Produced by George Martin
5 Stars
Formed in Bristol, England in 1968, Stackridge was one of those wonderfully quaint rock bands that could only have been British in their frightfully stiff upper lip way on the recorded plain.
They had already recorded two moderately successful albums, but in 1974 they caught the attention of George Martin, the famous fifth Beatle, who held down the producer’s role for the entire Beatles’ career. Intrigued, he offered to produce Stackridge’s third album, making them the first band he had done so since the Beatles’ break up.
The results were a delight.
The album climbed the British Charts to number 23. The songs exude charm, enticing all that hear them with their beauty and light humour. The musicianship was superb, giving the producer a nice re-entry into the world of rock’n’roll, even though some songs were almost lullabies. The ‘Indifferent Hedgehog’ being a gorgeous example.
‘God Speed the Plough’ is one of those instrumentals that settle in your brain, soothing away your pain.
The ‘Galloping Gaucho’ takes you down to the fairground in Westin – Super Mare.
Ten classic examples of British eccentricity. Melts the hearts of many.
Once the album is finished, there are then three bonus tracks. The middle one, ‘C’est La Vie,’ is a lovely little acoustic verse.
But the other two? Well, this is where the concept changes—flesh of a different beast.
On stage, Stackridge would expertly play their songs for about an hour. Then in the blink of an eye, the band took on a new skin.
Suddenly there were six men on stage in boots, braces and handkerchiefs tied over their heads like Michael Palin’s famous character in Monty Python, and the place went wild. We really should have expected it with people in the band called Mutter, Crun and even Sparkle.
Mike Evans would put down his violin to audition his yodeling skills (or lack of) for the band and the audience. This would be followed by Mutter taking center stage to introduce the new Stackridge dance craze, ‘The Stanley.’
It’s amazingly simple – you simply stomped from one foot to the other, screaming at the top of your voice, “Do The Stanley.”
Worse or better was to follow. For a two-mile radius around the venue, all the dustbin lids would be borrowed for the live show finale, ‘Let There Be Lids.’ This consisted of a driving beat interwoven with jigs and reels whilst everybody, the band and especially the audience, bashed their borrowed lids together as loudly and often as possible.
On one particular evening, this dog remembers being enthralled by the whole procedure and had already armed himself with said lids. As most will know, Mott is a timid cowardly soul but, on this occasion, not when an errant lid caught him full in the face. Claret went everywhere, but apologies were waived away, and the banging carried on with even more excitement. Mind you, the air was very fragrant that night.
This, children, is what we used to do on a Saturday night before we had the Internet and Facebook.
Sadly for Stackridge, punk rock arrived in 1976 and stopped all this nonsense.
Written by Mott the Dog from the Darkside of Pattaya
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