Saturday, November 03, 2007

U.K. Baby –Heartbreaker


OK, it’s time to unleash Collin again. Don’t blame me if he bites you on the ankle or relieves himself in your flowerpot…

U.K. Baby –Heartbreaker/ Michael’s Blues –Imperial 66409 (1969 US issue)
(Originally released on Spark SRL 1030 as by The Baby)

Item One. Admission of Guilt:

I
have never liked more than a bare handful of tracks by the Sutherland Brothers.

There, I’ve said it.

You Got Me Anyway, Rock ‘N’ Roll Show… I know, I know! Consider me then Purepop’s cloth-eared Albert Speer – the blogger who said I’m sorry (and I am, believe me, Spandau not required).

And while I can not completely articulate my misgivings concerning the oeuvre of Sutherland Bros & Quiver, there is a certain item from their shared past that I will unflinchingly stand by.

‘Tis a curiously-named bouncing-bundle, by the nom of U.K. Baby. Maybe not snuff-up to the Last-Night-Of-The-Proms/Charge Of The Light Brigade standard advanced bravely by League of Empire Loyalist, U.K. Jones, nevertheless, this TWO-SIDED affray is lobster-back through and through. …and quite GROOOOOVY to boot (and much like later fellow bulldog breeders, The English Beat, the ‘U.K.’ here was a meritorious denotation reserved solely for those soldiering away in foreign service)!

Production-product of the same knob-twiddler as the elusive, Sorrow-full Eggy (Barry Kingston – same label too: Spark/ Imperial), Iain Sutherland and Co. here RAVE AND ROCK - swaddling clothes style – through what Who Put The Bomp! #13 describes as:

A straightforward rocker with nice melodic touches and a break straight out of It’s All Too Much by The Beatles.”

Appreciative and cultured Bomp! may be, they fail – in my opinion – to fully hone in on the true HEART-broken eye of this lovely little storm: That being the Charybdis-ian whirlpool of keys-guitars-and-handclaps Kingston summons around the 1:30-mark which he would later sharpen to hair-splitting perfection on Eggy’s You’re Still Mine. I can only imagine that Heartbreaker’came out first – it definitely has the feel of a practice-run by comparison to Eggy – but I could certainly be wrong and I don’t feel like squinting at matrix numbers. The b-side, comped and miss-titled all over the place, is decidedly commonplace; at least when sidled next to its black, Siamese twin. Treacly twee and Idle Race-y, it pales next to the stout, wave-ruling Heartbreaker. Being a pre-Sutherland Bro was obviously no picnic; the previous single they cut as A New Generation (also produced by Kingston) from a year before also had a ‘blues’ in the title! It’s one of those big, orchestral, flower power, opiate laments probably about a dog or torn kaftan or something. Less Fading Yellow, more piss-soiled white satin. Awwwww….

I SAY GROW A PAIR ‘PSYCH’ FANS AND ENLIST IN MORE WYMEN-BAITIN’ ROCK/POP/LESS BLUES! GO RE-WATCH ‘ZULU!’ SEE THE WORLD IN FANCY GAITORS! MEN, YOU KNOW JUST WHAT TO DO!

Pick To Clique: Heartbreaker

3 comments:

Rachael // Paraders said...

Where can I find more music from U.K. Baby? I've looked everywhere online and can't find anything! I only have "Heartbreaker" and loooooove it.

Robin Wills said...

Hi
It's only the one single, but in the UK it came out on Spark as by "The Baby". Try that. Copies do show up on ebay

West Norwood Cassette Library said...

Before The Baby / UK Baby, they were A New Generation and released 3 singles on Spark. All excellent.