The Calendar According To Barbara Dickson

Please note: This post was originally published on October 9th but strangely vanished - curiouser and curiouser. Anyway, for anyone who didn't read it first time around, here it is again.
It’s always a bonus when you purchase a various artists compilation and discover a song that you like, but don’t recall from when it was a chart hit. Barbara Dickson’s 1980 hit ‘January February’ was one such gem that I uncovered via its inclusion on a Time-Life CD series I was collecting back in the 1990s. It’s a song that I’ve revisited regularly in the years since, and its appeal hasn’t waned over time. I can recall Barbara Dickson's role on the major 1985 hit duet 'I Know Him So Well' with Elaine Page, but didn't really know much beyond that.

Barbara Dickson began a career in music immediately after leaving high school during the mid 60s. She began performing regularly at folk clubs in and around her home region of Dunfermline. Over the course of the next few years she worked as a civil servant (government employee) by day and sang professionally at night and on the weekends. From 1967 to 1969 she made her first recordings via several tracks contributed to folk album projects featuring Archie Fisher. She was signed to a recording contract with Decca during 1970 and released a folk album in partnership with Archie Fisher.

By 1973 Barbara Dickson decided to pack her suitcase and head for England, still looking for her big break. It came via her winning a role in the play ‘John Paul George Ringo…and Bert’, which ended up becoming a major hit in London’s West End. Dickson’s first single release in 1974 was a cover of The Beatles’ ‘Here Comes The Sun’, lifted from the show’s soundtrack. Over the course of the next year theatre musical gurus Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice attended several performances of Dickson’s play and liked what they heard. Dickson was offered a singing role on the studio album for the upcoming 'Evita' production, and was also signed up to RSO Records (becoming a label mate of the Bee Gees).

In early 1976 Barbara Dickson debuted on the U.K. singles chart for the first time with the single ‘Answer Me’, with the song eventually going on to peak at #9. A year later Dickson’s song contribution to the ‘Evita’ soundtrack, ‘Another Suitcase In Another Hall’ travelled to #18 on the British charts, whilst her sophomore album ‘Morning Comes Quickly’ reached a creditable UK#58 a few months later. Before the end of 1977 the multi-talented Dickson added another string to her performance bow when she landed a role in the film musical ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’, alongside Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees. With a whirlwind schedule, before the end of the 70s Barbara Dickson found time to record another album ‘Sweet Oasis’, place third in the Tokyo Music Festival, record the title track for the movie ‘Caravans’ (in which she also appeared), tour Europe and Australia, and begin work on another studio album with producer Alan Tarney, but she was only just starting to hit her creative stride.

The 80s began well for Barbara Dickson, with ‘The Caravan Song’ (from ‘Caravans’) reaching #41 on the U.K. charts early in 1980. Soon after Dickson scored her biggest hit single to date with the aforementioned sunny-side up pop song ‘January February’. The radio friendly song found a date at #11 on the British charts, #12 in Germany, #29 in Holland, whilst it must have received some airplay in Australia too where it reached #64 (albeit in June/July rather than January/February). ‘January February’ was lifted from ‘The Barbara Dickson Album’ (by Barbara Dickson in case you were in any doubt) which achieved a gold status in the U.K. (#7), but the follow up singles ‘It’s Really You’ and ‘In The Night’ (UK#48) failed to consolidate Dickson’s place among the pop fraternity.

By now Barbara Dickson had established herself as a consummate professional across a number of performance medium. Over the course of the next few years she released a platinum album ‘All For A Song’ (1982-UK#3), two more top forty albums in ‘You Know It’s Me’ (1981-UK#39) and ‘Heartbeats’ (1984-UK#21); continued to play to packed concert halls, captured on the 1982 live album ‘Here We Go’; starred in the London West End musical ‘Blood Brothers’ (which earned her a ‘Best Actress in a Musical’ award); added the television medium to her resume with involvement in several BBC productions - with time for tea and cucumber sandwiches at three.

In late 1984 Barbara Dickson flew to Stockholm, Sweden to record a vocal track at ABBA’s Polar Studios. The song was ‘I Know Him So Well’, a ballad from the proposed musical 'Chess'. It was written by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA fame, in partnership with lyricist Tim Rice. It was the tenth British #1 hit the ABBA pair had been involved in writing, and was the second hit taken from the ‘Chess’ soundtrack, along with ‘One Night In Bangkok’ by Murray Head (see future post). ‘I Know Him So Well’ debuted on the British charts in January ‘85 and reached #1 during (you guessed it) February, where it set up camp for four weeks. In the process it became the biggest selling hit in Britain, to that point, by a female duo. The other vocalist on the track was Elaine Page, who like Dickson had a substantial heritage in musical theatre, though due to conflicting schedules they recorded their respective vocal contributions separately for ‘I Know Him So Well’. 1985 proved a benchmark year for Dickson with her latest solo album ‘The Barbara Dickson Songbook’ (someone was getting paid overtime to come up with these album titles) reaching #5 on the U.K. charts.

The second half of the 80s saw the touring continue, the television work continue, the awards continue, though the hit singles didn’t. The 1986 album ‘The Right Moment’ (UK#39) realised Barbara Dickson’s final foray into the British singles charts with a song tackling the difficult subject matter of animal cruelty, titled ‘Time After Time’ (#78). During the first half of the 90s she scored another two top 40 albums, with 1992's 'Don't Think Twice It's All Right' (#32) and 1994's 'Parcel Of Rogues' (#30). In 1993 Dickson reprised her stage role for a 10th anniversary season of the play ‘Blood Brothers’, and became a regular in dramatic television roles throughout the mid 90s, with the British shows ‘Taggart’ and ‘Band Of Gold’. In 1997 she finally got to star in the stage musical of ‘Chess’, appearing in the Australian production.

Turning fifty didn’t slow the frenetic work schedule of Barbara Dickson. Between 1997 and 2007 the balancing act between theatre stage, recording studio, concert stage and television studio continued without abate. In recognition of her achievements, the awards and honours kept coming, including an O.B.E. in 2002. Now in her early 60s, Barbara Dickson is showing no signs of winding back her professional endeavours. During 2008 she released her latest album ‘Time And Tide’ and further touring across the U.K. is scheduled for, you guessed it again, January and February 2009.

Oh My Wha-Koo! You're Such A Fabulous Dancer

American soft rock ensemble Wha-Koo may have been largely overlooked in their own country, but during 1978 they did manage to make inroads into both single and album charts here in Australia.

The band formed during 1977 under the leadership of singer/guitarist Danny Douma. Douma assembled a talented entourage of musicians around him, including singer David Palmer (who had provided vocals on Steely Dan’s 1972 album ‘Can’t Buy A Thrill’ and worked with Carole King, co-writing her hit ‘Jazzman’), veteran guitarist Nick Van Maarth (formerly with the Crickets), keyboardist Richard Konsinski, bassist Andrew Silvester, percussionist Don Francisco (no relation to San), and Claude Pepper (AKA Jack Mack).

They announced themselves on their debut album ‘Big Wha-Koo’ late in 1977, by all accounts a strong mix of contemporary rock and ballad tracks, released on the ABC label. The album missed the charts but the label had enough faith in the group to back them for a second attempt to crack the market. With new bassist Peter Freiberger added to the formula, Wha-Koo worked with Ken Caillat to co-produce their sophomore effort ‘Berkshire’, released in the first half of 1978. Despite another fine collection of material, once more the American record market couldn’t find room for Wha-Koo. Australia by contrast was more receptive, and in July ‘78 the beautifully crafted power-ballad ‘(You’re Such A) Fabulous Dancer’ debuted on the singles chart. The song exhibited considerable longevity, spending 20 weeks inside the top 100, peaking at #10. I hadn’t started buying singles at that time, but years later I was bowled over to rediscover this hidden gem via a volume of the ‘Living In The 70s’ compilation series. Plenty of Australian record buyers did discover the music of Wha-Koo back in 1978, pushing the album ‘Berkshire’ to the very doorstep of the top 50 (#51).

Songwriter Danny Douma had too much material to be contained within the boundaries of Wha-Koo’s world, and in 1979 he signed with Warner Bros. and recorded his debut solo album ‘Nigh Flight’. In truth it was a Wha-Koo album in everything but name, with most of the band members contributing. In addition guest players included Eric Clapton, Garth Hudson (formerly keyboardist with The Band), and several members of Fleetwood Mac. Douma decided to focus fulltime on his solo endeavours, but singer David Palmer took up the Wha-Koo flame with a revamped line-up of the band, including Ron Fransen, Eddie Tuduri, and Eric Gotthelf. This roster released the album ‘Fragile Line’ in 1979. The album presented a harder edged rock style, but still Wha-Koo remained an undiscovered gem on the mainstream American music scene.

Danny Douma worked with old friend and Fleetwood Mac songstress Christine McVie on her 1984 solo album, and David Palmer contributed the song ‘Silhouette’ to the soundtrack from the 1985 comedy film ‘Teen Wolf’.

David & David Bid You Welcome To The Boomtown

The one and only album by the Los Angeles based pop-rock duo of David & David could well sit comfortably in the discography of Bruce Springsteen or even a latter day Bob Dylan. When singer/songwriters David Baerwald and David Ricketts released the album ‘Boomtown’ in 1986, it was a case of immaculate timing, but timing they would not be able to replicate.

David & David’s debut single ‘Welcome To The Boomtown’ was welcomed to the U.S. Hot 100 during October 1986, and went on to peak at #37 before year’s end (#8 Mainstream Rock Tracks). Around the time it peaked in the U.S. the song debuted in Australia, and actually out performed its U.S. effort, climbing as high as #27 in early ‘87. The song structure was straight out of the Bruce Springsteen songbook. I don’t mean to imply it was in any way borrowed, but rather inspired by many of the tales of middle America that ‘The Boss’ has become so renowned for. ‘Welcome To The Boomtown’ was a song about the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ of this world, and paradoxically, the perilously thin line that divides these seemingly dichotomous groups. The ‘haves’ (‘Miss Christina’) are just a fork in the road removed from the ‘have nots’ (‘Handsome Kevin’), and the ambulance could arrive too late for either.

The 80s is a decade often referred to within the framework of excess and greed, but the nine tracks on the Davitt Sigerson produced ‘Boomtown’ didn’t paint an especially uplifting or optimistic portrait of then contemporary urban life in America. The album was however an honest appraisal of the often overlooked underbelly to the classic ‘American Dream’, the seedy side of life most would prefer to pretend isn’t there. While Lionel Richie was ‘Dancing On The Ceiling’, David & David gave us a slice of life on the streets. Glitz and glamour was mirrored against drugs and destitution, decadence against despair. As they sang in ‘Welcome To The Boomtown’, “pick a habit, we got plenty to go around”. Of course none of them were especially life prolonging. One thing Baerwald and Ricketts managed to achieve with their music, was to avoid getting too heavy in terms of musical style. The weighty issues dealt with in their lyrics were effectively juxtaposed against a slick production value, first class instrumentation (which at times augmented but didn’t over emphasise the themes), and great melodies - which, now I think about it, brings to mind the work of Bruce Hornsby on both fronts. David & David handled most of the instrumentation on the album in addition to vocal duties. The two follow up singles didn’t hit the ‘boom’ times of their predecessor. ‘Ain’t So Easy’ fell just short of the U.S. top 50 (#51 - #17 Mainstream Rock Tracks), and reached #87 in Australia. The song featured backing vocals by a young vocalist called Toni Childs (see future post). The third single here in Australia ‘Swallowed By The Cracks’ (the first released in the U.S.) made it to #96 on the OZ charts (#14 U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks). The album ‘Boomtown’ hit a chord with a lot of people, reaching #39 in the U.S. and #49 in Australia.

It’s a pity this talented story telling musical duo didn’t offer up more material beyond ‘Boomtown’, because in the late 80s/early 90s in particular, music of substantive value was a relative scarcity. Both Baerwald and Ricketts were key collaborators with Sheryl Crow on Crow’s hugely popular debut album ‘Tuesday Night Music Club’ in 1993, featuring the hit ‘All I Wanna Do’ (co-written by Baerwald).

David Baerwald went on to a critically acclaimed solo career during the 90s with the albums ‘Bedtime Stories’ and ‘Triage’. Ricketts was romantically involved with Toni Childs, but when the relationship ended it did provide a lot of the inspiration behind the tracks on Childs’ debut album ‘Union’, which Ricketts co-wrote and produced.

The Timex Social Club - A Place Where 'Rumors' Start

The R&B trio Timex Social Club weren’t around for a long time, but did experience a brief time during 1986 as one of the higher profile R&B groups on the popular music scene.

Timex Social Club actually started life as a social club (no seriously it did). It was founded in 1982 by then high school student Marcus Thompson who initially came up with the idea to form a club name for he and a group of friends to be known by. The club was originally called ‘Timex’ but by 1983 ‘Social Club’ had been added to the moniker. The original members were Thompson himself, with friends Michael Marshall, Craig Samuel, Darrien Cleage and Gregory Thomas. Following graduation Marshall Thompson wrote the lyrics and a sketchy musical arrangement for a song titled ‘Rumors’. Thompson worked with his fellow Timex Social Club buddies Michael Marshall and Alex Hill to round out the song over the next couple of years.

By 1985 the trio were confident enough to start shopping a demo tape of the song around in search of a recording deal. Through Thompson’s brother Darryl, they came to the attention of producer Jay King in December 1985. King liked what he heard and on January 3rd 1986 the trio of Thompson, Marshall and Hill recorded a finished version of ‘Rumors’ at Starlight Studios in Richmond, California. Michael Marshall handled the lead vocals, with Marcus Thompson on backing vocals, and Alex Hill assigned to drum programming and keyboards.

‘Rumors’ was originally released on King’s own ‘Jay Records’ label, even though apparently the group had not officially signed with the label. In April the group were offered a recording/distribution deal with Danya Records, which they signed to, and subsequent copies of the single were released on the Danya label. Initially ‘Rumors’ met with resistance from radio stations, perhaps in part due to its cutting edge hybrid mix of rap with synth-driven R&B and hip hop rhythms. A local radio station in Dallas first caught on to the potential commercial appeal of ‘Rumors’ during May 1986, and word of mouth soon had ‘Rumors’ added to playlists across the U.S. In June ‘86 the song debuted on the U.S. Hot 100, and within a few weeks had reached #1 on the Billboard R&B charts, also peaking at #8 on the mainstream Hot 100. It was later released in the U.K. and peaked at #13 on the British charts late in 1986.

Timex Social Club set about recording a full length album, and during the same period began touring with the likes of LL Cool J, Run DMC and the Beastie Boys. Another friend and songwriter Kevin Moore also officially joined the group during this period. Frictions were already starting to surface within the Timex Social Club, surrounding Michael Marshall reportedly pushing via his personal manager for a bigger cut of the money, as he was the lead singer. Understandably the other members of the group found this to be less than sociable and two opposing camps formed. Thompson, Hill and Moore on one side; Marshall, his personal manager and Danja Records CEO David Lucceshi on the other.

Meanwhile the album they had recorded, somewhat appropriately titled ‘Vicious Rumors’, had hit the stores, and performed creditably by reaching #29 on the U.S. R&B chart. The follow up singles ‘Mixed Up World’ and ‘Thinkin’ About Ya’ both received solid airplay, with the latter peaking at #15 on the U.S. Hot R&B charts later in 1986. Interestingly some copies of Timex Social Club records featured a retitled group name of ‘The Social Club’, presumably under legal advisement to avoid potential litigation from a certain high profile manufacturer of time pieces.

The dispute between Marshall and the other group members reached an impasse, following which the trio of Thompson, Hill and Moore hired a new vocalist in Fred Busby to complete the tour commitments. Marshall then apparently started up another group calling themselves ‘The Real Timex Social Club’, and one time producer Jay King was also adding fuel to the fire in the press. It seemed a pretty acrimonious split all round. What had started out as a friendly social club who decided to make good music, had seemingly ended in a bitter legal dispute between group members, producers, managers and record labels.

Without any immediate income from their recording endeavours, the Timex Social Club (Thompson, Hill, Moore, Busby) continued to play shows with the likes of Jermaine Jackson, New Edition and Midnight Star. Sadly though time had run out for Timex Social Club so far as their recording career was concerned, and the group officially disbanded during 1987. The group’s work is credited in some circles as being a pioneering influence on the whole ‘new jack swing’ movement of the late 80s/early 90s (the likes of Soul II Soul). Meanwhile producer Jay King soon went on to form another group called Club Nouveau who would have a huge hit in 1987 with ‘Lean On Me’- but that’s for another post.

It May Be Black, But It's A Wonderful Life

In 1988 I purchased my first car, a trusty little Ford Laser hatch (that I believe I made reference to in my second post back in April). Suddenly I had freedom from bussing it to work, or relying on a lift, and more importantly with a state of the art cassette deck on board I had the freedom to create my own soundtrack to accompany me through the nightmare of peak hour traffic. Many of the songs I’ve already mentioned on this blog were regular companions, and over time I started to accumulate so many home made cassette compilations that I needed a place to store them (other than the heat attracting glove compartment). So I adapted a small eski (cool-box) for the purpose, which held somewhere around fifty audio cassettes. I’d regularly rotate them and update the tracks as I bought new music - I guess much like people do today with their i-Pods or MP3 players, except a good deal more cumbersome.

One of my favourite tracks from 1988 was the soothing pop ballad ‘Wonderful Life’ by British singer Colin Vearncombe, better known to music fans as Black. Needless to say ‘Wonderful Life’ received a regular workout on my own personal in car FM station, most often when I needed something to calm the nerves after eight hours in the trenches at work. It’s the kind of song that reassures the soul and injects a sense of ‘all is right with the world’ to the mind, regardless of life's troubles - at least it did that for me. Even the chaos of city traffic failed to penetrate the cocoon of serenity created by ‘Wonderful Life’. In the twenty years since I’ve discovered songs that have been as effective in sending me to my own virtual ‘Rancho Relaxo’, but none have proven more comforting.

‘Wonderful Life’ had actually first been released as a single in Britain in September 1986, and was originally recorded back in 1985. Vearncombe’s first gigs and single release under the moniker of Black dated back to 1981. Actually Black was technically a band during these formative years, but was essentially a pseudonym for Vearncombe’s singular artistic expression. The Liverpool born singer/songwriter issued his first single ‘Human Features’ on the independent Rox Records label. It attracted enough attention to sell out its limited run of 1000 copies. Via a meeting with Wah! Heat front man Pete Wylie (see future post), Black came to release a second single ‘More Than The Sun’ during 1982 on the Wonderful World Of label.

Black then started collaborating with musician David Dix (of the band The Last Chant) and soon scored a record deal with WEA. The association with WEA proved more a source of frustration than anything and yielded only one new song with ‘Hey Presto’ in 1984, prior to WEA dropping Black from their roster. During the ensuing two years Black penned and recorded the aforementioned ‘Wonderful Life’, and originally released it on the independent Ugly Man label in 1986. Sales were positive, as were the reviews, but Black decided to pull the single from release with a view to attracting a major label to back the song. Both RCA and A&M Records were interested enough to offer a two album deal, and Black opted to go with A&M.

Rather than re-issuing ‘Wonderful Life’ as his first A&M single, Black decided to test the big label waters with the song ‘Sweetest Smile’. It was a wise choice with ‘Sweetest Smile’ grinning all the way to #8 on the British charts in mid 1987 (OZ#87), and it meant he had a sure fire follow up single. A slightly reworked version of ‘Wonderful Life’ followed, backed by a very effective promotional video that perfectly captured the song’s charmingly melancholic sentiments. At the second attempt ‘Wonderful Life’ got its just reward peaking at #8 in Britain in late ‘87 and #7 in Australia in early ‘88. The song was the title track on Black’s debut album which similarly shot the singer to new heights of popularity (UK#3/OZ#22), going on to sell over 1.5 million copies. The follow up singles ‘I’m Not Afraid’ (UK#78) and ‘Paradise’ (UK#38) didn’t quite match the wonder of ‘Wonderful Life’ but helped to round out a year of considerable accomplishment for Black.

When considering the title of his sophomore album the singer must have thought what’s Black without a bit of comedy, hence the ironically titled ‘Comedy’ (UK#32/OZ#71) in late 1988. I purchased the lead out single ‘The Big One’ (UK#54) which must have slipped under the radar for the most part here in Australia. Though a critically well received album, ‘Comedy’ didn’t have Black’s accountant in fits of joyful laughter, with its follow up singles ‘You’re A Big Girl Now’ (UK#86) and ‘Now You’re Gone’ (UK#66) reinforcing a newly acquired middle of the chart road status for Black. With the relatively disappointing commercial returns of ‘Comedy’ affecting relations between artist and label, Black’s self-titled third album (UK#42) was released in mid 1991 amid an increasingly acrimonious environment. As the single ‘Feel Like Change’ started to make inroads into the British charts (#56), A&M Records decided to pull it from release. ‘Here It Comes Again’ (UK#42) and the third single ‘Fly Up To The Moon’ (a duet with Sam Brown - see previous post) failed to turn things around for Black, and soon after the beleaguered artist parted company with A&M.

Colin Vearncombe AKA Black then decided to take control of his own career again by forming his own recording label Nero Schwarz Records. ‘Are We Having Fun Yet?’ was released in 1993 and licensed to record companies across 19 countries for the purposes of distribution. Worth noting was the innovative marketing campaign that supported the album. Black made available a library of promotional video material that could be utilised by each of the various distribution labels to accompany a single release of any track that they felt would suit their own market. In theory it had real potential, and in these days of albums being released online with pretty much any album track being capable of charting based on an individual market’s taste (think the variations in the i-Tune charts worldwide), it was a concept way ahead of the curve. Sadly, in 1993 the concept ‘download’ was a glint in Silicon Valley’s virtual eye, and single releases such as ‘Don’t Take The Silence Too Hard’ and ‘Just Like Love’ failed to reinvigorate the flagging commercial fortunes for Black.

Ironically Black’s biggest commercial hit ‘Wonderful Life’ had new life breathed into it during 1994 (UK#42) when it was featured in two separate marketing campaigns on British television, for Standard Life Assurance and Cadburys. It was ironic because Black’s music career was in the first year of a five year long hiatus, which wouldn’t end until September 1999, and even then under a different name. 1999’s ‘The Accused’ was released by Colin Vearncombe under his own name, and again on his own recording label. It didn’t sell any great numbers but did serve to convince the talented singer/songwriter to pursue his musical endeavours again in earnest. An album of acoustic tracks recorded live in studio followed (‘Abbey Road Live’), and Colin Vearncombe then toured as a truly solo act, with no backing band in tow. He built up a new audience base, and was discovered anew by fans of his earlier career work.

Vearncombe would have to be one of the first artists to release an album exclusively via the internet, when he issued ‘Water On Snow’ on his website in late 2000. A live recording (‘Live At The Baseline’ - 2001) and a double album ‘Smoke Up Close’ (2002) rounded out a prolifically productive period for Vearncombe, probably balancing out the preceding five year period. The disillusionment surrounding his last couple of albums as Black had faded and by 2005 Vearncombe was comfortable to adopt the front of Black once again for the release of the ‘Between Two Churches’ album and accompanying ‘Two Churches’ EP. Black had survived the trials and tribulations of his own ‘wonderful life’ and had journeyed full circle back to the beginning of things - though a fresh beginning, and one with the benefits of wisdom and maturity to steady the ship. Black’s latest album was released in 2007 and was aptly titled ‘CV + Road To Nowhere’, reflecting the mindset of a singer at ease with his past endeavours and embracing of future adventures.

I should mention that in 2005 British singer Tina Cousins released a techno-dance version of 'Wonderful Life', which ended up reaching the top 20 here in Australia. Actually, her take on the song isn't as tragic as it might seem.

Forget About The Acid Wash & Slip On A Pair Of Red Blue Jeans

On one of many late night sessions watching the ABC music video program ‘Rage’ during 1988, I saw the promo video for a rock song titled ‘Red Blue Jeans’. I didn’t know the first thing about the artist John Kilzer, but on first listen loved the song. So the following week I searched out the vinyl 45 single and bought it - CD singles were still very much in their infancy at that stage, and only a limited number of titles were available (see future post for The Adventures).

From the opening lines “She’s got Stalin on the wall, Beatles in a box. Flags in the hall, linen in her locket”, ‘Red Blue Jeans’ was a simply brilliant three minute guitar-rock song. Kilzer’s vocals were a kind of hybrid of Don Henley and Jon Bon Jovi, but with a more stripped down, slightly southern style, guitar rock backing. I don’t recall the exact week I purchased the single, but ‘Red Blue Jeans’ debuted on the Australian charts in August 1988, spent eleven weeks inside the top 100 and peaked at #58. Co-written by John Kilzer and Richard Ford, the song was lifted from Kilzer’s album ‘Memory In The Making’ (released on Geffen), which also yielded the title track single (Australian #77 in February 1989). ‘Red Blue Jeans’ didn’t crack the U.S. Hot 100, but must have come damn close as it peaked at #12 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The colour coordinated Kilzer also reached #36 on the same chart with his preceding single ‘Green, Yellow, and Red’ earlier in 1988 (the song was also recorded by Roseanne Cash on her acclaimed 1987 album ‘King’s Record Shop’). His album ‘Memory In The Making’ reached #110 on the Billboard album chart.

Kilzer was born and raised in Jackson, Tennessee. He was a gifted athlete and played basketball for the University of Memphis (earning a Master’s Degree in theology and ethics), before taking up a career teaching English for several years. Throughout Kilzer maintained a love for folk and rock music, and in 1986 submitted a demo tape of his music to veteran Memphis based music publisher Keith Sykes (who had worked with Jimmy Buffet and the Judds among others). Sykes saw the potential for global success in Kilzer’s up tempo folk-rock sound, and negotiated a recording deal for the talented singer/songwriter with the giant Geffen label.

Sykes stayed on to produce Kilzer’s 1988 ‘Memory In The Making’ set. With the promising reception offered his debut album, Kilzer released his sophomore album ‘Busman’s Holiday’ in 1991, featuring the singles ‘Hands’ and ’Marilyn Dean and James Monroe’. Produced by Pat Moran (producer also for Supercharge, Iggy Pop and Lou Gramm), the album boasted an impressive roster of guest players, including Bruce Hornsby (piano), and two members of Paul McCartney’s touring band from that time, Chris Whitten (drums), and Paul ‘Wix’ Wickens’ (keyboards). Despite all the right ingredients being in the mix, the album was a major flop and soon after Geffen dropped Kilzer from their roster. Incidentally ‘Busman’s Holiday’ was also the name of a high rating British TV game show which ran during that period, though I suspect Kilzer’s album title referred to the more general meaning of the term, which is basically spending your leisure time doing the same thing you would be doing at work - I imagine a lot of professional musicians could relate to that.

In the years subsequent to his flirtation with the rock music scene, John Kilzer has continued to write and play music in the Memphis area. His focus these days is on a more acoustic folk-rock sound, still using his love of the English language to explore emotive and thought provoking issues through his lyrics. According to his MySpace page, Kilzer also works as a preacher, lists J.R.R. Tolkien as the person he’d most like to meet, and names the Beatles as his favourite music - a human being of impeccable taste!

Check out the promo video for ‘Red Blue Jeans’ on YouTube:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=ngVg_kc-1EI

Wendy Plays The Game With Her Rocketts

By the time the rock group Wendy & The Rocketts launched operations on the Melbourne pub circuit during August 1980, lead singer Wendy Stapleton had already established herself as a vocalist of rare quality on the Australian music scene. Stapleton had fronted a number of popular live acts during the second half of the 70s, including Incession, Souled Out, Southern Transit and the Bill Livingstone Trio. She had also performed in a number of stage musicals, including 1975’s ‘The Magic Show’ (which also featured Samantha Sang - see future post). This led her into regular studio session work (working with the likes of Jon English and Joe Camilleri), which in turn led to Festival Records offering her a solo recording deal. Wendy Stapleton’s debut solo single was a cover of the Rolling Stones’ ‘Heart Of Stone’, released in September 1979. The single didn’t do great business, but Stapleton soon set her sights on forming a fulltime backing band - The Rocketts.

After quickly establishing themselves as one of the biggest drawcards on the Melbourne live music scene, Wendy & The Rocketts were signed to the high profile Mushroom Records label in early 1981. The crew at that time comprised, Wendy Stapleton (lead vocals), Mark Chew (guitar/keyboards, ex-Southern Transit), along with three former members of the rock band Fastbuck - Victor Crump (guitar), Wayne Sullivan (bass), and Steve Donald (drums). The band’s first single release was ‘Reputation’ in July 1981. The song peaked at #40 during August of that year, but the follow up ‘Tonite’ didn’t fare so well.

In early 1982 Wendy Stapleton unveiled a new model Rocketts line-up, retaining drummer Steve Donald, and adding lead guitarist Joey Amenta (ex-Russell Morris Band), rhythm guitarist Adrian Dessent (Ex-Vixen and ex-Scandal) and bassist Noel Beare (ex-Misfits). Wendy & The Rocketts targeted the charts with a new single ‘Your Place Or Mine’, released in March 1982. The track had hit a mark at #35 on the Australian charts by mid year. But what the band lacked in record sales, they made up for in terms of building a huge live following. Stapleton and her Rocketts had cultivated a reputation as being one of the most high energy rock bands on the scene. That high energy stage performance was captured in the six track ‘Live’ EP, released in September 1982. The EP was a combination of tracks recorded during live shows at The Lower Plenty Hotel and Dorset Gardens Hotel during June ‘82, and was produced by Ross Cockle and Jim Barton (producer for Renee Geyer). ‘Live’ peaked at #46 on the Australian album charts in the latter part of ‘82.

In early 1983 Wendy & The Rocketts went intercontinental when they travelled to the U.K. to record their debut full length album at London’s Mayfair Studios. Produced by Paul Muggletong and John Hudson, ‘Dazed For Days’ (OZ#37) hit the stores in July 1983, and benefited from backing vocals on a number of tracks from Judie Tzuke (see future post). The advance single was ‘Play The Game’ which proved their first, and only, single to explode inside the Australian top 30 (#29). The follow up singles ‘Have You Been Telling Me Lies’ (OZ#75) and ‘Security’ couldn’t maintain the flight path toward the big time. The A&M label saw enough potential in the ‘Dazed Days’ album to release it in the U.K. and parts of Europe, and in September ‘83 the band embarked on an extensive tour of those territories, supporting the likes of Bryan Adams and ZZ Top along the way.

In late 1984 lead guitarist Joey Amenta left to join Moving Pictures (see early Sep post), and bassist Noel Beare also departed the scene. They were replaced by John Ballimore (ex-Jon English band) and Brian Hamilton respectively. The band continued to play a packed schedule into early 1985, but no more studio recordings surfaced. By March 1985 Wendy Stapleton made the decision to ground the Rocketts permanently, and returned to session work.

In 1989 Stapleton scored a minor hit on the Australian charts with the football themed song ‘C’mon Demons!’ (with Bob Valentine - OZ#78). The same year she starred in the stage production of ‘Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom’, alongside former Uncanny X-Men vocalist Brian Mannix (see future post), contributing to a cast recording album in 1990 (OZ#65). During 1990 Stapleton also joined her partner Paul Norton (see previous Runners’ post) as part of the backing band touring in support of his album ‘Under A Southern Sky’. In 1995 Stapleton returned to musical theatre, playing the lead in the Dusty Springfield tribute ‘I Only Want To Be With You’, a role she would reprise a number of times. She also starred with former LRB front man Glenn Shorrock in the stage show ‘Two Up!’ during 1996. The show was a comedy built around the biggest male/female hit duets over the history of popular music.

Over the last decade Wendy Stapleton has continued to appear in a number of popular stage productions, including ‘Girls Girls Girls!!!’ with Debra Byrne and Nikki Nicholls. Her talents have also extended into television work. Among her credits was the role of the mother to Delta Goodrem’s character in the soap drama ‘Neighbours’ - kind of a before and after thing there. In 1998 Wendy Stapleton fronted a revamped Rocketts’ line-up to perform the band’s biggest hit ‘Play The Game’ at the ‘Mushroom 25 Live’ concert, and in 2006 performed on the Australian ‘Countdown Spectacular’ concert tour.