Sherri & Son - Lies/ Even More Lies

 

Femme synth-pop with high emphasis on the "pop" element

Label: Precious

Year of Release: 1981

As eighties mania builds in collectors circles, this rather obscure disc has been attracting more attention of late and it's easy to hear why. While it's not a lost classic or a pioneering example of the synth pop which gripped the public imagination at the start of the decade, it's nonetheless hooky, cold, marginally threatening, and topped off with the kind of softly sung female vocals which suggest trouble is close at hand.

The duo - presumably not actually a mother and son duo a la Lieutenant Pigeon - are a bit more of a mystery, though. This was their only release and the only hints we have are the other credits on the label. The publisher Trisha O'Keefe had previously been the singer in the group Precious Little who we've already documented here, and the fact this release is credited to "Precious Little Productions" suggests a high amount of involvement on her part, though I wouldn't necessarily swear to her being the lead singer of this record (it sounds and seems pretty likely, though).

Whatever the facts behind this, it's an interesting and in some ways prescient pop single. The added flourish of those occasional Spanish guitar licks predates the habit for including them in synth-pop music by a fair few years, and the record has enough atmosphere and insistent, nagging melodies to sound like a possible hit for the period, but clearly being tucked away on a tiny indie did it no favours, and it fell below the waves.

Precious Little - Ain't Got No Balls/ Lonely Nights

Label: DJM

Year of Release: 1979

DJM is probably most famous for being the label which Elton John found fame and fortune with, churning out a phenomenal volume of LPs and singles for them in the seventies. Elton was their only big hitter, however, and once he departed to release records through his own Rocket label, it was exposed for what it was - a small label lacking a cohesive vision. Their discography consisted of bits of library music, punk records (Slaughter and the Dogs), records by the Village People before they were famous, rock & roll revival records -  a total mish-mash, and perhaps more importantly a generally unsuccessful mish-mash at that. 

This single stems from those weird and underachieving years, and in common with many DJM records of the period, is a rather odd pop record. You could possibly call it Lily Allen before her time if you plugged your ears slightly, but it's a weak comparison I'll probably regret making within five minutes of this post going live. It has a very plastic reggae rhythm and snappy female vocals, but feels very tight, clean, airless and artificial somehow. A bit more vim and chaos and it may have been a hit. 

The lead singer for this record seems to be Trisha O'Keefe, who went on to produce Sue Wilkinson's hit "You've Got To Be A Hustler If You Want To Get On" for Cheapskate Records. 

The record is also very notable for being a creation of Geoff Gill and Cliff Wade, who in a previous part of their career played a part in many a psychedelic pop single, from Cliff Wade's utterly bizarre "Look At Me I've Fallen Into A Teapot" to Gill's drumming work with near-hitters The Smoke. Stalwarts of the legendary Morgan Studios in Willesden, some of their work can be heard on the essential "House of Many Windows" compilation on Sanctuary Records, which focuses on the studio and its accompanying label.

If nothing else, "Ain't Got No Balls" is a testament to their flexibility, clearly proving that besides weird late sixties pop they were capable of producing work like this. Things got much rosier for them later on when they composed "Heartbreaker", which became a huge hit for Pat Benatar in the USA. Cliff Wade also went on to write "The Woman I'm Supposed To Be" for Tina Turner's "Rough" LP.