Listen: Hi Ho Silver Lining / The Attack
Hi

If ever you wanted to hear the ultimate English group sound, you are on the right post. Two examples being The Attack and The Syn.

Originally known as The Soul System, the group signed to Decca UK in late ’66, changing their name to The Attack. Despite various line-up changes, which included David O’List and John Du Cann, then soon to be members of The Nice and Atomic Rooster respectively, as well a future founder of The Marmalade, Alan Whitehead, the band spawned four class singles. Their second in the UK, and lone US release on Decca’s US imprint, London, ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’, lost out in the British charts to Jeff Beck’s version, which reached #14 in ’67, then #17 in ’72 and yet again #62 in ’82. Embarrassingly, his version peaked here at #123 in ’67 due to very little airplay, a pathetically common tale known as the sewer of US radio. The competing version also gave The Attack controversial attention in the British press claiming Jeff Beck had stolen the song from them.

Listen: Created By Clive / The Attack
Created

Listen: Created By Clive / The Syn
Created

Amazingly, despite having been damaged by the Jeff Beck fiasco, Decca jumped into a similar fire and chose to release the terrific follow-up, ‘Created By Clive’ on the very same day as it’s in-house subsidiary label, Deram, issued The Syn’s version of exactly the same song. It unknowingly predates Clive Davis’ eventual destruction of the record business with frightening accuracy by some forty years.

Listen: Neville Thumbcatch / The Attack
Neville

The Attack’s fourth and final single, ‘Neville Thumbcatch’ seems to mix The Kinks ‘Big Sky’ with the sound of LSD.