I got to know this band from Teenage Depression, the song off the Ramones Rock And Roll High School soundtrack and next to Rockpile, my favorite band of the 70s nobody knows about. Not a punk band, they had more roots in Pub Rock but they played ultra fast versions of Get Out Of Denver, The Kids Are Alright and Gloria. Chris Blackwell signed them up to his Island Records label but the UK and US version of Teenage Depression are two different albums, the UK has a so so cover of Show Me and Shake, that showed more of their R&B than punk. The US album has their live Live At The Marqee EP and a different song list but leaves off Show Me and Shake. For the most Vic Maile records them in the raw, similar in tone to Dr Feelgood. When it came to pub rock Vic Maile was the best producer. Leading off with the three chords and the truth Get Across To You, Teenage Depression is classic pub or bar rock. Kids may not know the big deal but you had to be there to see them live and it has been known that Eddie And The Hot Rods could blow away Feelgood or Ducks Deluxe and give The Pirates a good run for their money as well.
Life On The Line has Graeme Douglas on lead guitar and has a more punk rock sound to it thanks be to Steve Lillywhite helping out and they had their best known single Do Anything You Wanna Do but in my case the title track, Quit This Town, the fast paced Ignore Them (Still Life) and the 8 minute epic Beginning Of The End. Teenage Depression while great, I played Life On The Line a bit more. I found the album as a cut out (I'm thinking I got it at Big Apple Records in the Town And Country Shopping Center in town) and I think I drove a high school date out of the house by playing Beginning Of The End, since she was a disco fan. Didn't make a good impression I gather. I still don't consider The Hot Rods punk at all. They simply rocked too hard on their 2nd album.
Thriller, (not the Michael Jackson album) only was available as a import and I was overjoyed to see Record Realm had it and I had to have it. But sad to say this is where they were losing their creative edge. Some of it was still fun but most of it was a bitter rant and rave, Does It With Mirrors is famous for the continual groove at the end of the record but that and Echoes was blah. Power And The Glory and Take It Or Leave it (featuring Linda McCartney on backing vocals, sure sounds like the late Lady Mac). But it was out of style and Warner Brothers, which at the time was distributing Island Records passed on its release.
A major overhaul of the band was coming up for the next album, Tony Craney replaced Paul Gray on bass, Douglas left the band and they were on the ill fated EMI America for the lackluster Fish And Chips, produced by Al Kooper. The title track may be the worst thing they ever recorded, the cover versions of You Better Run and Time Won't Let Me was phoned in and although I command them for a cover of Crack The Sky's We Want Mine, it was a ill suited fit for Eddie And The Hot Rods. Al Kooper produced and added some keyboards and effects but outside of Wide Eyed Kids, Fish And Chips is a strikeout.
With that Eddie And The Hot Rods faded into the sunset but some outtakes which came before Fish And Chips and still featured G. Douglas and P Gray, The Curse Of The Hot Rods is a better record than both Thriller and Fish And Chips although they are demos. Graeme Douglas provides comic relief as he describes the songs. Douglas also shares his thoughts on the Island best of End Of The Beginning, which pretty much cherry picks the best of the Island albums, and leaves Fish And Chips in the dust.
In the 1990s, Windsong issued BBC Radio One Live In Concert which captures two 1977, 1978 shows. Worth a listen if you can find it. Dojo in the same year put out Ties That Bind, a oddball collection of six tracks from Curse Of The Hot Rods, three songs from a 1985 lineup of Berrie Masters, Steve Nicol plus Warren Kennedy on guitar but is better known for five demos featuring long departed Lew Lewis on harmonica (yep he was the weakest link) and includes a raw version of Get Across To You as well as Gloria and Wooly Bully and Get Out Of Denver but it's for audiophiles who want everything only. Captain Oi! reissued the Island albums and loaded the CDs with plenty of bonus tracks. You can still live without Thriller but Teenage Depression and Life On The Line should be in your collection.
Barrie Masters continues the Hot Rods and they continue to play in and around England.
Albums:
Teenage Depression (Island 1977) B+
Life On The Line (Island 1978) A-
Thriller (Island 1979) B
Fish And Chips (EMI 1980) C
Curse Of The Hot Rods (Link 1985) B
End Of The Beginning (Island 1993) A-
BBC Radio One Live (Windsong 1994) B+
Ties That Bind (Dojo 1995) C+
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Great call on Fish and Chips. I've got to stiff that one out one of these days and free up room for a good record on the shelf. Teenage Depression and Life on the Line are fantastic, and probably two of my all time favorite records.
ReplyDeleteBoth Life On The Line and Teenage Depression were soundtracks to my life and it's a shame they didn't get any airplay on the radio here. Fish And Chips doesn't even sound like the same band.
ReplyDeleteI guess Barrie Masters has issued a few CDs over there but from what I heard was okay. But he'll never top the first two Hot Rods LPs. Essential listening. ;-)