The Boston Crabs - You Didn't Have To Be So Nice/ Gin House

Geoff Motto, ex-bandmate of Syd Barrett, beating Syd & co to an EMI deal

Label: Columbia

Year of Release: 1966

Oh, what might have been. Geoff Mott and The Mottoes were a bunch of rock and rollers from Cambridge who consisted of Mott on vocals, Clive Welham on drums, Syd Barrett on guitar and Roger Waters on bass (according to some reports, although Waters' involvement is by no means universally agreed). They managed one gig, a CND benefit in the town, where they enthusiastically raced their way through some rock n roll covers which were well received. The group excitedly talked about arranging other live shows before completely failing to take matters further. 

Were it not for the involvement of the two key members of Pink Floyd, this would have been an utterly unremarkable event, another non-story about some aspiring teenagers who couldn't get their shit together enough to capitalise on their energy and enthusiasm. Given the apparent involvement of those two luminaries, however, it will forever feel like a huge missed opportunity (on the part of Welham and Motto at least).

All was not completely lost, however. Eventually Geoff Motto's talents were placed at the forefront of this local band, The Boston Crabs (named after the wrestling move rather than the city itself or indeed the nipping seaside crustacean). In the great pop race, they certainly managed to usurp Waters and Barrett initially, becoming the first ever Cambridge group to sign to a label. The debut 45 "Down In Mexico" was a Lieber/Stoller composition given a solid if somewhat polite beat performance, while the follow-up "As Long As I Have You" manages to get a bit more hot under the collar. 

Crucially though, neither single charted, and the group opted (or were perhaps enticed) to cover The Lovin' Spoonful's "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice" for their third effort in 1966. It's a sympathetic, rounded and jaunty cover, with Mott's vocals managing to drift into polite, English dreaminess, while the moody cover of "Gin House Blues" on the flip picked up so much interest from collectors that it made its way on to an EMI rarities compilation "My Generation" in 1976. Certainly, the B-side is a lot more interesting than the plug side in this case, and shows off the group's abilities as competent blues players - sadly, my copy is not in top condition, but a cleaner version can be found on YouTube.

While this is probably their strongest single, it still failed to sell and the group found themselves back on the local Cambridge gig circuit for a while afterwards, but ultimately never could get another label interested in them. Elsewhere in 1966, some bunch of blokes called Pink Floyd had begun playing the gig circuit in London and interest in their work was heating up. Sometimes the tortoise manages to beat the hare in the end. 

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