Dora Hall - Satisfaction/ 5 O'Clock World

Label: Reinbeau

Year of Release: 1966

Regular readers of "Left and to the Back" will know that I have a soft spot for Dora Hall. This is the wife-of-a-disposable-picnicware-magnate's fourth blog entry in total, and for anyone wanting to know the full background behind her colossal back catalogue, the answers can be found here. Literally hundreds of Hall singles are out there for the taking, and quite a few videos and LPs too.

Whether you love or loathe her output, there's no question that she covered some downright unusual tunes at times. Clearly Hall's first love was the showy swing of the easy listening kings and queens - you can hear it in her mannered, measured delivery - but she was never afraid to put that to use on modern rock hits. In this case, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" gets the Hall makeover, being turned into a big, brassy piece of suaveness. Her vocals aren't perfect, but the style suits the track oddly well, and it has enough oomph to carry itself entertainingly across three minutes. Andrew Loog Oldham surely approved, and by the time the horn section kicks in, so will you.

Less convincing is the B-side "5 O'Clock World" which is a struggle to listen to, despite the delightful premise of the idea. 

Oh Dora. You may be the Queen of the American Thrift Store Bin, but you're the kind of artist blogs like this were invented for. I salute your memory. 

Fickle Pickle - Maybe I'm Amazed/ Sitting On A Goldmine

Label: Philips

Year of Release: 1970

Paul McCartney, by his own confession, went a tiny bit odd after The Beatles split, the initial elation of "that magic feeling" of having nowhere to go soon giving way to common-or-garden boredom, inertia and vague depression. His home recorded debut solo album, while fondly regarded in general, is still seen as a missed opportunity by some. Like a series of draft sketches produced by a master painter, it taunts and teases the listener with brilliance before often ebbing away into stoned incoherence.

At the time, "Maybe I'm Amazed" was almost universally regarded as the stand-out track, another epic McCartney rock ballad in search of a more polished arrangement. Macca refused to entertain the idea of it being released as a single, though, and it seemed destined to remain album-bound, until a group of session boys at Morgan Studios in London got other ideas.

Fickle Pickle, a studio group consisting of Wil Malone (of Orange Bicycle and Motherlight) on keyboards, Geoff Gill on drums and vocals, Cliff Wade on a variety of instruments and Steve Howden on bass, picked up the song and decided to turn it into a hit single. The fact that you're reading about it on here means they obviously failed, but that's actually highly surprising. This version allows the song to spread its wings (no pun intended) fully and is a damn good guess at what a polished, non-home studio version of "Amazed" might have sounded like. And it's a corker - the drums sound more fluid than metronomic, and the backing vocals soar like the Fabs at their Abbey Road finest. Its failure is one of pop's biggest mysteries. 

It was a minor hit in the Netherlands, and in an attempt to capitalise on their success in that country an LP entitled "Sinful Skinful" was released by the boys, but failed to sell at all well. It's a reasonably nice concoction of slightly novelty-tinged turn-of-the-seventies pop, but nothing to get your knickers in a twist about. The only other highly noteworthy Fickle Pickle recording for my money is their B-side "Sam and Sadie" whose anthemic Beatles-inspired drama predates Oasis's penchant for such things.

And the "Maybe I'm Amazed" story doesn't necessarily finish there. It's also been covered by The Faces and Billy Joel, but for my money, Sandie Shaw's seldom heard and considered reading is also worth a listen. If other significant covers emerge in the future, I wouldn't be at all surprised.

Dermot Morgan - Thank You Very Much Mr Eastwood/ (Garret version)

Label: Ritz

Year of Release: 1985

An appropriate one, this, since this week marks the twenty year anniversary of the first episode of "Father Ted" being broadcast  (if I'd been quicker on the ball, I'd have had this blog entry written days ago). In the leading role, Morgan's depiction of a priest filled with thwarted ambitions stuck on an island of rural idiots was fantastic. While O'Hanlon's dumb and innocent Father Dougal McGuire gets most of the obvious laughs initially, on repeated viewings it's Ted's horrendous and lonely predicament that gives the series its backbone. Without his entrapment and world-weariness, "Father Ted" would simply be a cast of idiots behaving oddly and chaotically.

As has been widely documented elsewhere, Morgan's career in Ireland far pre-dated "Father Ted". Active on radio and television comedy from 1979 onwards, he developed a reputation for sharp satire, taking on numerous authority figures or slightly dangerous targets (including the IRA). One of his earliest creations, Father Trendy, mocked priests who attempted to get down with their younger parishioners, but he was a slightly more hollow and vain creation than the priest Arthur Matthews created for the series.

Evidence of Morgan's popularity in Ireland in the eighties can be found in the fact that he was granted several novelty single releases during that period, always the hallmark of a bankable comedian. "Thank You Very Much Mr Eastwood" is perhaps the most famous of the set, and was penned to mock the predictable antics of one Barry McGuigan, the highly successful Irish featherweight boxer. Known for his habit of thanking his manager after every victory, "Thank You Very Much Mr Eastwood" rips into his clumsy speech patterns with obvious glee. If McGuigan feels like a questionable target these days, it's perhaps because, like most sports heroes, he has faded into the background in his retirement. At his peak he was an ubiquitous figure, even being a guest on the likes of "Noel's House Party". Such unquestioning reverence must have been like a red rag to a bull for Morgan, although the end efforts do ultimately leave one wondering whether a single about dodgy priests or terrorists would have aged better.

Whatever its relative merits, a UK issue of the record was granted at the time (not so daft when you consider that Frank Kelly - who went on to play Father Jack - had a hit with "Christmas Countdown" a couple of years before) although it wasn't a hit here. Still, the promo video, featuring Michael Redmond aka Father Stone, is worth a watch for all fans.

As for Morgan, as I'm sure you already know he passed away in 1998 at the age of 45. It's impossible to speculate where he would have taken his career next, but there's no question that he could have continued to have success without "Father Ted", and it's a huge tragedy that we were all denied the ability to witness this. But his performance in that series alone is an astonishing legacy, and something I - and many, many other people - will never tire of watching.

Calum Bryce - Love-Maker/ I'm Glad

Label: Conder

Year of Release: 1968

One of the great music business myths is "If there's a catchy pop song on a television advert, it's sure to get re-released and become a hit". Sadly, while adverts may give some completely mediocre tracks unfair advantages in the charts, there are other good ones which seemed to have no fair wind or music industry interest behind them at all. 

"Love-Maker", for example, is a track which positively itches with hooks. From the creeping bassline to the whistling upper melody, right down to the "Lovemaker, love maker, yeah yeah yes I would" chorus, it snakes, grooves, and seduces you into its charms. With an adapted chorus of "Woodpecker, yes I would" it soundtracked cinema adverts for the popular cider drink in the sixties, but it wasn't re-released as a result. Just thinking about this fact makes me crave a Woodpecker, even though I'm not actually very keen on cider. The whole track sounds thirsty somehow. Now that's an effective piece of advertising. 

While it flopped in 1968 it has worked its way on to numerous sixties compilations since, and remains available on iTunes and Amazon, putting it outside the remit of this site. However, there's a YouTube clip here you can listen to. Original copies sell for hundreds of pounds and mine (it almost goes without saying) is a counterfeit.

Far less frequently encountered is the flip, "I'm Glad", another piece of catchy pop which is more sprightly and eager to please than it is smooth. It's featured below for all the curious pairs of ears out there.

Calum Bryce consisted of Dave Mumford on guitar and vocals, Tim Posford on bass, Mel Wayne on sax, Derick Horn on keyboards and Geoff Coxon on drums. Further work of theirs was recorded but apparently never released - however, they continued to tour for a number of years after this single's release and appeared live on the Radio One Roadshow on a number of occasions.

Big Green Jammboree - 23rd April

If you've been reading this blog for long enough, you'll tend to know that I don't really mention politics here a great deal (unlike on my Twitter feed). It's not really part of the site's mission statement. Though thinking about it, we don't even really have a mission statement, unless "Visit charity shops, record shops, ebay and boot sales and come home with a ton of weird records and write about them" could be adequately described as that.

However, for the last year-and-a-half now I've been working with the Green Party in the Lambeth area, helping to give their progressive anti-austerity policies greater emphasis locally. And now they're throwing a pre-election gig. A big one. A Big Green Jammboree, at the Jamm club on the Brixton Road on the 23rd April.

Performing live will be The Discount Orchestra with their "seven piece blend of dance-floor stomp", Rachel D'Arcy and her Ukelele, and Hornman "providing underground bass and beats with earthy guitar and trippy vocals".

Non members of the party are obviously welcome to attend, and the Facebook details for the event can be found here, with the EventBrite ticket details here. It should be a very good evening indeed, whether you're interested in the Green Party or not. If it's not a great night, I'll happily give you a free copy of Paul Nicholas' "Reggae Like It Used To Be" with its surprise psychedelic B-side "Lamplighter" on the way out.




(That's a lie. I won't).