Steve Whitehouse Archives - the rockabilly chronicle

Kev Saunders

Published on 21 November 202421 November 2024

Kev Saunders is known to fans for having been the guitarist of Frenzy that he joined in March 1984, replacing Simon Brand. He stayed with the band until December 1987, appearing on four albums (Hall Of Mirrors, Clockwork Toy, Sally’s Pink Bedroom and Live At The 100 Club). His guitar playing, rich in numerous influences, and composing abilities perfectly completed the Whitehouse / Peppler team. This trio, then the one formed with Adam Seviour when the group turned professional, wrote classic after classic, showing no boundaries in their inspiration, and influenced numerous groups after them.
Today, Kev Saunders no longer performs on stage, but fortunately for us, he continues to write and record music under the name Curt Davis.

Please tell us a little about your musical background. What records did you grow up with, and when did you decide to play guitar?

I grew up in the 1960s, during the time of Beatlemania, The Rolling Stones, The Pretty Things, etc.
There was always music playing in the house I lived in, and I had an uncle who was very into the music of that period. Bob Dylan, John Mayall, Pentangle, Electric Flag, Sandy Bull, Hendrix, those are just a few of the artists whose records he passed on to me.
He also played guitar, and a few years later, he showed me some basic chords. Around 1972, when I was 14, I got my first guitar and was well on the way to becoming very passionate about music.
I saw David Bowie on Top of the Pops performing Starman, Roxy Music, T. Rex, and Mott the Hoople were also having hit records. My Schoolwork was beginning to take a backseat, and by 1974, I had left full-time education and started rehearsing with other local musicians in a nearby church hall. We played songs by The Beatles, The Shadows, Chuck Berry, etc., and I was on the rhythm guitar. That band didn’t last long, but it was a start for me, and I began to develop my playing style, which is rooted in rhythm and blues.

What kind of bands did you play with before joining Frenzy?

From 1974 until 1984, when I joined Frenzy, I played in a number of bands and also began songwriting and doing solo material. In the mid-to-late 1970s, I was playing in club bands doing cover versions of popular songs. There was always a fair amount of Rhythm and Blues played, and that style became predominant.
In 1977, Punk Rock exploded and changed the music scene completely. I started recording demo tapes around 1978. In 1980, I was writing my own songs and started hawking the tapes around London publishers, but I didn’t get signed, although I did come close, only to find that due to an internal company shake up, my contact in that department was relieved of his position.
In 1981, I was the lead guitarist with The Chain Gang, a local Rhythm and Blues outfit. I spent some time in the city of Bath and played in a band called South of no North around 1982/83. In April 1984, I joined Frenzy.

Were you familiar with the Rockabilly/Psychobilly scene?

Yes, of the newer bands of the time, I had seen early 80s gigs by The Polecats and Stray Cats and had also seen The Cramps supporting The Police back in 1979. There was an emerging Neo-Rockabilly/Psychobilly scene, and the Link Wray/Robert Gordon musical partnership was also happening then.
As far as live gigs go, I was watching bands such as The Pirates, The Inmates, Nine Below Zero, Doctor Feelgood, etc. As I mentioned earlier, Rhythm and Blues was my thing as well as Punk/Ska…

How did you end up joining Frenzy?

I was in a photography studio in Frome, Somerset, the town where I was living at the time, and Steve Whitehouse came in to pick up some promo photos. He told me that Simon Brand had left Frenzy and asked me if I would be interested in joining. I had known Steve for a year or two and had once jammed with him and Alan Wilson when they were both in The Sharks.
We started rehearsing, and I did my first gig with them in Holland in June. We opened the show, which also featured Restless and Dave Phillips (who had a minor hit with a version of Tainted Love). Recording sessions for Hall of Mirrors were also underway around this time.

When you joined the group, were you initially supposed to model your playing in line with that of Simon Brand, or were you free from the start to innovate according to your style…

I changed my style in so much as I was mainly using transistor amps with Frenzy, rather than the Hiwatt 50-watt valve combo that I had been using since 1976. I just cleaned up my sound, and also used slapback echo. Basically, I was still playing the Chuck Berry-style licks, just a little bit faster…

Tell us about the work dynamic within Frenzy. The songs are almost all credited with your three names. How did you work together to write and arrange them?

Although the credits were often three ways, most of the material was chiefly written by one member with later additions by the others. Someone would write lyrics to a tune or chord pattern another member had created. It was diplomatic to credit all 3 of us.
Merv Pepler, the drummer, could also play guitar and keyboards, as well as sing backing vocals. He also sang lead on In My Prison and played some guitar on it. Both myself and Merv came from a more diverse musical background. Steve was the frontman/bass player and his background was more Rockabilly.
Our songwriting methods made Frenzy more unique and very different from other bands on the scene.

When I listen to your guitar sound and the way you play these albums, I can hear much more than the usual Rock’n’Roll influences. I can feel that you wanted to explore other territories, and above all, you didn’t set limits for yourself…

I can play in a variety of styles: Funk, Pop, Blues, Rock, Reggae, Rockabilly, Folk, Country etc.
That all comes from my time in the club bands back in the 1970s when you needed to be adaptable to get the work. Being flexible is important when you are a professional musician. Meeting Roy Williams and joining Frenzy gave me a break in the music industry. I spent 10 years from the ages of 16 to 26 working towards making music my profession and getting a recording contract.

I have the impression that Frenzy, although being a formidable live band, wanted to demonstrate that an album could be more than capturing three guys live in the studio…,

Frenzy was always developing right from the word Go. We came onto the Rockabilly/Psycho scene, but it was clear to everybody that we were going to evolve rapidly. Scenes and movements have their limitations; they are useful as a stepping stone, but they can backfire on you when the musical climate changes… During my time in the band, we recorded four albums. They are all different, but they show the musical prowess of a band that is still highly regarded.
As we progressed, the recording budgets got bigger, and we continued developing our various styles.
We were also able to faithfully reproduce a lot of our material live, in fact we usually road tested songs before we commited them to vinyl….

Frenzy - Steve Whitehouse, Adam Seviour and Kev Saunders — Steve Whitehouse, Adam Seviour and Kev Saunders

Let’s talk about Sally’s Pink Bedroom. I really think this album needs to be rediscovered, like Restless’ After Midnight. If we consider that Psychobilly was born as a reaction to a Rockabilly/Teddy Boy scene that was too narrow-minded, didn’t you find the reception given to this album unfair and that it deserved better?

Ok, for starters, Sally’s Pink Bedroom is not a Psychobilly album. Although it was the fourth album Frenzy released, it was much more diverse than the previous three. We were looking to move to another record label and approached I.D. Records about making an album of cover versions as we didn’t want to use up any more original material to honour the existing contract. It was decided to make an album of half covers/originals; it was, in fact, a compromise between the label and the band.
It’s the last record I made as Frenzy guitarist, I hear that it now has some kind of cult status as it didn’t sell very well and I believe the record company deleted it a few months after its release.
Maybe it’s time for a re-appraisal, as I do think it was judged rather unfairly at the time.

Didn’t the group ultimately find itself pigeonholed by the Psychobilly label?

Yes, but if you look at the top bands on the scene back in the Klub Foot days such as Frenzy/Meteors/Demented are Go/Guana Batz/Stingrays/Batmobile, they are all musically different, but they drew the same kind of audiences. Psycho/Rocking/Garage…It’s all Beat Music.
The British music press ignored the scene, even though over 800 people turned up on a Saturday night to watch these bands at the Klub Foot. In 1986, we were in the top 5 of the independent charts with I See Red, but the journalists/reviewers rarely showed up.
To be honest, Germany, Holland, and Finland were the places where this kind of music was more appreciated. We once played an outdoor festival in Finland, when we supported Katrina and the Waves, the audience total was around 20 thousand people.

You played with two different drummers in Frenzy, Merv and Adam. What was unique about each person, and did their different styles influence your playing?

As I mentioned earlier, Merv was a multi instrumentalist, and Adam who joined in 1986 was a drummer/percussionist. They were both competent and very powerful behind the drums. Merv also used an electronic drum, I believe it was known as a Synare. They were both nice guys, and they knew one another from other local bands.
When we went professional in 1986, Merv was still doing an engineering apprenticeship and was unable to commit to 6 week tours of Europe. That’s why he was replaced by Adam. Merv later went on to join the Ozric Tentacles,and he currently performs under the name of Eat Static.

Frenzy (Kev Saunders, Adam Seviour, Steve Whitehouse) — ID Records promo pic taken behind the Klubfoot in Hammersmith, London, 1986 (Kev Saunders, Adam Sevious, Steve Whitehouse)

Likewise, you have worked with three different producers: Paul ‘Doc’ Stewart, Pete Gage, and Pat Collier. How was it to work with each of them? Did they have different approaches, and at what levels did they intervene?

As we progressed through the four albums, the budgets increased and we were able to spend longer making the records. All of those producers gave input and advice on different levels.We always worked closely with them, and always attended the mixing sessions.
The first two albums were made at various sessions at Mushroom in Bristol, Madhouse in Luton, and Village Way in London. Sally’s Pink Bedroom was recorded over a 2 week period at Greenhouse studio’s in London, and we started to use electric bass and 12 string guitars…

Can you tell us about the atmosphere at the Klub Foot? How was it to play there?

Klub Foot was the big London gig, with around 800/1000 people most Saturday nights. We played there several times and were recorded for compilation albums. As I mentioned earlier the music press hardly ever turned up to review any of the gigs there, nor did they pay much attention with regards to reviewing the various singles/albums which were released around that time by the bands who were regulars at that venue, even though several bands including us, had releases in high positions in the independent charts.
You could buy records in the foyer, and the bands were always happy to sign autographs and have a drink or two with people who had come along to see them. It was a classic/iconic venue for the rocking scene.

Steve eventually split the band to reform it six months later. But you chose not to be part of this new venture. Were you no longer interested in playing with Frenzy again?

There were several reasons why I decided not to rejoin. We had worked very hard over the previous four years; we were continually touring/recording/writing new material, and it began to feel like a treadmill. I had achieved all the things that I had set out to do as a professional musician. The only way we could make a decent living was by continually touring around Europe. I think there is a shelf life on all projects as regards the enthusiasm you have for them and the kind of returns that you expect in a given time. I went into the education system and also privately as a full-time guitar teacher.

Frenzy continues to perform on stage. How does it feel to see that songs you wrote and recorded 40 years ago (I See Red, Hall Of Mirrors, Misdemeanour, Clockwork Toy) are still highly popular?

It’s good that those songs are still being played. They have stood the test of time. Psychobilly now seems to appeal to a wider audience…

Are you still in touch with Steve?

I haven’t been in contact with Steve for several years now. Back around 2007, he phoned me and asked if I was interested in re joining Frenzy, but due to ill health I have retired from live gigs/touring, so I turned down his offer.
As you can see I still do interviews about my time in the band, as it was a great but brief period in my life..

Tell us about your subsequent musical projects, including Curt Davis. To my knowledge, you have only released one EP with four tracks. Do you plan to release more titles in the near future?

The Curt Davis recordings I made for Nervous Records were not intended to be an EP, Although the fact that there are 4 tracks may lead people to think that it was. Roy Williams asked me to record some instrumental tracks for use in films, television, advertisements, etc. There was a specific direction given as to what he required, such as the use of old valve/vintage gear, mono mixes, and tracks under 3 minutes, etc. I contacted my friend John Pickford to assist/co-produce on these sessions as I knew he was very experienced in this type of recording.
We had to work quickly to complete the project, as, during the second day in the studio, the lockdown was announced due to COVID-19. The Video for Page Parker was filmed a few months later in October 2020.

Curt Davis (Kev Saunders) – Order Order

I have recently been talking with Doc Stewart about recording some material with him at his studio in Taunton. It will probably be as Curt Davis, the name I used for the recordings I made for Nervous in 2020. I am writing new material; this time, there will be vocals, a more hard-edged approach, and Psycho/Rockabilly with some Freakbeat touches and will be influenced by my interest in the music of Iggy Pop/Lou Reed…
I also create electronic music under the name of Spookboy. You can check it out on Bandcamp.

Thanks a lot to Kev Saunders for taking time to answer my questions.

Restless

Published on 26 November 202327 November 2023

Reviews

Restless – Ready To Go!

Bluelight Records BLR 33205 2 [2020]
Love Like A Bullet – Ready To Go – Crime Don’t Pay – 18 Wheels – One Way – Hellbound – Knee Deep In The Beat – Shake Your Body – Open Road – Bid For Freedom – All Night Long – If I Can Ever Let Her Go

After forty years of service to the cause of Rock’n’Roll, Mark Harman has decided to bring down the curtain on Restless. That’s a shock. It’s hard for me to imagine a world without Restless. Theband has always been part of my musical landscape. I can tell you when and where I bought Why Don’t You Just Rock?
However, this sad news was counterbalanced by the announcement of a new studio album recorded by the four-piece line up of the band, which put on wax Vanish Without A Trace, one of the very best Neo-Rockabilly of all time.
The wait is finally over and here’s Restless’ final studio album the well-named Ready To Go! (I’m optimistic and hope that the band will maybe release a live album or a rarities compilation featuring all line-ups of Restless, one can dream.)
Ready to Go! is a vibrant album with songs penned by each member of Restless. It’s also perfectly recorded, with the band making full use of the studio and trying things with their producer Mika Railo. The sound is crystal clear, and the listener can hear every subtlety from the superb slap bass sound (you hear both the slap and the notes) to the different layers of guitars.
Love Like A Bullet, a rip-roaring boogie-blues with a modern edge, is the perfect opener. The title track is a wild Rockabilly with a Johnny Kidd feel. After a classic opening, Crime Don’t Pay develops into something completely different and very catchy. Restless songs have that quality to evolve into unexpected directions.
Jeff Bayly’s writing contribution is small in terms of quantity but not in terms of quality. His 18 Wheels is a superb Rockabilly tune with a country twang.
As a Buddy Holly fan, I was totally under the charm of One Way, a highly melodic tune with superb guitar arrangement between Harman and Malone. Hellbound is a country tune with a dark ambiance, featuring no less than six guitars and none played by mister Harman. This is the opportunity to mention his superb vocal performance, not only on this song but on the whole album. His talents as a guitarist are often praised, for good reasons, but we tend to forget just how fantastic a singer he is.
Knee Deep (In the Beat) changes the mood and is more on the jazz side. Nice piano playing too.
Shake Your Body is one of the most modern songs of the album. It mixes a threatening feel with a touch of what I would describe as Glamabilly. Surprising at first, but very addictive.
Next is Open Road, a beautiful country tune with a ’60s vibe. Bid For Freedom is more traditional, sounding like a cross between Sun Rockabillies and Marty Robbins. After that moment of calm, All Night Long, a fantastic Rocker with powerful slap bass and slide guitar, takes no prisoners. And here we are, the last tune of the final Restless album. If I Can Ever Let Her Go is a jazz-tinged number with piano and brushed snare. One could easily imagine the band playing it in a small club, in the wee hours of the morning, with the chairs on the tables.
What else can I say? It’s sad to see them go (though I’m sure they have plenty of solo projects) but it’s a good thing to see them leave the scene at the top of their game releasing what is probably one of their best albums.
The LP version has two different songs (Gotta Get Out, and Here She Comes.)
Available at Goofin Records and Raucous.

Restless ‎– Love Like A Bullet

Bluelight Records ‎– BLR 45143 7 [2019]
Love Like A Bullet – Get Up And Get Out

In the recent years, Restless went back to their mid 80’s quartet line-up consisting of Mick Malone on guitar, Jeff Bayly on bass, and, of course, Ben Cooper and Mark Harman, respectively on drums and guitar and vocals. This line-up gave us the best (the Vanish Without a Trace ep that I hold as one of the best neo-rockabilly records ever made) and After Midnight an album that needs to be reconsidered (see review below).
Penned by Cooper, Love Like A Bullet starts with the band shouting “Gotta Give me your love” that reminded me of the opening of What Can You Say? then the tune evolves into a rip-roaring boogie blues with a modern edge. The result is both a classic and a contemporary song.
The b-side, penned by Malone, is exclusive to this single and won’t be available on the forthcoming album, which is a reason good enough to buy it, but the quality of the song is another good reason.
These two songs augur the best for the album that will be released in 2020. And since the band has decided to call it quit, it will probably be their last which is very sad. But if all the songs are from the same wood, Restless will leave the scene on a very high note.

Restless – Figure It Out

Nervous Records NERCD072
Road To Paradise – Guitar Man – Nowhere To Go – Just An Echo – Empty Hands – Better than nothing – Still waiting – I go wild – Shopping Around – Going Back – His Latest Flame – Memoir’ Blue

In 1993, Restless, still with Steve Whitehouse on double bass and Rob Tyler on drums, returned to Nervous Records. But this return to the record company that released their first and classic album does not mark a return to the roots for the trio. Fans of Restless’ supercharged neo-rockabilly will have difficulty recognizing their favourite group.

Let’s start with what’s missed (and really missed): Road to Paradise and its sound straight out of the 80s, and Juste An Echo, a ballad that could be catchy if the production and its guitar solo worthy of Queen didn’t spoil it.

There are still a handful of more nervous pieces, which sound typically Restless. The group seemingly had fun covering Elvis (His Latest Flame and Guitar Man), on which Mark Harman is very comfortable. Added to these two songs are Nowhere To Go, which is close to what the group recorded on Beat My Drum, Going Back, and I Go Wild. The latter, although not great, is compelling. For the rest, Figure It Out is mainly composed of ballads. We go from the Presleyian Shopin Around and its Jordanaires-style choirs to Still Waiting, which leans towards the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly, even if it is not entirely successful. Likewise, Empty Hands and Better Than Nothing are undeniable successes. The album ends with the excellent Memoir Blues with its jazz-for-the-wee-wee-hours atmosphere.

So if you’re expecting another version of Why Don’t You Rock, you’re likely to be disappointed, but you’d be missing out on some excellent ballads, and when you think about it, there are so few bands doing them ( and who do it well), you would be wrong to deprive yourself.

Restless – Live in Tokyo 1989

Foot Tapping Records
Intro-Ghost Town / People Love A Show / Radar Love / All By Myself / Roll Your Monkey Maker / Vanish Without A Trace / That’s Alright / Neutron Dance / Ice Cold / 16 Tons / Baby Please Don’t Go / Edge On You / Money Honey / Little Pig / Long Black Shiny Car / Mr. Blues

This album, with the Sharks‘ Live in Japan and Frenzy‘s Live in Japan tends to make me believe that the best live albums are recorded in Japan with Steve Whitehouse slapping the double bass. If the Meteors Hell in the Pacific could easily prove me wrong on the first point, the Blue Cats’ On A Live Mission certainly confirms the second.
In 1989 Jeff baily left Restless and the band considered calling it quit. But with a tour of Japan scheduled, Ben Cooper and Mark Harman decided to hire a temporary bassist, namely Steve Whitehouse, to honor the booking. As Mark said in an interview to Deathrow “If Steve had said no, then if would have almost certainly been the end of Restless. Thankfully he said yes and after five minutes of rehearsing we went to Japan.”
The result as I said is an excellent live album with a surprinsigly tight band – considering the condition this line-up embarked to the tour – that plays all the classics (you can check, they’re all here) with carefully choosen covers and more unusual stuff like People Love A Show, a song that previously appeared on the b-side of Ice Cold.
Recorded by Pete Gage and mastered with the help of Alan Wilson you can’t go wrong in term of sound. Most of all this recording perfectly completes the other live albums released by Restless.
The choice of Whitehouse proved to me a pretty good one since the band recorded three studio albums, including the excellent Movin’ On, with him.

Restless – Beat My Drum

The Madhouse Recording Co. ‎– NUTA LP 001
Radar Love – Neutron Dance – Beat My Drum – Do What I Do – London Boy – New Orleans – Dance With The Devil – Get It While You Can – Tumblin’ Down – Big Wheel – Crossed Line – Ain’t Got You – Just Can’t Take It

In late 1987, Mick Malone left Restless, and the band was back to a trio again. It didn’t weaken the group, and the following year, Harman, Cooper, and Baily were back with a vengeance with Beat My Drum.
Maybe they thought that after the heavy produced After Midnight they had something to prove, but it found Restless in fine form.
Beat My Drum sounds like a perfect mix of the band’s first three albums. You can find the neo-rockabilly of Why Don’t You Just Rock? on Do What I Do, the modernity of Do You Feel… on Get It While You Can and the pop edge of After Midnight in their covers of Radar Love and Neutron Dance. But most of the time, helped by the clean production of Pete Gage, all these influences merge to create a unique style that will be Restless sound in the forthcoming albums.

Restless – Live at the Klub Foot

Trophy Records TR002
Roll Your Money Maker – Fools Gold – Last Chance Baby – Baby Please Don’t Go – Bottle On The Beach – Long Black Shiny Car – Girl On Death Row – Live A Lie – Ghost Town – Ice Cold – Edge On You – Love Me – Mr Blues

Recently Alan Wilson (of Western Star and the Sharks fame) found a box full of tapes recorded at the Klub Foot, the mecca of Psychobilly and Neo-rockabilly in the mid-80’s. These tapes needed to be restored and cleaned, a very costly process and two of these shows (Batmobile and Sting Rays) were released on Anagram/Cherry Red Records. Sadly the sales weren’t enough for the label and they called it quit. Knowing he had history in his hands, Wilson created a sub-label to his own Western Star to keep on releasing this stuff.
The second release in the serie concerns another well established name on the scene: Restless. I don’t think it’s possible to find someone who doesn’t like Why Don’t You Just Rock? or Do You Feel Restless? They made a name on both rockabilly and psychobilly scenes. When this gig was recorded in September 1984 they were at their finest, the line-up being original members Mark Harman on guitar and Ben Cooper on drums plus bassist Jeff Baily and, freshly recruited, Mick Malone on second guitar. The quartet plays killer tunes one after another (with the exception of the Phantom’s Love Me which doesn’t fit them well – sorry Mark you’re not a wildman). This set even features an original that never appeared on a studio album and written by Malone.
Buy it at Western Star

Restless – Ice Cold

ABC – ABCS 013T [1987]
Ice Cold (The 1987 Remake) – The Hunt Goes On / Stranger – People Love A Show

In March 1987, the four-piece line-up of Restless recorded a new version of Ice Cold. It’s a very different than the one you can find on their debut album. This new version has little to no connection with Rockabilly except for powerful slap bass. It’s almost a brand new song. The tempo is slower, the drum production is more massive, and there’s a slight variation on the melody. The result is surprising at first, but quite addictive.
The Hunt Goes On is an excellent modern-Rockabilly with once again a superb double bass part by Jeff Baily. The weak point is maybe the drums sound that betrays the date of recording.
Let’s put it frankly, Stranger has nothing to do with Rockabilly. It’s in the straight line of the material recorded by the band for After Midnight, but, on the other hand, this is probably one of Restless unsung gem.
Back to modern Rockabilly in the pure Restless style with People Love A Show. This one, with Ice Cold, was also released as a single.
Despite what have been said about this period of Restless, it was one of the band’s most creative peak; this 12” EP, featuring songs that weren’t available elsewhere, proves it.

Restless – Just A Friend

ABC – ABCS 012 [1986]
Just A Friend – The Girl Invisible

Just A Friend, the A-side comes from After Midnight. It has a 80’s pop meets jazz sound that one could find find in some bands of that era. It’s clean and features as usual a superb solo by Mister Harman. The Girl Invisible first appeared on the B-side of the Vanish Without A Trace ep. It’s one of the band’s best modern rockabilly effort.

Restless – After Midnight

ABC [1986]
What Can You Say – Somebody Told Me – Do You Really Need To know? – Trouble rides A Fast Horse – Bye B B By By Bye – How Can I Find You? – You Lose – After Midnight – Dark Blue Sea – The Face – Just A Friend

Back in college, thanks to a friend, I discovered Restless chronologically. I was blown away by Why don’t you just Rock? and amazed by Do You Feel… After that, Paul Harman left the band, which was joined by Jeff Baily on double bass and Mick Malone on second guitar. This line-up released Vanish without a Trace, one of my all-time favorite modern Rockabilly recordings.
Then, the quartet released After Midnight. I was young and dedicated to Rockabilly body and soul. I didn’t understand it and, you know how you are when you’re a teenager, I felt betrayed. Did Restless sell out? Nevertheless, I kept on buying Restless records, and the following albums were, to my relief, more to my tastes.
Now years have passed, I’m older – my quiff is far long gone – and, I hope, wiser. I decided to revisit After Midnight. And I was pleasantly surprised. More than that, it’s actually an excellent album. Sure, if you expect Why Don’t You Just Rock part. 2 you’ll be disappointed, but if you approach it with an open mind you’ll be rewarded with solid melodies and some of Mark Harman’s best guitar parts (listen to the way he jumps on the solo of the title track for example.)
The band also had the ambition to go beyond the Rockabilly label. After Midnight featured more adventurous songs in terms of melody and arrangements, hence the presence of horns, accordion, synths, and keyboards of all sorts. So, yes, maybe they pushed it too far at places, and the production, especially now, seems dated, but you can’t blame an artist for having the will to create.
In 1990, Madhouse reissued the album under the title Kickin’ Into Midnight. It is a remixed version without the horns and most of the arrangements. It’s quite good, maybe more rockin’, but to be honest, I wonder if I don’t prefer the original mix. Anyway, it’s good to have both.
So if you think that anything that Elvis recorded after the Army was crap, you can live without that album, but if you’re curious, open to new melodies, and not too allergic to the production sound of the ’80s, you’ll find plenty of good things.

Restless – Do You Feel Restless?

Nervous Records NERD015 [1984]
Bottle On The Beach – Here I Am – Fool’s Gold – Down At The Swamp – Alabama Jailhouse – Prisoner Of Love – Sob Story – Crack Up ‘n’ Fall To Pieces – 16 Tons – Baby Please Don’t Go – Here I Am (dub version) – Sweet Surprise

Released in 1984 on Nervous records, Do You Feel Restless is the second full-length album from the British trio. It sounds like the modern counterpart of their debut album, with songs that Nervous could have judged too adventurous to be included on their debut album. Ben Cooper, the drummer, takes the lion’s share in terms of songwriting with seven songs out of twelve (the cd reissue features fifteen songs.) The other tunes are covers (Alabama Jailhouse, Baby Please Don’t Go, Sixteen Tons), and one song penned by Mark Harman (Bottle on the Beach) and another by the whole band (Crack Up And Fall to Pieces.)
While Why Don’t You Just Rock remained in the boundaries of Rockabilly with very few modern elements, Do You Feel Restless explore new territories. It flirts with Psychobilly at places, adds a touch of Reggae (Here I Am), and thus creates a new brand of modern Rockabilly that will be their trademark in the following years.

Restless – Why Don’t You Just Rock

Nervous records Ner004 [1982]
It’s A Scam – Ice Cold – Why Don’t You Just Rock! – High Time – Last Chance Baby – Tag Man Tag – Long Black Shiny Car – Face In My Gin – Yellow Cab To Midnight – Morning Comes Slowly – Black Cat – Travellin’ – High Time 2* – Later* – That’s Alright* (*cd only)

Restless debut album, Why Don’t You Just Rock, was like a lightning in a bottle. The band had it all: the songs (mostly penned by singer and guitar player Mark Harman), the talent (with Harman’s guitar everywhere but also a tight rhythm section made of his brother Paul and Ben Cooper on drums) but also the freshness and some form of carefree attitude that you have when you’re a teenager and you play that kind of music. Thus, they brought something new to the genre, making a lively album that rocks, bops, swings and rolls. A 80’s equivalent to Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps (a huge influence on the band).
There’s no need to do a song by song review, each number here is almost a classic: the title track, Ice Cold, Yellow Cab to Midnight, High Time (with its crazy jazzy guitar), Long Black Shiny Car. Unlike many they’re not afraid to play a ballad (Morning Comes Slowly) seriously.
And if you still need to be convinced, just count the numerous band this particular album influenced. They are legions. Restless, with Why Don’t You Just Rock, almost define, with the Blue Cats and a couple more bands, what neo-rockabilly is.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Resless (Mark Harman, Paul Harman, Ben Cooper)

Sharks (the)

Published on 6 November 20206 November 2020

Reviews

The Sharks ‎– Phantom Rockers

Nervous records ‎– NERD 008 [1983]

Moonstomp – Skeleton Rock – It’s All Over Now – Crazy Maybe – Take A Razor To Your Head – Death Row -Love Bites – Short Shark Shock – Ruff Stuff – Phantom Rockers – Charlie! – Slipped Disc – I Can’t Stop – Electrifyin’ – Ghost Train* – We Say Yeah* (* cd only)

There’s a thin line between Neo-Rockabilly and Psychobilly. “Phantom Rockers” the Sharks’ debut album falls exactly somewhere between those two categories.
Their sound is closer to Restless than the wildness of the Meteors or the garage sound of the Ricochets. But the comparison ends here. While Rockabilly bands are happy to sing about girls and boppin’ all night, the Sharks embrace the Psychobilly idiom with a delectable pleasure. Their songs are about vampires, skeletons, ghosts (trains and rockers), and Charlie, a schoolboy who cuts the head of his classmates and family with a chainsaw.
The music is punchy and aggressive yet melodic and clean. Both Wilson and Whitehouse, who share the vocal duties, show a solid mastering of their instruments and a knack for writing songs that stay in your head.
In the end, it doesn’t matter if you call it Psychobilly or Rockabilly or whatever, you must own this album, that’s all you need to know.

The Sharks – First and Last Live

Nervous /Crazy Love [1988 – reissue 2002]
Rock The Joint ~ Pink & Black ~ Tired ‘n’ Sleepy ~ Teenage Boogie ~ Tear It Up ~ Wildcat Rock ~ Sugar Doll ~ We Say Yeah ~ Deathrow ~ Moonstomp ~ Ghost Train ~ Crazy Maybe ~ Buddy Can You Spare A Dime ~ It’s All Over Now ~ Phantom Rockers ~ Chainsaw Charlie ~ I Can’t Stop.

This album captures two shows. The first one has been recorded by the trio at the beginning of their career and the second is the last they played just before they split in 1983, hence the title. It’s mostly made for fans and it’s surely not the best album to discover this great and highly influential band. But it remains very interesting. You can hear a band of teenagers evolving from a good rockabilly cover band (the first show: well played but nothing too exceptional) into a tight psychobilly unit, this time with self penned material and a sound truly of their own.

The Sharks – Live In Japan

Crazy Love CLCD 64143
Deathrow – Bye Bye Girl – Cold Heart – Crazy Maybe – Dealer – Schitzoid Man – Love Bites – Morphine Daze – Side Show Freak – Between Two Worlds – Moonstomp – Surf Caster – Phantom Rockers – Charlie – Time Bomb – Ghost Train – Skeleton Rock.
The psychobilly scene counts very few solid live recordings. The reason can be found in the fact that the majority has been released in the mediocre Live’n’Rockin’ serie on Link records. But one can find some exception like The Meteors Live I, The Quakes’ Live In Tokyo, Long Tall Texans’ Five beans In The Wheel (though it’s half fake), Live’n’Undead by the Nekromantix and on top of the list : “Live In Japan” by the Sharks.  This live recording has been captured on tape in September 1998 in Nagoya and Tokyo, during a successful tour of Japan with the pair Wilson and Whitehouse (both on top form) and Carl Parry (guitar player for Frenzy at the time) on drums who replaces Hodge the original drummer.  The set spans the entire career of the band with “Phantom Rockers” taking the lion’s share. The trio gives a breath of fresh air – and even surpasses the studio recordings – to their classics like Love Bites, Charlie, Moonstomp and breathtaking versions of Skeleton Rock and Ghost Train. The songs from “Colour My Flesh” and “Recreationnal Killer” are well represented too here and the live gives a grittier sound than the well produced studio versions. There’s a spirit of sheer joy (even with songs about vampires, psycho killer, electric chairs…) all along this hour plus of tight musicianship (remember we’re talking about Alan Wilson and Steve Whitehouse) that is highly communicative. In the end it’s more than a great psychobilly album, it’s a great rock’n’roll album (that deals with kids with chainsaw, girls from Transylvannia and so on, okay I know).

The Sharks – Songs from the Sarcophagus

Western Star [2011]
She’s Fallen In Love With A Monster Man – Draculas Daughter – Jack The Ripper – Monster In Black Tights

We’ve waited for years for it. Here it is, at last, a brand new release from those neo-rockabilly/psychobilly masters.
This 4 songs vinyl ep is a tribute to the late Screaming Lord Sutch and who was more designed to do it than the Sharks and Joe Meek specialist Alan Wilson? They manage to give their own rendition of these classics while staying true to Meek and Sutch versions.
A total, definite and absolute must have.

The Sharks – Infamy

Western Star WSRC 057 {2012}
House of Wax – A Tornado Called Smith – Holloway Road – The King Of London – First Men On the Moon – Control – Ship To Shore – Hell Riders – I Can’t Believe You’re Back – Breakin’ Bones – Luck O’ The Irish – Desert Diamond – She’s Fallen In Love With The Monster Man

The Sharks are back! After a 15 year hiatus Alan Wilson (guitar, vocals), Steve Whitehouse (super sonic slap bass, vocals) and Hodge finally got together again to record a new album. I must say that I was a little apprehensive when I put the cd in the player. Could the band match my high expectations, after all they had released some of the best neo/psychobilly album made in the 80’s (Phantom Rockers) and the 90’s (Recreationnal Killer and Color My Flesh). Recently released material on compilation albums and an ep showed they were still in good shape, but could they make it on long distance? It took just one song to see all my doubts vanish. Not only the Sharks were good but they sounded better than ever, benefiting of 30 years of experience in term of producing, playing and writing songs. Most of all they managed to keep what make their identity and reinvent themselves in the same time. You don’t have a band of fifty year old men (or so) who run after their youth, trying to sound like they did in thirty years ago. They don’t come back by pure nostalgia but because they have solid songs to defend (mostly penned by Wilson with the exception of the First Men On the Moon co-written with Whitehouse and Lord Sutch’s She’s Fallen In Love With the Monster Man). Of course there are hot psychobilly numbers like House Of Wax (perfect opener with superb vocals from Whitehouse), A Tornado Called Smith (listen to this guitar solo, it kills!), Men On the Moon and Breakin Bones (already a classic alternating slow and fast parts). Next to this psychobilly gems you’ll find an instrumental mixing Surf guitar with Mariachi music (Hell Riders), 60’s country music with a Bakersfield feel (Desert Diamond), and a great tribute to Joe Meek in the form of a pop song (Holloway Road) featuring female backing vocals and Merv Pepler (Frenzy) playing some strange noises that would have pleased the producer of Telstar. Other real life character also have their own song like the notorious bare knuckle boxer Pretty Boy Shaw (The King Of london with plunking piano) and Ronald Biggs. That’s what I call a casting! More surprising is Luck’o the Irish sung by Doyley (Klingonz) with accordion and penny whistle for a full Pogues ambiance.
It was worth a wait of 15 years..
Comes in a nice digipack with lyrics included.

Sharks (the) – Space Race

Western Star Recording Company ‎– WSRC EP006 [2014]
Mercury Mission – Cosmonaut – Rockabilly Moonquake – First Men On The Moon (Queen Victoria Mix)
The Sharks recorded and released this space-themed 10″ mini-album in 2014.
Sung by Whitehouse, Mercury Mission is the most Psychobilly sounding of all four tracks. Knowing Wilson’s admiration for the work of Joe Meek, it’s no surprise to find a Telstar vibe in the following instrumental titled Cosmonaut.
On the b-side, there’s an excellent neo-rockabilly tune that you could easily imagine sung by the Polecats, whereas the Queen Victoria Mix of First Men On The Moon doesn’t add much to an already great song.
It’s a limited white vinyl edition.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Blue Cats (the) / G-Men / Beltane Fire

Published on 28 October 201928 October 2019

Reviews

The Blue Cats – The Blue Cats

Rockhouse LPL 8011 [1980]
Just Go Wild Over Rock ‘N’ Roll – I’m Gonna Die – Pretty Pretty Baby – I Dreamed You Left Me – Southbound Blues – Boogie Up Roar – Five Days Five Days – I’m Driving Home – Sweet Love On My Mind –
Caldonia – I Sure Miss You – Jumpin’ Little Mama – Juke Joint Jem – Sure-Fire Way – Goofin’ Around
Debut album featuring the Carlo Edwards (guitar), his brother Stef (drums), Clive Osborne (sax, rhythm guitar) and Dave Phillips (vocals and double bass). Excellent from start to finish. A true classic!

The Blue Cats – Fight Back

Rockhouse ROCKCD 8111 [1981]
Fight back – Hot & cold – Tired & sleepy – Love me – Jump cat jump – Up a lazy river – Who stole my blue suede shoes – Who slapped John – Wild night – Thunder & lightning – Life fast die young – Made for rockin’ – Slippin’ in – Idle on parade – Birth of the boogie – Everybody’s rockin’
By the end of 1980 the Blue Cats found themselves in need of a bassist and a singer after the departure of Dave Phillips. They quickly recruited Mitch Caws and Clint Bradley both from The Tennessee Rebels and started to work right away. From that moment they started to experiment and write new material with a more modern edge. Released in 1981 Fight Back is representative of that era.
Half of the album reminds the “old” Blue Cats with covers of the Cochran Brothers, Gene Vincent, Eddie Bond, The Phantom, Marvin Rainwater, that are probably here to satisfy the label who didn’t want to make a big departure from their successful debut album. The other half is by far the most interesting with six neo-rockabilly jewels, sometimes close to early psychobilly, written by Bradley.
One can only regret the light production on some of this tracks and wonder how it would have sounded with more studio time.
Almost three decades later, “Fight Back” remains a key album of the early 80’s and a huge influence on numerous bands.

The Blue Cats – The Tunnel

Nervous records Nercd069 [1992]
Man With A Mission – Galluping Man – Casting My Spell – The Tunnel – Heavens Gate – Cry On The Wind – Car 76 – Take And Give – Bad Mans Money – Wild Dogs Of Kentucky – Rivers Bend
All I Can Do Is Cry

Winning return for the Blue Cats with this 1992 album with Paul Diffin (Sugar Ray Ford) on bass. Every track here is a killer from the manic neo-rockabilly of Man With A Mission and the Tunnel to the tributes to Cliff Gallup (Gallupin’ Man) and Gene Vincent (Cry On the Wind) and what could possibly be the definitive version of All I Can Do Is Cry.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Blue Cats (the) – 1978 The Re-discovered Masters 1984

Count Orlock – COCK XXIII
I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine* – Jumps Giggles and Shouts* – Mystery Train** – I’ll Never Let You Go** – The Saints Rock ‘n’ Roll** – Gotta Git A-Goin’ ** – Baby’s Number One** – I’ve Got No Time For You** – Gotta Go*** – Left Out*** – Eldorado**** – The Master’s Call****
*Blue Cat Trio – **The Blue Cats – ***The G-Men – ****Beltane Fire
The title says it all. It’s a compilation of rare and mostly unissued material by the Blue Cats in all their incarnations. It features songs from their beginning with Dave Phillips as a Rockabilly trio. The songs with Clind Bradley easily shows they could have topped any weekender as a traditionnal Rockabilly band. Instead as we know it they continue to explore and pushed the boundaries to create their unique neo-rockabilly sound. It culminates with the G-Men, a band that created something new that had a lasting impact on the Psychobilly scene with Gotta Go being covered by Frenzy and Long Tall Texans.
Two songs by Beltane Fire find Bradley in his natural element singing Marty Robbins tunes.

Blue Cats (the) – Best Dawn Yet

Blue Light Records BLR 33165 2
Billy Ruffians – The Norton Spirit – Turn My Back On You – Blue Prairie – My Dark Dark Mind – Badon Hill – Long Road Home – Captain Blood – Burnette – Following Ahab – Secret Agent Man – Lonesome Desperado

Twenty years after the release of the Tunnel, a landmark in the history of modern Rockabilly, the Blue Cats returned with a new double bass player (Steve Whitehouse of Frenzy and the Sharks) and a new album.
Since Clint Bradley joined the band, the Blue Cats always tried to push the boundaries of the genre while keeping the spirit and the essence of true Rock’n’Roll. And this platter doesn’t disappoint. Modern yet classic.
Billy Ruffian is a fantastic piece of modern Rockabilly with exciting changes in the melody, with what I call “typical Carlo Edwards riffs.” The rhythm section is powerful and demonstrates that Steve Whitehouse was the right choice to succeed to Mitch Caws and Paul Diffin. It could be hard to follow such an opener, but not for Bradley and his gang. The Norton Spirit is a powerful rocker. And even with a straight-ahead rocker like this that lets very little margin to the singer, Bradley proves he’s one of the best singers on the rockin’ scene today.
Billy Fury’s Turn My Back On You is pure Rockabilly gold straight from the ’50s with echo and hiccups.
The Sons of the Pioneers’ Blue Prairie seems tailored-made for Bradley’s voice, and it’s the occasion to hear Carlo Edwards play some steel-guitar.
My Dark Dark Mind is another slice of modern Rockabilly. This one features Paul Diffin on bass, so it’s probably an old recording.
The Blue Cats always took care to write different lyrics than your usual “love my Cadillac” thing. Billy Ruffians evoked Trafalgar and Nelson, and Badon Hill is about King Arthur.
Long Road Home is not the most original track of the album, but once again, the playing and the production are flawless. Captain Blood takes the listener back to the Beltane Fire days with Mitch Caws on bass. A good one, though the production is a bit too much for me. Burnette is a tribute to Johnny Burnette and Grady Martin. No big surprise but very well done and pleasant. Though, maybe, I find Gallupin’ Man their tribute to Gene Vincent and Cliff Gallup on the Tunnel more interesting.
After a rocking Secret Agent Man, the album ends with Lonesome Desperado; a superb Marty Robbins influenced tune on which Bradley’s voice is more eloquent than ever.