Label: Pye
Year of Release: 1978
Keen "Left and to the Back" readers will know that in July of last year, I uploaded Starbuck's "Do You Like Boys?" for everyone's delight and delectation. There's much more about the flop disc here (beneath the blurb about the equally fascinating Prowler single) but in a nutshell, it was a gay glam rock record which failed to pick up much radio airplay. "Do you go for a mean, aggressive bear?" Starbuck asked their listeners forcefully.
The plot gets much thicker, because a full five years after that single flopped, Bryan Evans decided to have another bash at making it a hit, albeit with Howard and Blaikley's original lyrics dramatically altered to obscure the original reading. Gone are the references to homosexual attraction, and instead the song could be interpreted as Bryan selling himself as something of a ladies man, seemingly questioning whether the woman of his desires is either asexual or a lesbian. "Dont'cha Like Boys?" he asks, while squealing analogue synths go off around him like personal attack alarms. Of course, if you've heard the Starbuck original first, it's hard to hear the question in quite such a way, and it still manages to seem flamboyant and camp. The directness is lost, and it's become an object of ambiguity instead.
It's a baffling addition to the Howard and Blaikley canon, but you can't blame them for trying to turn a brilliant single into a proper hit. By 1978, though, the analogue keyboard sounds and stomping glam beats really were yesterday's news, and it stood not a hope in hell. A shame, as this is a spirited and different approach which at another point might have lead to success.
As for who Bryan Evans is or was, he had a string of 45s out in the seventies on a variety of labels from CBS to EMI, including a much-fancied (by collectors) version of Cream's "We're Going Wrong" - but beyond the fact that he briefly worked with Giorgio Moroder, I've struggled to identify him. If you have any clues, please leave me a comment below.
5 comments:
Think this is Brian Evans who ran Wren Records (the home label of Meic Stevens) in the early 70's. I knew he'd had a career in the West End music scene but never knew he'd recorded. These days he's a property developer in Mumbles, Swansea. An elusive character even in Mumbles to get hold of.
Ah, Mumbles. A lovely part of the world - it's all right for some!
Your theory is probably correct, Dewi (unless someone else wants to object) and thanks for dropping by to comment.
Most certainly is Bryan Evans from the Mumbles, late of Langland Bay LifeGuards. I would know that voice anywhere. He was Manager/Producer of my band ‘ Days of Grace’... He also managed White Heat and The Ray Morgan Quartet.
He had a Management company called ‘WellBred music.
Where he is now??????
Dave.
Most certainly is Bryan Evans from the Mumbles, late of Langland Bay LifeGuards. I would know that voice anywhere. He was Manager/Producer of my band ‘ Days of Grace’... He also managed White Heat and The Ray Morgan Quartet.
He had a Management company called ‘WellBred music.
Where he is now??????
Dave.
If this is the same Bryan Evans who appeared in the West End (1970/s), then I toured with him around 1974 in the U.K. tour of "Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". Fabulous singer and I often wondered what had happened to him. He must be in his early seventies now and I hope that he is doing well.
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