Flight - What Am I To Do/ Is This The Way

 

 

 

Bizarre reminiscence about childhood misdemeanors from seventies glam group

Label: BASF

Year of Release: 1974

 

I only bought this one because of the cheap asking price and the Geoff Gill production credit, and blimey what a strange record it is. With a backing consisting of that much-loved oompah bounce which seemed to haunt many an early seventies single, the lyrics consist of a man reminiscing about getting his arse spanked and being generally admonished by his mother throughout childhood. 

 

"What am I to do with you my boy/ oh what am I to do with you?/ What will I tell your father when he comes back from the loo?" she asks throughout the three minute song, suggesting perhaps that the boy's Dad was hiding in there for the duration (nobody's ever that constipated). With this much of a rumpus going on in the household at all times, though, I can't say I blame him. The bathroom can be a safe space sometimes.

 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, hit songwriter Lally Stott was behind this piece of work, and was most famously known for penning the monster hit "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep". We've covered his solo version of that track, with the faintly psychedelic "Henry James" on the flip, before on this blog.

The precise membership of the group Flight is somewhat vague, but we do know that bass guitarist Kevin Nixon was a member, who later went on to work with Francis Dunnery, as was the vocalist Mick Adamson who went on to join eighties metallers Maineeaxe. 

Lally Stott: Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep/ Henry James

Label: Philips
Year of Release: 1970

I'll bet if you asked most people who was responsible for the original version of "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep", they'd wearily reply "Middle of the Road" and leave it at that. But that would make them fools, half-wits, morons, ill-educated curs of the first water. Whilst Middle of the Road had a massive international hit with the dreaded tune, they certainly weren't the first individuals to press it to wax. The author of the tune Lally Stott put a slightly slower version out first in 1970 and had some luck with it in Australia (where it spent one week at Number One) and Holland and Italy, but generally speaking it failed to become the UK chartblaster we know and love now.

Whilst this bubblegum ditty might not make you realise, the Prescot-born and eventually Rome-based Stott actually had a very credible history in sixties groups which are incredibly sought-after by collectors now. Serving time in Four Just Men and the legendary Wimple Winch, he has earned his stripes as a soldier in the great Freakbeat wars - and the B-side here "Henry James" is a firm reminder of those roots. Riddled with psychedelic effects, screeching car tyres, and a pounding, nagging beat, it's a far cry from the pure pop of "Chirpy" (which incidentally I've always had a soft spot for).

"Henry James" was compiled on the psychedelic compilation album "Nightmares At Toby's Shop", and the sleevenotes incorrectly state that he "killed himself some time ago". In actual fact, Stott's demise was not a result of suicide, and involved an unfortunate motorcycle accident in Precot in 1977.

Astonishingly, a rather strange black and white promo video of Stott entertaining a group of rather senior individuals in the street has worked its way on to YouTube. Smile to yourself as they all regard him with what appears to be a combination of mild entertainment and bemusement, and wonder what exactly is going on.