The rock/dance crossover starts here? Certainly, the flipside is manic stuff indeed. TAME THOSE DRUMS!
Label: Jam
Year of Release: 1972
A worthy two-sider here. On the A-side it's yet another piece of gruff, mean, funky rock of the sort you could imagine being favoured by fictional Yorkie lorry drivers. Snarling and clip-clopping its way alongside slick percussion, "Shaft" inspired strings and parping horns, it clearly means serious business. "Take out some life insurance!" growls the singer at one point, which, of course, is often good advice anyway.
The flip, on the other hand, while acting as "Part Two", is a manic, bongo driven frenzy which sounds not unlike the kind of minimal anarchy which got collectors hot under the collar for Angelo and Eighteen's single "Midnight Flight" not so long ago. Unlike that record, though, this one decides that there couldn't possibly be any such thing as too many beats per minute, and for those who like their dancefloor action ridiculously frenzied, it's a real treat.
This single would appear to be the work of Jeremy Paul and Paul Lynton, with the able assistance of Robert Kirby, who is rather more known for his arrangement duties on Nick Drake's albums. Jeremy Paul had another single out on Jam under the name Walter Mitty ("Caroline"), whereas Paul Lynton had a long production career throughout the seventies with the likes of The Mobiles, The Nick Straker Band, and Sheer Elegance.
It's safe to assume that this was just a one-off single for the pair, who dropped the TNT name almost as soon as this flopped.
4 comments:
Great post! This label is fantastic!! Thanks
Parts of this remind me of "Moving away from the Pulsebeat" by The Buzzcocks, particularly part 2!
I managed to piece together the background on this one a couple years ago, and it's a mess. This actually was a group named Annapurna: Keith De Groot (vocals, guitar), Ray Doyle (drums), Pete Goodall (lead guitar) and Steve Moorhouse (bass). They recorded another single with the same producers, which was released under the Annapurna name in Canada and Germany. (The A side is on YT and totally has the same vibe as this).
De Groot previously recorded an album as Gerry Temple, but more well known because it was released with all the participating musicians listed on the cover, rather than as a solo album. (It's the No Introduction album that Jimmy Page plays on).
Moorhouse later became the bassist for MC5(!) briefly.
Interesting stuff, and thanks for sharing that. There are some tangled old webs to be found out there in obscurity-land.
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