Bollards! - S/T 1977

'Bollards', ho ho, can you see what they did there?! OK, then titles like 'Sowin' Me Oats', 'Find Us the Seamen?' and 'Scrumpy Rules O.K.' might make things more clear? Yes, this is resolutely an album by blokes for blokes, full of bawdy songs that deal with sensitive subjects like spousal abuse with that peculiarly British 70s Carry On-like mix of salaciousness and utter naivety.

Apart from the uncharacteristic reggae song One Way Love, with its moogy melody line, there isn't a lot to recommend this LP I'm afraid. Even though it's from 1977 (the year that God Save the Queen was released - imagine!), it is so redolent of a now-lost, pre-binge drink world of Party 7s and smoky working men's clubs, pale breasts and phwoaars, that any analysis is pointless really. A true relic in other words.

The Seamen?

Bollards! - S/T

Bumpkin Records BLO69

Tony Weston - I'd Do It All Again (197?)

Thanks to fellow travellers over at WFMU's Beware of the Blog (original link here), I've found a rip of what might be Tony Weston's first LP, despite the swansong-sounding title 'I'd Do It All Again'. I don't actually have a copy of the LP, so all of this post is borrowed from the efforts of others, but here is another taster of the flamboyant Bournemouth showman. RIP Tony!

MR FABULOUS

Tony Weston - I'd Do It All Again
Raven Stereo KS 1008

Side One
Everything's Coming Up Roses
When You Smile
Make The World A Little Younger
Nobody Does it Like Me
Try To Remember
My Way

Side Two
Sing, Sing a Song
The Last Red Rose In London Town
I'd Do It All Again
Streets Of London
It's You
The Greatest Performance of My Life

And, from a now-deleted Wikipedia entry:

Noel Coward: "Tony has obvious 'STAR' potential"

Liberace: "TONY, SINGS and LIVES every word, when performing 'My Way'"

Tony has been also referred to as "Mr. Vitality", "Mr. Fabulous" and "Mr. Entertainment".

Tony Weston has recorded two albums on the Raven Records label. The first album is I'd do it all again' featuring Derek Healey, Barry Robinson, Bill Jackman, Pete Warner, Brian Dee, Cedric West, Brian Short, Paul Brodie and Ian Simpson.

Jeanie Lambe - S/T (1980)

I may have spoken too soon when I noted an allmusicguide entry for the previous entrant Stu Stevens, for what do I find but another example in the shape of sultry jazz singer Jeanie Lambe. Backed by her husband Danny Moss and his quartet, Jeanie here smoulders through a selection of torch songs that may very well be standards, though are uncredited on the label.

While I haven't been able to find anything on Ms Lambe from before this 1980 LP, a modest career appeared to follow, including three further albums for what may be another private label, Zodiac, and singles for CBS and Philips. Sadly, my research also revealed that Moss died in 2008, some 19 years after he and Jeanie moved to Perth but as this obituary in the Telegraph reveals, this was not before he had received an MBE and the two of them had built a nice little reputation for themselves on the international circuit. I like to think of her still practicing her scales as she basks in the Australian sun.

I can't pretend to be a connoisseur of the genre, but I actually really like this smokily atmospheric LP, which is some distance from the cheery, beery club atmosphere of many of my other entries. Not that I would consider that particularly relevant in selecting any record for inclusion - in fact I just happened to pick this one up last Saturday in Brighton on the basis of the glam cover which I thought was a nice contrast to some of the previous entries - but let's just say I don't think this one will scare too many horses.

UNHAPPY BUT OH SO GLAD

Jeanie Lambe - S/T
Flyright Stereo FLY 215

SIDE A
SITTIN' AND A-ROCKIN'
YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT LOVE IS
GLAD TO BE UNHAPPY
IWON'T DANCE
CAN'T WE BE FRIENDS

SIDE B
NO GOOD MAN
TEACH ME TONIGHT
BLUE PRELUDE
SUGAR
I WISH I WAS BACK IN MY BABY'S ARMS
ANY PLACE I HANG MY HAT

JEANIE LAMBE

WITH THE DANNY MOSS QUARTET

DANNY MOSS Tenor Sax BRIAN LEMON Piano

LEN SKEAT Bass DEREK HOGG Drums

Recorded at RON GEESIN'S STUDIO

Heathfield, Sussex

September 5, 1980

Photography: ERIC G. LOVAT

Art Direction and Design: NIGEL GOODALL

Sleeve printed and made by SENOL PRINTING

c 1980 FLYRIGHT RECORDS, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, England

Stu Stevens - Command Performance (1976)

To be honest, I'm not even sure if this record qualifies for inclusion, as Stu had (has?) considerable professional experience, and by the time of this, his third LP he had already released records on EMI, progressive label Youngblood (responsible for the highly collectable Julian's Treatment and Dando Shaft LPs) and French label Barclay. In fact, uniquely among all the artists I have come across, he even has his own, albeit skeletal, allmusic entry. So, quite what he was doing on the apparently private label Major Oak in 1976 before turning up again a few years later with another album on MCA is anybody's guess, but the cover is so spectacular that I had no choice but to include it.

The light country balladeering and (rather cheesy) synthesizer, all played by Stu himself somewhat contradict the Milk Tray machismo of the cover, and with instrumentation that includes a 'pixiphone', this man clearly has a sensitive side. Actually, I suspect I am not really doing Stu and his strong, controlled voice, much justice but for now, here is his command performance.

PLAY IT WITH FEELING

Stu Stevens - Command Performance
Major Oak Recordings STEREO MO 5

Side One
MY ELUSIVE DREAMS
BLUE EYES CRYING IN THE RAIN
*GREEN GREEN GREEN 'Written by my friend Reg'
STAY AWHILE 'I ask you!'
JOLIE GIRL
*HELP ME MAKE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT

Side Two
AMANDA
MY FRIEND 'For someone special'
SIX WHITE HORSES
LAY DOWN BESIDE ME
WOMAN WOMAN
*SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN 'The room is empty now but I've seen the stairs that he stumbled down to greet the day'

VOCALS, ACOUSTIC & ELECTRIC GUITARS, PIANO & SYNTHESIZER, PIXIPHONE, BASS ALL PLAYED BY STU STEVENS

DRUMS PLAYED BY JOHN EVANS EXCEPT *STU STEVENS

ARRANGED AND PRODUCED BY STU STEVENS

ENGINEERED BY TERRY BRACEY

RECORDED AT STU STEVENS SOUND STUDIOS, KIRKYBY-IN-ASHFIELD, NOTTS.

FENDER RHODES ELECTRIC PIANO COURETSY OF FARNSWORTH MUSIC, NOTTINGHAM

COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY PHILIP DAWSON

COVER DESIGN AND ARTWORK BY DAVID HOLLIDAY

Recording First Published July 1976

MAJOR OAK RECORDINGS, OCKBROOK, DERBYSHIRE

Sleeve Printed by Senol, England