392 Hello Toyah Willcox* - Four From Toyah

(* for  the  first  nine  hits  "Toyah" was  actually  a  band )

Chart  entered  : 14  Februrary  1981

Chart  peak : 4

Number  of  hits : 12

The  work  of  Miss  Wilcox / Mrs  Fripp  attracted  few  critical  plaudits  at  the  time  and  fewer  still  now  but  in  the  early  eighties  she  was  an  unavoidable  part  of  the  pop  scene  with  a  loyal  fanbase  that  included  my  best  friend  when  this  was  out. Its  lead  track   still  brings  to  mind  those  last  days  of  my  own  Arcadia.

Toyah  Willcox  was  born  in  Birmingham  in 1958. Her  father  had  a  successful  joinery  business  and  her  mother  was  a  professional  dancer. She  was  born  with  a  number  of  physical  deformities  which  required  years  of  physiotherapy  and  corrective  surgery  to  eliminate. She  suffered  some  bullying  as  a  result  and  grew  up  a  feisty  rebellious  teenager . after  trouble  with  the  law  as  a  juvenile  she  received  some  bomb  disposal  training  in  the  wake  of  the  Birmingham  pub  bombings  presumably  as  an  expendable  denizen  of  the  city. Toyah  saw  both  acting  and  the  punk  rock  scene  as  outlets  for  her  to  express  herself  and  sought  to  develop  both  careers  simultaneously.

From  Birmingham's  Repertory  Theatre  she  appeared  in  a  BBC  play  called  Glitter   in  1977  and  on  the  back  of  that  was  invited  to  join  the  National  Theatre   where  she  made her  mark  by  crashing  a  wheelchair  into  Sir  John  Gielgud. She  then  appeared  in  Derek  Jarman's  Jubilee  as  an  overweight  skinhead.

She  put  her  eponymous  band  together  with  her guitarist  friend  Joel  Bogen  and  began  gigging  as  regularly  as  her  acting  commitments  would  allow  in  1978.  They  got  a  record  deal  with  the  independent  label  Safari  in  June  1979  while  she  was  filming  her  part  in  Quadrophenia.

Their  first  single  was  "Victim  of  the  Riddle"  in  July  1979   which  I   have  to  admit  I  bought  a  couple  of  years  later  to  possess  something  my  friend  would  want  to  borrow. There's  actually  quite  a  nice  Oriental  keyboard  riff  running  through  it  but  the  vocal  is  just  theatrical  off-key  screeching . The  subtitle  of  the  version  on  the  flip  gives  a  clue that  it's  about  vivisection  but  the  lyrics  would  apply  equally  well  to  abortion. Either  way,  Toyah  said  she  wanted  to  start  off  with  something  extreme  and it  certainly  fitted  the  bill.

They  quickly  followed  it  up  with  an  "alternative  play"  "Sheep  Farming  In  Barnet"  comprising  6  tracks  for  £1.50  which  sounds  like  good  value  until  you  hear  it. There  are  five  helpings  of  tuneless  Goth-punk   wailing  and  the  relatively  palatable  "Our  Movie"  whose  rhythm  track  borrows  heavily  from  Love  Is  The  Drug. It  was  later  expanded  to  album  length  by  including  both  sides  of  the  previous  single  and  three  new  tracks  which  are  slightly  more  accessible.

Toyah  then  got  another  lucky  break, being  written  into  an  episode  of  Shoestring  as  a  singer  called  "Toola"  and  allowed  to  showcase  some  of  her  own  material  during  the  episode.  It  wasn't  enough  to  make  the  next  single  "Bird  In  Flight"  a  hit  even  though   the  hysteria  is  toned  down  somewhat  and  there's  some  tuneful  keyboard  work  from  Peter  Bush.

Toyah's  first  real   LP  was  "The  Blue  Meaning"  released  in  June  1980. It  was  absolutely  savaged  by  Smash  Hits  ' Red  Starr  and  he  was  right  on  the  money. It  has  no  merit  from  start  to  finish . Toyah  ludicrously  overacts  her  way  through  a  library  list  of  schoolgirl  obsessions  dwelling  on  the  occult  and  macabre  while  the  band  provide  an  uninspiring  post-punk stew  to  back  her  up. That  includes  the  single  "Ieya"  released  at  the  same  time  , a   strident  but  essentially  meaningless  jumble  of  phrases  culled  from  the  occult  and  science  fiction. A  re-recorded  version  was  a  minor  hit  in  1983. The  album  did  reach  number  40  in  the  charts.

Then  the  band  got  another  TV  break  when  ATV  made  a  documentary  about  them  including  a  large  slice  of  a  gig  in  Wolverhampton  in  June  1980. A  recording  of  the  concert  was  released  in  November  as  the  live  album  Toyah! Toyah! Toyah!  A  live  version  of   the  episodic  "Danced"  was  released  as  an  unlikely  single.

By  the  new  year  Safari  were  getting  a bit  itchy about  her  failure  to  really  capitalise  on  all  this   exposure  and  perhaps  the  recent  emergence  of  another  singing  punk  actress  in  Hazel  O  Connor. They  insisted  she  cover  a  recent  song  recorded  by her  producer  Keith  Hale  with  his  own  band  Blood  Donor. Toyah  wasn't  happy  with  the  idea  believing  that  the  nature  of  "It's  A  Mystery"  - chorus , tune, lyrics  that  hung  together, that  sort  of  thing- would  alienate  her  existing  fanbase  but  eventually  went  along  with  it. Nostalgia  aside  I  still  think  it's  a  great  song  which  manages  to  survive  the usual  reservations  about  the  vocal  performance -  why  does  she  have  to  shout  the  line " I  SHOT  !!! - in  the  dark"  for  instance ?  Adrian  Lee's  keyboard   work  with  the  simple  but  haunting  four  note  motif   is  the  icing  on  the  cake.  Radio  and  TV  completely  ignored  the  other  three  tracks  with  good  reason. "Revelations " is  a  tuneless  synth  pop  updating  of  "Jack  and  Jill"  which  wanders  from  anti-nuclear  fable  to  another  shopping  list  of  occult  references  without  warning. "War Boys"  sounds  like  she's  been  listening  to  her  Jubilee   co-star  Adam  Ant's  recent  work  with  its  heavy  drum  pattern  and  warrior  references. "Angels  and  Demons"  is  an  occult  fantasy  co-penned  with  Hale  and  you  can  discern  his  influence  in  the  structure  and  lyrical  coherence  but  the  song  is  a  plodding  bore  that  doesn't  go  anywhere.    

391 Hello Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime

Chart  entered : 7  February  1981

Chart  peak : 14

Number  of  hits  : 10

These  lot  seem  to  have  gone  out  of  fashion  in  recent  years  with  few  bands  citing  them  as  an  influence  but  I  dare  say  the  critical  wheel  will  turn  round  and  restore  them  to  favour.

The  band  came  together  in  1974. Scottish -born  David  Byrne  ( born  1952 )  and  Chris  Frantz ( born  1951 )  were  students  at  the  Rhode  Island  School  of  Design  where  they  formed  a  short-lived  band  called  The  Artistics. Frantz's  girlfriend Tina  Weymouth  ( born  1954 )  who  was  also  at  the  school  acted  informally  as  their  roadie.  The  trio  relocated  to  New  York  where  they  lived  in  a  communal  loft. As  David  sang  and  played  guitar  and  Chris  was  a  drummer  they  needed  a  bass  player. Chris persuaded  Tina  to  learn  the  instrument  and  join  their  new  band.

The  trio  played  their  first  gig  as  Talking  Heads  supporting  The  Ramones  at  CBGB's  in  Jne  1975  and  quickly  became  part  of  the  punk  scene  though  their  music  was  far  removed  from  the  three  chord  thrashes  of  Joey  and  the  boys. They  were  signed  to  Sire  at  the  beginning  of  1977  and  released  their  first  single  "Love  Goes  To  Building  On  Fire"  in  February  that  year.
It's  a  quirky  art-pop  song  based  on  a  simple  circular  guitar  riff  with  David's  high  vocal  emphasising   a  debt  to  Sparks. Halfway  through  a  trumpet  comes  in  and  David  starts  doig  military  barks  and  repeating  the  word  "tweet". Tina  later  described  David's  modus  operandi  as  always  doing  something  unexpected  when  the  listener  started  to  get  comfortable. Unsurprisingly  the  single  failed  to  sell.

Shortly  afterwards they  added  Jerry  Harrison  ( born  1949 )  to  the  line  up.  Jerry  was  a  former  architecture  student  and  had  been  in  The  Modern  Lovers  with  Jonathan  Richman. He  played  on  their  epochal  debut  album  which  included  the  punk  classic  "Roadrunner"  but  quit  in  1974  when  Richman  wanted  to switch  to  a  more acoustic  sound. Jerry  joined  as  keyboard  player  or  second  guitarist. Some  of  their  debut  album "Talking  Heads  77"  was  recorded  before  Jerry  joined  the  band.

"Talking  Heads : 77" , released  in  September  1977,  is  an  assured  debut  , its  nervy  little  songs  sounding  like  nobody  else  except  occasionally  perhaps  XTC.  Opener  "Uh  Oh  Love  Comes  To  Town"  with  its  unexpected  steel  drums  was  released  as  a  single  in  the  US.  Some  of  the  songs  like  "Who  Is  It "  and  "Happy  Day  " seem  a  bit  underwritten  whereas  "No  Compassion"  staggers  under  the  weight  of  Alanis  Morrisette-like  wordiness. All  of  the  tracks  were  written  by  David  alone  apart  from  standout  track  "Psycho  Killer" whose  tense  pulsing  bassline  and   menace-laden  lyric  make  it  a  new  wave  classic. As  a  single  it  was  a  minor  hit  in  the  US  but  the  album  did  nothing. Over  here  the  single  missed  but  the  album  made  a  respectable  showing  at  number  60. The  jolly  "Puled  Up"  was  belatedly  released  as  a  single  in  May  1978  but  was  ignored.

For  the  second  album  "More  Songs  About  Buildings  And  Food"  Brian  Eno  came  on  board  as  producer  and  additional  musician. Though  David's  songs  remained  as  spiky  and  quixotic  as  before, Eno  concentrated  on  the  rhythm  section  bringing  out  their  funkiness.  The  only  single  was  the  untypical  cover  of  Al  Green's  "Take  Me  To  The  River"  given  a  fairly  conventional  rock  treatment  which  makes  them  sound  like  Argent. It  did  the  trick  in  giving  them  a  big  hit  in the  US  where  it  peaked  at  26. The  album  got  to  29 in  the  States  and  21  over  here  though  we  disdained  the  single  even  after  it  was  re-released  as  a  double  pack in  the  summer  of 1979.

Eno's  services  were  retained  for  their  third  album  "Fear of  Music"  in  1979  which  was  partly  recorded  in  Chris  and  Tina's  apartment  but  it  doesn't  sound  like   it.  With  a  few  more  co-writing  credits  for  the  other  members  and  Eno  the  sound  is  bigger. Some  tracks  like  the  opener  "I  Zimbra"   put  the  funk  out  front  while  the  likes  of  "Air"  and  "Heaven" on  the  second  side  are  more  melodically  accessible  than  their  previous  material. The  album   got  to  21  in  the  US  and  33  over  here. The  singles  were  "Life  During  Wartime"  , a  hard-driving  funk  number  from  the  point  of  view  of  a  paranoid  survivalist  which  got  to  number  80  in  the  US,  "Cities"  a  frantic  funk  number  with  a  great  bassline  and  bafflingly  "I  Zimbra"  which  is  essentially  a  percussion -heavy  chant  with  no  coherent  lyric.

Nevertheless  "I  Zimbra"  pointed  their  way  to  their  fourth  feted  LP  "Remain  in  Light"  released  in  October  1980. Inspired  by  African  music, the  band  and  Eno  built  the  tracks  up  slowly  from  a  rhythmic  base   using  samples  and  loops. Adrian  Belew  was  brought  in  to  add  some  distorted  guitar  then  David  worked  on  the  lyrics  and  melodies  again  turning  to  Africa  for  inspiration. He  and  Eno  had  been  working  on  a  separate  project  incorporating  world  music  styles  "My  Life  in  he  Bush  of  Ghosts"  which  had  been  completed  but  held  up  while  legal  clearance  was  obtained  for all  the  samples  used. The  resulting  album  had  the  critics  drooling  although  it  trod  water  commercially  reaching  19  in  the  US  and  21 here.

"Once  In  A  Lifetime"  was  belatedly  released  as  the  first  single  at  the  same  time  as  "My  Life  in  The  Bush  of  Ghosts".  The  self-proclaimed  saviour  of  Radio  One, the  obnoxious  Trevor  Dann,  claims  credit  for  it  being  a  hit  in  the  UK  through  repeated  plays  on  Dave  Lee  Travis's  afternoon  show  as  part  of  a  doomed  attempt  to  re-position  the  "Hairy  Cornflake"  as  a  serious  taste  maker  ( difficult  as  the  bearded  DJ  famously  didn't  own  a  record  player ).

The  song's  rhythm  track  was  inspired  by  Fela  Kuti's  polyrhythmical  approach, further  distorted  by   Eno  in  the  studio  so  that  all  the  instruments  are  slightly  out  of   kilter  with  each  other  producing  a  lurching  effect. David  yelps  in  the  style  of  a  televangelist  about  questioning  the  facts  of  your  material  existence  and  living  on  autopilot  without  really  considering  where  you'll  end  up. Eno  came  up  with  the  tune  for  the  chorus  which  made  it  the  album's  most   accessible  song. The  single  was  boosted  by  the  groundbreaking  video  which  had  David  as  bespectacled  nerd  doing  strange  dances  party  in  imitation  of  ethnic  styles  ( such  as  doing  hand  chops  across  the  forearm )  and,  more  controversially,  movements  associated  with  epilepsy  as  suggested  by  his  choreographer  Toni  Basil.
 
I   have  to  admit  I  hated  it  when  it  was  in  the  charts  as  it  clearly  didn't  fit within  the  New  Romantic  prism  I  was  viewing  music  through  at  the  time  and  only  came  to  appreciate  it  later.

390 Hello Phil Collins solo - In The Ar Tonight

Chart  entered  : 17  January  1981

Chart  peak : 2  ( 4  in  a  re-mix  in  1988, 26  as  a  credited  sample  on  Lil  Kim's  "In  The  Air Tonite"  in  2001; 14  on  reissue  in  2007 )

Number  of  hits  : 32

So   we  move  into  1981.  After  a  bumper  year  in  1980  we'll  move  quite  speedily  through  this  one  as  there  are  relatively  few  hellos  and  some  of  those  are  established  artists  beginning  solo  careers  like  this  one...

We  know  where  Phil  came  from. The  impetus  behind  his  first  solo  project  was  his  first  wife  leaving  him  for  an  interior  decorator   in  1979   and  him  retreating  to  his  8  track  studio  to  write  some  songs  in  response. Both  Mike  Rutherford  and  Tony  Banks  had   already  released  solo  albums  by  this  point  so  there  was  no  problem  with  Phil  doing  likewise  and  some  of  the  spare  material  went  on  Genesis  albums  from  Duke  onwards. I  don't  think  they  were  quite  prepared  for  how  well  it  was  going  to  do  though.

"In  The  Air  Tonight"  was  the  extraordinary  first  single  from  the  resultant  Face  Value  album. It's  sparse, edgy  feel  and  use  of  electronic  effects   distanced  the  single   from   its  creator's  prog-rock  background  and  chimed  well with  the  despondent  pre-Falklands  national  mood.  Although  the  lyrics  appear  to  be  directed  towards  the  intruder  in  his  wife's  bed  Phil  says  they  were  written  spontaneously  in  a  mood  of  generalised  anger  and  have  no  specific  meaning. Mind  you  he  also  says  that  the  paint  pot  which  appeared  by  the  keyboards  when  he  performed  the  singles  from  the  album  on  Top  of  the  Pops  was  just  a  stage  prop  to  emphasise  the  D.I.Y.  nature  of  the  recordings   so  we  can  be  a  bit  sceptical of  these  claims.  Phil  is  entitled  to  be  dismissive  of  the  urban  legends  about  him  witnessing  an  actual  drowning    which  gained  enough  currency  to  be  referenced  in  Eminem's  Stan.

The  song  of  course  is  most  famous  for  the  big  drum  break  that  crashes   in    at  3:15  after  the  line  "It's  all  been  a  pack  of  lies "  which  is  actually  even  more  dramatic  on  the  album  version  because  Ahmed  Ertegun  at  Phil's  American  label  Atlantic  insisted  on  him  playing  underneath  the  spartan  drum  machine  for  it  to  be  released  as  a  single. It  introduced  Hugh  Padgham's    "gated  reverb"   effect  to   big  hit  singles  which  would  be  much  abused  over  the  next  decade  but  it  would  be  unfair  to  blame  Phil  for  that.

With  one  or  two  exceptions  it  was  mostly  downhill  from  here  as  far  as  appreciating  Phil's  solo  stuff  went  for  me  particularly  his  hamfisted  attempts  to  do  "black  music",  but  this  is  still  a  great  record  as  its  chart  record  would  indicate.  

389 Goodbye The Skids - Woman In Winter

Chart  entered  :  6  December  1980

Chart  peak : 49

The  Skids  wound  up  their  brief  encounter  with  the  charts  with  this  one. They  peaked  early  with  "Into  The  Valley"  reaching  number  10  during  the  Winter  of   Discontent  then  their  chart  positions  fluctuated depending  on  whether  the  song  had  some  semblance  of  a  tune  or  not.  In  1979  drummer  Thomas  Kellichan  left  the  line  up  and  the  band  recruited  Rusty  Egan  on  a  temporary  basis  to  play on  their  second  album . In  November  1979  Mike  Baillie  from the  band  Insect  Bites  became  the   permanent  replacement.  In  February  1980   bassist  William  Simpson  quit  and   was  replaced  by  Russell  Webb ,  formerly  with  the  ex-Slik  boys  in  Zones  whose  meodic  take  on  punk  had  found  few  takers  outside  Scotland.

"Woman  In  Winter "  was  the  third  single  from  their  album  "The  Absolute  Game"  which  had  peaked  at  number  nine  back  in  September. The  previous  single  "Goodbye  Civilian" had  stalled  at  52  so  Virgin  packaged  this  with  a  sleeve  that  unfolded  into  a  12 page  comic  book  which  featured  the  lads  in  a  pulpy  detective  story. I  remember  it  well. Digressing  slightly, in  the  seventies  we  only  had  one  place  to  buy  singles  in  Littleborough, an  electrical  store  called  Lumb's. I  don't  think  the  tetchy  Mr  Lumb  was  much  of  a  pop  fan  but  he'd  pick  up a  few  singles  each  week  and  hope  for  the  best. He  also  put  up  the  Top  50  ( after  1978,  Top  75 )  from  Music  Week  in  the  window   by  the  door  and  I'd  regularly  stop  to  look  at  what  was  just  underneath  the Top  30. Below  the  chart  here  was   a  handwritten  notice  that  read  "Ex  Top  50's  £0.50"  and  for  years  I  wondered  who  would  want  to  buy  an  out  of  date  piece  of  paper. It  wasn't  until  1981 that  I  twigged  that  he  meant  he  was  selling  ex -chart  singles  at  a  discount   and  from  then  on  I  got  some  good  stuff  ( though  some  of  them  were  marred  by  him  puncturing  the  picture  sleeves  in  the  middle  so  he  could  display  them  on  his  rack )  until  the  store  closed  in  the  mid-eighties   but  I  always  wondered  what  I'd  missed  out  on  before  I  understood  the  notice. I  mention  all  this  because  his  bargain  box  contained  four  singles  that  never  moved. Besides  the  usual  suspects, Gary  Numan's  She's  Got  Claws  and  Beggar  and  Co's  Mule  ( Chant  no  2 )  which  must  be  the  two  most  over-stocked  singles in  history , there  was  this  one  and  Ian  Dury's  similarly  underachieving  Superman's  Big  Sister . I'd  enjoyed  The  Skids  Top  40  hits  but,  not  having  heard  this  one , I  never  made  the  decision  to  take  a  punt  on  it  and  so  it  remained  there  until  the  end.

"Woman  In  Winter "  couldn't  be  anyone  else  with  Richard  Jobson's  thick  accent  and  the flowery   lyrics  about   sailors  and  women  giving  birth  during  winter    and  Stuart  Adamson's  instantly  recognisable  guitar  sound  although  he  doesn't  let  rip  until  the  end. The  wordless  chorus  , a  manly  wail, is  vaguely  tuneful  but  overall  it's  a  bit  ponderous  lacking  that  ferocious  energy  that  made  "Masquerade"  or  "The  Saints  Are  Coming"  so  compelling. I  think  the  low  forties  was  about  right.

Unfortunately  by  this  point  the  band  were  breaking  apart   which  possibly  had  its  roots  in  Egan's  brief  tenure. Richard  was  clearly  intrigued  by  the  New  Romantic  movement  and  , newly  married  to  press  officer  and  future  TV  face  Mariella  Frostrup  wanted  to  base  the  band  in  London. Stuart  on  the  other  hand  had  a  wife  and  child  in  Dunfermline. You  can  see  the  fault  lines  in  their  appearance  on  Multi-Coloured  Swap  Shop  doing  this  song. Stuart's  in  his  favoured  lumberjack  shirt; Richard  clearly  wants  to  be  in  Spandau  Ballet. At  the  same  time  that  this  was  in  the  charts  Richard  did  a  poetry  reading  at  the  first  night  of  Richard  Strange's  Cabaret  Futura, a  performing  arts  club. Strange  drily  commented  that  it  was  "rather  freely  adapted  from  Sylvia  Plath  and  Marguerite  Duras  ". The   music press  had  a  field  day  mocking  his  renaissance  man  pretensions  which  only  made  him  more  determined  to  pursue  his  poetic  vocation.

Mike  saw  which  way  the  wind  was  blowing  and  jumped  ship  at  the  beginning  of  1981  returning  to  work  at  Rosyth  Naval  Dockyard. Kenny  Hyslop  , also  from  The  Zones  came  in  to  help  at  the  sessions  for  a  new  album. More  seriously  Stuart  was  also  pondering  his  exit. The  serious-minded  musician  was  appalled  by  Richard's  antics  which  were  threatening  to  make  the  whole  band  a  joke  to  say  nothing  of  the  communication  difficulties .  After  working  on  just  one  song  "Iona"  he  decided  it  was  time  to  go  and  announced his  departure  in  May  1981. Kenny  left  the  sessions  around  the  same  time  but  Richard  and  Russell  ploughed  on  with  guest  musicians who  eventually  included  both  Associates  and  Mike  Oldfield.

Before  the  release  of  the  first  single  "Fields"  Richard  attracted  more  notoriety  by  appearing  in  a  play  Demonstration  of  Affection  which  included  bedroom  scenes  with  17  year  old   punk  pop-ette   Honey  Bane  amid  predictable  rumours  that  the  action  was  unsimulated.

"Fields"  was  released  in  August  1981  heralding  their  shift  to  a  sort  of  Scottish  folk  music  that  was  heroic  and  pastoral  at  the  same  time. Associate  Alan  Rankine  provided  the  massed  acoustic  guitars  that  bring  James  to  mind  while  a  treated  Billy  McKenzie  bolsters  the  vocal  sound. It's  a   work  song   along  the  lines  of  Spandau  Ballet's  Musclebound   and  one  of  those  records  you  either  love  or  hate. Radio One  took  the  latter  option  and  it  failed  to  chart.

With  mounting  misgivings  Virgin  released  the  album  "Joy" in  November  1981. "Joy"  is  one  of  the  grand  follies   of  the  time. Musically  it  has  some  nice  moments  but  at  others  it's  barely  listenable  like  being  trapped  at  a  party  with  someone's  mad  drunken  Scotch  uncle  holding  court  and  no  one  daring  to  interrupt. The  folly  was  compounded  by  releasing  a  shortened  but  still  pretty  unbearable  version  of  the  ghastly  dirge  "Iona"  as  a  single.  Then  Richard  released  his  first  poetry  album  The  Ballad  of  Etiquette  on  Bill  Nelson's  Cocteau  label  in  the  same  month. Virgin  withdrew  the  album  which  had  sold  about  3,000  copies  immediately   and  turfed  them  out.  The  band  announced  they  had  split  up. Virgin  put  out  a  compilation  the  following  year   not  containing  any  tracks  from "Joy"  but  that  didn't  chart  either.

Richard  made  some  more  poetry  albums  for  the  Belgian  label  Crepuscle  accompanied  by  his  pianist  friend  Virginia  Astley. Her  own  debut  album  in  1983  was  produced  by  Russell. Also  helping  out  on  these  albums  was  ex-Magazine  and  Banshees  John  McGeoch. None  of  these  ventures  were  exactly  paying  the  rent  so  the  three  guys  got  together  in  1984  to  start  a  new  group. The  success  of  Stuart's  new  group  hadn't  got  un-noticed  either  particularly  as  Mariella  was  their  press  officer.

The  Armoury  Show's  line  up  was  completed  by  ex-Magazine  drummer  John  Doyle. They  got  a  deal  with  Parlophone  and  released  their  first  single  "Castles  in  Spain"  in  the  summer  of  1985. It's  a  decent  effort  setting  Richard's  usual  heroic  but  in  this  case  rather  vacuous  lyrics  and  McGeoch's  grinding  riff  against  a  brutalist  dance  beat. There's  a  radio-friendly  melody  in  the  chorus  and  it  was  modestly  rewarded  with  a  number  69  placing.  Their  second  single  , a  rather  nondescript  bass-heavy pop  rock  number  with  a  reasonable  chorus,  "We  Can  Be  Brave  Again",  got  to  number  66  at  the  beginning  of  1985  after  an  appearance  on  The  Oxford  Road  Show.  In  June  they  tried  again  with  "Glory  of  Love" a  stringing  together of  empty  gestures  and  borrowings  ( particularly  U2's  Two  Hearts  Beat  As  One" )  which  missed  the  chart  altogether. It  didn't  bode  well  for  the  album  "Waiting  For  The  Floods"  which  spent  a  single  week  at  number  57  in  September  1985. There  are  one  or  two  good  tunes  on  it  but  it's  let  down  by  an awful  Linn  drum  sound  which  makes  them  sound  tinny  rather  than  epic. They  were  striving  for  the  same  audience as  U2, Simple  Minds, the  Bunnymen  and  yes  Big  Country  but  just  weren't  quite  good  enough. In  October  they  tried  again  with  "Castles  in  Spain"   but  to  no  avail.

Richard,  now  divorced  from  Frostrup, opened  up  another  career  front  as  a  male  model  and  put  the  band  on  hold  as  he  posed  around  the  world. In  1986   the  ex-Magazine  boys  got  fed  up  of  waiting  and  quit  the  band. When  Richard  returned  from  China  he  reconvened  the  band  with  Russell  and  got  some  replacements  in  for  the  others  but  only  the  duo  appeared  on  the  sleeve  of  the  next  single  "Love  In  Anger"  in  January  1987.  Apart  from  Jobbo's  accent  and  the  sax  it  sounds  exactly  like  James  with  the  massed  acoustic  guitars  and  confessional  lyric. It  became  their  biggest  hit  peaking  at  a  mighty  number  63. The  follow  up  "New  York  City"  goes  for  a  bit  of  dance  floor  action  with  a semi-rap  number  that's  more  Captain  Sensible's  Wot  than  Rapper's  Delight.  An  appearance  on  It's  Wicked  did  nothing  to  get  it  moving  and  it  turned  out  to  be  their  last  single.

In  1988  Richard  and  Russell  dissolved  the  partnership  and  what  was  to  be  the  second  Armoury  Show  album   came  out  as  a  Richard  Jobson  solo  LP  "Badman"  with  the  title  track  released  as  a  single. Both  sank  without  trace; I  don't  remember  either  being  even  reviewed.

It  was  finally  clear  to  Richard  that  his  musical  career  was  finished. He  had  already  landed  a  presenting  spot  on  a  regional  TV  programme  01  for  London  and  now  sought  to  develop  that  career.  Gradually  it  worked  and  he  got  a  slot  on  a  more  widely  networked  show  Hollywood  Reports  . In  1998  Sky  came  calling  and  he  got  his  own   film  review  show  Movietalk. Since  the  millennium  he  has  gone  into  writing  and  directing  films  himself  and  while  he's  not  the  next  Danny  Boyle  they've  done  well  enough  to  allow  him  to  make  the  next  one.

Russell  kept  a  low  profile  until  1992  when  he  joined Public  Image  Limited  for  their  last  tour on  the  recommendation  of  McGeoch. After  that  he  became  a  computer  games  designer  and  worked  with  McGeoch  on  TV  scores  until  the  latter's  death  in  2004. He  now  does  music  for  radio  dramas  and  occasionally  plays  live  doing  Skids  and  Armoury  Show  songs.

Stuart's  story  will  be  told  in  posts  to  come.

Willie   emigrated  to  Australia  but  returned  and  went  on  to  study  law  and  became  a  property  lawyer.

Tom  went  on  to  drum  for  Bill  Nelson  on  a  couple  of  his  albums  and  play  in  a  band  called  Secrets . For  a  number  of  years  he  ran  a  music  bar  in  Tenerife  but  has  since  returned  to  Scotland.

Mike  eventually  left  the  dockyard  and  became  a  wine  expert.
     
Following  the  success  of  the  U2 / Green  Day  cover  of  "The  Saints  Are  Coming "   in  2006 , Richard, Willie  and  Mike  got  together  with  Big  Country's  Bruce  Watson  for  a  Skids  reunion  spot  at  T  in  the  Park  in  2007. They  have  reformed  again  for  festival  appearances  in  2009  and  2010.

388 Goodbye Darts- White Christmas / Sh-boom

Chart  entered : 29  November  1980

Chart  peak : 48

As  D.C.  pointed  out  in  the  Comments  recently , both  Ultravox  and  The  Human  League  "suffered" splits  that  ultimately  benefitted  all  parties. Unfortunately  that  didn't  happen  with  Darts. When  bass  singer  Den  Hegarty  left  in  the  autumn  of  1978  after  three  successive  number  two  hits   to  care  for  his  terminally  ill  father  it  was  a  body  blow  and  they  never  returned  to  the  top  5.  He  gave  them  an  edge. Although  adequately  replaced  vocally  by  American  Kenny  Andrews  , without  Den's  manic  stage  presence  out  front  they  seemed  just  another  act  competing  for  the  revivalist  pound  with  Showaddywaddy, Matchbox  and  Shaky.  Pianist  Hammy  Howell   quit  to  study  classical  music  and  was  replaced  by  former  Vinegar  Joe  keyboard  player  Mike  Deacon  during  1979.  At  the  start  of  1980   guitarist  George  Currie  and  drummer  John   Dummer  quit  after  their  cover  of  "Reet  Petite"  failed  to  reach  the  Top  40. They  were  replaced  by  ex -Mud  man  Rob  Davis  and  Keith  Gotheridge  who  had  been  with  pub  rockers  Plummet  Airlines  who  put  out  a  couple  of  singles  on  Stiff  in  1976; the  second  one  "It's  Hard"  is  worth  checking  out  if  you  like  The  Motors  or  TRB.   The  band  rallied  to  make  number  11  with  a  cover  of  "Let's  Hang  On"  in  the  summer  of  1980  but  "Peaches"  stiffed  at  66  a  couple  of  months  later.

Darts's  final  single  to  chart  was  this  pair  of  covers, a  straight  reading  of  the  original  doo-wop  tune  "Sh-boom"  which  they  had  previously  recorded  with  Den  on  the  Amazing  Darts  album  in  1978   and  a  Wizzard-like  rock n roll  treatment  of  "White  Christmas".  (  By  the  way  they're  not  the  only  act  to  exit  the  charts  with  this  song  ). Both  sides  are  mildly  enjoyable  but  thoroughly  inessential.

Bob  Fish   who  did  most  of  the  male  lead  vocals  then  quit  the  band  to  get  married  and  had  to  be  replaced  with  Stan  Alexander. Mike  too  left  and  was  replaced  by  Jimmy  Compton.  Still  the  band  stuttered  on  and  released  their  next  single  "Jump  Children  Jump" in  June  1981, a  lively  cover  of  a  1940s  swing  tune  which  got  lost  amid  the  competition , now  including  The  Stray  Cats, Coast  To  Coast  and  Joe  Jackson.

Magnet  now  believed  they  were  finished  and  closed  their  account with  a  re-release  of  "The Boy  From  New  York City"  backed  by  "Come  Back  My  Love". Rob  departed  and  was  replaced  by  Keith's  former  bandmate  Duncan  Kerr.  After  a  fruitless  tour  of  the  States  they  branched  into  musical  theatre  appearing  alongside  a  young  Paul  McGann  in  the  musical  "Yakety  Yak"  which  ran  for  around  four  months  over  1982-83.

It  success  allowed  Darts  to  set  up  their  own  label  Choice  cuts   but  they  were  really  just prolonging  the  agony.  Stan  was  replaced  by  Pikey  Butler  and  their    next  single  in  April  1983  was  sax  player  Nigel  Trubridge's   Latin-flavoured  "Mystery  of  Ragoula". Sounding  not  unlike  Kid  Creole  and  the  Coconuts  it  was  certainly  a  move  towards  a  more  contemporary  sound  but  Griff  Fender's  voice  wasn't  really  suited  to  the  material.  "Lorraine"  in  July  saw  them  adopting  a   calypso  sound  but  any  chance  it  had  was  shot  down  by  their  own  hamfisted  production. Next  came  an  EP  of  songs  from  the  musical  which  I  haven;'t  heard  followed  by  the  all  too  appropriate  "Can't  Teach  A  Fool"  written  by  Pikey  Butler  who  had  replaced  Stan. I  presume he's  the  Neil  Sedaka  soundalike   doing  the  lead  vocal  on  the  single  which  sounds  like  a  second  rate  mod  revival  act  like  The  Truth  or   Big  Sound  Authority.

In  1984  Rita  Ray  resumed lead  vocal  duties   on  an  awful  doo  wop treatment   of  The Young  Rascals'  "Groovin"  and  you  can  almost  hear  the  scraping  of  the  barrels.  They  then  backed  Alison  Moyet  on  the  B-side  of  her  hit  Invisible. Their  final  single  which  I  haven't  heard  was  "Blow  Away"  at  the  beginning  of  1985.  The  band  then  finally  realised  the game  was  up  and  called  it  a  day.

What  in  the  meantime  had  happened  to  Den ?  After  the  death  of  his  father  he  launched  a career  as  a  solo  artist  in  February  1979  with  "Voodoo  Voodoo"  an  old  Lavern  Baker  number. It  sounds  like  an  old  Swinging  Lord  Sutch  number  with  Den's  Big  Bad  John  vocals   not  exactly  a  plus. If  he'd  got  on  to  Top  of  the  Pops  again  things  might  have  worked  out  differently  but  alas  the  single  stiffed  at  number  73.

Den  then  worked  briefly  on  a  Tyne  Tees  pop  show  Alright  Now   as  host   but  the  bosses  thought  he  was  out  of  control  and  fired  him. In  April 1980  he  had  a  second  crack  at  recording  with  a  version  of  Lee  Dorsey's  "Working  In  A  Coalmine"  produced  by  Godley  and  Creme  and  released  under  the  name  "Big  Den  and  the  Random  Band".  It  sounds  not  unlike  The  Flying  Lizards   but  only  emphasises  that   Den's  not  your  man  for  a  lead  vocal.

In  September  1981  he got  a  bigger TV  break  as  a  presenter  on  the  final  series  of  Tiswas.  The  show  was  in  trouble  anyway  with  Chris  Tarrant  and  Lenny  Henry  gone  to  the  ill-fated  O.T.T.  but  Den  didn't  help  matters. Though  he  lasted  the  distance  he  was  exposed  as  something  of  a  one  trick  pony.  He  had  one  more  shot  with  a  single  "The  Big  Country"  in  January  1982  which  I  haven't  heard  and   it  marked the  end  of  his  recording  career. For  the  rest  of  the  eighties  he  worked  as  a  quiz  master  on  minor  cable  channels  and  a  voiceover  artist  on  animated  TV  ads.  In  the  nineties  he  tired  of  the  entertainment  industry  and  starte  working  for  the  Citizen's  Advice  Bureau  before  becoming  a  lecturer  in  psychology  at  Exeter  College. He  still  does  some  singing  with  part-time  bands  and  is  usually  up  for  one-off  Darts  reunion  shows.

Hammy  fell  into  depression  after  his  mother's  death  and  became  grossly  overweight , eventually  moving  into  sheltered  accommodation  in  Torquay  where  he  gave  some  piano  lessons. He  died  of  a  heart  attack  in  1999.

George  moved  back  to  Dundee  and  became  a  music  teacher. He  is  apparently  a  keen  hill  walker.

John  initially  went  back  to  the  blues  playing  on  albums  by  Lowell  Fulsom  and  Eddie  C Campbell  but  then  got  a  deal  with  A  & M  to  record  with  his  wife  Helen  April  sometimes  as  a  duo  and  sometimes  as  part  of  a  group  formed  with  displaced  Squeeze  bassist  Harry  Kakoulli   called  True  Life  Confessions. In  either  guise  John  showed  his  missus  off  as  if  she  was  a  porn  star  and  their  whole  act  was  based  on  smut. As  Record  Mirror  ungallantly  put  it   "on  stage  she  reveals  nipples  that  are  even  smaller  than  her  talent".  

Their  first  single  as  a  duo  in  January  1981  was  "Own  Up  If  You're  Over  25 "  one  of  those  lists  of  cultural  touchstones  like  Life  Is  A  Rock  and  We  Didn't  Start  The  Fire   set  to  a  Bo  Diddley  rhythm. She  just  talks  her  way  through  it  and  he  shows  why  he  wasn't  part  of  the  Darts  front line. It's  one  of  those  amusing  for  a  couple  of  plays  records.

The  first   group  single  was  "Supersonic"  which  I  haven't  heard  but  I  note  John  is  dangling  a  water  pistol  in  front  of   Helen's  crotch  on  the  cover. The  next  duo  single  "Housewife's  Choice" had  in  her  bra  and  panties  with  John  pulling  her  jeans  off.  Helen  sort  of  raps  the  song  which  declares  she's  only  in  the  marriage  for  sex. Later  on  you  get  whipping  noises.
The  next  True  Life  Confessions  single  was  a  cover  of  "Banana  Split"  a  1979  French  number  one  about  oral  sex  by  Belgian  teenager  Lio. They  replace  the  electro-pop  backing  with  surf  guitar  and  heavy  percussion  and  it's  actually  sung  by  the  Afro-French  backing  singers  rather  than  Helen  so  it  ends  up  sounding  like  The  Belle  Stars.

Next  up  in  May 1982  was  the  rather  belated  "Mother's  Day  at  the  Marquee"  EP  with  Helen's  boobs  on  the  front  cover  ( and  yes  they're  not  very  big )  and  12  pairs  of  unidentified  female  buttocks  on  the  back.  It  was  too  much  for  A &M  and  their  future  releases  were  on  Speed  Records.  In  August  the  duo  actually  had  a  minor  hit  with  a  weird  half- spoken  jazz  version  of  Irving  Berlin's  "Blue Skies"  which  has  some  pretty  good  sound  effects. It  reached  number  54.  True  Life  Confessions'  version  of  David  Seville's  "Witch  Doctor"  came  and  went  in  the  autumn.

In  April  1983 they  released  both  "King  Wonderful"  as  a  duo  and  the  final  TLC  single  "Don't  Call  Me  Chickenhead"  a  totally  bizarre mix  of  Bow  Wow Wow,  Belle  Stars  and  Celtic  hoedown  that's  so  bad  it's  a  perverse  classic. The  chorus  had  a  long  afterlife  in  adapted  form  as  a  jingle  for  both  Andy  Peebles  and  Dave  Lee  Travis.

John  then  switched  his  attentions  to  managing  the  highly-rated  but  under-achieving  Screaming  Blue  Messiahs  for  three  years  before  relocating  to  France  where  he  has  worked  as  a  furniture  restorer, property  developer   and  antiques  trader. In  recent  years  he  has published  a  couple  of  books  on  his  life  there. He  still  drums  with  local  bands  but  I  don't  think  he's  been  involved  in  the  Darts  reunions.

Bob  re-emerged  as  a  solo  artist   in  October  1981   with  a  single  "No  Chance"  produced  and  arranged  by  Andy  Hill  , the  man  behind  Bucks  Fizz  and  you  can  tell. Bob's  in  good  voice  but  the  song  is  smothered  by the  production  and  the  drum  sound  is  terrible. The  follow  up  "Hotel" from  1982  veers  between  florid  piano  ballad  and  brash  synth  pop  and  is  a  bit  of  a  dog's  dinner  despite  another  good  vocal  performance.  In  the  early  nineties  he  put  together  a  Darts  II  line  up  for  touring purposes.    After  that  he  became  an  expert  on  the  autoharp  and  went  off  to  America  to  teach  the  instrument.  

Mike  went  on  to  play  some  keyboards  for  Roman  Holliday  and  Roy  Wood.

Bassist  Iain  "Thump"  Thomson  plays  and  records  with  Dave  Kelly, formerly  of  the  Blues  Band.

Nigel  ( aka  Horatio  Hornblower )  joined  a  band  called  Hitlist  who  were  signed  to  Virgin  but  had  the  misfortune  to  release  their  debut  single  "Into  the  Fire"  at  the  time  of  the  Bradford  fire.  It  isn't  actually  very  good , just    typically  vacuous, overproduced  mid-eighties  pop  rock  with  a  mediocre  vocal  and  no  tune. After  one  more  single  "OK  For  You"  the  following  year  they  were  dropped. Nigel  went  into  A&  R  work .

We've  covered Rob  of  course  in  the Mud  post. Keith  was  last  heard  of  playing  in  a band  called  Shining  Examples  in  the  noughties.

Rita  and  Griff  continued  working  together  as  co-managers  of  the  vocal  group  Mint  Juleps  who  had  a  couple  of  minor  hits  in  the  mid-eighties  including  a  version  of  "Every  Kinda People"   produced  by  Trevor  Horn  which  I've  got.  Griff  went  on  to  study  music  business  management  at  the  University  of  Westminster  and  currently  works  for  the  Oily  Cart Theatre  Company. Rita  became  a  DJ  in  Brixton  and  a  broadcaster  for  the  BBC  World  Service  since  1998.

Griff,  Rita  and  Den  are  the  main  players  in  the  Darts  reunions.  




        



  

387 Goodbye Dr Hook - Girls Can Get It

Chart  entered :  22  November  1980

Chart  peak : 40

As  we  get  to  the  tail  end  of  the  year  we  suddenly  have  a  flurry  of  farewells.  Although  this  just  got  into  the  Top  40  I  missed  it  at  the time  because  this  was  the  season  Match  of  the  Day  had  to  switch  to  Sunday  teatime  and  it  overlapped  with  the  first  half  hour  of  the  chart  rundown  on  Radio  One. I  think  it  was  the  last  Top  40  hit  I  missed  until  The  Style  Council's  Come  To  Milton   Keynes  four and  a  half  years  later.    

Dr  Hook  had  struggled  to  follow  up  "Sylvia's  Mother" with  a  long  string  of  flops  most  famously  their  big  US  hit  "The  Cover  of  Rolling  Stone"  which  the  BBC  banned  for  advertising  even  though  the  magazine  was  not  generally  available  in  the  UK . Finally  they  came  back  big  with  the  limpid  ballad  "A Little  Bit  More"  , the  5th  best  selling  single  of  1976  in  the  UK  despite  not  quite  reaching  the  top. Thereafter  they  had  more  regular  hits  with  "When  You're  In  Love  With  A  Beautiful  Woman"  making  number  one  in  1979  although  it  was  always  with  more  MOR  material  than  the  Shel  Silverstein  songs  that  originally  made  their  name.  They'd  had  a  few  personnel  changes  along  the way  with  drummer  John  David  quitting  in  1973  to    be  replaced  by  John  Wolters   and  guitarist  George  Cummings  leaving  in  1975  to  be  replaced  by  Bob  Henke  who  himself  quit  in  1980  and  was   replaced  by   experienced  session  guitarist   Rod  Smarr. Guitarist  Rik  Elswit  took  some  time  out  for  cancer  treatment  in  1976  but  returned  to  the  line up  when  it  finished.

  This  was  their  fifth  hit  single  in  1980 , a  year  when  they  were  given  their  own  TV  special  with  guest  Kate  Bush   in  April  and  their  "Greatest  Hits"  set  reached  number  2 in  the  album  charts  so  no  one  was  expecting  them  to  disappear  any  time  soon."Girls  Can  Get  It"  as  the  title  implies  is  a   song  bemoaning  the  fact  that  girls  can  have  sex any  time  they  like  while  guys  have  to  chase  it.  Except  that  it  was  written  by  a  woman  , the  moderately  successful  American  songwriter  Leslie  Pearl  so  I  guess  if  she  was  writing  it  for  herself  originally,  the  song  started  out  as  a  mocking  boast.  Anyhow  the  guys  give  it  a  pop  soul  treatment   with  Dennis  Locorriere's  light  voice  boosted  by  a  female  backing  trio  which  give  it  a  bit  more  kick  than  the  last  few  hits  they  had. They  were  never  really  my  cup  of  tea  but  this  is  a  decent  way  to  close  their  account. Their  new  record  company  Mercury   didn't  do  them  any  favours  by  impatiently  releasing  this  while  their   last  single  for  Capitol, "Sharing  The  Night  Together "  was  still  in  the  charts  causing  both  to  stiff  in  the  forties.

The  single  was  the lead  single  from  their  new  album  "Rising"  which  struggled  to  number  44 in  the  album  charts. They'd  always  struggled  to  convert  their  success  in  the  singles  chart  to  significant  album  sales.  The  follow-up  single  in  February  1981  was  "S.O.S. For  Love"  ,  an  accomplished  AOR  ballad  with  some  nice  keyboard  work  from  Billy  Francis  but  perhaps  just  a  little  too  smooth  to  do  the  trick. Nevertheless  I  would  have  expected  it  to  scratch  the  bottom  end  of  the  charts.

Capitol  then  got  in  the  way  by  re-releasing  a  flop  from  1978  , the  Shel  Silverstein  number  "I  Don't Want  To  Be  Alone  Tonight"  and  the  US  hit  "That  Didn't  Hurt  Too  Bad"  didn't  get  released  over  here.

In  October  1981   they  came  back  with  Dennis's  song  "Hearts  Like  Yours  And  Mine"  a  lightly  funky  soft  rock  number   with  some  nice  flute  work  that  again  sounds  pretty  chart-worthy  but  got  ignored  by  Radio  One.

In  February  1982  they  released  "Baby  Makes  Her  Blue  Jeans  Talk "  which  gave  their  sound  a   synth  rock  makeover.  It  was  a  sizeable  hit  in  the  US  reaching  number  25  and  actually  went  to  number  one  in  South  Africa  but  it  no  ice  over  here. The   band  swung  back  to  their  usual  sound  with  the  ultra  bland   "Loveline"  which  gave  them  their  last  US  hit  (number  60 ). These  last  three  singles  featured  on  the  album  "Players  in  the  Dark"  which  bombed  completely  here  and  failed  to  reach  the  Top  100  in  the  US.

Their  last  new  single  was  the  African  -influenced  "Rings"  in  October  1982  which  is  quite  appealing  but  the  album  it  was  promoting , "Let  Me  Drink  From  Your  Well"  was  a  resounding  flop  and  they  were  dropped.  With  the  band  no  longer  having  a  recording  contract  percussionist  and  co-frontman  Ray  Sawyer quit ; he may  have  been  a  peripheral  figure on  the  albums  but  was  a  big  part of  their  stage  act.  Having  made  the  unwelcome  but  all  too  familiar  discovery  that  they  weren't  nearly  as  wealthy  as  they  expected  they  had  to  persevere  as  a  live  act  without  him  for  a  couple  of  years  and  then  dispersed  after a  farewell  tour  in  1985. Four  compilation  LPs  have  charted in  the  UK  since  the  band's  demise;  1992's  "Completely  Hooked"  reached  number  three  and  "A  Little  Bit  More"  and  "When  You're  In  Love  With  A  Beautiful  Woman"  were   minor  hits  on reissue  that  year.

Ray  had  cut  a  few  solo  singles  during  the  group's  lifetime  and  made  some  noises  about  a solo  career  but  he  had  few  takers  and  it  boiled  down to  one  single  on  the  UK's  tiny  Premier label  in  1985. "I'm  Ready  ( To  Fall  In  Love  Again )"  is  a  bland  country  rock  ballad . Ray has  a  serviceable  voice not  unlike  Long  John  Baldry's  but  is  horribly  let  down  by  the  cheap  and  nasty  eighties  production. By  1988  he  was  fronting "Dr  Hook  featuring  Ray  Sawyer"  ( paying  Dennis  a  licensing  fee  )  and  does  so  to  this  day  , occasionally  putting  out   a  CD  of  re-recordings  of  hits  plus  one  album  of  new  material  "Captain"  in  2010  a  retro  rock  and  soul  collection  which is  alright  if  you  like  that  sort  of  thing.  He  toured  the  UK  earlier  this  year.

Most  of  the  members  have  had  a  very  low  profile  since  the  group  split. Billy  occasionally  joined  Ray's  band  on  stage  in  the  early  noughties  but   health  issues  mostly   kept  him   out  of  the  public  eye  until  his  death  in  2010. Four  years  earlier  bassist  Jance  Garfat  died  in  a  motorcycle accident  on  his  way  to  work. John  W.  died  of  liver  cancer  in  1997. Bob  went  on  to  play  with  Jeff  Dayton  and  Glen Campbell  ( as  a  bassist )   and  other  country  stars  and  in  2010  sold  his  guitar  on  eBay  to  one  of  the  UK  Subs !  Rick  relocated  to  San  Francisco  and  for  the  past  25  years  has  worked  in  a  music  store  as  their  guitar  expert. He  has  fought  off  cancer   a  couple  more  times.  He  also  does  guitar  tuition, writes  articles  for  music  journals   and  plays  in  a  part-time  band  Gayle  Lynn  and  the  Hired  Hands.  John  D  turned  up  in  the  pub  rock  band  Eggs  Over  Easy  and  played  on  their  1976 single  the  irresponsible   boogie  tune  "Bar  In  My  Car".  By  the  time  their  second  LP  came  out  in  1981  he  was  no  longer  part  of  the  line  up  and  nothing  was  heard  of  him  until  as  "Jay  David "  he  released  a  CD  "Didn't  It  Rain".   On  the  one  track  I've  heard -  "That  Lucky  Old  Son" -  he  sounds  like  a  creaky  old  busker  who  can  barely  lift  a  drumstick. George  moved  to  Nashville  and  became  a  respected  producer  and  songwriter  on  the  country  scene  penning  the  reactionary  "Where's  The  Dress"  ( about  Boy  George ) for  Moe  Bandy  and  Joe  Stampley  in  1986.  Rod  returned  to  session  work.  He  died  of  pancreatic  cancer  in  2012.

As  the  main  singer  in  the  group  it  was  always  likely  that  Dennis  would  be  the  one  to  sustain  a  recording  career  and  in  a  limited  way,  so  it  proved. After  sixteen  years  of  touring  Dennis  took  it  easy  for  a  few  years. Like  George  he  moved  to  Nashville  and  wrote  some  songs , did  backing  vocals  for  others  such  as  Randy  Travis  and  dabbled  in  acting.  He  returned  to  performing  in  Oxford  in  1992 and  soon  made  his  home  in  the  UK.

In  1996  Dennis  made  an  album  called  "Running  With  Scissors "  on  which  Rod  heavily featured  in  the  only  instance  of  two  band  members  recording  together  since  the  split. For  some  reason  it  was  only  released  in  Norway  so  Dennis  re-issued  it  in  2000  under  the  title  "Out  Of  The Dark"  and  has  released  two  more  since  then  "One Of  the  Lucky  Ones"  ( 2004 )  and  "Post  Cool" ( 2011 )  as  well  as  some  live  CDs. Dennis  has  resisted  the  temptation  to  do  too  many  re-works  of  Dr  Hook  songs  and   while  his  stuff  is  a  bit  bland  for  my  tastes  he's  still  in  good  voice  and   tours  regularly.


   

386 Hello Bruce Springsteen - Hungry Heart

Chart  entered : 22  November  1980

Chart  peak : 44 ( 28  on  reissue  in  1995 )

Number  of  hits : 23

This  isn't  one  I  was  looking  forward  to  I  must  admit , as  Bruce  isn't  my  Boss  by  any  stretch  of  the  imagination. I  don't  detest  him. I  acknowledge  he's  an  excellent  songwriter  and  his  marathon  sets  are  very  laudable. In  his  quieter  moments  such  as  the  song  "The  River"  he  can  be  very  good  indeed. But  he  can't , in  any  technical  sense  of  the  word, sing  and  I  don't  really  like  the  "wall  of  sound"  approach  he  favours , from  anyone. When  he's  bawling  himself  hoarse  and  the  band  are  going  full  tilt  - "Born  In  the  USA"  or  that  awful  version  of  "Santa  Claus  Is  Coming  To Town"  for  instance - I  find  him  unbearable. Then  there's  his  fans  including   two  good  friends  of  mine. It  seems  like  you  can't  just  like  Bruce , you  have  to  worship  him. His  chief  cheerleader  in  the  UK  David  Hepworth  is  a  good  example  of  this. I  remember  his  Q  putting  the  phenomenal  success  of  Bryan  Adams'  Everything  I Do   down  to  people  waiting  for  the  next  Springsteen  album. I  just  don't  get  it  -what  is  it  about  him  that  attracts  such  fawning ?

Bruce  Springsteen  was  born  in  New  Jersey  in  1949. His  father  had  Dutch  and  Irish  roots  and  was  frequently  unemployed  with  Bruce's  Italian  mother  the  main  breadwinner  as  a  legal  secretary.  He  was  brought  up  a  Catholic. Although  originally  an  Elvis  fan  he  too  was  galvanised  by  the  Beatles  on  Ed  Sullivan  and started  busking  at  trailer  parks  with  a  guitar  his  mother  bought  for  him. He  avoided  the  Vietnam  draft  being  declared  unfit  ; how  far  this  was  a  deliberate act   is  open  to  conjecture. He  had  spells  in  local  bands  called  The  Castiles, Earth  and  Steel  Mill, none  of  whom  recorded  anything  then  began  to  form  his  own  band.

In  1971  he  came  to  the  attention  of  producer  Mike  Appel  who  signed  a  production  contract  with  him  the  following  year. He  in  turn  alerted  John  Hammond  of  CBS   who  signed  him  up  to  the  label.

His  first  album  "Greetings  from  Asbury  Park ,N.J." was  released  at  the  beginning  of  1973 . Commencing  as  it  does  with  the  raw  original  of  "Blinded  By  The  Light " , I  expected  it  to  be  a  hard  slog  but  apart  from  the  wheezing  Dylan-isms  of  "Mary  Queen  of  Arkansas"   it's  a  palatable  set  of  folk  rock  songs  owing  equally  to  Dylan  and  Van  Morrison. Bruce  introduces  many  of  his  signature  themes - cars  ( "The  Angel"), teenage  sex  and  friendship  ( "Spirit  in  the  Night" ) , Vietnam  ( "Lost  in  the  Flood" )   and  Catholic  guilt  ( "It's  Hard  To  Be  A  Saint  In  The  City " ).  It  got  a  mixed  reception  from  the  critics  and  sold  sluggishly  peaking  at  number  60. Neither  of  the  singles  "Blinded  By  The  Light "  and  "Spirits  in  the  Night"  were  hits  until  of  course  covered  by  Manfred  Mann's  Earth  Band.

His  second  album  "The  Wild, The  Innocent  and  the  E  Street  Shuffle"  followed  on  nine  months  later  and  is  much  more  of  a  band  album  with  Bruce  pictured  with  his  five  cohorts  on  the  back  cover.  The  album  comprises  seven  lengthy  songs , all  of  them  with  densely  packed  lyrics  while  the  music  incorporates  country, jazz, Latin  and  classical  influences. None  of  it  was  singles  material  and  like  its  predecessor  it  was  not  commercially  successful.

Still  Bruce's  reputation  among  the  critics  grew  and  in  May  1974  The  Real  Paper's   music  critic  John  Landau  made  his  infamous  declaration  "I  saw  rock n  roll's  future  and  its  name  is Bruce  Springsteen". Nevertheless  Bruce  was  under  pressure  from  the  record  company  to  deliver  something  more  commercial  and  knew  that  the  large  advance  he  received  to  record  his  next  album  would  be  his  last  if  it  didn't  sell. This  helped  make  the  recording  sessions  for  "Born  To  Run"  long  and  tortuous.

"Born  To  Run"  released  in  August  1975  is  the  quintessential  Springsteen  album. Cutting  out    most  of  the  Jersey  references  to  make  the  songs  more  universal  and  throwing  in  some  recognisable  choruses , Bruce  delivered  an  LP  of  songs  about  cars  and  girls  as  avenues  of  escape  from  blue  collar  drudgery  including  one  of  rock's  greatest  anthems  in  the  title  track.  Each  number  has  an  epic  production , the  wall  of  sound  Bruce  demanded  from  his  band  and  producers. The  major  weakness  of  the  album  for  me  is  his  voice, veering  between  an  unintelligible  murmur  which  sometimes gets  overwhelmed  by  the  music  and  just  ugly  shouting  as  on  the  chorus  of  "Backstreets". My  over-riding  feeling  is  that  Meat  Loaf  and  Jim  Steinman  do  this  sort  of  thing  with  more  humour  , panache  and  obviously  better  vocals  although  without  the  political  edge. Despite  this  the  album  did  sell  reaching  number  3  in  the  US  charts . The  single  "Born  To  Run"  reached  number  23  and  its  follow-up  the  R & B  pastiche  "10th  Avenue  Freeze  Out"  got  to  83.

The  record  company's  promotional  machine worked  to  the  extent  of  getting  him  on  the  cover  of  Time  and  Newsweek .  The  latter's  article  though  was  quite  sceptical  and  made  the  hype  around  him  the  story. Bruce  got  a  bit  spooked  by this  and  tried  to  play  it  down  when  he  played  the UK  for  the  first  time  in  December. Despite  much  press  interest  both  singles  flopped  in  the  UK.

Bruce  replaced  Appel  with  Landau  as  his  manager  and  producer  upon  which  the  former  sued.  Bruce  took  the  band  on  an  extensive  US  tour  until   the  matter  was  settled  meaning  that  the  next  album  wasn't  released  until  the  summer  of  1978. In  what  was  to  become  a  pattern  in  his  c.v.,  "Darkness  On  The  Edge  Of  Town"  was  a  more  sombre,  quieter  record  than  its  predecessor. There  are  less  routes  of  escape  for  the  characters  in  these  songs  , the  nocturnal  riding  ends  in  disaster  in  "Something  On  The  Night"  and  the  girl  won  over  by  the  boy  racer  in  "Racing  On  The  Streets"  ends  up  a  hopelessly  disillusioned  adult. The  music  is  a  bit  less  nostalgic  with  "Adam  Raised  a  Cain"  being  unadorned  hard  rock  while  Lou  Reed  and  punk  inform  the  best  track  "Candy's  Room".  For  the  singles  the  tracks  closest  to  the  "Born  To  Run"  sound  were  chosen;  the  mid-tempo  ballad  "Prove  It  All  Night"  reached  number  33 in  the  US  charts , "Badlands "  which  Bruce  admitted  was  based  on  the  Animals '  Please  Don't  Me  Be  Misunderstood  (  I  can't  hear  it  myself  )  reached  42  while  the  country-flecked  pessimistic  "The  Promised  Land  missed  out  altogether. None  of  them  did  anything  in  the  UK. Bruce's  US  tour  to  promote  the  album  was  where  he  began  to  acquire  the  reputation  for  playing  marathon  sets.

"Hungry  Heart"  was  the  trailer  single for  his  next  LP  "The  River" . It  was  originally  written  as  a  favour  to  Joey Ramone  but  Landau  persuaded  him  that  he  was  giving  away  too  many  commercially  viable  songs  to  other  artists  (e.g. Fire, Because  The  Night )  and  should  try  for  a  big  hit  single  himself.  Bruce's  vocal  was  slightly  sped  up  to  make  him  sound  less  lugubrious  and  Flo  and  Eddie  dropped  by  to  add  backing  vocals.  "Hungry  Heart"  seems  on  the  surface  to  be  a  bright  upbeat  Spector- pop  tune  but  the  lyric  begins  with  the  singer  announcing  the  desertion  of  his  family  and  goes  on  to  court  prostitutes  instead  "Lay  down  your  money  and  you  play  your  part " . "Everybody's  got  a  hungry  heart  " seems  to  be  a  justification  for  philandering. Quite  why  Bruce  thought  it  a  suitable  vehicle  for  Ramone  ( who , unlike  Bruce, had  a  genuine  right  to  complain  about  his  physical  appearance )  is  the  most  interesting  thing  about  it.

The  single  reached  number  5  in  the  States  vindicating  Landau's  judgement  and  was  positively  endorsed  by  John  Lennon  in  his  last  interview.