Chris Andrews - Yo Yo/ Hey Babe

Label: Pye
Year of Release: 1970

We had a bit of a chat about Chris Andrews a year ago, and collectively acknowledged (didn't we?) that whilst he was one of the more successful songwriters of the sixties, his own solo material frequently flopped for no good reason.  The track of his we discussed then, "Hold On", was a prime example of the kind of mod floor-shaker which should receive more spins than it actually does.

Without wanting to retread over old ground too much, "Yo Yo" is one of the singles he recorded for Pye Records once it became apparent that Decca no longer cared for his services.  Recorded at the bum end of his solo career when his fan base had reached its most selective point, it failed to generate much interest in the UK despite numerous concessions to the emerging seventies sounds.  Whilst his late sixties records did often show a little bit too much faith in raw beat sounds at a time when sophisticated rock and pop was the order of the day, this leans so heavily towards bubblegum pop and glam rock that  you're left wondering why it didn't do some business at the turn of the new decade.  True, "Yo Yo" does indeed seem rather like "Sugar Sugar" in places, but the stomping beats and the euphoric chorus show he'd lost none of his knack for commercial songwriting.  Still, never mind - it was apparently a number seven hit in South Africa which perhaps served as some minor consolation.

Chris Andrews remains an active singer/songwriter, and among the more unusual strings to his bow is the theme music to Channel Four's "Chart Show" in the eighties.  Meanwhile, "Nothing Less Than Brilliant" by Sandie Shaw, issued in 1988, remains a ridiculously ignored piece of greatness which showed the world how jangly, female-fronted indie pop really should be done.