Even at the time, the concept of Neat Records releasing a 12″ EP called “One Take, No Dubs” confused me no end. Because the implication of the title surely involved other Neat releases having had a) more than one take and ii ) some dubs. And that couldn’t be right? Surely not? I mean, we’ve all heard some of them over the last few months on GHMI. But that was the conceit of this release. It was going to be instant, electrifying and mesmerising. And if by that, they meant ropy, out of tune and mesmerising (but not in a good way), then they were right.
So, what did 1982 have in store for us?
Well, first up were Alien. Not Sacred Alien, not the US glam band, this lot were just plain Alien, and resolutely not glam. And not very good either, although Ron Anderson did seem to know his way around a guitar. Their one take, no dub was the sum total of their Neat career.
Next up are the much better known Avenger. I absolutely loved their ‘Too Wild To Tame’ 7″, and predicted big things for them. Naturally, I was wrong, and it was back to McDonalds for Brian Ross (V), John Brownless (G), Mick Moore (B) and Gary Young (D), despite two actual album releases. Naturally, they reformed a few years back, although I think only Mick and Gary are still there. They’re doing a Greek tour next year, so you may want to plan your holidays around that. However, they rawked their rawk. Respect.
Next up are another band who shoulda, coulda done better. Black Rose.
Their 1984 album “Boys Will Be Boys” is a much played item at Mr H Towers. But the usual inability to keep anyone in the band for more than about a week, and the general demise of the NWOBHM pretty much put paid to them. They packed it in about 1988. Shame.
Last, and very close to being least, are Hellenbach.
People actually praised them, claiming that their debut album “Now Hear This” is a lost classic. These people are liars. DO not believe them. All you need to know is that Hellenbach “developed” their style, and became a rockabilly band called Bessie and the Zinc Buckets. This is not a lie.
Next time out, we’ll be taking a break from the mighty Metal. Seeing as how it’s December, the next edition of GHMI will be devoted to the Magic Of Cliffmas, as we present our Cliff Richard special.
Sad to say, we’ve reached the end of this awesome Best Of British season, but the best has most definitely been saved for last. Yes. it’s the one, the only, Baby Tuckoo. I mean, what were they thinking? You come from Barnsley, home of Saxon, and you name yourself after James Joyce’s ‘Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man’! Madness, I say, madness.
Their guitarist was a proper NWOBHM fella, having plied his trade in the mighty Geddes Axe, but The Tucks, as no-one called them, were just so desperate for success, you could almost smell it. Their debut was a cover of ‘Mony Mony’ and they even released a cover version of ‘Tears Of A Clown’. Eejits. It was a shame, as I rather enjoyed their second, “Rock Rock” album. Their singer ended up in Accept for about a week in the eighties, but it was the ex Geddes Axe man, Andy Barrott, who was to cement a place in rock history, joining Chrome Molly, purveyors of the legendary ‘Thanx For The Angst”, the 12″ of which still adorns my record shelves.
Fact; I saw Baby Tuckoo and Chrome Molly on a co-headlining tour, just after “Rock Rock” came out. It was awesome, in a Barney kind of way.
With The Best Of British at an end, I’m contemplating an outing for the “One Take, No Dubs” EP. Something that is even scarier than it sounds. Alien, Avenger, Black Rose, Hellenbach. Worried? You should be.
However, you’re getting a couple of bonus tracks this time out. As the comments boxes have been full of legendary Dumpy sighting, I felt it only fair to give you a double dose of the man himself. My encounter with Dumpy is a double header. His Rusty Nuts were supporting Hawkwind, when he embarked on his cordless walkabout, only to encounter me, tripping beyond belief, in full “Dumpy, you’re magic” mode. He actually stopped playing to enquire after my wellbeing, and after being assured I was OK by an acquaintance, picked up his solo where he left off, and moved on.
A week later, he was playing a pub in Embra, when he embarked on his cordless walkabout. Only to encounter me again. This time, it was a curt “oh, fugg,not him again”, and a swift return to the stage.
Yes, it’s the long overdue Part 3 of the series, they’re already calling “eh?”.
Sad to say that this installment kicks off with a tune from Di’Anno. Yes, the self proclaimed beast who was booted out of Iron Maiden, and who has spent the last 27 years desperately trying to find something to do with himself. Di’anno was the first shortlived outfit he was in post Maiden, only recording 2 singles and a live VHS, which only came out in Sweden. Then it was on to Gogmagog, Battlezone, Praying Mantis (for about a week in Japan), Killers, Nomad, another Di’Anno, and numerous permutations of the above. The first two Iron Maiden albums are the best thing that any of the lineups put out, but you can pretty much avoid everything since.
Scarily enough, our next band, Limelight, are turning into GHMI regulars. Which means I really need to get a life. Soon. Mansfields Scrimshaw brothers have already appeared here, thanks to a support slot with Chevy, but they’re back for more, overly melodic rock.
Their 1982 tour went;
South Shields Legion Club April 9
West Cornforth Rock Club 11
Birkenhead Sir James Club 12
London Marquee 15
London Golden Lion 16
Leeds Compton Arms 24
Sunderland Mecca 30
Stoke ON Trent Wagon And Horses May 1
London Marquee 8.
This installment comes to an end with Savage. Not Sweet, nor Electric, just plain Savage. ‘We Got The Edge’ was the lead track on their 12″ single release from 1984 on Zebra. Their earlier “Loose And Lethal” album was quite enjoyable, but that was absolutely no excuse for them making a comeback in the late nineties, releasing another album. They even managed to get a best of album put out in 2002 on Castle, which makes less than no sense. I mean, they were alright, but I don’t think anyone needed 80 minutes of Savage. Three minutes will do.
PS – Metallica used to cover this Savage track, back before they got their record deal. Fact. It may have been on one of the Garage Days things, but I couldn’t be arsed checking on anything to do with Metallica.
And here’s a live version from the reformed 90’s Savage.
You’ll be glad to know that I’ve decided to be an utter bastard, and hold back Baby Tuckoo for next time!
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.
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