W.O.C.K on Vinyl: Let's Swing The Jingle for Coca-Cola (U.K / U.S Artists)

 Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song / album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.

This WOCK posting comes under the 'Obscure' category and is part 3 to earlier Coke postings, which included Coca Cola jingles by Australian artists (see Part 1 & Part 2). This third collection of Coke Jingles were performed by UK and American artists from the 60's. 

Music is a big seller of products and services and is an important part of advertising. In particular, well known bands and artists have been used to reproduce commercial jingles to sell their products (in this case that magic elixir we call Coca Cola).

This posting provides a sample of some more classic jingles from Freddie & The Dreamers, Roy Orbison, The Shirelles, The Supremes, Jan & Dean, The Who and others.

Coca-Cola was developed in 1886 by John Pemberton, a Pharmacist at the Eagle Drug & Chemical Company. Initially being sold as a patent medicine for a nickel, the first sale of Coca-Cola was on May 8, 1886 at a Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia. On May 29, 1886, Pemberton placed the first Coca-Cola ad in the Atlanta Journal. Coca-Cola was bought out by businessman Asa Griggs Candler who began to market it as a soft drink. The Coca-Cola Company produces extract not soda! They then sell the concentrate to licensed Coca-Cola bottlers who hold exclusive territory rights with The Coca-Cola Company. They in turn produce the final product in bottles and cans.

It was in 1963 that Coca-Cola started using the slogan "Things Go Better with Coke". Advertising agency McCann-Erickson worked with popular acts to create musical jingles utilising the slogan. The jingles became so popular that Coca-Cola eventually distributed 60,000 promotional "Let's Swing the Jingle for Coca-Cola" singles through their bottlers, as featured here in this post.

In these short radio spots, the original artists would rework their own popular songs to reflect the idea that "Things Go Better with Coke." What's amazing is that these short little reworkings are actually strangely compelling to listen to. In fact, even listening to several of them in a row is enjoyable, sometimes in a head-shaking kind of way. What's bizarre to me is that something that today would seem like such a crass sell-out was deemed not only acceptable, but was actually incredibly popular. What helps, I'm sure, is the earnestness that went into the production of these tracks. Clearly less cynical times, mind you.

All jingles have been ripped from vinyl to MP3 (320kps) format and are mostly mono recordings. Label scans have been included. Note that the Who jingles were not released on the "Let's Swing The Jingle for Coca-Cola" 45 and have been included here as bonus tracks.

Tracks

01 Freddie & The Dreamers 1

02 Freddie & The Dreamers 2

03 Roy Orbison

04 Little Milton

05 The Shirelles

06 The Supremes 1

07 The Supremes 2

08 Wayne Fontana  The Minbenders

09 Jay & The Americans

10 Jan & Dean

11 The Who 1

12 The Who 2

Let's Swing The Jingle For Coca-Cola Link (30Mb) New Link 31/08/24

REPOST: Scary Bill - Selftitled (1989) plus Bonus Tracks

(Australian 1987-1989)
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Here is a lost gem from the late 80's.
I first stumbled upon this album at a garage sale, and it was the 'Garth Porter' reference on the back cover that first caught my attention. It was only when I got home and played this album that I realised that I had found a real gem. Because the 80's was not a popular period  of music for me at the time (New Wave and Punk were dominating the music scene), I missed out on some really great music - particular with respect to Aussie bands, and Scary Bill was one such band.
Scary Bill was formed in 1987 in St.Kilda, Melbourne and their debut album was produced by ex-Sherbet keyboardist Garth Porter (with the exception of "Cross Roads" and "I Can't Raise My Gun" which were produced by Mark Opitz).

The idea of the band came about when Phil Hyde and Kim Sampson (both originally from Adelaide) bumped into each other at the Esplanade Hotel (St Kilda) sometime in late '86 or early '87. The first line up was Phil Hyde (Vocals and Guitar), Kim Sampson (Drums), Steve  Gunther (Guitar) and Neil Kelly on Bass (also from Adelaide).
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The band used to rehearse in a picture framing factory somewhere in Fitzroy, Melbourne. Down the back of the factory was a machine that was used for cutting metal picture frames. It was old and rickety, and presumably a bit scary to use. One of the staff had written "Scary Bill" on it. It was then revealed to the band that this particular staff member (female) grew up in a town where a very strange man used to wander the streets, who had been nicknamed Scary Bill. 
Neil left after a few months, and Rob O'Connell joined  the band. Scary Bill were a kind of "tough country" band at that stage, with a residency at the Great Britain Hotel, Richmond. Rob O'Connell (and Alan Powell) have been playing together in bands for about 35 years! Kim worked with them for a year or two in another band called 'Temper Temper', and finally encouraged them to move from Sydney to Melbourne. Kim was playing in both Scary Bill and Temper Temper until Scary Bill was signed.
Rob quit Scary Bill in 1988 and was quickly replaced by Steve 'Chuck' Carter. Chuck had played in many bands, including a brief stint with Geisha and a band which also featured Paul Hester (but a long time before Crowded House was formed).
Soon after this, Scary Bill won a 3XY competition (band of the month), and soon after were signed to Polygram, with Mark Opitz (Angels, Cold Chisel, Richard Clapton, Divinyls, Noiseworks) to produce their first and only album. But 3 months into the project, there was a falling out between Mark and their management, and so a replacement producer was found - namely Garth Porter.
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Mark Opitz was very much a rock producer, and went for a raw guitar band sound. However, "Cross Roads" is the only song on the album that was fully produced by Mark. "I Can't Raise A Gun" was also produced by Mark, but had a remix done by Garth. (Planet X was also produced by Mark, but didn't appear on the album and was released as a single sometime later).
Garth Porter's approach was almost the opposite to Mark Opitz. We went from raw guitar production, to a cleaner, more produced sound. These two different producing styles didn't really gel, and the best songs are those fully produced by one or the other.
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Their first single released in November, 1988 "Crossroads / Living In This Town" reached #80 on the Aria Charts. Mark Demetrius wrote in Rolling Stone (Jan, 1989 p80)  "Scary Bill's 'Crossroads (Welcome Stranger)' is a simple slinky crystal-clear boogie with solid booming production, razor sharp guitar and a neat line in disilusion. The B-side 'Living In This Town' is equally fed-up, but amusing...Oh Town/Why did they build you at all? It sounds incongruously like Little Feat having a party"
They also released a video clip to promote the single, and it was filmed in the cattle pavilion at the Melbourne Show grounds. They made the giant metal heart at the picture framing factory to use in the clip - and is featured both at the start and towards the end of the clip.
A promotional photo was also taken with the heart as shown below. Their follow up single "Western World / Over The Hills" did slightly better, reaching #74 on the Aria Charts in June, 1989.
Video clips of both singles can be seen on YouTube at the following locations: Cross Roads  and Western World
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Scary Bill also produced a demo of Planet X which won a music award, which resulted in the performance at the top of the Myer building in Melbourne. The compare was Daryl Cotton, when he hosted the children's TV program "The Early Bird Show" with Marty The Monster. I have also included this video clip in this post as it serves two purposes, firstly to give you a better insight into the band members and also as a tribute to the late 'Darryl Cotton' who had an huge impact on Australian music both on and off the stage.
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So, what happened to the guys once Scary Bill disbanded in late 1989?

A new band was formed immediately after Scary Bill comprising of Kim Sampson, Steve Gunther, Steve Carter, Paul Gatcum (who played sax on the Scary Bill album and was a long standing member of the Tinsley Waterhouse Band), Peter de Ryk on keyboards, Tania Pizzari and Jane Peachy on vocals. The band was called 'Magic Circle' and entered the Yamaha rock contest in '92, winning the Victorian division. They were eventually beaten in the National competition by a Sydney band called Body Works.
Phil Hyde went on to work with Broderick Smith for a few years playing guitar on his 1992 LP 'Suitcase' and 1994 LP 'My Shiralee', as well as co-writing many tracks with him, including the recent release 'Snowblind Moon'. About 7 years ago, he started writing and recording together again with Kim Sampson. Phil still stays in touch, but now has his own home recording system set up and plugs away at his own material. He still does a bit of co-writing with a variety of people, including Colin Hay and Kim Gyngell.
In fact, Colin Hay was a big fan of Scary Bill in their early days, and gigged with them on several occasions. The picture below was taken from one such session.
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Steve Gunther started a family and pretty much dropped out of the music scene (although he borrowed a bass guitar from Kim recently to jam with a blues band). Steve Carter continued to play in a covers band while Neil Kelly studied music and became an academic/music teacher.
Kim Sampson and Rob O'Connell reunited some years ago to form 'Brown Paper Bag', as a result of rekindling the period of Temper Temper from '86-'87. The band consists of Rob O'Connor (Guitar, Bass,Vocals), Alan Powell (guitar), Clint Quan (Bass,Backing vocals) and of course Kim Sampson on drums.
Brown Paper Bag have been likened to Black Crows, Led Zeppelin and Midnight Oil and you can find more information about this band (and their latest CD) on their website.
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This post consists of FLACs taken from my virgin vinyl copy. Full album artwork and all band photos are included plus label scans. I am also including a couple of bonus live tracks - firstly the "Planet X" recording from the Early Bird Show (recorded on the rooftop of the Melbourne Myers Apartment Store) and a live recording of "Western World" which was showcased on Countdown in late 1989. [Bonus tracks not true FLACs].
I would like to acknowledge the assistance of Kim Sampson who kindly provided me with a majority of the band's biography and photos included in this post. When I first started researching Scary Bill there was scant information available, but I was lucky enough to find the connection between Kim's current band and Scary Bill, and made contact with him. It is always a buzz to correspond with band members directly and acquire information first hand and Kim has been more than generous with his time.  It's a shame that Scary Bill never hit the BIG time, as they were all very talented musicians. Their music and lyrics are very catchy and both singles should have been instant hits. A couple of other standout tracks on the album for me are "Into Your Heart" and "I Can't Raise A Gun (Anymore)".
So, if you haven't heard this album, then do yourself a favour and grab it now, cause' this is one album that should definitely not slip under the radar again.

IMPROVED RIP !

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Track Listing
01 - Western World
02 - The People's Palace
03 - One Big Love
04 - Silver Top
05 - Cross Roads
06 - Into Your Heart
07 - Fine Time

08 - I Can't Raise A Gun (Anymore)
09 - Station
10 - Baby
11 - Planet X (Bonus Live)
12 - Western World (Bonus Live)
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Band members:
Phillip Hyde (Vocals, Guitar)
Steve Gunther (Guitars, Vocals)
Steve 'Chuck' Carter (Bass, Vocals)
Kim Sampson (Drums, Vocals)
Guest Artists:
Saxophone - Paul Gatcum
Backing Vocals - Lisa Bade, Nicky Nichols, Greg Hine
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Scary Bill Link (301Mb)
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Air Supply - The Whole Thing's Started (1977)

(Australian 1975 - Present)

Air Supply evolved after Graham Russell joined the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar in April 1975 and began singing with fellow cast members Russell Hitchcock and Chrissie Hammond. The trio became a serious project during Superstar's New Zealand tour when they made some appearances at campuses and on radio and TV.

Chrissie left to pursue a solo career and went on to play the part of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar before becoming part of the duo, Cheetah. She was replaced by Jeremy Paul, who joined the show in Brisbane after performing in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Jeremy had also played bass with a Sydney band called Soffrok and therefore added additional instrumentation to the trio.

In September 1976, they scored a recording contract with CBS and subsequently released a single comprising two Graham Russell compositions, 'Love and Other Bruises' backed with 'If You Knew Me'.

"Love And Other Bruises" and "If You Knew Me", the first demos of Graham’s compositions were recorded on a tiny tape deck in a theatre orchestra pit. Everyone turned them down, but one - CBS Records who admired their unique style. They made a single in one afternoon and it shot to number one on the National charts. The duo found help from Frank Esler-Smith, Superstar’s musical director, and Air Supply’s future keyboardist. Graham and Russell settled on the named Air Supply.

For several years, the group gained no attention outside of Australia, earning one significant hit single, "Love and Other Bruises" (1976). In December 1976, they released their first album 'Air Supply' which is featured in this post, and it attained them a gold record three months later. Meanwhile their follow-up single, 'Empty Pages', was released in February 1977, and although it sold well, particularly in Brisbane, it just missed becoming a top forty hit.

The group's big break came hot on the heels of the release of their new single, 'Do What You Do', when, in June 1977, it was announced that they would be appearing at the annual CBS Convention in London with Chicago and Boz Scaggs. This was a fantastic achievement being the first Australian act to work at such an exclusive function.

(Interview from Flashez in 1977 with Air Supply)

Late June saw another step forward with the release of their second LP, 'The Whole Thing's Started' (which featured Graham's compositions and continued in their soft rock theme), and a tour of the US and Canada with their old friend, Rod Stewart. Air Supply's first stumbling block happened in August when it was announced that Jeremy was leaving and returning to Australia with no news of a replacement. This retarded their progress and was not helped by the lack of airplay and therefore chart success of their next Australian single, "That's How The Whole Thing Started', released in October 1977.

The album spawned the singles "Do What You Do" (June), "That's How the Whole Thing Started" (October) and "Do It Again" (February 1978) but neither album nor singles charted into the Top 40.

Irrespective, the group continued as a duo supported by their band and completed their tour with Rod, which turned out to be more than successful, before returning to Australia late in December.

Their third album, 'Love & Other Bruises', included re-recordings of some earlier tracks, was made mid-tour in Los Angeles in July–August and released later that year in the US on Columbia Records with Jimmy Horowitz producing. During the tour, Paul left the band with a new line-up of Hitchcock, Macara, and Russell, plus Rex Goh on guitar, Joey Carbone on keyboards, Robin LeMesurier on lead guitar and Howard Sukimoto on bass guitar. Jeremy Paul, in 1980, recruited fellow former Air Supply bandmate Mark McEntee in the lineup of Divinyls, fronted by Chrissie Amphlett.

Air Supply on tour 1977

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my classic vinyl (in almost mint condition) and includes full artwork and label scans. This is an absolute cracker album folks - no bonus tracks needed with this one. Enjoy

Track Listing

01 Teach Me To Run

02 Do It Again

03 Do What You Do

04 There's Nothing I Can Do

05 Ready For You

06 That's How The Whole Thing Started

07 Love Comes To Me

08 The Answers Lies

09 It's Automatic

10 The End Of The Line

Band Members:

Graham Russell - Acoustic Guitars and Vocals

Russell Hitchcock - Vocals

Jeremy Paul - Bass Guitar and Vocals

Adrian Scott - Keyboards

Nigel Macara - Drums

Rex Goh - Electric Guitar

Air Supply Link (221Mb)

REPOST: TMG - Disturbing the Peace (1978) Aust. and U.S Versions

(Australian 1972-1989, 1998)
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Australian Cover

 TMG [ TED MULRY GANG ]

 Line-up:
 TED MULRY (vocals, bass guitar);
 GARY DIXON (guitar);
 LES HALL (guitar);
 HERMAN KOVACS (drums).

The band originated as a trio (Ted, Les and Herman) in September, 1972. Of course Ted had started as a soloist and apparently his role of bass player came about one night quite by accident when his backing group's original bass guitarist stormed off the stage. He simply picked up the instrument and took over. Ted began practicing and became the group's permanent bass player. Herm and Les had both previously worked with Velvet Underground (Australian group).

Although the band was originally formed as a backing group (due to the inconsistency of bands providing Ted's accompaniment at his solo gigs), they quickly built up a following as a complete unit.

U.S Cover

In December, 1973 the boys set off on a two month trip around the US and Canada. Back in Australia they completed their first album, Here We Are (which they had started just prior to going overseas), and it was issued in November '74. Just prior to its release they added Gary to the line-up in an attempt to increase their versatility.

In March, 1975 they released their first single, "Sunday Evenings", which did nothing, basically because of lack of airplay. Then, midway through the year, radio personality Barry Chapman (from 2SM in Sydney) suggested that a track from the Here We Are album, "Jump In My Car", should be released as a single. Eventually the record company agreed and the result was a number one hit and total sales of over 80,000 copies.

The success of "Jump In My Car" stimulated new interest in the album and by May '76 it had gone gold. Early in the piece though one track on the LP, "Dina", had caused some problems. It was a popular song on stage and one verse included a four letter word which had to be blanked out on the album.

The band's next single, "Darktown Strutter's Ball" / "She's For Me", made the top five in charts all around Australia and at the end of May, 1976 they released their second album entitled 'Struttin'. A track from it called "Crazy" was lifted from the LP and it became their third hit.

To promote the album's release the group set off on their first national tour ('Struttin' Across Australia') and in the meantime a contract for world-wide release of their records was signed with Phonogram. Then in June they teamed up with Sherbet for their 80 day Australian tour.

Ted and the boys wasted no time in coming up with their third album Steppin' Out, which was the first record by the band to carry their new abbreviated name of TMG. It was released in October '76 and displayed a greater emphasis on melody and harmony than their first two albums. It sold rapidly, going double gold after only two weeks in the shops. Coinciding with its release the band set off on yet another tour around Australia.

The title track from the album was released as a single and it charted in November "76. Then in January '77 a further song, "Jamaica Rum", was lifted from the LP and it became the band's fifth hit single.

Over the next couple of months the rock papers began printing a series of rumours and denials regarding the band's possible split with EMI  Records. In April '77, the speculation ended when it was announced that they had moved to the Mushroom label, and officially changed their name to TMG.  Their first release for Mushroom was The TMG Album in June, along With a single from it entitled "My Little Girl". The album was still basically extroverted rock, but it did manage to capture the onstage excitement for which they were noted. Then in September they released what should have been a double-sided hit, "Naturally"/"Sha La La La Lee". However, it sold only moderately.

At the end of 1977, EMI released an album entitled Ted Mulry/ TMG's Greatest Hits (one side featuring Ted's solo hits and the other featuring the band's). Plans for 1978 included the recording of a' new LP in January and their first ever tour of New Zealand (spanning two months) starting mid-way through February. [extract from Australian Encyclopedia of Rock, Outback Press, Noel McGrath 1978. p211-212]

TMG

In April, 1978 the band set off on a three-month tour (supported by Feather) and the group's steady climb to the upper echelons of the Australian rock scene finally paid off in November when they signed an American release deal with Atlantic Records. Their first issue in the US was a single featuring "Heart Of Stone" and "Disturbing The Peace". A compilation album was to follow in March.

In Australia, the band released a single titled "Lazy Eyes" on Mushroom (March '78). It was followed on June 5th by Disturbing The Peace album produced by Richard Lush and recorded between January and April. A single, "Heart Of Stone"/"I Miss You" was lifted from the album and released in July, followed in November by a completely new single, "(You've Got The) Devil In You".

To promote their recordings, TMG embarked on probably the most extensive tour ever undertaken by an Aussie band, covering all states and many remote towns, including Darwin, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Mt Isa and Cairns. Although record sales were not as significant in Australia in 1978 as in previous years, the band did manage to gain airplay in New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, New Guinea and throughout South-East Asia.[extract from Australian Encyclopedia of Rock 1978-79 Yearbook, Outback Press, Noel McGrath 1979. p46-47]

This post consists of 2 improved rips (thanks to Sunshine) taken from vinyl, both in FLAC format and features the Australian and US releases for their 'Disturbing The Peace' album. Full Hi-Res album artwork and label scans are included for each release, the Australian release on Mushroom records and US release on ATCO records. The track listings between releases are different, with their hit single "(You've Got The) Devil In You" and "Too Bad" only appearing on the US release, while "Girl On The Stage" and "One Night" only appear on the Australian release. 

This post was made in response to a request made by blog follower - Micko, and to make the differences between these two releases more publicly known. 

NEW IMPROVED RIPS !

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Track Listing

(Australian Release)

01 Disturbing The Peace 4:17

02 Heart Of Stone 3:38

03 Over And Over 3:47

04 Woman In Love 3:07

05 I Miss You 4:36

06 Lazy Eyes 3:03

07 Gonna Be Somebody 3:38

08 Set Me Free 2:59

09 Girl On The Stage    2:23

10 One Night 2:51

Disturbing The Peace Aust.Release Link (450Mb)

Track Listing

(U.S Release)

01 Disturbing The Peace 4:17

02 Heart Of Stone 3:38

03 Over And Over 3:47

04 Woman In Love 3:07

05 I Miss You 4:36

06 Lazy Eyes 3:03

07 Gonna Be Somebody 3:38

08 Devil In You 3:16

09 Set Me Free 2:59

10 Too Bad 3:12

Disturbing The Peace U.S Release Link (322Mb)

Billy Thorpe - East Of Eden's Gate (1982)

(Australian 1956 - 2007)

The name Billy Thorpe may not have made much of an impact in the UK or Europe, but in Australia he is a veritable legend, having carved out a highly successful career since the late sixties in a seminal and raucous hard rocking band called the Aztecs. By the 1970’s he’d outgrown his home grown popularity and moved lock, stock and barrel to Los Angeles, recording a gold selling album helmed by producer Spencer Proffer, titled ‘Children Of The Sun’, that established him in the USA as a rising star.

Indeed, if it were not for the collapse of his record company, Capricorn, Billy’s follow up album ‘21st Century Man’ might well have established him as a major star. But retreating to Spencer Proffer’s studio, Billy cut two further albums for the CBS backed Pasha label, an operation that was riding high on the platinum plus success of Quiet Riot. The last of these two works was the brilliantly crafted ‘East Of Eden’s Gate’, a record that allowed Billy to fully blossom by crafting a magnificent opus that actually owes as much to Pink Floyd as it does to Ted Nugent.

Originally issued in 1982, the album is a stunning example of melodic hard rock, with a panoramic, almost cinematic, lustre that has dated not a jot. With musical support, including guitarist Earl Slick (David Bowie) and drummer Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot) the album is loaded with wide-screen triumphant epics such as ‘Dogs Of War’, ‘Edge Of Madness’ and the title track itself.

The singles were “Hold On to Your Dream” and “No Show Tonight”. The album was remastered in 2013 by Rock Candy Records.

Billy Thorpe came to prominence in the late 1970’s with the massive FM radio success of the song “Children of the Sun.”  The song appeared to put him on the fast track for success, but the label he was on, Capricorn, had financial problems and folded, leaving the song and the album it was on drifting away into outer space.

Thorpie's Band 1982

In 1982, Thorpe went into the studio and recorded the album East of Eden’s Gate.  The album had the promise of being Thorpe’s masterpiece.  The music was at times, ethereal, yet contained enough of a hard rock, melodic base to make it relevant in the day’s musical landscape.

East of Eden’s Gate was produced by Spencer Proffer, who was riding high on the success he had producing Quiet Riot’s Metal Health. Thorpe had an all-star cast that included QR’s drummer Frankie Banali and David Bowie guitarist Earl Slick. Together they created a complete and well-polished rock album.

The title track is a true epic cut that exemplifies the energy and talent Thorpe was in possession of at the time.  The best tune, “Dogs of War” makes this worth the purchase price all by itself.

This post consists of FLACs ripped from near mint vinyl that I recently sourced during a trip to New Zealand. I also sourced his Stimulation LP from the same Aukland record store during this trip, which has already been posted on the blog HERE.   Full album artwork for both vinyl and CD formats are included, along with PASHA label scans. 

  

No bonus tracks this time folks, in fact, this LP needs no enhancements.  In my opinion, this album is one of Thorpe's best post-Aztec releases. 

Track Listing

01 East Of Eden's Gate  6:19

02 Edge Of Madness   4:27

03 Hold On To Your Dream   3:29

04 While You're Still Young 4:05

05 No Show Tonight   4:06

06 I Can't Stand It   5:14

07 Nite Rites   3:39

08 Cruisin' (The Town In The Heat Of The Night)   3:46

09 Dogs Of War (Flesh And Blood)   7:20

Band Credits:

Billy Thorpe - vocals, guitar, synthesizer

Jim Johnson - bass

Frankie Banali - drums

Earl Slick - guitars

Bill Cuomo - synthesizer

Pat Regan - keyboards, synthesizer

East Of Eden's Gate Link (275Mb)  

City Boy - Young Men Gone West (1978) + Bonus Tracks

(U.K 1974 - 1982)

City Boy were a moderately successful English rock band in the late 1970s, characterised by complex vocal arrangements and heavy guitars. The band consisted of Lol Mason (vocals), Steve Broughton (guitar), Max Thomas (keyboards, guitar), Chris Dunn (bass, guitar), Roger Kent (drums), Mike Slamer (guitar, bass), and Roy Ward (drums). Their most popular songs were "5.7.0.5." and "The Day The Earth Caught Fire."

In the early 1970s, Lol Mason, Steve Broughton, Max Thomas and Chris Dunn were playing folk music in the Birmingham area. They toured the clubs of the Midlands and turned professional towards the end of 1975. They were offered a recording contract by Phonogram Records on condition that they change their name from "Back In the Band" and add drums and electric guitar. This prompted them to recruit drummer Roger Kent (who was later replaced by Roy Ward) and guitarist Mike Slamer.

City Boy's first five albums were produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who was recommended to them by Phonogram A&R guy Chris Peers, and their debut album entitled City Boy, was the first full album that Mutt produced after relocating to the UK from South Africa. Lange became the de facto seventh member of the band, helping Chris Dunn hone his bass guitar skills and assisting with vocal arrangements. "Shake My Head and Leave", City Boy's first single off their eponymously titled debut album, was released in 1975. Their next single, "The Hap-Ki-Do Kid" earned them an appearance on BBC's Top of the Pops.

City Boy's follow up album, Dinner at the Ritz, garnered a positive review from the NME, which wrote, "Not even the highest ballyhoo of praise could do justice to City Boy's masterwork, Dinner At The Ritz...you hear a composing style which has been influenced by, respectfully, Lennon and McCartney, novelist Ian Fleming, and Noel Coward. Very English...but very strange."

BACK - Max Thomas, Lol Mason
FRONT - Mike Slamer, Steve Broughton, Chris Dunn

Chart success, however, still eluded City Boy. Roger Kent left the band before their third album, 'Young Men Gone West', and was temporarily replaced, for immediate recording purposes, by session drummer and ex-Crawler member, Tony Braunagel. Despite showing commercial growth this album also failed to supply the hit single they needed. Before the next album, 'Book Early', Roy Ward became the band's permanent drummer. Book Early yielded the international hit single, "5.7.0.5.", which reached the top 10 in the UK Singles Chart. The single peaked at No. 27 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and was a major hit in many European territories. In support of this album, they toured extensively in Europe and the United States, where they played 66 gigs, 56 of which were with Hall & Oates.

In 1979, City Boy parted ways with their US label, Mercury Records, and signed with Atlantic Records for the US and Canada. Their first album under this new deal, The Day the Earth Caught Fire, received strong reviews and produced a minor hit with the title song. The album marked an early recording appearance by Huey Lewis, who played harmonica on the second track, "It's Only the End of the World". They continued to tour heavily in Europe, the US and Canada. However, this album would prove to be the last album with the six-man lineup.

In December 1979, original members Broughton and Dunn parted ways with the band. The remaining members of the group went on to release their next album, Heads Are Rolling, as a quartet in 1980. The soft rock track "Speechless" made the band briefly popular in the Philippines. Their final album, It's Personal from 1981, failed to attract any attention. Unable to secure a recording contract with any of the major labels, the band split up in 1982.

Most of City Boy's albums were labelled and distributed by Vertigo Records, also known as PolyGram and Polydor. My Aussie copy was distributed by Festival Records on the Mushroom International label.
[Extract from Wikipedia]

A Man Called Mutt

Robert John 'Mutt' Lange was born on November 16, 1948 in Mufulira, Northern Rhodesia (now Zombia) and moved to South Africa as a teenager. One of the most successful record producers of all time, Lange would eventually work with the likes of Def Leppard ond Bryan Adams as well as his future wife Shania Twain.

Lange (see left) was given the nickname 'Mutt'at a very early age and grew up listening to country music predominantly. Mutt started his first band in high school, where he played rhythm guitar and sang backing vocals. He married Stevie van Kerken (aka Stevie Vann) and moved to England where, in 1970, he formed a band called Hocus in which Stevie also sang.

Mutt began to work as a producer in 1976, when he sat at the controls for Graham Parker's 'Heat Treatment' album as well as the first recording of City Boy, whom he would later produce regularly.

Mutt Lange's breakthrough came with his work on AC/DC's album 'Highway to Hell'. He would reunite with the group a year later for 'Back in Black', followed in 1981 by Foreigner's huge selling opus 4, which earned him a Grammy nomination as 'Producer of the Year'.

Lange's biggest albums

That same year, he also worked on Def Leppard's 'High 'n' Dry' album, his first collaboration with the Brits. But it was the 1983 hit "Pyromania" that made Leppard a resounding success worldwide. Lange even co-wrote some of the albums most popular tracks including 'Photograph' and 'Rock of Ages'. During this time Lange also wrote Loverboy's "Lovin' Every Minute of It" and Huey Lewis & the News' "Do You Believe in Love."

Lange (far right) with AC/DC's Brian Johnson & Malcolm Young (far left)

After his next huge hit, The Cars' 1984 album 'Heartbeat City', Lange would again join up with AC/DC on their 1986 album\ 'Who Made Who' before working again with Def Leppard for 1987's 'Hysteria', one of the best-selling albums of all time. He then moved into other musical areas, working with soul singer Billy Ocean, before teaming up with Bryan Adams' for his 1991 album 'Waking Up the Neighbours', which included the smash hit single "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You."

Lange gradually worked less as he became more successful, although a year after Adams' world smash he found time to produce Michael Bolton's 'The One Thing' album. [extract from AC/DC 'Two Sides To Every Glory', by Paul Stenning, 2005. p91-92]

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my recently acquired vinyl (another flee market gem) and as usual, comes with artwork for both vinyl and CD formats. Note that my copy is an Australian pressing  which was released by Festival records on the Mushroom International label.  Although familiar with the album cover, it was John 'Mutt' Lange's name on the back cover that really caught  my attention. 

Being a huge fan of AC/DC - especially their albums produced by the man himself, I decided to part with my gold coin.  The album was also in immaculate condition.

As a Bonus, I have also included several of their better known hits to sweeten the deal.

Track Listing

01 Dear Jean (I'm Nervous)
02 Bordello Night
03 Honeymooners
04 She's Got Style
05 Bad For Business
06 Young Men Gone West
07 I've Been Spun
08 One After Two
09 The Runaround
10 The Man Who Ate His Car
11 Millionaire
12 5-7-0-5 [Bonus Track]
13 The Day The Earth Caught Fire [Bonus Track]

City Boy Link (387Mb)