”]Rudolf Schenker launched Scorpions in 1965 in Hannover, Germany. In 1969, Schenker’s younger brother Michael (guitars) joined the band along with vocalist Klaus Meine (until then, Rudolf performed double duty as a guitarist and lead vocalist). Lothar Heimberg and Wolfgang Dziony filled out the lineup, and in 1972 the band released its first LP, “Lonesome Crow”, on RCA Records. During the “Lonesome Crow” tour, Michael Schenker was offered the lead guitar position in UFO; he accepted and quit the band. Ulrich Roth, the lead guitarist for the German band Dawn Road, filled in for Schenker on the remainder of the tour. The departure of Michael Schenker, however, led to the breakup of Scorpions. Rudolf Schenker opted to join Dawn Road, which up to this point consisted of Roth, Francis Buchholz (bass guitar), Achim Kirschning (keyboards) and Jurgen Rosenthal (drums). Roth and Buchholz convinced Rudolf Schenker to invite Klaus Meine to join the band, which was now renamed Scorpions because it was well-known in the German rock scene and they had already released an album under that name, even though only Schenker and Meine remained from the “Lonesome Crow” lineup.
The new lineup released “Fly To The Rainbow” (1974), which outsold “Lonesome Crow” and contained the fan favorite “Speedy’s Coming”. After the release of this album Kirschning decided to leave the band and Rosenthal had to leave Scorpions as he was drafted into the army; he was replaced by Rudy Lenners. Their third album, “In Trance”, marked the beginning of a long collaboration with producer Dieter Dierks. “Virgin Killer” (1976) followed with its controversial cover (a naked prepubescent girl covered with broken glass); the album was success with critics. In 1977 Lenners was replaced with Herman Rarebell, and the band released their fifth studio album, “Taken By Force”. Scorpions toured Japan in support of the album; Roth, however, was not satisfied with the artistic direction of the band and left after the Japanese tour. The live double LP “Tokyo Tapes” was released in 1978; it was released in the U.S. and Europe in 1979, 6 months after its release in Japan. In mid-1978, the band recruited new guitarist Matthias Jabs after auditioning 140 guitarists to replace Roth. Scorpions then left RCA Records for Mercury Records, releasing their first album for the label, “Lovedrive”, on February 25, 1979, an album that contained 3 songs featuring Michael Schenker, who had briefly rejoined Scorpions after being fired by UFO for alcohol abuse. The album peaked at #55 on the U.S. Billboard album chart, and was eventually certified gold, making it their most commercially successful LP in the United States up to that point, and some critics consider it to be the pinnacle of their career. It cemented the Scorpion formula mixing rockers with melodic ballads, and it also contained today’s featured single: “Is There Anybody There?” b/w “Another Piece Of Meat”.
“Is There Anybody There?” starts off with with a laid-back reggae beat established with a four-note riff (D/C/B/E), played the first time with a clean, funky sound, and the second time with distortion (to accompany Meine’s dreamy “Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah” vocals). The guitar riff accompanying the verses contains only 2 chords (Bm/A); the riff on the chorus adds two additional chords (G/D). The lyrics seem unusually eclectic for a heavy metal song: “Open my mind let me find new vibrations/Tell me the way I must take to reach my destination/And a place where I can stay/Where is the love of my life couldn’t find her”. Although the lyrics are awkward at some points, I found the idea of drawing an analogy of someone separated from his significant other as akin to being “lost in the ocean” and “in the darkness of these days” to be a compelling one. Although the song doesn’t really fit into either of the band’s traditional categories (it’s essentially an easy-going mid-tempo song; it’s not really a rocker or a ballad), it’s a worthy addition to their catalog, and it’s a reggae-influenced song released around the time that a lot of pop music sported a reggae influence (e.g. The Police, The Specials). And Meine’s vocals give the song an ethereal quality, even if the sound doesn’t quite transport you into another world.
The B-side, “Another Piece Of Meat”, is a pretty straightforward Scorpions rocker. While the band was altering its sound somewhat with this album to sound more contemporary (emulating newer bands such as Van Halen), I don’t think that “Another Piece Of Meat” would be out-of-place on any of their RCA-era LPs. The song is driven by a simple four-chord riff, and the lyrics – about a wanton woman (“She said: “Hey, let’s go, don’t put on a show/You’re just another piece/Another piece of meat”) makes it a much more prototypical heavy-metal material than the A-side. [If that’s not enough, the girl in the song has a fetish for violence: “Violence really turned her on, oh no/She was screaming for more blood”. Thus we get both sex and violence injected into the lyrical content.] There’s an energetic guitar solo about halfway through the song, and this is one of the tracks in which Scorpions reaped the benefits of having no less than 3 guitarists, since Michael Schenker plays guitar (along with Rudolf Schenker and Francis Buchholz) on this track (he would play guitar on two other tracks on the album, “Coast To Coast” and “Lovedrive”). Although Schenker would once again leave the band, the guitar pyrotechnics on this track are intriguing enough to make you wonder what might have been if he had stayed.
This single (catalog #: HAR 5185) was, as far as I know, only issued in the U.K. “Is There Anybody There?” was also issued as a single in Germany, but with “Can’t Get Enough” as the B-side. I couldn’t find any evidence of a U.S. release for this one. I did locate a picture of the U.K. single, albeit a white-label promotional copy, pictured here. It has the same picture as the cover of the “Lovedrive” LP (only in black and white), only with the “Scorpions” logo in big print across the top instead of in small print in the upper left corner. This single was a hit in the U.K., peaking at #39 in the charts (the LP peaked at #36 in the U.K. and #11 in Germany).
External links:
Scorpions performing Is There Anybody There? on West German TV in 1979
Scorpions performing Is There Anybody There? live in 1979
Michael Schenker performing Another Piece Of Meat live in 1997
The "White Punks on Dope" single
The Tubes was a band formed by high school friends from Phoenix, Arizona. The Beans and The Red White and Blues band relocated to San Francisco in 1969 and merged, forming The Tubes. The original lineup consisted of Fee Waybill (vocals), Bill “Sputnik” Spooner (guitar, vocals), Roger Steen (guitar), Prairie Prince (a.k.a. Charles L. Prince, guitar), Michael Cotten (synthesizer), Vince Welnick (piano), and Rick Anderson (bass guitar). Re Styles (vocals) and Mingo Lewis (percussion) were also fixtures of the early Tubes. Their forte was in being media savvy and having theatrical skills, and several of their numbers (e.g. “Mondo Bondage”, “Sushi Girl”) turned into full-fledged theatrical productions in their live shows. One critic even went as far to note that The Tubes were born to create rock video, but arrived several years too early. (Jakubowski and Tobler, “MTV’s Who’s Who in Rock Video”) In 1973, The Tubes opened for the New York Dolls, Iggy Pop and Led Zeppelin; the following year, they recorded a demo for A and M Records, who signed them and released their debut album in April 1975. That album spawned today’s featured single: “White Punks on Dope” b/w “What Do You Want from Life?”.
“White Punks on Dope” was supposedly written as a “tribute” to their rich, white fan base in San Francisco, and it definitely ranks as one of The Tubes’ early classics. It starts off with a guitar-driven, synthesizer-laden opening, which sets the tone for Fee Waybill’s unconventional vocals (at times the lyrics are barely sung, and he conveys the sense of the main protagonist’s desperation while delivering lines like: “Other dudes are living in the ghetto/But born in Pacific Heights don’t seem much betto”. Listening to this track, one senses that radio stations must have had a hard time figuring out exactly where on the musical spectrum The Tubes reside. They certainly have the punk attitude, which is probably why they were selected as the opening act for the New York Dolls and Iggy Pop, but they sound much more musically proficient than most punk bands (which perhaps explains why they opened for Zeppelin). And their elaborate stage act evokes comparisons to Alice Cooper and Slade, although musically they seem quite a bit different than those bands. Although Cotten’s synthesizer plays a prominent role on some of the band’s tracks, here the guitars are the driving force behind the track, and the synthesizer compliments the track rather than providing the back bone for the sound. The late Vince Welnick’s piano is also there, clearly audible and also playing a complimentary role in filling out The Tubes’ wall of sound. The message of the song – that being a white rich kid on drugs isn’t much fun is driven home with lyrics like these: “I go crazy ’cause my folks are so f**king rich/Have to score when I get that rich white punk itch/Sounds real classy, living in a chateau/So lonely, all the other kids will never know”. There’s a nice false ending to the song, before the song fades back in, and the music stops, giving way to someone babbling in Japanese. Even though the running time of the track is 6 minutes and 49 seconds long, the single contains an unedited version of the song, and how cool is that? The anthology “T.R.A.S.H. (Tubes Rarities and Smash Hits”) contained a 3 minute long version of the song (with the F word expurgated) that I assume a radio edit version. Al Kooper’s production, by the way, is flawless, giving the song a clean, professional sound.
The B-side of this single, “What Do You Want from Life?”, was also an early Tubes classic and a staple of their live show. The song opens with Cotten’s synthesizer – it plays a more prominent role than in “White Punks On Dope” – giving way to a melody provided mainly by the rhythm section (Anderson and Lewis). Welnick’s piano, sounding like a rollicking, barroom piano, punctuates the music at appropriate points. The theme of the song – an attack on American materialism – is explored brilliantly in the lyrics: What do you want from life/To kidnap an heiress/Or threaten her with a knife/What do you want from life/To get cable TV/And watch it every night”. But for me, the real highlight of the song is the laundry list of consumer items listed at the end of the song: “Well, you can’t have that, but if you’re an American citizen you are entitled to: a heated kidney shaped pool/A microwave oven–don’t watch the food cook/A Dyna-Gym–I’ll personally demonstrate it in the privacy of your own home/A king-size Titanic unsinkable Molly Brown waterbed with polybendum” – and so on. This was expanded on in the live version of this song included on the “What Do You Want From Live” in which the band plucked a fan from the crowd and offered her prizes, simulating a game show; offering her a lifetime supply of 7-Up, Waybill promised her “cavities for the rest of your life”. But even though the song is well-suited to Waybill’s ad-libbing on stage, the studio version is quite good, unlike many of the other songs on the debut LP, in which some of the songs consciously created for the stage ultimately fall flat. The single (catalog #: 8591-S) was issued without a picture sleeve. I couldn’t find a picture of the original single (the one pictured is a reissue), but I assume it would have had the arch-style A and M letters in the background with the song title across the top and the band’s name across the bottom (above a smaller A and M logo).
The Tubes performing White Punks on Dope in London
The Tubes performing What Do You Want from Life live in 2007
Cover to Budgie's "If Swallowed, Do Not Induce Vomiting" EP
Budgie was formed in 1967 in Cardiff, Wales; their original lineup consisted of Burke Shelley (bass guitar, vocals), Tony Bourge (guitar, vocals), and Ray Phillips (drums). Their debut, self-titled album, a slab of blues-influenced hard rock which was produced by Black Sabbath producer Rodger Bain, was released in 1971. They followed this up with “Squawk” (1972); their third album, “Never Turn Your Back On A Friend” (1973) contained the hit “Breadfan” which was later covered by Metallica. Ray Phillips was replaced by Pete Boot before the release of Budgie’s fourth LP, “In For The Kill” (1974).
By late 1974, Boot left the band and was replaced by Steve Williams. “Bandolier” (1975) was the first LP Williams recorded with the band, followed by “If I Were Brittania, I Would Waive The Rules” (1976). Bourge subsequently left the band, and “Big” John Thomas was recruited to replace him in 1978, leaving Shelley as the sole remaining original band member. Budgie recorded 4 tracks to “break in” Thomas, but these tracks were initially left unreleased although they did release the LP “Impeckable” that year. In 1980, however, the initial sessions with Thomas saw the light of day when the EP “If Swallowed, Do Not Induce Vomiting” was released. This is today’s featured EP.
Side 1 opens with “Wild Fire”, a straightforward rocker built around a 4-chord riff. Thomas rocks on as Shelley and Williams fill out the sound, and Shelley wails away with a voice that sounds somewhat like Rob Halford’s. The lyrical content isn’t particularly inspired; with lines like “I can’t talk/I can’t walk/I can’t think/I can’t drink”. “Wild Fire” is about a woman who is wild, we might assume; the testosterone-driven lyrics compliment the music well, and the rhythm section provides a solid backbone to the band’s sound. There’s an inspired guitar solo about 2 minutes and 55 seconds into the track, giving new guitarist Thomas a chance to shine. For hardcore Budgie fans, listening to “Wild Fire” surely brings back memories of their early 1980’s barnstorming performances.
The second track is “High School Girls”, which features an even simpler (3-chord) riff. This time, Thomas and Shelley play the same melody for most of the song, with Thomas again getting his own guitar solo about 1 minute and 37 seconds into the track. Shelley’s guitar seemingly plays a more pivotal role on this track, although Thomas gets a chance to display his guitar proficiency. The lyrics are not all that different than the first track: “Well she’s dreaming the boys through their day/She goes out and about in her way/And the teacher is perfectly down/’Cause she’s strutting her stuff through the town”. There’s some great wordplay here, though: “But she can’t get away from the rules/It’s a hell of a bondage in school”. But in the chorus, Shelley reassures us that “[S]he’s just a bad, bad, girl”. Like most Brownsville Station songs, this one’s not going to change the world – or even the musical landscape – but it’s an easy listen.
Side 2 starts off with “Panzer Division Destroyed”, which if nothing else shows Budgie’s knack for catchy song titles. This song features a relatively simple rhythm played in 4/4 time, not unlike Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song”. The song runs almost 6 minutes, and much more so than the first 2 tracks, it is a showcase for the guitar work of Budgie’s 2 guitarists, especially Thomas. The lyrics, which tell of the grisly fate of a Panzer division from a decidedly British point of view, are pretty pedestrian as far as heavy metal lyrics go: “Hear me call, panzer division destroyed/Power gun pounding and well deployed/Every man seems to burn, die in hell/Twisted steel, twisted mess sealed the deal”. Still, they compliment the martial-sounding melody quite well, and since the real draw here is the axemanship of Thomas, the song doesn’t require the lyrical subtlety of a Bob Dylan.
The final track is “Lies Of Jim (The E-Type Lover)”, which I found to be the most compelling (although the melody is somewhat similar to “Wild Fire”). The song is about a bounder who is humorously brought to book for his misdeeds. It contains a dreamy lyrical passage: “Love is not a thing you buy/Love is not a car/Or compensation for the man/Who lost a precious Jaguar”, which is essentially an interlude in an otherwise upbeat rocker. This is definitely the most atypical song on the EP, and once again the song is anchored by raw but powerful guitar licks, courtesy of Thomas and Shelley.
This EP (catalog #: BUDGE 1) came with a picture sleeve (well, it was a 12-inch EP, after all), with a black and white photo of the band. The label (at least on the West German release) featured the orange RCA label (with the RCA logo on the left side oriented on the Y-axis, with “Victor” written on the right side along the X-axis). The artist name was printed across the top with track information written underneath. “If Swallowed Do Not Induce Vomiting” is considered by many to be Budgie’s last creative gasp, although they successfully rode the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal for a few years, even headlining the Reading Festival in 1982. They built a following in Poland, becoming one of the first heavy metal bands to play behind the Iron Curtain. Their last album was released in 1982 and the band was defunct by 1988, although they re-formed for one-off gigs in San Antonio, Texas in 1995, 1996, and 2000. They also re-formed to tour from 2002 to 2006, touring the U.K., Texas, and returning to post-Communist Poland during that period.
Budgie – Wild Fire
Budgie performing Panzer Division Destroyed in Warsaw, Poland in 2007
Budgie performing Panzer Division Destroyed in Sweeden in 1999
Budgie performing Panzer Division Destroyed in Poznan, Poland in 2007
Sonic Youth's "Teenage Riot" single
Sonic Youth’s history began in early 1976 when Thurston Moore moved to New York City. Interested in punk, Moore joined the Coachmen, a guitar-based quartet. Les Renaldo, an art student at Binghamton University, became a fan of the Coachmen and he and Moore became friends. Renaldo was a member of Glenn Branca’s electric guitar ensemble, which toured Europe and the United States. After the breakup of the Coachmen, Moore began jamming with Stanton Miranda, whose band, CKM, featured local artist Kim Gordon. Moore and Gordon formed a band, which went through several name changes before settling on Sonic Youth by June 1981. Moore asked Renaldo to join the band, and he agreed. Initially, each member took turns playing the drums, until they recruited drummer Richard Edson. Branca signed Sonic Youth as the first act on his record label Neutral Records. In December 1981, the group recorded five songs in a studio in Radio City Music Hall. The material was released as the “Sonic Youth” mini-LP, which, while not commercially successful, got generally favorable reviews. Edson then quit the group and was replaced by Bob Bert, who was the drummer for Sonic Youth’s first full-length album, “Confusion Is Sex” (1983). Later that year, the band released “Kill Yr Idol” (1983), a German-only EP. During the early 1980s, the band was well-received in Europe, but the New York press largely overlooked Sonic Youth and other noise rock bands. But after another tour of Europe in 1984, the band got rave reviews in Sounds an NME, resulting in the band reaching new levels of popularity in New York City, playing shows almost every week. That same year the band released their first live album, “Sonic Death”, on the Homestead label (Moore and Gordon also married that year); the band had a dispute with Branca over royalty payments and defected from Neutral Records. Their next studio album, “Bad Moon Rising” (1985) was critically acclaimed in the U.K., yet the band was still largely ignored by the New York music press. Bob Bert quit the band after the supporting tour for the album and was replaced by Steve Shelley. The band switched labels again, signing with SST Records in early 1986 and began working on “Evol” (1986) with Martin Bisi. They released a concept album, “Sister” (1987), before switching labels again, this time to Enigma, which released their double album, “Daydream Nation” (1988). The lead single from the album was “Teenage Riot”/”Silver Rocket”/”Kissability”. This is today’s featured single.
"Teenage Riot" flexi-disc from The Catalogue magazine (U.K.)
“Teenage Riot” starts off with Moore and Renaldo playing a repetitive, almost staccato melody, accompanied by Kim Gordon’s mumbling of phrases like “spirit desire” and “say it, don’t spray it”. This opening slowly builds and develops until, 1 minute and 22 seconds into the track, it gives way to a popish hook, which is soon supplemented by Thurston Moore’s vocals: “Everybody’s talking ’bout the stormy whether/And what’s a man to do but work out whether it’s true?” The song has a genuinely catchy melody and arguably represents a turning point in the band’s history as their first real pop song. Looking at mainstream pop culture through a decidedly interesting prism, “Teenage Riot” was quite popular on college radio, and was one of the signature tunes of “Daydream Nation”, and indeed of Sonic Youth’s entire career. With tunes like these, it’s not surprising that Sonic Youth was soon signed by a major label (Geffen), presaging the alternative rock explosion of the early 1990s.
“Silver Rocket” begins with a minor key melody, which gives way very quickly to the songs punk-flavored main riff. Moore’s vocals begin 50 seconds into the track, which switches to a cacophony of detuned guitars 1 minute 32 seconds into the song, which is what one would typically expect from a Sonic Youth song. After a little over a minute of this, however, the band returns to the main riff for the final verse of the song, briefly returning to the noisy soundscape of the middle part before coming to a conclusion at the 3 minute 47 second mark.. Overall the track has a garage-like feel to it, but it is much more mainstream alternative than many of Sonic Youth’s earlier material, and along with “Teenage Riot” is one of the band’s more accessible songs.
“Kissability” rounds out the 3-song maxi-single, and is a fast tempo song with driving guitar rhythms punctuated by Kim Gordon’s tuneless vocals: “Look into my eyes, don’t you trust me/You’re so good you could go far/I’ll put you in a movie, don’t you want to/You could be a star”. Throughout the song, Shelley’s insistent drumming provides a solid backbeat to the song. The band’s noise rock roots show through much more clearly on this track than on the other two, but even so, the main riff is quite catchy and even the instrumental break is only moderately indulgent. “Kissability” fits in well with the other tracks on “Daydream Nation” and is a worthy addition to the Sonic Youth catalog.
This 12-inch single was issued in October 1988. No picture sleeve was included with this release. In 1990, Sonic Youth released their first album on for Geffen, “Goo” (released on Geffen subsidiary DGC), which continued the trend of recording more accessible material than their earlier work. In 1992, they released “Dirty”, which featured the song “100%”. The band reached new levels of popularity with “Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star” (1994), which was their highest-charting album up to that point, peaking at #34 on the Billboard album chart. In 1995, the band released “Made in USA”, a movie soundtrack made up of previously unreleased material recorded in 1986. That same year, the band headlined the Lollapalooza music festival; shortly afterwards, their ninth studio album, “Washing Machine” (1995) was released, containing several tracks with Kim Gordon playing guitar. In 1996, the band established their own label, SYR Records, which would be utilized to release a series of experimental, avant-garde EPs. Their next full-length album was “A Thousand Leaves” (1998), which was also the first album recorded in the band’s private Manhattan studio, which was dubbed Echo Canyon.
Television's "Little Johnny Jewel" 45 RPM single, released on Ork Records in August 1975
In the early 1970’s Television began as the Neon Boys, a band which featured teenage friends Tom Verlaine (guitars, vocals) and Richard Hell (bass guitar, vocals) as well as drummer Billy Ficca. At the end of 1973, the band re-formed as Television, adding rhythm guitarist Richard Lloyd. They got a regular gig at CBGB’s in New York City, and soon developed a cult following. In 1975, the band recorded a demo tape with Brian Eno for Island Records. Island opted not to sign the band, and soon afterwards, Richard Hell left the band, apparently due to increasing friction between he and Verlaine. Fred Smith, briefly of Blondie, replaced Hell as Television’s bassist. Having been snubbed by Island, Television released their debut single, “Little Johnny Jewel (Part One)” b/w “Little Johnny Jewel (Part Two)” on their own Ork label. This single also happens to be the featured single of the day.
“Little Johnny Jewel” is actually a seven minute-long song that was split into two parts for the single. The song did not appear on their first full-length LP, “Marquee Moon”, and as far as I know was not released on LP or CD until 2005. This is rather a shame since it seems to be an excellent song. “Little Johnny Jewel (Part One)” starts off with a three chord melody being strummed on Smith’s bass guitar; he is shortly joined by Verlaine, who at first is plucking a guitar rather tunelessly before playing a more coherent melody. Although Richard Hell had left the band by this point (and took his songs with him), the lyrics of “Little Johnny Jewel” mirror to a certain extent the nihilism of Hell’s “Blank Generation” (although it’s not as if Hell had cornered the market on nihilistic song lyrics). Verlaine evokes comparisons to Lou Reed in his vocal stylings as he barely sings, delivering the lyrics in almost a speaking voice: “Now Little Johnny Jewel/Oh, he’s so cool/He has no decision/He’s just trying to tell a vision”. The lyrics of part one tell the story of the protagonist referred to in the song title; the first verse ends with “[h]e loses his senses”, at which point the band launches into an instrumental break that closes out part one. As one critic has noted, “[t]he tense atmosphere of the track is rooted in the sparse interplay between bass and drums and builds towards a wide-ranging and inventive, but importantly thin sounding, guitar solo that was a sign of things to come.” [Steve Taylor, “The A To X of Alternative Music”, p. 261]
“Little Johnny Jewel (Part Two)” starts off in the middle of that same instrumental break, with Verlaine occasionally lapsing into plucking away at his guitar tunelessly, while Smith and Ficca provide the backbone of the band’s sound. What we end up with is a rather fluid, angular sound that smacks off free-form jazz. This takes us to the final verse, which starts about 2 minutes and 50 seconds into the track, and takes us right up until the end of the song. What is interesting about the final verse is that while one might expect some resolution – what happened to Little Johnny Jewel after he went to the airport and lost his senses, anyway – instead we get an admonishment: “Oh Little Johnny Jewel/He’s so cool/But if you see him looking lost/You ain’t gotta come on so boss!” While I openly admit that I find as much reason to look for hidden meaning in these lyrics as I find reason to look for hidden meaning in the lyrics to “Travelin’ Band”, this is still intriguing stuff.
Sleeve of 12-inch version of "Little Johnny Jewel"
The record (catalog #: Ork 81975) was issued without a picture sleeve. The record had a rather plain-looking red label, with the track name across the top, the label name in capital letters on the left side, the catalog number and running length on the right side, and the band’s name and other information on the bottom. Note that this was a monophonic single (as denoted on the right side of the label), which was rather unusual in 1975; almost all 45 RPM records issued, at least in the United States, had been issued in stereo since the early 1970’s. But then again, if WPIX can air an interview of Donald Rumsfeld in black and white in 1975, I guess you can have a mono mix of a single in that same year.While “Little Johnny Jewel” wasn’t an overnight success, it did become an underground hit and attracted the attention of major record labels. In 1976, the band released a British EP on Stiff Records further expanded their reputation, and they signed with Elektra Records, which released their debut album (“Marquee Moon”) in 1977. It didn’t chart in the United States, but it reached number 28 in the U.K. and launched their Top 40 single in the U.K., “Prove It”. Television supported Blondie during their 1977 tour, which still didn’t do much to improve their popularity. Their second album, “Adventure” (1978) did better in the U.S. than “Marquee Moon”, but still failed to chart, although it made the Top 10 in the U.K. Not long after the release of “Adventure”, the band suddenly broke up, apparently due to tensions between Verlaine and Lloyd. Thus the band would have to remain content with their status as one of the legendary bands of the punk era, although there would be a short-lived reunion in late 1991 (they broke up again in early 1993).
Television performing Little Johnny Jewel live in Dublin in 2002
Television performing Little Johnny Jewel live in Central Park
Picture sleeve for Bauhaus's Bela Lugosi's Dead
Northampton, U.K. residents Daniel Ash (guitar), his friend David J. Haskins (bass), and younger brother Kevin Haskins (drums) had been in various bands since childhood. Many of these bands did not last more than one gig, but one of the longer lasting of these bands, The Craze, performed a number of gigs in Northampton. When The Craze broke up, Ash tried to convince old schoolmate Peter Murphy to join him in forming a band, simply because Ash thought Murphy had the right look for a band. Murphy, who was working in a printing factory and had never written lyrics or music, decided to give it a try; during Murphy and Ash’s first rehearsal, Murphy co-wrote “In the Flat Field”. Old band mate Kevin Haskins joined on drums, but Ash made a point of excluding David J. Haskins, recruiting Chris Barber as the bassist instead, even though Haskins had been the driving force behind their previous bands, because Ash wanted a band he could control. Soon, however, Ash reconsidered and brought in David J. to replace Barber. The band played their first gig at the Cromwell pub in Wellingborough on New Year’s Eve in 1978. The group initially named themselves Bauhaus 1919 (a reference to the Bauhaus art movement of the 1920s), later shortened to Bauhaus. Together for only six weeks, the band entered a recording studio for the first time to record a demo at the Beck Studios in Wellingborough. The band recorded five songs during that session; one of them, “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”, was released as the group’s debut single in August 1979 on Small Wonder Records. This is today’s featured single.
“Bela Lugosi’s Dead” starts off with a staccato drum beat, soon accompanied by a very simple minor-key melody played on bass, with weird screeching guitar effects in the background. Immediately the track has a minimalist appeal. The lyrics begin about 2 minutes and 50 seconds into the song (just as the guitar transitions to a D9sus6/ C#7sus3/ Bsus4/ Bx melody) : “White on white translucent black capes/Back on the rack/Bela Lugosi’s dead.” The song may trace its roots to the punk movement of the day, but this song is much more nuanced than most punk rock. It is at the same time both evocative and restrained, and above all else, dark and gloomy. Murphy’s vocals are very effective here, with reverb being used on the track with great effect, and “I’m dead” repeated enough times to sear into the memory of the listener. The song ends with the same staccato drum beat with which it opens, coming to a sudden ending. This is probably one of the most memorable debut singles, even though at 9 minutes and 39 seconds, it may be a bit too repetitive for some listeners. Nevertheless, the song should be regarded as a goth rock masterpiece, even if the passage of time has obscured just how groundbreaking it was. A live version was included on the band’s “Press the Eject…” album.
The B-side of this single, “Boys”, is not as memorable as “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”, but is a pretty good song. The lyrics are nonsensical (“We tried to fly /Is it so high/We don’t think so/We don’t think so”), but Murphy’s unconventional singing voice complements the song perfectly. Like the A-side, this song is somewhat repetitive, the melody being played with machine-like precision. The melody is simpler than “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”, relying mainly on chords E and A. And the song ends suddenly, abruptly stopping after with Murphy’s final “uh” a little more than 3 minutes into the track.
Picture sleeve for the promotional release of Bela Lugosi's Dead
The single (catalog #: TEENY 2) was issued on Small Wonder Records. It had a picture sleeve with a black and white image depicting a bat, and the band’s name underneath the image, with “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” written in script under the band’s name. The band released three more singles, “Dark Entries”, “Terror Couple Kill Colonel”, and “Telegram Sam” (all songs previously recorded by glam rockers T. Rex) before the debut of their first album, “In the Flat Field” (1980), released on 4AD. The album topped the indie music charts and peaked at #72 in the U.K. Bauhaus’s success exceeded the resources of 4AD, so the band was transferred to 4AD’s parent company, Beggar’s Banquet. The band’s first two singles on Beggar’s Banquet were “Kick in the Eye” (U.K. #59) and “The Passion of Lovers” (U.K. #56). The band’s second album, “Mask”, was released in October 1981, and featured more keyboards to add to the diversity of the band’s sound. Their next single, “Spirit”, was intended as the band’s breakthrough single; however, it stalled at #42. The band was so displeased with their recording of the song that they re-recorded it for their next album, “The Sky’s Gone Out” (1982). In 1982, they also had their biggest hit with a cover version of David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust” (#4 U.K.). Daniel Murphy was stricken with pneumonia prior to the recording of the band’s forth album, and as a result Ash and David J. Haskins were the driving forces behind “Burning from the Inside” (1983). The album’s lead single, “She’s in Parties”, reached #26 in the U.K. The night before Bauhaus was scheduled to play two shows at the Hammersmith Palais, the group decided to disband. They played their last concert on July 5, 1983, and “Burning from the Inside” was released a week later. Bauhaus briefly reunited for the “Resurrection Tour” in 1998, which yielded a new song, “The Dog’s a Vapour”, and a live album released in 1999, “Gotham”. They reunited again in 2005, and this reunion led to the band touring with Nine Inch Nails in the summer of 2006. They released an album, “Go Away White” (2008), their first studio album in twenty-five years, but this marked the end of the band and there was no supporting tour.
Child in Time picture sleeve. The single was released in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
In 1967, former Searchers drummer Chris Curtis started putting together a new band called Roundabout (called such because the members would get on and off the band). He contacted businessman Tony Edwards in a bid to obtain financing for the venture; he agreed to back the project with the aid of two partners: John Coletta and Ron Hire (together they formed HEC Enterprises, the acronym “HEC” coming from the initials of their surnames). Their first recruit was classically-trained organist Jon Lord; he was followed by session guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. Curtis soon dropped out, but HEC Enterprises, as well as Lord and Blackmore, wanted to carry on. For bass guitar, Lord suggested Nick Simper; the lineup was completed by vocalist Rod Evans and drummer Ian Paice. Blackmore suggested a new name: Deep Purple, which was his grandmother’s favorite song. The band signed with Parlophone Records (with Tetragrammaton as their U.S. distributor), and released “Shades of Deep Purple” (1968). The first single from the album, “Hush”, was a major hit in North America (#4 U.S., #2 Canada), contributing to the album’s success in the U.S. (peaking at #24), even though it did not sell well in the U.K. Their second album, “The Book of Taliesyn” (1968), released on Harvest Records, was another U.S. success (#38), yet it was not released in the U.K. until the following year. The following year saw the release of “Deep Purple” (1969), in which the band’s classical influences were on full display. Evans and Simper were soon fired, and were replaced by Ian Gillan (vocals) and Roger Glover (bass). Tetragrammaton folded, and Warner Bros. became the band’s U.S. distributor as they released their fourth album, “Deep Purple In Rock” (1970), the first album with the “classic” Deep Purple lineup. This album contained a track, “Child in Time”, which was released as a single in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. This is today’s featured single.
Running 10 minutes and 17 seconds on the album, “Child in Time” was split into two parts for the single. The song begins with a minor key melody played on an organ, accompanied by Paice’s restrained drumming. Then Gillan’s vocals begin 50 seconds into the track: “Sweet child in time, you’ll see the line/The line that’s drawn between, good and the bad/See the blind man, he’s shooting at the world/The bullets flying and they’re taking toll.” Soon Gillan’s vocals becomes higher-pitched, as he begins to wail, but in spite of Gillan displaying more of his vocal range than he normally would, “Child in Time” is a relatively simple composition, anchored by three main chords. Gillan’s banshee-like wailing finally gives way to a Richie Blackmore guitar solo 3 minutes and 33 seconds into the song. At first the solo has a slow, bluesy feel to it, but soon the pace of Blackmore’s playing increases (punctuated by Paice’s drums), with Blackmore using a Gibson ES-335 instead of his usual Fender Stratocaster for this track. The solo lasts about 2 and a half minutes before it comes to an abrupt halt, and the song cycle begins anew, with Ian Lord’s organ returning to the musical mix as the track goes quiet again. The lyrics are repeated, and layers are added to the wall of sound, gradually getting louder, the tempo of the music getting faster and faster (mirroring the Blackmore guitar solo in the first half), sounding almost like a runaway calliope, with Gillan really caterwauling away before the song comes to a climax and ends. This song has been covered many times, including by Yngwie Malmsteen on his album “Inspiration”.
The single (catalog #: 5C 006-93557) was released by Harvest Records. There was a picture sleeve (shown here). By the time this single was released, Deep Purple was well on their way to achieving mainstream success, having released two more studio albums, “Fireball” (1971) and “Machine Head” (1972), the latter containing both “Smoke on the Water” and “Highway Star”. Both albums reached #1 in the U.K. A live album, “Made in Japan”, followed in December 1972. One more studio album was released with the Glover/Gillan/Blackmore/Lord/Paice lineup, “Who Do You Think We Are” (1973), containing the hit single “Woman from Tokyo”. Tensions grew within the band, and both Glover and Gillan were fired. They were replaced by Glenn Hughes on bass (formerly of Trapeze), and David Coverdale, a 21 year old then-unknown singer. This lineup recorded “Burn” (1974), which contained a more funky element than previous albums. “Stormbringer” followed later that year. Blackmore did not like the new direction of the band, and left Deep Purple in the spring of 1975 to form Rainbow. He was replaced by American gutiarist Tommy Bolin, who was the lead guitarist on “Come Taste the Band” (1975). The result was a revitalized sound, but Bolin’s drug problems soon resulted in cancelled shows and sub par performances. Lord and Paice, the last remaining original members, made the decision to disband Deep Purple in March 1976. Later that year, while Bolin was touring in support of his second solo album, “Private Eyes” (1976), he died of a drug overdose. It would take another 8 years before the original lineup reunited to record “Perfect Strangers” (1984).
"Never Been Any Reason" 45 RPM single
Head East was formed in 1968 in Champaign, Illinois by five students at the University of Illinois, Champaign: John Schlitt (vocals), Dan Piper (guitar), Roger Boyd (keyboards), Larry Boyd (bass guitar), and Steve Huston (drums). They were originally known as the TimeAtions, but changed their name to Head East at the suggestion of Baxter Forrest Twilight, a technician/stagehand for the band, playing their first gig as Head East in Carbondale, Illinois on August 6, 1969. Schlitt and Huston left the band to concentrate on their studies, but returned in 1973. Dan Piper left the band in 1972, and after Greg Williams and Brad Flota did brief stints on lead guitar, the band auditioned replacements and eventually chose Mike Somerville as their new guitarist. Dan Birney replaced Larry Boyd on bass guitar, and Larry Boyd’s brother, Roger Boyd returned after a brief absence from the band, and by 1974, the “classic” Head East lineup was complete. That summer, they entered Golden Voice studios in Pekin, Illinois and recorded the tracks to their first album, “Flat as a Pancake”. The album was released on the band’s own label, Pyramid Records. A&M Records took note of the band’s popularity, and signed Head East to the label. “Flat as a Pancake” was re-released on A&M in 1975 and eventually went gold. “Never Been Any Reason” b/w “One Against the Other” was released as the first single from “Flat as a Pancake” and charted, peaking at #68. This is today’s featured single.
“Never Been Any Reason” opens with an interesting synthesizer intro (highlighting the band’s progressive rock tendencies) which soon gives way to a fairly simple guitar riff which anchors the song (C/D). Then the lyrics begin: “Did you see any action, did you make any friends/Would you like some affection, before I leave again/I been walking behind you, since you been able to see/There’s never been any reason for you to think about me”. The song’s protagonist sings about unrequited love with conviction, underscoring his desperation with the chorus of “[s]ave my life, I’m going down for the last time”. After the first chorus, there is an instrumental break in which the synthesizer takes the lead; this lasts for about 40 seconds. Then we get the third verse, where the singer’s frustration becomes so acute that he matches the contempt which the unnamed woman in the song with some contempt of his own: “You never give me no answers, you never tell me the truth/There’s never been any reason for me to think about you”. Then we get a second chorus, sung first almost a cappella before the guitars thunder forth once again as the music forms a crescendo of sound at the end of the song. “Never Been Any Reason” quickly became one of Head East’s signature tunes, and became a mainstay of FM radio for many years.
The B-side of the single, “One Against the Other”, is another track from “Flat as a Pancake”. The song opens with a drum beat, which is soon joined by a funky-sounding guitar, and lyrics about the virtues of living in harmony: “People, stop your pushin’ and try to learn/That nothin’ can be gained by tryin’ to hurt/We never seem to think about brothers workin’ together/We always find ourselves at odds, one against the other”. It sounds unusually preachy for an arena rock band, but serves as a reminder that there was still a residuum of the political activism of the 1960s and early 1970s that occasionally found its way into music. In addition to this, “One Against the Other” is one of the stronger tracks on “Flat as a Pancake”, even if at times I’m not sure if Schlitt is the singer of a rock band or a member of Herb Jepko’s Nitecaps: “We got to work together, find a way/To help our friends and neighbors everyday”. The overall message of the song is rather upbeat, complemented well by the rather bouncy melody featured throughout the song.
This single (catalog #: 1716) was released on A&M Records in October 1975 (the Australian release of the single is shown in the picture). As far as I know, no picture sleeve was issued with this single, which had the typical A&M label from that era, with the arch-like A&M logo in the background, track information on the top, and artist/production information on the bottom. Catalog information is on the right side. The band continued to release albums throughout the remainder of the 1970s, releasing “Get Yourself Up” (1976), “Gettin’ Lucky” (1977), “Head East” (1978), “Head East Live!” (1979) and “A Different Kind of Crazy” (1979). The band was a big concert draw, but their success did not spawn many chart hits, as the only songs they released during this period that cracked the Billboard Hot 100 other than “Never Been Any Reason” were “Love Me Tonight” (#54) and their version of Russ Ballard’s “Since You’ve Been Gone” (#46). The albums were middling successes, the highest-charting LP being their 1978 self-titled album which peaked at #78. In March 1980, Dan Birney and Mike Somerville left the band, while John Schlitt was fired due to a drug dependency. The remaining two members (Boyd and Huston) recruited Mark Boatman (bass), Tony Gross (guitar), and Dan Odum (vocals) to record their next album, “U.S. 1” (1980). This was their last album on A&M Records and their last album to chart. A&M Records dropped Head East as part of a larger movement away from AOR-oriented bands towards punk and new wave bands. Head East would continue to release albums on smaller labels. Robbie Robinson replaced Mark Boatman for “Onward and Upward” (1982), released on Allegiance Records. The band would undergo several personnel changes before releasing “Choice of Weapons” (1988) on Dark Heart Records. By this point, Huston had left the band, leaving Roger Boyd as the only remaining original member. Mike Somerville would return to the fold in 1994, however, and the lineup of Boyd, Somerville, Tom Bryant (lead vocals), Rich Creadore (bass) and Dan Kelly (drums) remained intact from 1995 to 2000. The current lineup consists of Roger Boyd, Darren Walker (lead vocals). Glen Bridger (guitar, vocals), Greg Manahan (bass), and Eddy Jones (drums, vocals).
Picture sleeve for Squeeze's "Up the Junction"
Squeeze was formed in March 1974 by Chris Difford (guitar, vocals, lyrics), Glenn Tilbrook (vocals, guitar, music), Jools Holland (keyboards), and Paul Gunn (drums). The band played under several names, most frequently “Captain Trundlow’s Sky Company” or “Skyco” before settling on the band name “Squeeze” as a tribute to the 1973 Velvet Underground album of the same name. Gilson Lavis replaced Gunn on drums and Harry Kakoulli joined the band on drums in 1976. Squeeze’s early days were spent in Deptford in southeast London, where they were part of a lively music scene which included Dire Straits and Alternative TV. Their early singles and debut EP, “Packet of Three” (1977), was issued on the Deptford Fun City label; the band subsequently signed with A&M Records. Former Velvet Underground member John Cale produced the band’s debut EP and most of their first album. A&M found Cale’s recordings to be not commercially viable; consequently, the two singles from “U.K. Squeeze” (1978), “Take Me I’m Yours” (b/w “Night Nurse”) and “Bang Bang” (b/w “All Fed Up”) were the only two tracks from the album produced by Squeeze. The second album, “Cool for Cats” (1979), contained the band’s two highest-charting singles in the U.K.: “Cool for Cats” (b/w “Model”) and “Up the Junction” (b/w “It’s So Dirty”). The latter is today’s featured single.
“Up the Junction” opens with a drum fill, followed by Jools Holland’s keyboard, and soon we’re in the middle of one of Chris Difford’s neat little working class dramas: “I never thought it would happen/With me and the girl from Clapham/Out on a windy common/That night I ain’t forgotten”. The song is a simple three-chord mid-tempo tune (E, A, and C#m), and we find out about some poor dolt who meets a girl. He achieves a certain level of domestic bliss (“We spent our time just kissing/The railway arms we’re missing/But love had got us hooked up/And all our time it took up”), but soon his girlfriend finds herself in a family way (“She said she’d seen a doctor/And nothing now could stop her”). Although our hero tries to live up to his newfound responsibilities, soon he becomes a drunken lout and his significant other leaves him. He is left alone in their rented basement, left to ponder his fate: “Alone here in the kitchen/I feel there’s something missing/I’d beg for some forgiveness/But begging is not my business”. The drama of the song is enhanced, in my opinion, by the unsentimental delivery of the lyrics. There’s no chorus or instrumental break (at least not until the end, anyway) – just Difford exhibiting one of the hallmarks of a good songwriter: the ability to tell a story in a three-minute song.
The B-side of the single, “It’s So Dirty”, is a more conventional, upbeat rocker, but once again Holland’s keyboard plays a prominent role as Difford sings about having a good time: “Well you’d better not tell I’ve had a good night/Me and this bird she’s a bit of alright/Dancing to the sounds as the arches get searched/She is the business for a bit of old skirt”. The reason why “it’s so dirty” is because he’s fooling around with someone else’s girl: “Give it some gold to put round its neck/Bet her old man puts you on the deck”. The ebullient mood of the song is carried by Holland’s keyboards and a relatively simple chord progression (particularly the D-C-G-C-G driven home between each of the lines of the verses). There is an instrumental break at the end with a cool-sounding guitar solo. Overall this is an effective, bouncy antidote to the heartbreaking “Up the Junction”, although the former is the more memorable track.
The single (catalog #: AMS 7444) was released on A&M Records in May 1979. There was a picture sleeve (shown here). It peaked at #2 on the U.K. singles chart, making it, along with “Cool for Cats”, one of two Squeeze singles to reach that position. After the second album was released, John Bentley replaced Harry Kakoulli on bass and the band released “Argybargy” (1980), an album that proved a minor breakthrough in North America, since the first single “Another Nail In My Heart”, reached #56 in Canada, and the second single, “Pulling Mussels From The Shell” received significant airplay in the U.S. Jools Holland left the band to go solo after this album, and was replaced by Paul Carrack (ex-Roxy Music), and the band released “East Side Story”, which spawned another radio hit with the single “Tempted” (with Carrack singing lead vocals). The band released one more album, “Sweets From A Stranger” (1982), before Difford and Tilbrook disbanded Squeeze. They reunited in 1985, however, with the “Argybargy” lineup (with Jools Holland returning to the fold), and released “Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti” (1985). The band recruited Chris Holland (Jools’ brother) as a second keyboardist so the band could replicate some of the keyboard parts on the upcoming tour, but he was soon replaced by Andy Metcalfe. This lineup recorded “Babylon and On” (1987), a song which contained the band’s only two Top 40 singles in the U.S.: “Hourglass” and “853-5937”. The band’s status as a sextet was shortlived, as Metcalfe left the band in 1988. The remaining five members recorded the next Squeeze album, “Frank” (1989). The album was a commercial disappointment, and the band was dropped by A&M Records.
Squeeze was signed by I.R.S. Records, which issued “A Round And A Bout” (1990), which was also the first album to feature new member Matt Irving (keyboards). Jools Holland quit the band a second time in 1990, and was not immediately replaced. Instead, the band relied on session musicians such as Irving (no longer an official member) and others for their next album, “Play” (1991), released on Reprise Records. The album spawned no chart hits, but “Satisfied” and “Crying In Your Sleep” received significant airplay in the U.S. Gilson Lavis was let go in 1992, to be replaced by Pete Thomas, and Paul Carrack returned in 1993. Reprise dropped Squeeze after only one album, but they were re-signed by A&M, who released “Some Fantastic Place” (1993). This album spawned the single “Third Rail”, which peaked at #39 in the U.K., the band’s first U.K. Top 40 hit in six years. The band had a constantly changing lineup in the mid-1990s, and by now Squeeze was essentially the backing band for Difford and Tilbrook. Their next album, “Ridiculous” (1995), spawned three minor hits; one of them, “The Summer”, was remixed and re-released in 1996, and reached #32 in the U.K. Despite this, A&M dropped Squeeze from its roster. By 1997, Squeeze had dwindled down to just Difford and Tilbrook, but the duo formed a new Squeeze lineup and released a new album, “Domino” (1998). But in November 1999, Squeeze performed its last gig and the members went their separate ways, with both Difford and Tilbrook launching solo careers. Still, Difford and Tilbrook’s friendship continued, even as they were reluctant to work together in a band context again. But in 2007, Difford and Tilbrook were working together again, and put together a new Squeeze lineup, which toured the U.S. in August 2007. The two are working on material for a new Squeeze album, which is slated for a 2010 release.
The Zombies' She's Not There 45 RPM single
The Zombies formed in 1959 in St. Albans, England, and gained their early reputation playing at the Old Verulamians Rugby Club in that city. The group was formed while the members were attending school; according to some sources, Rod Argent (organ, piano, vocals) , Paul Atkinson (guitar, vocals) and Hugh Grundy (drums) were at St. Alban’s School, while Colin Blunstone (lead vocals) and Chris White (bass, vocals) were students at St. Alban’s Boys’ Grammar School. After winning a beat group competition sponsored by the London Evening News, the Zombies signed to Decca Records and recorded their first single, “She’s Not There” b/w “You Make Me Feel Good”. This is today’s featured single.
“She’s Not There” was the Zombies’ biggest hit and best-known track. Released in July 1964 (and the second song written by Rod Argent), it came right in the middle of the first wave of British Invasion hits, but the song cannot be easily categorized: it’s not Merseybeat; it’s not Rolling Stones/Animals rhythm and blues raunch; it’s not mod-ish like The Who. It opens with Rod Argent’s haunting, melodic organ playing a minor-key melody, soon accompanied by the rhythm section, and Blunstone delivers his breathy, artful vocals, just loud enough to break through the din: “Well, no one told me about her/ The way she lied/ Well, no one told me about her/ How many people cried”. The lead guitar contains a grand total of four chords: Em-A-Em-A on each verse, and Am-Em-Bm-Em-Am-Em-Em-A during the chorus. Rod Argent’s organ playing on this track is impeccable, and we even get a brief, jazzy organ solo about 1 minute and 36 seconds into the song, before there is a reprise of the chorus, and the song comes to an end with Blunstone’s vocals and a cymbal crash. This song is marred somewhat by Rod Argent’s off-key harmonizing on background vocals, which somewhat defeat the band’s efforts to sing in harmony on the chorus (an element seemingly borrowed from folk songs) in the manner many pop records of the day. But make no mistake about it: “She’s Not There” is a rock classic (and moreover, a song that seems tailor made for AM Top 40 radio), a song which helped differentiate the Zombies from a number of British Invasion bands to arrive in the wake of The Beatles, many of which sounded alike and openly aped the top-tier British Invasion bands. The Zombies were no copycats, and their originality shines through on this track. The song seems tailor-made for AM Top 40 radio, and indeed the song started to get traction in the United States after WINS (1010 AM – New York) DJ Stan Z. Burns debuted it in his noontime “Hot Spot” segment. The song ultimately reached #2 in the U.S. and #2 in Canada (and #12 in the U.K.). The song was also covered by several artists, including the Vanilla Fudge and the U.K. Subs.
The B-side of the single, “You Make Me Feel Good”, is a Beatles-esque love song [it’s only fitting that after I praise the Zombies for their originality in reviewing “She’s Not There” that I should make that comparison] written by Chris White. The verses features harmonies by Blunstone, Argent, Atkinson and White; once again, one of these things is not like the others, although Argent’s singing is better on this track. The lyrics are somewhat generic (“You don’t need any reason, do you baby?/Surely you should know that by now/But if you need a reason, I’ll give one to you:/You make me feel good, you make me feel good”), but once again, Argent’s organ playing gives the song a unique sound, and the rhythm section helps fill out the sound.
The single (catalog #: 9695) was issued in the U.S. on Parrot Records, a subsidiary of London Records (the American branch of Decca Records). The label was the typical Parrot label from that era, with the tuxedo-wearing green and yellow parrot featured prominently on the label, and track/artist information on the bottom. As far as I know, no picture sleeve was issued with this single. The success of “She’s Not There” led to a tour of the United States (among other concerts, they played Murray The K’s Christmas shows at the Brooklyn Fox Theater). The follow-up single, “Leave Me Be”, stiffed in the U.K., but in 1965, they had a second U.S. hit with “Tell Her No”, which reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 (peak U.K. position: #42). An album, “Begin Here” (1965) was released, containing many of their early tracks. The U.S. version was titled “The Zombies”, and deleted some tracks while adding others, most notably, “She’s Not There” and “Tell Her No”. Subsequent singles failed to get much traction in either the U.S. or the U.K. Eventually the band signed with CBS Records, and recorded their second album, “Odessey and Oracle”, in the summer of 1967. By the time it was released in April 1968, the Zombies had broken up, disillusioned with the fading commercial fortunes of the band. In 1969, one of the singles from “Odessey and Oracle”, “Time of the Season” b/w “Friends of Mine”, became a major hit in the U.S., eventually reaching #3, but by then, Argent and White had already formed a new band, Argent. In 1991, Blunstone, Grundy and White briefly reunited to form a new Argent lineup. In 2004, Blunstone and Argent, who had been performing together since 2001, began performing as The Zombies once again, with Keith Airey (guitar, vocals), Jim Rodford (bass, vocals), and Steve Rodford (drums) rounding out the new lineup. After the demise of Argent, Chris White became an A&R man, and Paul Atkinson had retired as a performer and was an A&R man when he died in April 2004.
