Month: March 1976

New Spins

SPARKS: ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ (Island WP 6282)
Treated as a quaveringly sung full-blown emotional ballad, the Beatles’ old bubble-gummer is now worthy of Shirley Bassey and screamingly funny. Alternatively, it’s like Smokey Robinson with a head cold! Good short-term MoR.

PETER FRAMPTON: ‘Show Me The Way’ (A&M AMS 7218)
Out here already, here’s the Face of ’76 bending his guitar via a Talkbox connected with his mouth, thus producing an immediately grabbing sound that makes this happy toe-tapper a pure delight.

BAD COMPANY: ‘Run With The Pack’ (Island WIP 6263)
Title track of their album, it’s a medium paced thunker that drags through some slow bits which prevent it from being a total disco delight.  Continue reading “March 27, 1976: Sparks, Peter Frampton, Bad Company, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Brass Construction”

New Spins

BIDDU ORCHESTRA: ‘Rain Forest’ (Epic EPC 4084) (mentioned in Billboard column 4/17/76, Billboard chart debut 4/24/76)
Lushly arranged with sweeping strings and prodding brass, this beautiful almost Santana-ish rhythm throbber is an ever-evolving delight. I’ve been having great fun making it even longer by mixing two copies together. The flip will please many too, as its the much-demanded ‘Exodus’, an archetypal “disco” sound.

MICHAEL ZAGER & THE MOON BAND: ‘Do It With Feeling’ (London HLM 10521) (mentioned in Billboard column 11/22/75, Billboard chart debut 11/29/75)
Ex-Ten Wheel Drive, Zager gets a great funky chant thing going with a big bouncy beat.

GEORGE & GWEN MCCRAE: ‘Let’s Dance, Dance, Dance’ (President PR 451)
Standout cut from their album, this exuberant fast happy dancer is a stone gas that ends up by quoting from other disco hits.  Continue reading “March 20, 1976: Biddu Orchestra, Michael Zager, George & Gwen McCrae, Andrea True Connection, Ted Heath”

Something ultimately harmful seems to be happening – something that needs a warning before it gets totally out of control.

Over the last month or so, the disco market has become saturated with product. The type of music released on singles in this country has dramatically changed, so that material appealing to disco audiences now dominates. “Heavy” groups have practically vanished. MoR has become beatier, teenybopper acts and straight pop purveyors are less in evidence.

In America, which is in the throes of an enormous “disco” boom, this trend could be expected. In fact, it is amazing to see how few of the really big disco hits actually go on to make a sizeable impression on the national Top 100 there. Which is the point of my message here . . .

A hell of a lot of good disco records are coming out here – far too many! Very few of them are going on to the sort of success that they deserve. Disco DJs, radio programmers and even record reviewers are so swamped with potentially useful singles that they haven’t a chance of being able to break more than just a few.

OK, so record producers have discovered that a market exists which they can aim for when concocting their creations (and a surprisingly large number of the disco singles come from Britain and Europe). But, please fellows, ease up before you kill the goose that lays those golden eggs! A look at the British Top 50 shows that disco reaction can definitely make Pop hits, but another look also shows that there is only so much room for disco records.

Ease up before there’s a backlash, as is beginning to be the case in the States. In fact, ease up before it’s too late.  Continue reading “March 13, 1976: “Ease up before there’s a backlash”.”

New Spins

KEVIN AYERS: ‘Falling In Love Again’ (Island WIP 6271)
Marlene Dietrich’s languid lilter (rousingly revived by Alan Price in 1970) now gets a flustering rhythm retread from husky-voiced Kevin (whose Lou Reed-like ‘Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes‘ is also out, on Harvest HAR 5107). MoR jocks on the lookout for another ‘Misty’ are sure to fall in love again!

MILLS BROTHERS: ‘Opus No. 1’ (MCA 235)
Excitingly brassy 1954 swinger, a well-proven must for Jitterbuggers.

GEORGE FORMBY: ‘The Window Cleaner’ (Columbia DB 8959)
Maxi-coupled with mirthful CHARLIE PENROSE’s ‘The Laughing Policeman’ (especially apt if your gig gets raided by the fuzz), this cheerful vintage silliness is useful nostalgic fun.  Continue reading “March 6, 1976: Kevin Ayers, Mills Brothers, George Formby, Mighty Clouds Of Joy, Terry Webster”