage,  Gary  recruited  a  new  drummer  Barry  Benn  and  an  extra  guitarist  Sean  Burke  and  this  line  up  played  on  the  next  single  "Bombers"  in  June  1978. Beggar's  Banquet  insisted  on  an  outside  producer  Kenny  Denton  and  Gary  was  happy  enough  to  agree. "Bombers"  is  even  bleaker, an  unremittingly  grim  recounting  of  the  panic  on  the  ground   during  an  air  raid  as  visualised  by  the  man  in  the  cockpit. This  again  has  the  bass  carrying  the  melody  with  the  guitars  following  the  staccato  vocals  and  Floyd-esque  sound  effects  of  dive  bombers, sirens  and  machine  gun  fire .  The  song  would  stay  in  Gary's  set  but  the  live  version  on  the  B-side  of  his  third  ht  "Complex"  ,where  the  song  is  slowed  to  an  electro-drone,  is  dire.

By  this  point  Gary, later  to  be  diagnosed  with  Aspergers  Syndrome, had  had  enough  of  being  spat  on  at  concerts  and  withdrew  from  the  punk  circuit. Benn  and  Burke  were  no  longer  required; they  would  later  try  to  cash  in  on  their  brief  association  with  Gary  by  naming  their  new  band  Tubeway  Patrol  but  only  released  one  single.  This  meant  that,  for  the  eponymous  debut  LP,   the  band  reverted  to  Gary, now  calling  himself  Numan  ( after a  plumber  in  the  telephone  directory ! ), Gardiner  and  Lidyard.

"Tubeway  Army " , released  in  November  1978  with  the  first  5.000  copie  on  blue  vinyl, was  famously  the  album  where  Gary  discovered  a  Minimoog  in  the  studio  and  used  it  to  embellish  or  reconstruct  some  of  the  songs. Even  where  the  synthesiser  isn't  used  much  the  songs  sound  fairly  robotic  with  stiff-wristed  rhythms ,  monotone  vocals  and  little  in  the  way  of  melody. The  lyrics  are  uniformly  downbeat  and  influenced  by  Burroughs, Ballard  and  Philip  K  Dick.  Listened  to  as  a  whole  its's  heavy  going.  It  didn't  chart  and  no  singles  were  taken  from  it. However  it  did  appeal  to  an  unnamed  advertising  executive  who  hired  him  to  sing  a  short  jingle  for  an  advert  for  Lee  Cooper  jeans. The  ad  made  a  big  impact  in  1979   but  Gary  wasn't  interested  in  fleshing  it  out  as  a  song  for  single  release  so  it  was  left  to  former  Atomic  Rooster  vocalist  John  Du  Cann  to  score  a  minor  hit  with  it  as  "Don't  Be  A  Dummy".

In  January  1979  Tubeway  Army  showcased  three  new  songs  in  a  session  for  John  Peel  though  he  was  beginning  to  lose  interest  in  them. He  released  one  of  them  two  months  later  as  his  next  single , "Down  In  The  Park".  With  this  single  he  located  the missing  ingredient  for  commercial  success, melodic  Moog  lines  to  offset  the  steely  vocals  and  metallic  grind  of  the  music. Unfortunately  lines  about  death  and  rape   as  part  of  the  Dick-inspired  dystopian  fantasy  world  that  he  was  imagining  for  the  next  album  meant  curtains  for  daytime  radio  play.

As  his  next  single  was  about  to  be  released , Gary  received  an  invitation  to go  on  the  Old  Grey  Whistle  Test . With  Lidyard  still  reluctant  to  perform  and  the  layered  synthesiser  music  requiring  two  keyboard  players  he  recruited  four  more  musicians  including  one  of  his  musical  heroes  Billy  Currie  of  Ultravox ! to  perform  on  TV  although  as  far  as  recording  the  next  album  went,  Tubeway  Army  remained  just  him  , Gardiner  and  Lidyard. For  the  record  "Are  'Friends'  Electric ? "   entered  the  chart  the  week  before  the  OGWT  appearance  but  undoubtedly  received  a  sales  boost  from  it.

Here's  the  Popular  thread tubeway army- pretty  good and  a  rare  example  of  being  completely  in  accord  with  Mr  Carlin. I  would  just  add  a  little  anecdote  that  I  had  noted  one  of  my  class  mates  ( who  sadly  committed  suicide  in  his  twenties  )  bringing  in  the  "Tubeway  Army"  LP. When  this  got  to  number  one  I  said  to  him  " You'll  be  chuffed  about  that  !"  to  which  he  replied "No  because  it  means  pricks like  you  have  heard of  them  now"  before  moving  on  to  Joy Division,  my  first  experience  of  that  sort  of  musical  snobbery.