Roll up, roll up ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.
It’s a little punky, it’s a little funky.
It’s a bit jazz, it’s a bit pizzazz.
It’s naughty its haughty
You wont Adam & Eve it
It’s only me old mates
Ian Dury & The Blockheads !
It’s late 1978 and the circus is back in town. There was always a bit of music hall or vaudeville about Ian and the lads, whether extolling the virtues of Sex & Drugs & Rock ‘n Roll or lamenting lost opportunities in What A Waste.
‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick‘
Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick came out of a jam session around an earlier recording Wake Up (And Make Love To Me) and was written by singer Ian Dury and guitarist/keyboard player Chaz Jankel. It was released as a single on 23rd of November 1978.
Blockheads
Behindthe hit is a grinding and pulsating groove primarily led by bassist Norman Watt-Roy with his 16 notes to the bar acrobatics. I think he must have been heavily influenced by Weather Report’s Jaco Pastorios and Tower of Power’s Francis ‘Rocco’ Prestia, two leviathans of the 70s’ bass guitar world. He’s ably assisted by some tasteful jazz piano, growling organ, jangily funk guitar and solid drumming by the rest of the ‘heads. The chorus is like Chas & Dave meets disco in a sex dungeon !
We are then assaulted by Dury’s former fellow Kilburn & The High Road’s associate Davey Payne’s screeching ‘double’ sax solo – A nod to jazz colossus Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Believe me, it’s not easy playing two saxes at a time. I nearly put an eye out trying !
Ian Dury
Leading this merry band of new wave troubadours of course is Mr. Dury. He doesn’t as much as sing but narrates this word play doggerel. Delivered in his best nursery rhyme bingo lingo Cockney, he not only gives you a useful geography lesson, he throws in a smattering of French and German too !
The whole things crescendos to a masochistic melee of screams and a demonic distorted guitar solo before crashing down into a foetal ball of shame and self loathing…………….. Am I reading too much into this ? A cold shower and I’ll be alright.
We of course didn’t know at the time that the ‘prop’ Dury carried was in fact a walking cane and that he had a withered left shoulder, arm and leg due to contracting polio as a seven year old. He certainly let it be known his views on peoples perception of disability with his anthem Spasticus Autisticus some years later.
In January 1979 Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick knocked The Village People’sY.M.C.A. off the number one spot and remained in the charts for 8 weeks.
The B-side was There Ain’t Half Been Some Clever Bastards. Says it all really!
Je t’adore, ich liebe dich
(Post by John Allan of Bridgetown, Western Australia – November 2022)
It could hardly be termed a quantum leap, moving from Pub Rock to Punk Rock, but like several others in the late Seventies, it was one made by East London band The Leyton Buzzards a year or so after their formation in 1976. There may be only a fine line between the two styles of music, but adopting the ‘punk’ label certainly attracted more attention and it wasn’t long before The Leyton Buzzards became regulars at iconic London venue, The Roxy.
Formed by long-time pals Geoff Deane (vocals) and David Jaymes (bass), they were joined by Kevin Steptoe (drums) and David Monk (guitar.) Their three-track debut single was released on the Small Wonder Records label in July 1978. Frenetic and anthemic ‘19 And Mad’ reflected the feelings of UK’s bored and pissed-off youth of the time. It was backed with the equally frantic and strident ‘Villain‘ and slower paced ‘Youthanasia.‘
The record found its way to BBC Radio’s John Peel who, well impressed, in August of that year invited them into the studio for the first of their four sessions for the show.
As happened so often in those pre-internet (pre-CD, prehistoric) days, it was through the Peel Sessions that my music preferences were shaped and the song ‘I Don’t Want To Go To Art School,‘ sticks in my mind as the first I heard of them
They reminded me a bit, one way or another of my favourites Radio Stars. And that could only mean good things. That was it. The Leyton Buzzards, eh? I was in!
Not long after this, and with Vernon Austin having replaced original guitarist Dave Monk, they won a ‘Battle of the Bands’ type of competition, organised by Radio 1’s David ‘Kid’ Jensen, and The Sun newspaper. (Punk and The Sun? No – me neither!) The prize though was well worth the association and the first release under their new contract with Chrysalis records was the single which some readers will surely remember, ‘Saturday Night Beneath The Plastic Palm Trees.’
More ‘New Wave’ than ‘Punk’ an with an underlying ska / reggae beat, it was an autobiographical track, recalling the lads’ days of riotous nights out, drinking and chatting up girls. It was hugely different from their earlier single but highlighted the band’s versatility.
As we’ve seen with various other bands featured on 70s Music, ‘versatility’ does not guarantee success. Delivered with that cheeky kind of ‘serious but not serious’ attitude, there was perhaps a little bit of an issue in that their target audience perhaps didn’t take them seriously? After all, they were presented as winners of a Pop Idol type competition sponsored by a newspaper that was itself not considered a ‘serious’ conveyor of current affairs. Would the street punks of the day buy into this?
I also understand that BBC, having been involved in sponsorship of the competition which won the band their Chrysalis Records contract, did not want to be seen to be ‘favouring’ the band and so restricted their airplay.
John Peel didn’t care though. Did he ever? He again offered The Leyton Buzzards a ‘Peel Session’ in January 1979 during which they previewed the forthcoming single, ‘Saturday Night Beneath The Plastic Palm Trees.’ Despite the various obstacles placed in their way, it eventually entered the lower reaches of the UK charts on 3rd March 1979. There it remained for five weeks, peaking at #53 but earning the band a (mimed) appearance on Top of the Pops.
One of those tracks played in that Peel Session was ‘Love Is Just A Dream,’ showing the band had not lost any of their initial, snotty, punk attitude.
Third single ‘I’m Hanging Around‘ arrived in early May ’79 and the fourth, ‘We Make A Noise‘ (the picture sleeve of which was designed by Terry Gilliam of Monty Python fame) followed about twelve weeks later. By now, for reasons of which I’m unsure, they had dropped their hometown name, ‘Leyton’ from their name.
Their ranks had by now also been swollen with the addition of former Cockney Rebel keyboard player, Milton Reame-James.
They were now The Buzzards and as such, embarked on a UK tour with The Only Ones.
To fulfill their contract with Chrysalis, an album was released, containing their earlier singles, future (and final) quirky single ‘Can’t Get Used To Losing You,‘ some Peel Session tracks, some demos and all in all some excellent, raucous punk numbers.
**(They reverted to their original name The Leyton Buzzards for the final single release, below …. although the album on which it appeared was credited as by The Buzzards. Also, towards the end of their time, drummer Kevin Steptoe left, being replaced by Tony Gainsborough.) **
Entitled ‘Jellied Eels To Record Deals,’ it was pretty much an account of their time together as a band. Confirmation, if you like, that they had come to a natural end was indicated with the final sentence of the back sleeve notes: ‘The band now intend to make significant changes of direction ….’
And that was that. The Leyton Buzzards had come to an end.
That’s not the end of the story, however.
Now, this is a 70s Music site, and we’re straying into the prohibited territory of ’80s Music, so I’ll keep this brief.
In 1980, Geoff Deane and David Jaymes put together another band, which despite their first two releases failing to impress the record-buying public, would go on to record eight Top 40 singles between August 1981 and August 1983.
That band? Modern Romance.
Their debut, eponymous single, with echos I think of Cockney Rebel (Judy Teen even gets a mention) failed to impress in the manner subsequent releases would.
Their biggest hit was ‘High Life’ which reached #8 in Spring 1983, however, I think they be best remembered for this:
I know, I know. But what the heck – there’s no law says just ’cause you like Punk and New Wave you can’t shake it all down to a bit of fun salsa, right?
And so the story ends … almost. On leaving Modern Romance at the height of their success (after their #15 cover of ‘Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White‘) co-founder of both Modern Romance and The Leyton Buzzards, vocalist Geoff Deane left to focus on personal projects.
Not just any old little projects, mind . Oh no, no, no. Projects like writing the dcreenplay for films such as ‘Kinky Boots‘ and ‘It’s A Boy Girl Thing’; writing scripts for TV series like ‘Birds of a Feather‘; contributing to the soundtrack of ‘Shrek.’
Oh …. loads of things. The boy done good (sic.) that’s all I can say!
Yeah, Pub to Punk Rock may be a baby step. Pub rock to writing comedy series and film screenplay, via Punk and Salsa – now THAT is aQUANTUM LEAP!
(Post by Colin Jackson from Glasgow – November 2022)
(A look at bands / artists, who this day in The ‘70s were ALMOST Top of the Pops.)
20th July 1978
So many destination, faces going to so many places
Where the weather is much better and the food is so much cheaper
Well, I help her with her baggage for her baggage is so heavy
I hear the plane is ready by the gateway to take my love away.
(It’s well seeing Scottish keyboard player Andy McMaster (originally from Calton, Glasgow) wrote the song, ‘Airport’ some forty-four years ago. It would have lost some credibility with all the flight cancellations these days.
Mind you, he may have been able to spend more time with his love, waiting for her to pass through ‘check-in’ and perhaps they could have worked things out.)
***
The Motors were formed a couple of years after bass player Nick Garvey left one of my favourite bands from the mid-Seventies, Ducks Deluxe. (More of them perhaps at a later date.) His immediate new venture didn’t last long and so in 1977, he hooked up with former Ducks Deluxe keyboard player, Andy McMaster and together with Ricky Slaughter (drums) and Rob Hendry (guitar) The Motors were born.
As so often happened around that time, live sessions on John Peel’s radio shows led to a recording contract (Virgin Records) and in the autumn of that year, the band achieved their first chart success with ‘Dancing The Night Away.’ (Bram Tchaikovsky had by now replaced Rob Hendry on guitar, and this line-up would go on to record two albums and a couple more singles.)
This single was, to my mind, was their best release. While still in essence retaining the Pub Rock sounds of Garvey and McMaster’s previous band, they had the image, energy and ‘chant-along’ attitude of a punk / new wave outfit.
Surprisingly, this reached only #42 in the UK charts. Although the Top 20 on 18th September 1977 was more heavily influenced by Disco, bands like Eddie & The Hot Rods stood at #9 while The Adverts and Boomtown Rats were also represented with early hits. Why The Motors didn’t reach these heights is a mystery to me.
Their break came though in June 1978, with the release of ‘Airport.’ This softer sounding song had a distinctive, individual sound and was very radio-friendly.
Me? I still rank this as only their third best song!
To my mind, the follow-up, ‘Forget About You’ was better, though it only peaked at #13.
Shortly after this success, both Bram Tchaikovsky and Ricky Slaughter left the band. They were replaced in due course by Martin Ace and Terry Williams, both of whom I’d seen play as members of Man in the mid-Seventies.
This was like a ‘dream team’ for me: two ex-members of Ducks Deluxe + two ex of Man = The Motors. I could be dancing the night away all over again.
Wrong!
Proving old Aristotle incorrect, the whole was not greater than the sum of its parts. Indeed, the complete opposite was true. They came up with this in 1980, its peak chart position again surprising me …. in that #58 is way higher than I’d have considered achievable. They must have accrued some very loyal fans in their three years as The Motors, is all I can say!
Love and Loneliness’ was lifted from their third and final album, ‘Tenement Steps.’ By that time Nick Garvey and Andy McMaster had agreed that time was up and The Motors were no more.
In the whole scheme of all things music, The Motors were but a momentary flash, not quite fulfilling their undoubted pedigree. However, what they left was a true ‘classic’ that still receives radio / television airplay.
And remember – on this day in 1978, they were ALMOST Top of the Pops. Not all bands can boast even that.
(Post by Colin ‘Jackie’ Jackson of Glasgow – July 2022)
Once Upon a Time in The '70s 