We’re back, thanks to the complete lack of public acclaim, with the much derided Best Of British Part 2. Mebbe this isn’t the best time to be plugging something with that title, but if it makes Nick Griffin a better man, then it’s time well spent.
With that in mind I’m already regretting the first track from Warfare – “Burn The King’s Road”. Now I’ve been down the king’s Road, and it seemed comparatively pleasant compared to other streets in London. Me, I’d be burning Streatham, but perhaps Warfare knew something I don’t.
Originally the B-side to their Neat Records debut 7″ “This Machine Kills”, Warfare plugged away gamely for most of the eighties, sticking with Neat, long after Neat meant anything to anyone. Naturally, the hailed from Newcastle, and if I tell you that they were formed by Evo, ex drummer with the Angelic Upstarts, then I think you will know exactly how good they were. They also featured the legend that is Wurzel, in his pre-Motorhead days as well as Mantas (the Venom fella). At different times obviously.
Next up is Jaguar. Now I liked Jaguar, especially their “Axe Crazy” single, which came out on Neat in 1982.
Sadly by the time their “Power Games” LP came out, it was 1983 and the horse had long since bolted. I remember seeing them opening the show for Girlschool in 1984(?), and they were still pretty impressive. They packed it in a year or so later, but got back together about ten years ago, continuing in one for or another right up till today. This track doesn’t seem to appear on any other release.
This installment comes to an end with Emerson. One of the single worst bands I ever saw play live. It was at the Hard Rock Cafe (pre franchise), which used to be upstairs in the Edinburgh Playhouse, and is now a swanky restaurant. I saw some great gigs there – Twisted Sister and Raven spring to mind, as well as the legendary Spider. But, oh dear. Emerson were absolutely awful. I suppose their brand of wannabee US AOR was not what beered up Scotch teenage metal fans wanted to hear, but even now, this is pretty dire.
I seem to recall the band was led by the Emerson brothers, and that they released on solitary 7″. This track wasn’t good enough to get on the B-side.
Fact fiends may be interested to know that Stu (the guitarist) ended up performing on albums by Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler! And by glancing over my right shoulder, I can see a poster for a Tyketto gig at the Newcastle Mayfair in 1994, when they were supported by Mrs Loud aka Lorraine Crosby, the partner of Stu who sang lead on “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)”. You never thought I was going there, did you.
Now, I know you’re pretty blown away right now. But wait, there’s more. The singer in Emerson was a guy called Sam Blewitt. Not a great name. So he changed it to Sam Blue. He went on to sing with (deep breath) Axis, L. A. Secrets, Paul Samson’s Empire, Ya Ya, Ultravox, GTS, and Burns Blue. But, and prepare to gasp, he is most famous for being the vocalist on The Streets’ chart-topping single “Dry Your Eyes”! It’s true! Although for me, his two Song For Europe entries are what mark him out (in 1996 as part of the duo Esseness with the song “I Never Knew” and 1997 as a solo artist with the song “For The Life You Don’t Yet Know”). He didn’t win.
One has to ask what the point of having trading standards officers in this country is, when an album can go on the market with a title like that. I mean, really! But then I suppose calling it “The Best Of Neat Records Second & Third Division Bands Now That All The Half Decent Ones Have Been Snaffled Up By Major Labels, Damn Them All To Hell” wouldn’t have been nearly as snappy.
Things start off with one of the better second division bands, in the shape of Persian Risk.
To be fair, it wasn’t all their fault they never quite cracked it. The Tygers Of Pan Tang nicked their original vocalist, then after their Neat debut, guitarist Phil Campbell (pictured above, yes, really) buggered off to Motorhead. Which meant by the time this emerged, the only original member left was their bass player. Singer Carl Sentance is still going strong, having gone on to work with Geezer Butler, Tokyo Rose, Krokus, Don Airey, Phil Chapman and more.
Next up is Marseille. I bought this single when it came out, as a limited edition silver disc. Of course, it never actually seemed to appear on a normal disc, as the five people who bought into their US style melodic hard rock all got the “limited” one. I still think this is quite good, even though they were a bunch of chancers who’d been on the go since the mid-seventies (and released records on the same record label as Nazareth), and were just pretendy NWOBHMers. Here are some actual facts. They were originally called AC/DC until the Aussie lot came along. Their guitarist, Neil Buchanan, is the same Neil Buchanan who presented kiddies TV show “Art Attack”! They reformed last year with a new singer and are recording and touring again, although I last saw them supporting Whitesnake in 1979. Gulp.
This installment comes to an end with Stratus. Now if I tell you that Stratus were a NWOBHM supergroup, don’t worry. You haven’t had an aneurysm. The band featured Praying Mantis members, Tino Troy, Bernie Shaw (now with Uriah Heep), Chris Troy and Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr.
Originally known as Clive Burr’s Escape, they only released one album, “Throwing Shapes”, before everyone realised that the Americans did AOR much better, and that a production budget of thruppence was unlikely to worry Journey. I have the album filed away somewhere, so be worried. However, this is a non-album treat!
Part 2, when it arrives, will restore the metal with entries from Warfare and Jaguar. As well as the shining stars of the UK AOR firmament, Emerson! That last bit might be a lie, if my memories of their headlining show in Embra abck in 1983 is anything to go by.
We’re looking at Brute Force, a compilation album released at the height of NWOBHM frenzy, when record companies were falling over themselves to cater to the whims of 14 year old pubescent boys, obsessed with the thought of something electric strapped round their necks and slung low down between their legs.
After a surprisingly metal free Part 3, things come to a close today, with the final three tracks which are actually, honest guv, metal! There’s a shocker.
First up, is a controversial record from the not very good Xero. Controversial, because upon its release as a single, the Evil EMI came along with writs, galoshes and rubber truncheons to force it from the market. Why? Not on grounds of taste, but because prior to Bruce Bruce joining Samson, he had recorded one of the tracks that appeared on the B-side of this single from NWOBHM no-marks, Xero. But once unveiled as the shiny frontman of Iron Maiden, the Man didn’t want the kids to hear him squealing like a pig stuck on a pike. Or something.
Who knows who Cryer were? Not me. I know they released one single and that one of the members was called Graham Careless! Which is two more things than anyone needs to know about them. I’ve heard worse than ‘Day To Day’, but you can hear why they went nowhere. And as for releasing a single called ‘The Single’, well, only Girl can get away with that.
Things come to a shuddering halt with the boogiefied May West, a band so obscure, even I know nothing about them. I do remember Paul Suter praising them in Sounds, but that’s no guarantee of anything.
We’re looking at Brute Force, a compilation album released at the height of NWOBHM frenzy, when record companies were falling over themselves to cater to the whims of 14 year old pubescent boys, obsessed with the thought of something electric strapped round their necks and slung low down between their legs.
Last time around, things had started to dip ominously with the pretty rubbish Prowler and the not at all metal Colin Towns, only being salvaged by a pretty decent tune from Sledgehammer.
However, as we abandon Side 1 and head for Side 2 (ask your gramps, kiddies), things start to pick up a bit. Of course I say that, but I’m kind of lying. Well, totally lying. Because the first tune is from another metal beast. Erstwhile Gillan drummer, Mick Underwood. You read that right. A track from the drummer in Gillan. To be fair, I did like Quatermass and even Strapps, but did the world really need a solo single from Mick? I suspect not, as you listen to the A-side, just below. And, yes, it really was released as a single.
Luckily for us, things then get back on track with the arrival of White Spirit. Sadly now just a footnote in metal history thanks to them harbouring Janick Gers pre Gillan / Iron Maiden, they were actually a bit good. Had a major label come along at the right time, who knows, it might have been them. Unfortunately, post Neat Records, it was MCA who picked them up. You know, the band who killed Diamond Head.
And this is how Gillan got to nick him.
I saw them at the Embra Odeon gig. I was a bit out of it, so don’t have much recall, but former GHMI stars, Chevy, may also have been on the bill.
And now for a band who had more chances than is fair. And blew them all. Mainly because they weren’t so hot. However, Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath was their bezzy friend, which explains the number of chances they had. Yup, it’s Brummie losers, Quartz. They’d been on the go for about a thousand years pre NWOBHM, but the chancers decided to have another go. Gits. Their first single had come up back in 1977, but this was the level they were best suited for.
I’ve still not quite forgiven Iommi for wasting £2.99 on their self titled debut. They even blagged a support on a Rush tour, you know. Tony, if you’re reading. A refund would be nice.
Their keyboard player, Geoff Nicholls, ended up hidden behind a curtain for most of Black Sabbaths eighties and nineties tours. I’d have been ashamed to be seen in public after this as well.
We’re looking at Brute Force, a compilation album released at the height of NWOBHM frenzy, when record companies were falling over themselves to cater to the whims of 14 year old pubescent boys, obsessed with the thought of something electric strapped round their necks and slung low down between their legs.
And it was an album that promised much, as Part 1 revealed tracks by Diamond Head, Fist and Raven – NWOBHM worthy metal icons. But then things started to go peculiar as this Part 2 will show.
First up were the not at all legendary Prowler, a band built around the talents of the Philpott brothers. As befits anything built around anyone called Philpott, this was not a memorable thing. If memory serves, they managed a couple of singles before returning to the hardware counter at Wickes.
Then it was time for some Sledgehammer. Which was much more like it. It’s hard to believe now, but they were championed by one Garry Bushell in Sounds, not something that seems like a good thing now, but they were nearly a very good band indeed. Sadly, the majors passed them by, and by the time they got round to releasing a couple of indie albums, their chance had passed them by. They were also on “Metal For Muthas”, you know. “I met a real coollady, late last night. She blew my mind and that’s not all”. Legend-ary.
Now it’s time for that legendary metal beast that is Colin Towns. Eh? Yup, the Gillan keyboard player best known for not being a metal beast. It’s not that he wasn’t talented. After all, he wrote the best tunes for Gillan in their early days. But brute force? I think not. He ended up writing the music for legendary metal televisual shows “Dalziel and Pascoe” and “Cadfael”. And that is a fact.
Brute Force isn’t just a tune by the late, great Rory Gallagher. Nope, it’s also a state of mind. At least it was back at the arse end of the seventies / early eighties, when I was accumulating my musical juju.
Back in them days, it was a constant struggle for oneupmanship amongst the ranks of the motley crue of rattletag rockers I surrounded myself with. We were young and poor, but that didn’t mean we felt any sympathy for the bloke with the wrong number of rows on his studded wristband. No, mockery was where it was at.
Simultaneously, in a pre-internet world, the pages of Sounds and Kerrang! (pre-Kerrap! daze) were full of exotic sounding bands from farflung glamourous locations like Stourbridge and Mansfield. They were all allegedly metal, but who was good and who was bad? And so we would be lured by an advertisement for a compilation album, purporting to contain all these exciting new bands, but without the hassle of sending postal orders off to some nonce in Wolverhampton.
For these records were available in Woolworths at suitably priced RRPs! Oh, yes. A number 9 bus trip to the East End of Princes Street, and the world was mine, all mine!
And so it was that “Brute Force” cane into my life. Now, to be fair, it started off pretty well, so don’t get all excited thinking that this initial sample is a foretaste of what is to come. For the likes of Prowler and May West are just around the corner. However, for a good 15 minutes, this was the greatest record a teenaged Mr H had ever heard.
And so, here we are, at the end of the Lovely Lenka Request Zone, which brought you the all-singing*, all-dancing** Avatar heavies that were Chevy.
Fact – Guitarist Steve Walwyn went on to play with Stevie Marriott, Eddie and the Hotrods, Roger Chapman, the Big Town Playboys and Dr. Feelgood.
Remember the instruction;
Download each track.
Copy the images to the same location.
Burn all the tracks to CD.
Print off a CD case sized copy of the pictures.
Put everything into a CD case.
And here we are, with part 2 of the all-singing*, all-dancing** Avatar heavies that were Chevy.
Remember the instruction;
Download each track as it appears here, over the next week or so.
Copy the images to the same location.
Burn all the tracks to CD.
Print off a CD case sized copy of the pictures.
Put everything into a CD case.
Ta-Da! “The Taker” by Chevy on CD!
This was a single;
This was them on tour with the mighty Hawkwind! I was there. They didn’t go down well with a HW crowd. Oh, no. It was a shame.
We’re off to the Wellington pub in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester this week for an unseasonal Heavy Metal Halloween, courtesy of DJ John Brent.
Sadly, nowadays, “Almost Every Weekend At The Wellington Pub Radcliffe We Have Nites On Where Mc’s Can Join In And Show Of There Skills, Featured Mc’s Are Mc MORTY And McD, All Other Mc’s Are Welcome.” So I suspect that Mr Brent may no longer be welcome.
So, I’ve randomly picked three numbers out of a hat, and they were 2, 3 and 15. Which means you’re in line for some Triumph, Atomic Rooster and Edgar Winter.
I always had a sneaky wee liking for the melodic Maple mayhem of Triumph, even if they did seem like a bunch of egomaniacs back in the day.
Anyone who knows me will know that I am one of the worlds leading authorities on Atomic Rooster having written (and published) articles in international magazines. Even in Finland! My ludicrously large Rooster vinyl collection would shame someone who knew what shame was. Which leaves me out of it.
Finally, it’s Edgar Winter. Hurrah! I spent last Saturday night watching a DVD of a concert he die with Leon Russell back in the eighties, and make no apologies for digging out a jazzy version of ‘Frankenstein’.
A wee bonus as well. You can never have too much Judas Priest, so here’s one of my favourites from waaaaaaay back in the day. @Genocide’ from “Sad Wings of Destiny”. A gem!
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