Jigsaw (1968-1975)

Jigsaw formed in 1966 with members hailing from the Midlands region of England.  Band members had previously played in bands such as The Fortunes, The Mighty Avengers and Pinkerton's Assorted Colours.  Early singles released by the band were primarily compositions of  keyboard player and vocalist, Clive Scott although on later singles Scott would regularly share songwriting credits with drummer Des Dyer.

In 1968, Jigsaw's debut single on MGM records, "One Way Street" was released. An upbeat mod tune with Hammond organ and brass with an almost early reggae feel to it was much like what was being released at the time by bands like The Amen Corner or The Equals. This was the first of many singles by the group that would fail to make an impression on the pop chart.  Second single "Mr Job", an Alan Bown song, was the first of two single releases on the Music Factory label, was played in a more Hard Pop style, quite like The Move.  Jigsaw also took to trashing their stage/instruments at gigs around this time in a Move/Who fashion!  "Let Me Go Home", the next release on Music Factory is basically a clone of "One Way Street" but not quite as good in my opinion.  It's the b-side that makes this a collectable record, "Tumblin''", a phased up stomping, psychedelic beast with a Brian Auger style hammond and eastern guitar licks.  UK psych fans will know this one from Rubble Volume 8 - All The Colours Of Darkness.

Jigsaw moved to Fontana for a one off single in July 1970.  You be forgiven for thinking the a-side, "Lollipop and Goody Man" was an Eddy Grant song but is in fact a Clive Scott original as is the b-side the moody, psychedelic, wah-wahtastic "Seven Fishes", just the sort of thing I'd imagine the Living Dead biker gang in Psychomania would dig!  "One Way Street" was re-released in 1971 this time on the Philips label but with a new b-side, a percussive funky rocker entitled "Confucious Confusion", which you could sneak on to the Skip Bifferty album and nobody would notice! Around the time saw the release of their debut album "Letherslade Farm", a true oddity which mixes spoken word and comedy(!) sketches in an attempt at Kenny Everett style humour but failing.  If you're still listening after track one, a short skit called "Tap dance #1" which announces that "Anyone that can't tap dance must be queer!" then you'll hear Bonzo-like interviews with a short tongued man (hilarious if stoned?) with the odd progressive pop tune thrown in.  Be sure to download this first before spending big wads of cash on it on ebay!

Next single "Jesu Joy Of Man's Desiring", an adaptation of Bach's classical tune and a right old load of poo. I'll only recommend this to anyone who likes "America" by The Nice, but...flip the record over and you get Jigaw's finest song, the mighty "No Questions Asked", a killer Magical Mystery Tour style fuzz pop track complete with Macca-esque trademark bouncy piano.  It's still quite easy to find on 7 inch and you should get one quick while its still relatively cheap.


Jigsaw's final single for Philips and their last release of 1971 was "Keeping My Head Above Water", wailing vocals and prog like organ, not very good really but it made it onto their next album "Aura Borealis" released in 1972.  Again, not a great album, but it is saved by a couple of decent tracks, the "Cherry Blossom Clinic" styled "Freud Fish" is a welcome moment of nightmarish psych as is a White Plains-alike pop nugget "Hanging Around".  The band were clearly struggling for some kind of direction, but not for long.

"That's What It's All About" b/w "And I Like You" was released in 1972 and 1973 on BASF and UK records respectively. Neither releases charted but pointed to the direction the band was heading in, a much more chart friendly orchestrated pop.  A couple more albums were released on BASF, "Broken Hearted" and "I've Seen The Film, I've Read The Book", both have their moments but the over production on the latter makes it a little to cheesy for my ears (and that's saying something for me!)

After being dropped by BASF, band manager Chas Peate formed his own record label Splash on which the band would release all of their music until they broke up in the 1980's.  It was their first single for Splash in 1975 which provided the bands first hit record.  "Sky High" reached number 9 in the UK and number 3 in the US.  The corresponding album called "Sky High" in the UK and "Jigsaw" in the US is easily the bands most solid collection of songs all delivered with a cool 10CC approach. More than just your average guilty pleasure.

Following the bands split, songwriters Dyer and Scott continued to write and have their songs recorded by Bad Boys Inc, Boyzone and a number of Eurovision Song Contest hopefuls.

You have to admire a band who continued for so long without a hit! Enjoy...

Bite It Deep Volume 3 (Mixcloud)

Volume 3
Enjoy...

Bite It Deep Mix Vol.03 by Bite It Deep on Mixcloud

Space - Rocking Circus
Pilot - Canada
Chris White - Dont Look Down
John Cale - Cleo
Andy Bown - And If My Love Wants To Know
The Twilights - Devendra
Song - Like We Were Before
Jook - Alright With Me
Brian Protheroe - Fly Now
Starry Eyed & Laughing - Better Stop Now
Cliff Wade - Shirley
The Smoke - Girl In The Park
Margo, Margo, Medress & Siegel - Mister Snail
Hot Wheels - It's Magic
Pony - It's Gonna Be So Easy
The Cowsills - Mystery Of Life

Happy Birthday Todd Rundgren!

To honour Todd Rundgren on his birthday, I've picked my top 3 Todd related tracks.
Here they are...

Nazz - Open My Eyes (1968)

This was the debut single to be released by Rundgren's first band, Nazz. A full on, sonic blast of phasing and fuzz.  Like a lot of American bands of this time, an Anglophile influence is present, with the intro paying homage to The Who's "I Can't Explain".  The song was given a new lease of life when it was included on Lenny Kaye's Nuggets compilation and has remained a dancefloor classic at any decent sixties/psychedelic club night.  The Nazz rarely put a foot wrong in the time they were together and their three albums are essential to anyone interested in psychedelic pop.

The video, like all good sixties promos, sees the band freaking out in the outdoors.

Todd Rundgren - Couldn't I Just Tell You (1972)

After breaking up the Nazz, the ever ambitious Rundgren went solo and mostly wrote, played and produced his albums by his self.  "Couldn't I Just Tell You", taken from his third solo album, a double LP called Something/Anything, is considered by many to be one of the biggest influences on Power Pop genre.  For the rest of the seventies he would experiment with sounds both as a solo artist and concurrently with his band Utopia to mixed results.  It gets a little too proggy for my liking, but in a good way I suppose.  It's always melodic!


This would possibly make it into my all time, Top 10 fave records.

Utopia - I Just Want To Touch You (1980)


The opening track to a Utopia album "Deface The Music" where the concept is to sound as much like the Beatles as possible.  Like the Rutles, the album pays homage to all stages of the Fab's songbook.  This song was going to be used in the soundtrack of a movie called "Roadie",starring Meatloaf but it was rejected in fear of legal action as it sound too much like the Beatles. 


I'll review the "Deface The Music" album in full on this blog sometime soon. But for now, "Happy Birthday Todd!" and enjoy...

Nicky Hopkins - Waiting For The Band (1973)

Thought of by many as rocks greatest session musician, Nicky Hopkins played piano on countless hit records including The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Kinks, Donovan, Jeff Beck and The Who to name a few and was constantly in demand and at the top of his game during the sixties and seventies.

In 1973, seven years after his first easy listening/ jazz album, CBS offered Hopkins the chance to record another album.  Several of his musician friends who he had sessioned for over the years returned the favour by guesting on the album "The Tin Man Was A Dreamer".  This time round he sings on all of the songs and although he might not have the best voice in the world, it has a certain likeability about it, especially on the second song, my fave on the album, "Waiting For The Band". This song has always reminded me of George Harrison's "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)", not surprisingly really considering that they were both recorded at the same time, in the same studio and that George played slide guitar on "Waiting for the Band" and Hopkins played piano on "Give Me Love".

I've always imagined the lyrics being about his sessions with the Rolling Stones, where the band would book the studio for the day with every intention of turning up at the crack of dawn to get some work done, only to get distracted, eventually turning up at two o'clock in the morning greeted by a very pissed off Hopkins (and most probably Bill Wyman!).

Waiting For The Band - Lyrics


The night was black,
It was the blackest that I've ever seen
I stopped a stranger and asked which way to go
He slapped me on the back
And then he laughed and then he looked at me
Then he said, you can't get there from here
No, no, no, no


Without a road
How can I make it back to you?
Without a light above I cannot find the way
Turn on your love light,
Let it shine like a peek and wait, you see me through
Cause baby how can I be happy without you?


Faster my heart is beating, 
Faster and I'm all alone
Strangers are all around me, 
No one will tell me where to find a phone
It's like sitting in the studio waiting for the band to come
Sitting in the studio waiting for the band to come


And if the band don't come by early in the morning
I'II have to find a way to have myself survive
Cause if the band don't show by early in the morning
Then I'II be over darling, waiting for the band to come


Slower, I'm getting slower 
I've heard these songs so much before
Lower, I'm sinking lower 
Pretty soon you'll find me on the floor
Under the piano waiting for the band to come


Sitting, waiting for the band to come


Nicky Hopkins would continue his career as a session musician right up to his death in 1994 aged only 50, caused by his Crohn's disease, which he suffered from throughout his life.  To see footage of Hopkins in his prime check out the Gimme Some Truth movie where he plays on the sessions for John Lennon's Imagine album.

Grumbleweeds - In A Teknikolor Dreem (1972)

I'm just old enough to remember the Grumbleweeds television show from the mid 80's which is why it came as a surprise that they had a collectable "psychedelic" record on Philips from 1972.  That was the rumour that was going round a few years ago and I was dubious to spend serious dosh on an LP that I was convinced I could find, no problem, from a charity shop or car boot. The album title track, a tough acid rocker, surfaced on the first volume of the Electric Asylum compilation series which was probably the spark that triggered an increased collectors interest.  There might be some substance to this rumour after all! Three more songs turned up in early 2010 on the penultimate volume of Paul Martin's fab Pop Cycles compilations.  I had heard enough and eventually bit the bullet and tracked one down on ebay for £15. Very reasonable considering that it was selling for a hundred plus a few years previously.

On the whole the album is pretty good with plenty of Beatlesque and Bee Gees type pop and only a few duff tracks (their take on "My Sweet Lord" ain't great).  Not worth spending three figure amounts on but definitely worth picking up cheap.  Nice artwork too.  I'll producer Gil King finish off this blog entry with some actual facts taken from the LP liner notes.  This should make a nice change from my bad analogies.  Take it away Gil...

This album will probably come as a pleasant surprise to the many fans of the Grumbleweeds. Anyone who has seen them in cabaret will probably agree that they have one of the zaniest comedy acts in the business.  Until recently the only time they sang in their act was when they did their wildly funny send-ups of Elvis, Mick Jagger or Roy Orbison, but now they are beginning to sing their own original material to acquaint their public with this added dimension to their considerable talents as entertainers.  Nine of the songs on the album are written by members of the group and they have a particularly Northern flavour, which is accounted for by the fact that the boys are from Leeds.

Maurice Lee is the leader of the group, who in his own words is so fabulous he finds it hard to be humble!
Graham Walker is fat, bald (almost) and very funny, but has to bear the stigma of being Charlie Drake's double.
Robin Colvill usually sits in the middle, which is probably why he complains of having a permanent headache.
Albert (Abbo) Sutcliffe is Elvis-mad and ordinary mad as well.  He writes some very nice lyrics and has the good fortune to be the brother of:
Carl Sutcliffe - Genius extrordinaire, who writes most of the songs and sings lead vocals most of the time, but has know to be wrong (once!)

The sessions were not without incident, and during Teknikolor Dreem, Maurice, who provides a long loud scream in the number, after doing his bit keeled over and lay on the studio floor.  Naturally, we all ignored him (the gags had been thick and fast by this time), but after two or three minutes he was still there.  In fact, he'd screamed so hard and long that he passed out cold!  We'd particularly like to thatnk the two policemen who arrived from West End Central late one night to investigate a report about a lunatic who had been singing out on the roof, sitting on a chair wearing headphones for a particular sound we were after.  It took us a while to get going again after that!

The Grumbleweeds, now a duo of Colvill and Walker, continue to play the cabaret scene to this day.  For info and bookings check out their official website.

Bite It Deep Volume 2 (Mixcloud)

Volume 2
Enjoy...

Bite It Deep Mix Vol.02 (dedicated to Robin Gibb R.I.P) by Bite It Deep on Mixcloud

Klaatu - We're Off You Know
Sundowners - Blue Green Eyes
Los Brincos - Jenny, Miss Genius
Chaos - You Could Be My Girl
Hudson Brothers - If You Really Need Me
Tony Rivers & The Castaways - I Can Guarantee You Love
Colours - I Think Of Her (She's On My Mind)
Asylum Choir - Icicle Star Tree
Rockin' Horse - Oh Carol, I'M So Sad
Bee Gees - Top Hat
Swinging Blue Jeans - Big City
Stories - Love In Motion
Chris Rainbow - All Night
Wolfe - Funny Funny
The Wackers - Find Your Own Way
Penny Wise - Leave Me Alone

Stackridge (1971-1976)

Stackridge released five albums between the years 1971 and 1976.  The general sound of the band is quirky pop with humorous and occasionally whimsical lyrics with absolutely no machismo attached.  All of the albums are great and come highly recommended.  If I had to give any criticism and I'm struggling, it would be that some of the songs can be too long and bordering on prog, sometimes sounding a little like Genesis, although with much better vocals (I'm not a fan of Peter Gabriel!).

So, like the NRBQ post a while back, I have selected the top 13 Stackridge songs so you can make your essential compilation. Here they are in chronological order...

From Stackridge (MCA - 1971)

Marigold Conjunction
A strong, late Beatles influence on this track, complete with Harrison-esque double tracked guitar solo.  Some nice, not too over the top orchestration and great vocal harmonies throughout. This wouldn't sound out of place on the Story album by Honeybus. I wonder if they played this when they opened the very first Glastonbury festival in 1970?

Marzo Plod
The Marzo Plod that Stackridge are singing about must have been a relative of Maxwell Edison.  One listen to this and you'll understand what I'm talking about.  John Lennon wouldn't have liked this song!

From Friendliness (MCA - 1972)

Friendliness (part 1)
For the title track of their second album the band give Sun King a run for its money. The song is reprised as Friendliness (part 2) on the flip side of the album with more instrumentation but I prefer this version.

Amazingly Agness
A real bouncy, almost reggae number containing the lyrics "Handcuffed my ankles to number ten Downing Street claiming I was Winston Churchill". Very likeable.

Father Frankenstein Is Behind Your Pillow
With it's title looking like something by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band the song comes over like a dreamier "Your Mother Should Know". Lots of subtle instrumentation, ethereal guitar, a splash of Moog and some backwards sounds for the fade out make this a late popsike gem.


From Man in the Bowler Hat (MCA - 1974)

Fundamentally Yours
A real Wings-like song from the album produced by none other than George Martin that makes me think the band were quite happy with the Beatles comparisons and decided to go the whole hog.  The album was released in the US under the title "Pinafore Days".

Dangerous Bacon
This is as heavy as the band would ever get, though that's not saying much.  A light electric piano stomper with Jeff Lynne-esque drums and some cool compressed sax. A bit like Rockin' Horses "Julian the Hooligan" without the snarl so err, yeah, very Beatley!


From  Extravaganza (Rocket - 1975)

Happy In The Lord
I didn't want to compare this to the Rutles' "Double Back Alley" but I just did. It's all I think of when I hear it but I mean that as a compliment, and this did come first so that makes it ok. The band were the first to be signed to Elton John's Rocket label on which this was released.

Grease Paint Smiles
The Rutles "Living in Hope" anyone? The vocal style seems to have changed for this album and I can't work out if it is a different singer as it sounds more like Jimmy Campbell than the lush vocal style of the first three albums.

Benjamin's Giant Onion
This is prime piano pop sang in a knee slapping cockney style about a man who's obsession with his onions finally sends him insane.  Bordering on Chas & Dave, but there's something about this I like.


From  Mr. Mick (Rocket - 1976) 

Hold Me Tight
A reggae-lite take on the Fab's classic might not be everyone's cup of tea but I love it.  This cover version was insisted by Rocket, who from what I have read recently, treated their acts pretty shitty.

Save A Red Face
Originally entitled "The Cotton Reel Song", they don't come more bouncier than this.  If you want a crap analogy (and lets face it, this post is full of them) I'd say Ronnie Lane doing "Don't Pass Me By".

Hey Good Looking
My favourite track on the album.  Sounding like a long lost classic by 10cc, this was originally going to be the album opener until Rocket stuck their nose in.  Check out "The Original Mr. Mick" CD for a longer version of this song plus some other tracks which make the concept of the album (and the dodgy sleeve) a little more understandable.


Stackridge broke up after the Mr Mick album partly due to the lack of success of that and the previous albums.  Members James Warren and Andy Davis would return a few years later as New Wave act, The Korgis who turned out some great pop songs, most notably their biggest hit, "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime", which made it to number 5 in the UK charts and number 18 in the US.  A great tune, murdered many times by more than it's fair share of techno artists.  Stackridge reformed in 2007 and have released new material and continue to perform live.  I just missed out on seeing them play an instore performance at Flashback Records in London on Record Store Day 2012. I was only round the corner when I found out about it, literally minutes after the set had finished.  Still, I intend to check them out if ever they play nearby and so should you.

Check out the bands official site for more info and great stories. I especially like the one about the John Lennon Imagine session.