I have a soft spot for this band that I think is mostly forgotten or never known among many melodic rock fans. It`s a shame they never released a live album, but their studio output is worth a listen.
Read on!
Charlie
The Marquee
Concert review by Chas De Whalley
CLUTCHING Charlie’s debut album ‘Fantasy Girls’ tightly to his breast the self-styled ‘rock critic’ fought his way into the Marquee.
He was expecting to see an archetypal English rock band with the customary twin lead guitars. At least, he thought thankfully, this would be one band who prefered to exercise their expertise on tightly arranged little songs and not waste it on the more normal high energy, low taste boogie woogie.
But he was in for a bit of a surprise. Charlie still played their tightly arranged little songs. Why, even a few of them, like ‘Fantasy Girls’ and ‘Greatcoat Guru’, were instantly recognisable. They had been lifted almost verbatim from the aforementioned disc of black vinyl with the red Polydor label pasted at the centre.
But when our man with the notebook finally managed to grab a piece of the action and a glimpse of the stage he discovered that Charlie were not only one guitarist short, but that same guitarist, Martin Smith, had been replaced by a more than capable keyboardsman named Julian Colbeck.
The learned scribe was therefore not at all surprised when he discovered that Charlie sounded more versatile and variegated than on plastic.
Of course, they hadn’t changed their direction. Like the old, the new songs — ‘Thirteen’, `Pressure Point’ and ‘Lovers’ — were written in lead guitarist Terry Thomas’ characteristically sly and sardonic style.
He and bassman John Anderson snapped out their sharp harmonies as of old, reaffirming one of Charlie’s biggest selling points. Pleasingly direct disco rhythms crept in occasionally too, and kept the feet tapping nicely.
But there was something new there that the newspaperman hadn’t expected from Charlie. Rather than playing against each other Messrs Thomas and Colbeck seemed bent upon working together to build up brightly-coloured tone patterns during their joint instrumental passages.
Highly laudable, thought the pen-pusher, but still not enough for the combo to escape criticism. Yes, I’m afraid to say, he could hear faults and weaknesses that might have mattered little to the club full of fans, but usually sorted out the sheep from the goats where he came from.
With regret he noted that Steve Gadd’s drumming and Anderson’s basswork were often a little too anaemic for such a red-blooded English band (even one who threatened, quite entertainingly, to poach on lOcc’s patch). And as for Mr Thomas’ guitar, perhaps it would have been a little better if he had exchanged a few of the notes for a little more imagination at lead break time.
But, if a man must work, there are worse ways of doing it. Rubbing his calloused forefingers thoughtfully, the much maligned hack decided that he’d enjoyed himself. And he made a mental note to check out Charlie another day, when the new line-up and the new songs would be broken in by a few more gigs.
The original music paper this article came from (pictured at the top) is for sale!
Send me an e-mail if you are interested. Send it to: geirmykl@gmail.com
The offer should be 20 $ (US Dollars) to be considered. (This includes postage).
If you order several papers – contact me for a “special” offer.
We conduct the transaction through my verified Paypal account for the safety of both parties.
If you have a large collection of the following magazines, don`t throw them out, but contact me as I would be very interested in these: Creem, Circus, Hit Parader and Metal Edge.
If you have a music-related web-page where this fits – please make a link to the article. With credits to the original writer of the article from all of us music fans!
My Things - Music history for those who are able to read. 