Zingy piece of pounding pop from Inverness solo artist
Label: CBS
Year of Release: 1970
In common with almost all the solo artists I seem to be finding singles
by at the moment, I really can't find a scrap of information on Drew
Ross. I know that he had two 45s out on CBS, this one and the 1971
follow-up "I'm Going Home". I know that both records sold poorly and are
difficult to find copies of these days. Beyond that... nothing. Nowt.
Nada. Zip. My best guess would be that he was a keen cabaret/ working
man's club performer who got the chance to release a couple of singles
on a major label, but that's based on the laws of probability rather
than the conclusive results of my research.
I can't speak with any confidence about any of his other recordings, but
"Close Your Eyes..." is really rather good. It starts off with a
similar pounding gusto to Love Affair's "Everlasting Love" and continues
in a similar plastic Northern Soul vein. Packed with optimistic brassy
blasts and bouyant drumming, it's actually something of a tonic - a
skippy, bouncy record, and the kind of bright, immediate sixties pop
that absolutely nobody seems to be either attempting to emulate or take
seriously anymore. It could have been a hit at the time, but quite
clearly wasn't.
The flip is a rather pedestrian cover of The Beatles "Let It Be", which
really doesn't add anything new to the song, and isn't as worthy of your
time.
If you're Drew Ross, or you know who he is, please do let me know.
[Since this blog entry was uploaded in 2017, an anonymous reader stepped forward to say that Drew Ross is from Inverness and used to sing with a local band called The Flock. He married a local girl
and they are now both - or at least were - running a hotel together in the area. That's all we have, but if Drew or anyone else wants to step forward to say anything else about their career, that would be very interesting indeed].
If the previews below aren't working properly, please go right to the source.
4 comments:
It is an interesting post. launching 24ent a Social Media for Music enjoyment.
Cracking tune
Drew Ross was in a singing group called Sunshine which was put together by David Balfe (aka Rod McQueen ) the composer of The Daniel Boone hit Beautiful Sunday. They were put together for the heats of the UK Eurovision entry for which Balfe had written a song. The song wasn’t chosen but Sunshine went on to make a radio series and two TV series for BBC Scotland that went out in 1978 and 1979 called “Sing along with Sunshine”. At the time Drew was only semi professional and had a day job as the entertainments officer at the Loch Torridon hotel. In the early 1980’s he appeared in another TV series for BBC Scotland called “The Evergreen Years” a nostalgia show presented by veteran DJ John Dunn.
Thanks so much for that extra information. I think this riddle is now fully solved.
Post a Comment