Requiem For A Mensch: Gary Stewart, 1956-2019

By Harvey Kubernik I am so deeply saddened by the death of Gary Stewart, a veteran music and recording executive who had a lifelong devotion of service to the music in any capacity he hel

Requiem For A Mensch: Gary Stewart, 1956-2019

By Harvey Kubernik I am so deeply saddened by the death of Gary Stewart, a veteran music and recording executive who had a lifelong devotion of service to the music in any capacity he hel

The Attack: An Interview with Richard Shirman

by admin 15th Jun 2012 Comments [181]

By Mike Stax

Inhabiting a region of the sonic solar system somewhere between the Creation and the Small Faces, the Attack languished in comparative obscurity back in their day, only to be recognized decades later as one of the most exciting bands of the era.

That none of the band’s four singles for Decca cracked the charts was more down to bad luck and record company incompetence than any shortcomings on the band’s part. Their first effort, in January 1967, was a sharp version of the Ohio Express/Standells nugget “Try It,” backed with the great, Hammond-drenched mover “We Don’t Know.” Composed by singer Richard Shirman and lead guitarist Davy O’List, the song was nominally based on an obscure soul single, Mona Lisa’s “They Don’t Know,” with new, sarcastic social comment lyrics, including the opening salvo: “We don’t know about the H-Bomb / We don’t know about drugs / We don’t know what is going on / They say that we are thugs.”

The Attack, 1967. L to R: Richard Shirman, Barney Barnfield, Davy O’List, Gerry Henderson, Bob Hodges (glasses). (Photo courtesy Phil Smee)

While “Try It” failed to click with the record buying public, the band felt they were onto a sure thing with their next release, “Hi Ho Silver Lining,” but they were beaten to the bunch by Jeff Beck who romped into the charts with his Mickie Most-produced version after the Attack’s record was delayed at the pressing plant. The B-side was a cracker too. Based on a blistering guitar hook by O’List, “Any More Than I Do” was the Attack at their most incendiary, and still thrills every time. Totally disillusioned by the failure of “Hi Ho Silver Lining,” this lineup folded shortly afterwards, with O’List going on to the Nice.

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Pretty Things live ’67… and the Valiant Little Tailor

by admin 7th May 2012 Comments [318]

By Mike Stax

The Pretty Things may not have been the most commercially successful band of the ‘60s, but at street level, around the world, they had more influence and credibility than many of their more popular contemporaries. One band who formed in homage to the Pretties is Valiant Little Tailor, a short-lived outfit from Wuppertal, in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany, a band so obscure they don’t even rate a mention in Hans-Jurgen Klitch’s definitive German Beat book, Shakin’ All Over.