Posts Tagged ‘The Honeycombs’

The Hollies

Saturday, May 7th, 2011

HolliesAliveUK, The Hollies, Imperial, Parlophone

HolliesAliveUSA, The Hollies, Imperial, Parlophone

Listen: I’m Alive / The Hollies
I'm Alive / The Hollies

Talk about an explosive and immediate intro, here’s one of the most. This tore through my hand sized orange AM transistor radio, an item that almost needed surgically removing from my hand after a couple of years. We went everywhere together, to school, on lunch breaks, to the barber, dentist, shopping for records, the shower and even to bed.

I would wait religiously for the latest single from the UK’s Hit Parade to get an initial airing. Decades before info was a click away, we seemed to know pretty fast about new singles from the English groups, and would wait for that first listen. Many times wait and wait and wait to hear them, unsuccessfully.

I recall writing a letter to Jim O’Brien, the 7-midnight disc jockey on Syracuse’s WNDR, asking would he please play more of the new English bands and he actually read it. This was spring ’66, when playlists were fairly loose but didn’t exist at all to a kid listener. Back then, the stations took and played requests and as well, read letters on-air. I mentioned a few bands, The Alan Price Set being the only one I can recall at this moment. And he read my letter, rattled off all my requests and said “We’d love to play these but they just don’t get released in the USA”.

Not true.

I knew about these records via BILLBOARD. Not only were they printed in the HITS OF THE WORLD section of the publication, whereby they reproduced international Top 10′s and in the case of the UK, their Top 50 chart; but the magazine also listed weekly new US releases in their SINGLES REVIEW section, with label and catalog number. They were all released here, it’s why I wrote the letter.

And so, in hindsight, my mistrust of American radio officially began.

I will say this, Jim O’Brien clearly got some free plays during his shows. For a short period, he did a feature called ECHOES OF ENGLAND, during the British Invasion years. I heard some great stuff on that program: Them, The Silkie, The Yardbirds, The Honeycombs, even The Pretty Things ‘Don’t Bring Me Down’. And for a few weeks in September ’67, he opened most of his shows with The Pink Floyd ‘See Emily Play’. But he did tell a disappointing fib that night.

Regardless, to his credit, it was the grand man himself who played ‘I’m Alive’ one evening. Holy whoever, did it sound fantastic. Dwarfed the songs on either side of it. I loved ‘I’m Alive’ immediately, and excitedly thought I’d be hearing it often, but never did, not ever again.

It had an equally short lived life nationally, a one week spike at #103 on BILLBOARD’s BUBBLING UNDER THE HOT 100 chart, and that my friends, was that.

Heinz

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

HeinzQuestionsUKA Heinz, Tower, Columbia UK, Joe Meek, The Tornados

Listen: Questions I Can’t Answer / Heinz
Questions

I discovered Heinz a good bit after the fact, in the early 70′s. His original band, The Tornadoes were of some interest, ‘Telstar’ being a noticeably eerie hit when I was a little guy. I even remember being scared of it, considering it bad luck.

Year later, I came to connect Joe Meek, who produced ‘Telstar’, with a few other singles of very similar ambience, The Cryin’ Shames ‘Please Stay’ and The Honeycombs ‘Have I The Right’ in particular. I stumbled upon a US 7″ of ‘Just Like Eddie’ by Heinz on the old purple and white London label indicating it’s pre 1965 release, and put down the 25ยข for it in a junk shop somewhere off Salina Street in Syracuse’s not so nice part of town. What a surprise, it was great and had that name, Joe Meek, listed as producer. My curiosity grew.

Now there are endless stories of interest surrounding Joe Meek’s legend, I have a few of my own.

Enamored with his history, I recall vividly getting off an evening arrival flight into Heathrow with Corinne, dropping our stuff off at the hotel, dragging her right into a cab and heading for 304 Holloway Road, where both his infamous studio was located and his even more infamous suicide took place. It was by now very late and in the cold November drizzle, we stood for a good fifteen minutes while I awaited a sign, some communication, anything at all from Joe Meek. This guy was so into the extra terrestrial, certainly he had to know I was there and religiously serious….but disappointingly, nothing happened, so back to the hotel I got reluctantly dragged.

The exact time was the very early morning of November 23, 1988, two days before the Wembley Record Fair, sadly a thing of the past. I recall that date as much of the fair was spent scouring the dealer stalls for Joe Meek related singles, coming home with quite a few, including this ‘A’ label of ‘Questions I Can’t Answer’. As soon as this record hit the turntable, I was addicted.

Search out some Heinz photos, dyed blond hair adding to his nicely twisted look.

HeinzHeartUS, Heinz, Tower, Columbia UK, Joe Meek, The Tornados

Listen: Heart Full Of Sorrow / Heinz
Heart

I began amassing a headful of Heinz trivia and detail, all his singles becoming obsessions. I wasn’t ready for the greatness of ‘Heart Full Of Sorrow’ when I stumbled on a crazy rare US pressing in Dallas. It looked beautiful, almost like new, still shiny. When I finally got home a few days later, it was the first thing I played, recall that bit vividly.

Holy smoke. This production took all of Joe Meek’s techniques and turned them to eleven. It is amongst his very best work. Despite it’s dated sound, all the technology of today’s recording possibilities can’t touch documenting the fear, paranoia and loneliness in Joe Meek’s brain like this can. Classic Joe Meek. Classic Heinz.