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Victor Leed

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Victor Leed – Thanks Rock’n’Roll

Big Beat Records – BB805 [1980]
But In Your Eyes – I Forgot To Love – Blue River – To Change My Life – Jenny – Don’t Be Looking For Trouble – She Don’t Care – Shy – Too Much To Be Right – Thanks Rock And Roll

Thanks Rock’n’Roll is one of the best, if not the best, Rockabilly albums ever produced in France. It can compete with everything recorded in Europe at the same time.
Victor Leed started his musical career as an Elvis Presley imitator, but soon, under the guidance of French collector Ding Dong, he found his way and oriented his style toward a more traditional and Fifties sounding style. In 1980, he recorded Thanks Rock’n’Roll with Patrick Lozac’h on lead guitar, Donald Rieubon on drums, Jean Jacques Astruc on rhythm guitar and Freddie Legendre on double bass. This album is nearly perfect. The band perfectly nails the Rockabilly sound and manages to capture the excitement of the Sun sessions without sounding like an imitation or a reconstitution. In other words, the music is lively and doesn’t sound like a museum piece. It’s also mainly due to the songs (all self-penned chiefly by the team Leed/Astruc) that capture the genre’s spirit and essence.
And, of course, there’s Victor’s voice. It’s a clear and beautiful voice, able to mix the young Elvis Presley’s energy and Ricky Nelson’s softness while remaining 100% Victor Leed. The repertoire mixes Rockabilly, country-tinged tunes, and beautiful ballads (Jenny, Shy) that are the perfect vehicle for this unique voice.
More than four decades later, this mini-album remains a timeless jewel. I can only hope that today’s young rockers will rediscover it and that Victor’s name will find the place it deserves in the contemporary Rockabilly story.
Sadly, Victor left us way too soon, dying at age 44 in 1994.

Fred ’Virgil’ Turgis

Hatchetmen (the)

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When the Stargazers disbanded, Ricky Lee Brawn briefly joined the Chevalier Brothers (with Ray Gelato and Anders Janes). He was then invited to join the Tempo Toppers. The Tempo Toppers consisted of Dot on guitar, Tony Hilton on double bass, both from The Lone Stars who appeared on the James Dean of the Dole Queue compilation album. Tony also played with the Rimshots, not the Rockabilly/Hillbilly Bop band that features John Lewis. Ben (Morris?) was on vocals.

They rehearsed (at least once) with Lee Thompson (Madness sax player). Brawn left after a few months, and the band changed its name to the Hatchetmen. It then featured a bloke called Roy on drums, John Wallace (ex-Stargazers) on baritone and tenor saxophone and William Gibbs on tenor.
The sextet eventually recorded a mini-lp for Big Beat Records in 1985. Vic Keary produced it. His producers credits included Big Jay McNeely and Little Willie Littlefield’s Happy Pay Day (featuring John Wallace and Tony Hilton).

Strangely, the band’s high potential and the musicians’ quality didn’t show up in the final product. The repertoire is borrowed from Chuck Higgins, Amos Milburn, Peggy Lee, Louis Jordan and Good Lewis. But the songs lack vigour and energy and don’t swing much, which is a shame for this kind of music. In addition, the singer tends to do too much, and his interpretation is not very natural.
Vick Keary’s production doesn’t help, either. This brand of music begs for a warm sound, but the sound here is very modern, close to Joe Jackson’s Jumpin’ Jive, where a juicy brand of Rhythm‘n’Blues would be needed.
Nevertheless, it contains excellent and exciting moments, particularly some beautiful saxophone parts. Keary is also a saxophonist; you can hear it in how he puts the instrument forward. Dot is, as usual perfect, but her guitar is too buried in the mix to appreciate it fully.
After the band disbanded John Wallace kept on playing with numerous bands and eventually rejoined the Stargazers. Dot and Tony joined forces with James Hunter to form Howlin’ Wilf and the Vee-Jays in January 1986. Gibbs wrote a successful saxophone method for Mel Bay and now lives in Dubaï.
We’d be more than happy to hear from you, if you have more infos about Ben and Roy.

the Hatchetmen
Discography

Choppin’ Around
Big Beat Records NED 11 [1985]
Real Gone Hound Dog – Johnson’s Rag – Right Now – Why Don’t You Do Right – Pelican Jump – Deacon Jones

Delmonas (the)

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Delmonas (the) – Hello, We Love You! The Big Beat EPs

Delmonas

Big Beat Records 10WIK 348 [2021]
Comin’ Home Baby – Chains – Woa’s Now – He Tells Me He Loves me / Hello ,I Love You – I’m The One For You – Peter Gunn Locomotion – I Want You

When they recorded After School Session in early 1983, The Milkshakes asked two of their girlfriends (Hillary and Sarah) to provide backing vocals on three songs (Cadillac, Soldier Of Love and Goodbye Girl.) It worked very well, and after adding a third member, Louise, The Delmonas were born. Of course, the Milkshakes provided the backing band.
Their debut on records took the form of two EPs on Big Beat Records in 1984.
The first one featured two covers, Mel Torme’s I’m Coming Home and The Cookies’Chains. A pair of two Hampshire/Childish originals completed the set: Woa’ Now (that the Milkshakes recorded on Fourteen Rhythm & Beat Greats) and He Tells Me Loves Me (that later appeared on the Milkshakes’The Milkshakes’ Revenge!).
Louise takes the lead on Comin’ Home in a very voluptuous manner. By comparison, Chains is very lighthearted and pure fun. Woa Now brings back a touch of Garage and Beatles’ Hamburg days feel. The best track has been kept for the end: He Tells Me He Loves Me sounds like an instant Girl Groups classic in the style of the Shangri-Las.
The second single is based upon the same pattern: two covers and two originals. Hello, I Love You is the Doors song played on the music of the Kinks’ All Day And All Of The Night. Peter Gunn Locomotion owes more to Freddie Starr’s version than the original one. The two originals (I’m The One For You and I Want You) had previously been recorded by the Milkshakes. Still, the girls added a brand new dimension to these songs, with their (dangerous) charms and sensibility, especially on I Want You, which sounds like a lost gem from Laurie records.
Both singles are now reissued by Ace/Big Beat records on this superb 10” album. 

Available here

Delmonas (the) – Comin’ Home Baby (Volume 1)

Big Beat Records SW 101 [1984]
Comin’ Home Baby – Chains – Woa’s Now – He Tells Me He Loves me

Delmonas (the) – Hello We Love You (Volume 2)

Big Beat Records SW102 [1984]
Hello ,I Love You – I’m The One For You – Peter Gunn Locomotion – I Want You

Debbie & Jackie

Bananamen (the)

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bananamen

Bananamen – The Crusher

Big Beat Records – NS 88 [1983]
The Crusher / Love Me – Surfin’ Bird

Though it was fairly easy to recognize the Meteors on the cover of the Clapham South Escalators single, the identity of the Bananamen was less obvious and more mysterious.
Here’s the story. In 1983, Ace Records released a reissue of a three-song single by the Bananamen. The Bananamen were supposedly a Minneapolis quartet that released this single in 1965 on Hava Banana records. The group was playing a noisy brand of trash, and one could see the direct influence on the Cramps. The use of a double-bass in their line-up was surprising and pretty unusual for the time. Except that… these songs were actually recorded in 1983, and instead of being from Minneapolis, the Bananamen were, in reality, the Sting Rays in disguise. I remember some reviews at the time writing that the Bananamen were so ahead of their times. There’s nothing like an excellent musical hoax. These songs later appeared on the CD compilation Single-Minded. But if you can, try to grab a copy of the original single. This music is meant for that.

Debbie & Jackie