Vanda & Young: Inside Australia’s Hit Factory by John Tait

Vanda & Young: Inside Australia’s Hit Factory by John Tait

At last a well-deserved book on the near-genius of Harry Vanda and George Young . Apart from the great Bomp article in the Power Pop issue (1978!) there hasn’t been any worthy recognition in print of the dynamic duo. From the beginnings in rough immigrant hostels, through blossoming friendships to the formation of the Easybeats, the early days are very well documented. You are there, following all the twists and turns, the move to the UK in 1966 and the unleashing of the global hit Friday On My Mind. There is a good amount of insightful detail on studio sessions but the lack of direction required to follow up such a hit, is painfully apparent. You are left with a lot of what ifs… If only Heaven and Hell wasn’t banned, if only Good Times had followed Friday etc… Still 66-68 was a creative golden age and they wrote and recorded so many classic 3 minute operettas with most remaining unreleased. Vanda and Young covered a variety of styles during this period and a lot of their output was in fact recorded by other artists. As the Easybeats disintegrated, Vanda & Young released a whole slew of singles during their “four year binge “under assumed names such as Haffy’s Whiskey Sour, Paintbox (with brother Alexander Young/George Alexander), Tramp and The Marcus Hook Roll Band with the perfect Natural Man (thanks to the book for pointing out that there are two versions, the Regal Zonophone UK version and the Demo Australian one). Although chart action eluded them during this period, success returned upon their relocation in Australia with hits by William Shakespeare (RIP), John Paul Young and later with Flash & The Pan. The book is an “easy” read and will appeal to wider audiences as well as the record collecting geek. George Young didn’t participate in any interviews, but Harry Vanda contributed along with other key players, and there are plenty of quotes from George throughout, so the book doesn’t come across as second hand information. You are there witnessing the creation of these pop jewels as well living through all the trials and tribulations. There’s a good appendix and discography, but there is still a gap to be filled… Vanda & Young deserve a full excavation of their entire songbook and of every recording session from their golden age, but this would be more the remit of a fanzine-like publication (If the Beatles and Beach Boys got this treatment, then so should Vanda & Young!)

John Tait was kind enough to answer some questions to clarify a few points and to keep us in the loop on the latest developments:


With so much unreleased material recorded during their golden period are there any plans afoot to get more of this material released?

Philip Mortlock from Alberts is in Germany currently try to do some deals to release their back catalogue. A fellow from UK was also keen to talk to Repertoire regarding a CD of lost Easybeats songs from the London years and my mate Mike Griffiths is trying to get a CD of the Four Year binge material up.
There is a song I Know It listed as part of the running order of their lost LP, which the book stated is on the Steady On bootleg (Tendolar), but it isn’t on my copy

I have the Steady On CD, but apparently there exists a Steady On bootleg LP that contains Í Know It

The book ends with tantalising information on the long lost Easybeats film Somewhere Between Hell and Woolworths AKA Easy Come, Easy Go, how are plans advancing regarding a release?

Peter Clifton (Director) has the funding now to restore and release the film. He was going to fly me up to Sydney in October but I haven't got the call yet.


You can purchase signed copies of the book from John’s shop website http://www.essendoncdlpbook.com.au/

Springfield Revival –Riverboat Queen

Springfield Revival –Riverboat Queen/Need To Be With You –Polydor 2058416 (1973 UK)

Springfield Revival was formed by ex Mixtures (Pushbike Song) Mick Flinn with Donna Jones and Ray Martin. Although sounding very commercially viable, Springfield Revival never managed to reach the charts as expected. Riverboat Queen hits all the right spots with its bright loud production, infectious melody and glimmering vocals. It also features a great cutting guitar riff making it a perfect pop performance - glossy, commercial but never bland.
Mick Flinn’s association with Donna Jones would later gain some success with Pussyfoot before they both joined up with The New Seekers.

Hear a full version of Riverboat Queen

Zen –Lost Suede Shoes

Zen –Lost Suede Shoes/ Green Crocodile II –Ariola 12553 AT (1973 NL)

It’s been a while since we took a trip to the Low-Countries for a review on Purepop, so please find enclosed the 8th single!!!! by the long-standing Amsterdam aggregation known as Zen. OK, they look like a bunch of dope smokin’ good for nothing Dutchies, but they certainly rock out and provide a fine stompfest with Lost Suede Shoes. Not too sure what they were on about, but there’s something about the way that a Dutch guy pronounces the word shoes that focuses the mind on the lyrical content... Am I too mad, or not too mad? God knows.
The B side is just sooo 1970 Kinks and another strong case of Ray Davies phrasing hitting the continent as it had in Denmark (Sylvester’s Juke Box) or Norway with Saft...very cute indeed. Don’t think much about your living room though lads...

Hear a full version of Lost Suede Shoes



Hear a full version of Green Crocodile II

Fairchance James –I Want To Be With You

Fairchance James –I Want To Be With You/Border Line –GL 108 (1974 UK)

Stripped down and straight revamp of The Bonzo’s 69 single which was written by Neil Innes as an ode to his wife. With the flutes removed and the instrumentation tightened, Fairchance James’s (Who he?) version highlights the song’s simplicity and moves the number bang into Badfinger/ Fresh Air territory. Sweet...

Hear a full version of I Want To Be With You

Jackie Christian & Flight –Love/ The Last Time I Go To Baltimore

Jackie Christian & Flight –Love/ The Last Time I Go To Baltimore –Albert –AP 10457 (1974 Aus)

Here is another Vanda and Young obscurity... Formerly known as The Inheritance, upon hooking up with Vanda & Young, the band changed their name and released this fine single on Albert. Featuring Jackie Christian (née Konstantinos Kougious) on vocals and Tony Currenti on drums (who in fact also drummed on the Aussie version of High Voltage), the band unleash two tracks that are real stand outs, yet very different from each other. Love is more overtly pop and builds nicely into a neo-Spectorian finale akin to the Righteous Brothers in tight Conti cardigans. The Last Time I Go To Baltimore sits comfortably with some of the best US themed songs George and Harry wrote. It’ s a much rockier and exuberant  turn of affairs with a damn catchy tune and really great vocals. More Vanda & Young soon...

Hear a full version of The Last Time I Go To Baltimore



Hear a full version of Love

Bullet –Rock My Lady

Bullet –Rock My Lady/Mover –Chicago AC-005 (1975 Aus)

This single was the only known output from this Sydney band. Released on the Atlantics’ own label, Bullet was in fact an off-shoot from Bullett, losing a T and 3 members during the transition with only bassist Alex Smith remaining. Both Rock My Lady and Mover are solid examples of mid 70s Aussie Boogie/ Hard Rock, with perhaps Mover having the edge over the A side. Not earth-shattering, but pretty much lost in the mists of time...until now!

Hear a full version of Rock My Lady



Hear a full version of Mover

Hello –Teenage Revolution –Withdrawn Single

Hello –Teenage Revolution/Keeps Us Off The Street –Bell 1479 (Demo only 1976 UK)

Long rumoured, but rarely seen, here is the proof that copies of this single actually exist. Teenage Revolution was planned as the follow-up to Star Studded Sham (Perhaps the best single by one of my favourite bands of all time), but was withdrawn before being pressed up for public consumption. Although both tracks appear on their first LP, they sound even more sublime on a 45. Both Teenage Revolution and Keeps Us Off The Street are veritable rallying calls to arms and thump and thud in all the right places... and was there ever a better title than Teenage Revolution?

Hear a full version of Teenage Revolution

Hear a full version of Keeps Us Off The Streets

Moonquake -War Dance

Moonquake –Star Struck/War Dance –Aquarius AQ 5039 (1975 Canada)

War Dance is yet another song about the perils of messing with Squaws, this time from the Canuck Rock Gods –Moonquake! Extracted from their second album Star Struck, the track delivers its full impact and all its glory on a 45. Orchestrated, pounding but totally unreconstructed and unrepentant, War Dance is a must have to file between Zakatek’s Get Your Gun and Propeller’s Apache Woman.

Hear a full version of War Dance

Cindy & Bert –Der Hund Von Basker-Ville

Cindy & Bert –Der Hund Von Basker-Ville/Holly Holy –Cornet 3220 (1970 Ger)

OK, you know the song...but certainly not like this! Sung by the Über Ice Maiden Cindy with her ghoulish Beau Bert, this version takes the song somewhere else entirely, plus it rocks like a mother...Don’t know who the backing band is but they have it all down pat, great Hammond and blistering guitar over a maelstromic drive to Hell. This was Cindy & Bert’s first outing before submerging into a putrid Schlager morass. Please do yourself a favour and also check out the performance on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIYRFvQMh7A&feature=related It has to be seen to be believed...

Hear a full version of Der Hund Von Basker-Ville

Atlantis – I Ain’t Got Time

Atlantis – I Ain’t Got Time/Teddy Boyd’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Show –Fury FY 303 (1972 UK)

Released on the short-lived Fury (as in Billy) label (home to 2 obscure Alvin Stardust releases), I Ain’t Got Time sounds like a Stompin’ Slade doing their very best John Lennon, by the middle 8 we enter into Badfinger territory, which is a really nice turn of events. I then got to thinking that this all sounded very much like Rockin’ Horse and when looking at the credits it all became clear. This is an UNDOCUMENTED (as far as I know) Rockin’ Horse release! One year after their pivotal LP, it all makes sense...The A side is written by Bill Kinsley and the rockin’ B side is by Jimmy Campbell, plus Fury label owner Hal Carter produced the Rockin’ Horse LP! Isn’t it wonderful how things work out sometimes...

Hear a full version of I Ain’t Got Time

Hear a full version of Teddy Boyd’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Show

Pedro Platten –Berlin

Just returned from my third visit in 18 months to Pedro Platten in Berlin. Pedro Platten is at Tegeler Weg 102 and the shop is a veritable collector emporium run by a guy who is nearly 70 years young. Pedro always has quite a story to tell, from his recording and DJing in the 60s and 70s to the records he has acquired and sold over the years. He has even published a book on the finds he has discovered. I guess my first visit was the most fruitful, but I always manage to come away with some new worthwhile purchases such as Slade’s Wild Winds Are Blowing (Fontana), Daisy Clan’s Ridin’ a Rainbow (with the great San Francisco China Town on the B side), Marz’s Who Turned The Light On and Jeremy B’s Come On Little Pretty (Bacillus). Prices are reasonable but you will need a head for heights to climb up the step ladder in order to peruse some of the singles stacked high up to the ceiling. He may soon be renting the shop next door, so hopefully it will become easier to browse his entire stock. Pedro Platten is a one of a kind experience, long may it run...
http://www.platten-pedro.de/

Airlift –Tell Me

Just got back from two weeks in NYC. The record shop scene is not what it once was, but I still managed to pick up some nice items during a couple of Pop Swap session (Hi Jeremy, Hi William) plus this $1 bargain...

Airlift –Tell Me/ Same –Quality QA 506 (1976 Canada)

Two words to describe this one: POP and SENSIBILITY. Tell Me is a sublime recreation of the early Stones Pop classic. It’s a big and loud studio performance, but the tasteful production never overpowers proceedings and a singular purity of essence shines throughout. It’s a classy structured arrangement with each element in its place featuring evocative vocals reminding me of later day Cowsills.If this track was recorded three years later it would have probably been ruined by the use of Lyndrums and overtly digital reverbs, but here in 1976 it’s just perfect - the thunderous reverbs glimmer, the vocals fly and the tight lead guitar could be straight from a 20/20 side. One major reason for this track’s success is that you can tell that they pulled out all the stops in order to have a hit and were not constricted by a narrow tie New Wave Powerpop ethos.

Hear a full version of Tell Me

Purple Avalanche -Oh-Bah-Um-Dee-Dum

Purple Avalanche -Oh-Bah-Um-Dee-Dum/ When I Saw Her –Roulette R-7046 (1969 US)

Amazing, this odd Bubblegum tune has it all...even those who haven’t been bitten by the Bubblegum bug will find ample entertainment within. It chugs, bugs and contorts itself into a splendid approximation of Wild Honey era Beach Boys attempting to work within a 1910 Fruitgum Company framework with added mouthed splutterings recalling Driftin’s Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right. Anyone with any info on this bunch?

Hear a full version of Oh-Bah-Um-Dee-Dum

Children of The Morning –Hey America America

Children of The Morning –Hey America America/ Children of The Morning –Hansa 12632 AT (1973 German issue)

This is the first and least known Children of The Morning single, the other being Ku Klux Man check that one out here: http://crazeekids-music.blogspot.com/2009/04/children-of-morning-ku-klux-man-1974.html

Children of The Morning was the creation of one Shel Shapiro (Norman David Shapiro), best known as leader of Italy’s The Rokes, but why in 1973 would an Italian based Brit write about the Kent State Campus killing from 3 years previous? Perhaps a more apt name would have been Late Waking Kids. Sound-wise you could think of a protest infused John Kongos with Donovan tendencies over the mother of all slapping Gunshot beats. It’s not often you hear the FWord sung on an A side at the time and stay tuned also for some fantastic guitar moves during the final third.

Hear a full version of Hey America America

Alan Lee Shaw –She Moans

Alan Lee Shaw –She Moans/ Bolweevil –Alaska ALA 15 (1974 UK)

She Moans is a fine gleaming specimen of Punk before Punk cloaked in the best of Junkshop Glam by future Rings and Maniacs members Alan Lee Shaw and Rod Latter. It’s quite surprising that this came out on Alaska in 74 and has John Shroeder himself on production duties.

Alan Lee Shaw: My act was myself and Rod on timbales and the image was definitely Glam as with everything else that was ground breaking at that time. Lots of satin I seem to remember...John Shroeder was a dead ringer for Peter Wyngarde all medallions with side boards and seriously moustachioed...

...........................Alan Lee Shaw and Rod Latter circa 1975

Recorded at Pye Studios in the early summer of ’73, She Moans kicks off with kick ass Wah Wah and then rocks out in prime Proto Punk fashion, although the demo-y drum sound does hold its impact back somewhat, but the tempo is frenetic and the hook nice ‘n catchy...She Moans is definitely on a par with the best Streak tracks but stands out proud on its own merits. Bolweevil is more Bluesy a bit like a Howlin’ Wolf number with crushed velvet replacing the gruff and Johnny Thunders channelling Hubert Sumlin somewhere along the line.

Q: What were you trying to achieve with these recordings?

Alan Lee Shaw: I was going for a bit of the old primal scream attitude approach. At the time I always got a buzz from the harder end of music. Of course Glam was the cloak that covered popular music at that time, and I wasn't against it. I think She Moans was considered the most commercial track by the record label and that was that. We were all young and wanting to get on the boards and get our story across.

Q: How come you were a duo –why no bass player?

Alan Lee Shaw: Yes a duo. I don't think there is bass on the record (Note: In fact there is some bass, it is most obvious on Bolweevil). Rod (the drummer) and I were buddy's from school days and had been in bands in Cambridge and we pretty much stuck together. Duos were not unusual then Tyrannosaurus Rex, Medicine Head and we were a tight unit, it seemed to work. We played colleges and pubs also did the old Marquee in those days and we went down as exotic oddies for want of a better word. When most punters wanted to hear the Eagles they got us...

Q: What happened after the single?

Alan Lee Shaw: Alaska was just a small label run by John Schroeder. He put singles out that were meant for the charts as pop hits and if they didn't get the nod from Radio1 there was no more investment. Anyway as a snotty upstart I didn't in the end see eye to eye with John or Ken Pitt (Manager) so an amicable parting of the waves followed. After the single was released Rod and I went to live in London in ‘75 still as a duo playing original and Velvet Underground covers, until Punk hit in 76' when all hell was let loose and we became Rings (with Twink) and then The Maniacs.

I wonder how this single escaped me for so long, it somehow didn’t register on the radar, but She Moans is another important piece in the Glam/Proto Punk puzzle –Thanks to Alan Lee Shaw for all the info. Enjoy!

Hear a full version of She Moans



Hear a full version of Bolweevil

Reinstated sound clips

Hi
I have reinstated about 30 sound files that went AWOL during the Divshare debacle. All posts should have working links to sound files going back 1 year (15th of August 2009)
Before that I guess 50% of sound files are still missing
Please let me know if I have missed any, or if there are any mistakes
Thanks

Cross Section –Rock ‘N Roll Queen

Cross Section –Lovin’ Song/ Rock ‘N Roll Queen –Cross Section AAM (1974 UK)

Bands releasing their own records certainly didn’t start in year “0” as is proven here by the first and most likely only single by the totally unknown Cross Section. It just happens that a copy of this single has popped up on ebay advertised as "Glam", so I present to you the track in question to enable you to make an educated decision if it’s worth bidding for or not...

Rock ‘N Roll Queen is in fact the B side of the weak and anaemic Lovin’ Song. The first thing you will notice on Rock ‘N Roll Queen are the low production values, so the Boogie element doesn’t quite kick ass as it should and the Glitter element doesn't exactly sparkle, still the voice over is different and the lead guitar tries its best within the limitations. So... who from Mr. Astley, Morton, Jeffery or Savage will be the first to announce themselves and tell the story?

Hear a full version of Rock ‘N Roll Queen

Sunchariot –Firewater

Sunchariot –Firewater/The Only Girl I Knew –Decca F13407 (1973 UK)
Firewater is yet another example of White Man empathizing with the plight of the Red Skin in crushed velvet flares and platform boots. More Po-faced than the Garnets, Abacus or Johnny Dick, Firewater can’t help but end up a very daft venture despite its intentions. It sounds like Sunchariot actually believed what they were singing and secretly wished they were XIT whilst recording this. OK, the track shares a similarity in the pounding department with Abacus’s Indian Dancer, but is more of a straight rock affair. However THINGS develop as the track progresses...to keep our throats from getting dry...heya heya heya...Once the mass tribe vocals enter the fray around the two minute mark-it all goes NUTS...just lay on the Peyote and put your trust in Producer Robert Danova as he attempts to outdo Thief of Baghdad(Sting) in the vocal arrangement department...Moronic? Yes, but good fun!

Hear a full version of Firewater

Classic 70s Pop: Libido –Hold on To Your Fire vs. Apple Pie and Custard –Doctor Fantastic

No gimmicks this time, just two fine tunes that deserve wider recognition. They both grabbed me the same way, sweet, cute but certainly not bland...

Libido –Hold on To Your Fire/ Same –Mooncrest Moon 2 (1973 UK)
Starting off like a prime Badfinger track with lush doubled acoustics, the track builds into subtly orchestrated track with some fine lead guitar. The vocals are gorgeous conveying both sweetness and sass. A fine fine track. Has anyone got any information on Libido?

Apple Pie and Custard –Five Sisters/ Doctor Fantastic –Philips 6006 439 (1974 UK)
Somehow hidden on the B side of the Jaunty Five Sisters, Doctor Fantastic is an undiscovered pearl. Although somewhat quirky, Doctor Fantastic has real poignancy. The vocals have this Englishness and innocence about them and those backing vocals fit the mood of the overall performance perfectly and add that extra ¼ “ to your smile...

Hear a full version of Hold on To Your Fire

Hear a full version of Doctor Fantastic

Norah –The Battle For My Love

Norah –The Battle For My Love/ Rock ‘n’ Roll Feeling –Novola NOX 220 (1974 Spain)
Sounding like Anita Garbo on helium crossed with Minnie Mouse, the lanky haired Argentine Norah belts out both sides in a very individual and total singular fashion. The Battle For My Love is built upon a frenetic tempo with squidgy Moog and sports a tremendously catchy tune. You’ve got to hand it to the song writers for recognising a good chorus when they wrote one and returning to it over and over like an infernal groundhog day leitmotiv. The backing vocals are a real hoot –check out the Hispanic waiter overtones which elevate the chorus into a curse that will engrain itself into your brain (Battle, it’s the battle, it’s the battle for your LOVE!); I bet you’ll be singing along and alone, when you least expect it...The B side is a more straight forward crunching Glam affair with its HEYs and is very similar to Bobbie McGee's Rock ‘n’ Roll People with a dose of Sparks, loud proud and vehemently on the Hell raising side. Bloody Norah!

Hear a full version of The Battle For My Love

Hear a full version of Rock ‘n’ Roll Feeling

Tony Savage Band - Bye Bye Bluebird

Tony Savage Band –Bye Bye Bluebird/ Faster Than Lightning –Living Sound LS 102901 (1977 Aus)

Talk about picking an obscure Vanda & Young track...I mean choosing the B side of Haffy’s Whiskey Sour’s Shot In The Head takes some beating in the obscurity stakes.
Of Tony Savage himself I can’t find out anything...Unconfirmed rumours speak of a band winning a competition resulting in the recording of this single and/or perhaps a tenuous link with TMG. One clue is that the recordings took place at Atlantic Studio which forges a link to the Aussie Surf band The Atlantics (the recordings were also engineered by Peter Hood). The Atlantics also had their own Chicago imprint in the 70s...Please fill in the gaps!

Bye Bye Blue Bird is a bright,rocking take of the number with the band sounding supremely confident. Faster Than Lightning (written by Tony Savage) is a pounding Bar Boogie number sporting a loud electric piano with the amusing lyrics conveying the bragging attitude of a 14 year old Sharpie...

Hear a full version of Bye Bye Bluebird

Hear a full version of Faster Than Lightning

Johnny Dick -The Warrior

Johnny Dick –The Warrior/ She Was My Babe –Albert Productions AP-10949 (1975 Aus)

Johnny Dick seems to have sat on many a rotating drum stool, having drummed with the Billy Thorpe’s Aztecs, the La De Da's and Stevie Wright among others. Check his bio above.
The Warrior was JD’s first and seemingly only solo outing. Produced by the mighty Vanda & Young team, The Warrior is a fine entry in the unrepentant, un-PC Red Skin Gimmick Glam sub-genre. More convincing than Adam and The Ants, once it gets going the chorus just rips. Oooh-Ah-Oooh-Oooh-Ah! (words of wisdom indeed...) Johnny Dick certainly raises my tepee!
More obscure Vanda & Young coming soon. Thanks to Luke of http://wallabybeat.blogspot.com/ for turning me on to this corker (check out the Sparkle and Beaut singles!)

Hear a full version of The Warrior

Linda Kendrick –Sympathy For The Devil

Linda Kendrick –Sympathy For The Devil/ He Wrote Me A Letter –Dawn DNS. 1063 (1974 UK)

Linda Kendrick –Sympathy For The Devil/ He Wrote Me A Letter –Pye PY 3106 (1974 French issue)

Sympathy For The Devil is an overblown but fun production by Lynton Guest and Jimmie Edwards (Stumpy, Washington Flyers). Although toned down lyrically, Linda’s version features a choir, lush orchestration along with neat harpsichord runs and Stonesian slide. There is also an edited demo version which in order to shorten the running time; cuts out the first verse thus emasculating its impact and flow. Linda later went all Plastic New Wave-y with her take on Stupid Cupid.

Hear a full version of Sympathy For The Devil

It Means Nothing To Me...

Oh...VIENNA
Just back from a jaunt through 3 former Eastern Block countries, ending up in Vienna where I got the opportunity to check out the record stores... And boy what a great city and the shops are full to the brim with vinyl!
Checked out 6 stores and five of them were great for finds. I would have needed more than my allocated 6 hours and I only scratched the surface in many of them.
The main shops of note were Moses Records, where they was a huge selection of cheap singles and the amazing institution which is Teuchler. The shop has existed as a family business for 60 years and the current owner Jean-Marc has been running it for 40 years. There are 1000s of singles and it took more about 3 hours to get through ¾ of them plus the stock in the shop represents only 30% of the vinyl they hold...the mind boggles. Scout Records also had a fine selection as did Music Und So. Those 4 shops also had very friendly staff and owners. Anyhow I ended up with nearly 50 singles, some of them still unheard (probably a fare share of turkeys...), some favourites –Stud Leather –Cut Loose (German pic sleeve), Matchbox –Rod, Tracey Dean plus some spares...

Only a few hours before I depart these shores again...stay tuned. The next review will be up in a couple of days

Badge –Sing Don’t Speak

Badge –Sing Don’t Speak/California Saga –Pagoda 256 (1973 Argentina)

Argentina? Yes, I have picked up a few interesting ones from this country as there were a clutch of Glam-tinted releases at the time. One particularity is that several of them were covers of the hits-of-the day –check out Albatross’s English AND Spanish cover of Abrazame Y Complaceme (c’mon...easy to work out...). Another particularity is that the Argentine 45 in fact often played at 33.3rpm! Although Argentina had a healthy underground scene, Glitter did not gain a strong foothold in Las Pampas, some like Norah had to move to Spain in order to fully accomplish their stomping mission (more on her soon). John Bright’s I’ve Tried It is suitably raucous, but its country of origin is uncertain as is Sunday's who released the splendid Hard Way To Go. Still, there is bound to be more to be discovered from Argentina and South America in general.
Anyhow Badge’s cover of Blackfoot Sue’s 2nd hit is pretty credible, it has a nice bouncing groove and the fuzz is fuzzy in a matchbox-kind-of- manner, and is on a par with the Italian Multiple Sound’s Ultra fuzzed up version (I need that one!!!). Badge released at least two singles as they also covered Blackfoot Sue’s Standing In The Road. It is still unclear if they ever covered Glitter Obituary...

Hear a full version of Sing Don’t Speak

Bear Brothers –Bondiago

Bear Brothers- Bondiago/Red Shoe Trucken- Dart ART 2023 (1973 UK)

Bondiago is an interesting Fuzzed up crossover semi-instrumental track which sits at the cusp of Glam, Prog and Pounding Discotheque fodder (1973 mode). There’s even a hint of Riders on The Storm in the keyboard motif. It all ends up sounding a bit like Galahad with bushy moustaches on the soundtrack of an obscure Spaghetti Western... On Red Shoe Trucken, the Brothers up the stomping, again the mix of genres is similar with chants and prominent Hammond and it’s all very hypnotically repetitive. Producer/song writer Keith Bonsoir, mainly produced Reggae and Disco, but also produced The Glammy Run For Your Life single by Bo –Jangle.
In Germany, where this record was released in a fine looking sleeve featuring the sprouting brothers themselves, the slides ended up being switched, but were they German as some have stated? Or a UK duo? Five years later the Bear Brothers would commit the collectable 12 inch Zsha Zsha Zsha, also produced by Keith Bonsoir, but Funky Disco does not warrant losing any more dead skin over ...

Hear a full version of Bondiago

Hear a full version of Red Shoe Trucken

Limonaya –Walk, Walk, Walk

Limonaya –Walk, Walk, Walk/Waiting For The Summer –CNR 141.286 (1974 NL)

Starting off like a near approximation of the Tigers on Vaseline, the track then turns into a mostly straight ahead rock affair. Not stupendous, but catchy and certainly a worthwhile addition to the eclectic CNR catalogue. Haarlem’s Limonaya featured ex Bintangs Ronald Krom with Rob ten Bokum , Rob van Donselaar and Aad Hooft, so I’m not too sure as to why only two band members appear on the sleeve. It seems that Walk, Walk, Walk was the only Limonaya release

Hear a full version of Walk, Walk, Walk

My Version is Better than Yours Part 12: Tim Moore vs. The Dirty Angels –Rock and Roll Love Letter

Tim Moore - Rock and Roll Love Letter/The Night We First Sailed Away -Polydor 2001689 (1975 UK)

Dirty Angels - Rock and Roll Love Letter/Same –Sire SAA 719 (1975 US)

OK, perhaps the Bay City Rollers had the best produced version, although the subtle chord change hook at the top of the chorus is kind of Rolled Over http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNLdOx5zcRs

The cover by the usually anaemic Records suffers from plodding drums (BTW, I am not completely down on The Records –Starry Eyes is a classic song best enjoyed in its album version due to the fine 12 string overdub).

But here we have the original version by Tim Moore. It is the longest version by far with a nice dense and compressed sound. The Dirty Angels cover oozes rock and roll attitude and a perfect US adaptation and a non-LP track to boot. If you don’t already know the Dirty Angels, their Tell Me is a Powerpop classic and is available on both their albums. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-eT-qk2efE

Whatever the version -Rock and Roll Love Letter is the perfect Powerpop tune!

Hear a full version of Tim Moore



Hear a full version of The Dirty Angels