Category: Robin Wills’ Purepop

Ted Mulry Gang –Jump In My Car

Ted Mulry Gang –Jump In My Car/Give It To Me –Philips 6000192 (1976 German issue)

Although it shares a common theme with the Prowler single, this is nowhere near as pervy. In fact Jump In My Car is a comforting automotive Pub Rock/Boogie ditty quite close to what Dave Edmunds/ Rockpile were doing around the same time featuring a very similar use of monkey beat guitar chugging. Chris Spedding’s cover on his first RAK album is probably better known over here, but this is the original “hitâ€Â version. What’s next? Stan Collymore covering Bird Doggin’?

Click on title for a soundclip of Jump In My Car

Prowler –Pale Green Vauxhall Driving Man

Prowler –Pale Green (HMMMM) Driving Man/Jaywick Cowboy –Parlophone R5986 (1972 UK)

Welcome to the ongoing rummaging of future New Seekers boy Brian Engel’s closet. This is one twisted release for sure… Behind the nifty lead guitar and pop sheen of the chorus there’s a nasty tale lurking within. I bet Lyn Paul didn’t hear this one before the audition!

I’m that nasty shifty kind
That greasy 1950s kind
I’m a pale green HMMMM (Vauxhall) driving man…
Obscene and conniving
Pale green HMMMM (Vauxhall) driving man

I’m sure the management at the Vauxhall Luton plant weren’t too pleased to have their superior brand tarnished in this way, so the word Vauxhall has been replaced by a fuzz effect –It’s weird but strangely fitting. Does anyone know if any copies exist with the Vauxhall intact? I would love to hear it!

Be sure to also check out Brian’s later single by The Shambles (February 16th 2007 post)

BTW, I’m a proud Vauxhall driver, but thank god it’s of a darker shade of green!

Click on title for a full Pale Green (HMMMM) Driving Man

Barry Blood –Poor Annie

Barry Blood –Poor Annie/ On The Run –Alaska ALA 24 (1975 UK)

Supposedly a descendant of Captain Blood… Poor Annie is closer to middle of the range Pub Rock than all out buccaneering Glam. The guitar sound is relatively crunchy and the track comes across like Ducks Deluxe (playing the 100 club in October!) track with a few more chords thrown in. The B side is interestingly sparse. It was probably a live in the studio demo with just electric guitar, slightly off mic vocals and drums. Not quite Doctor Ross or John Lee Hooker, but pretty cool all the same. Barry later recorded an Eastenders off shoot song: Killing Time (Angie’s song) and She’s The Queen Of My Rock ‘N’ Roll in ‘82 .

Click on title for edits of Poor Annie and On The Run

Kincade –Mo’Reen

Kincade –Mo’Reen/You Turned My World Around –Penny Farthing Pen 835 (1974 UK)
There’s a strange story going on here…. John Carter (Carter/ lewis, Ivy League, First Class etc…) and some session guys recorded and then had a continental hit using the name Kincade with Dreams Are Ten A Penny in 1972.Only there was no band…so the label got a guy called John Knowles to front the release, but he was soon replaced by members from Octopus to mime the song on TV. Things then start to get complicated as John Knowles reappeared releasing singles under the name John Kincade while John Carter continued putting out singles as Kincade with both acts being on Penny Farthing!

Anyhow Mo’Reen is a strange beast indeed with a cool mix of acoustic guitar, handclaps and its nasal vocal performance. The arrangement and production is remarkable throughout with its out there Roy Wood/T. Rex string part and bizarre orchestration; the sound really sucks you in. I would like to know more about the lineup here –There’s a compilation CD of Kincade stuff released, can anyone share the information perhaps contained in the liner notes?

Click on title for soundclip of Mo’ Reen

Rescue Co. No.1 –It’s Only Words

Rescue Co. No.1 –It’s Only Words/Look Out –Jam 45 (1973 UK)

Some may call it madness… I accept that this record collecting lark is a tad obsessive, but it’s not harming anyone… although my carbon footprint has enlarged considerably driving a 200 mile round trip from London to the Reading Record Fair onto the one in Stratford Upon Avon (Billy Shake?) and back again. The results? Well 7 singles for £9 including this one.

Rescue Co. No. 1 were a vehicle for the songwriting partnership of Arnold/Martin/Morrow and they released a slew of singles on Pye, Rak, DJM and Jam (including the brilliant I Want To Save You). It’s Only Words is harder hitting and heavier than most of their other more pop orientated releases and has a real ‘67 Freakbeat feel to it. The track holds back from an all out attack on the senses, but the tension builds and the Spooky Hammond at the end is a nice touch adding to the overall atmosphere.

Click on title for It’s Only Words

Rockstar –Over The Hill

Rockstar –Over The Hill/Mummy –MCA 265 (UK 1976)

A rare 70s outing by ex Move man Ace Kefford. The autobiographical Over The Hill is a solid rocker on the periphery of JunkShop Glam, Kinda like Hector attempting to do a Quadrophenia…It features some loud cutting guitar and a fine production by Steve Rowland. Mummy is pretty haunting and dramatic, the song builds and builds and is a real grower. These two tracks are compiled along with other tracks on the Ace The Face CD. https://www.acekefford.com/

Click on title for an edit of Over The Hill

Muff –Discotheque King

Muff –Do The Hand Jive/ Discotheque King –Polydor 2040135 (1975 German Issue)

Here’s a little something to dance away the weekend. This single Seems to have been the follow up to Muff‘s Sexy Sexy Lady (Bell 1380) and once more the A side is a fun piece of commercial Glam fodder, but the B side is just so wonderfully inept. There seems to be more than a slight tempo conflict going on here and the crunching handclaps/foot stomps are lagging behind the beat (it’s also rare to have Glitter handclaps on the on-beat). The effect is just bizarre and you would have to be a real Discotheque King to be able to gyrate seamlessly to this one…

Click on title for a full version of Discotheque King

Cardinal Point –I’m The Grand Pretender

Cardinal Point –I’m The Grand Pretender/ Lolly Linda –Philips 6012 387 (1973 NL)

Cardinal Point were a bunch ex-pat Italians living in Holland. They released an album and a few singles, but of all the tracks I’ve heard; this is the one that really stands out for me. Produced by Hans Van Hemert and co-written Piet Souer (Mouth & McNeal, Dump etc…) this is a work of pure folly. The track has pre-Bohemian Rhapsody pretensions albeit with platform boots firmly stuck in a waste-management centre and the twist and turns cemented by the stomping beat makes this a single to seek out and cherish. It’s quite readily available on the Internet and cheap to boot!

Click on title for soundclip