When I were a lad, all I knew of rock was hidden amongst the bubblegum pop fluff, naughty reggae rhymes and sickly sweet soul on those Music For Pleasure LP’s I now realise were my pre-teeny self’s life blood. Deep amongst their 10p grooves lay rough approximations of rock smashes by legends like The Who and Free or the not so legendary Frijid Pink and Grand Funk. Dismissed by rock snobs as chart fodder, yet loved by boys of a certain age, most of them also happened to be the staple diet of school bands everywhere and my own band Midnight Creeper were no different.
Certainly up to ’75, all of these were our staple diet too, even though we didn’t have a clue what we were doing and my drumming was strictly from the Mo Tucker school of rock, not because I was cool but because I was shit. The fact that the best school bands (my schools were called T.N.T.) were no more than human jukeboxes and the ultimate accolade was ‘They sound just like the record’ tells you everything you ever need to know about the mid 70’s and these songs. They exist in a kind of weird popular rock wasteland, sneered at by aficionados’, forgotten by everyone else, which is why they are some of my very darkest Secret Pleasures. I mean, only a complete idiot would ever admit to liking a Quo song wouldn’t they?
1. Frijid Pink / House Of The Rising Sun / March 1970
2. Atomic Rooster / The Devils Answer / July 1971
3. Deep Purple / Fireball / August 1971
4. Uriah Heep / Easy Livin’ / May 1972
5. Argent / Hold Your Head Up / April 1972
6. Free / Little Bit Of Love / May 1972
7. The Who / Join Together / June 1972
8. Focus / Hocus Pocus / January 1973
9. Nazareth / Woke Up This Morning / May 1973
10. Edgar Winter Group / Frankenstein / May 1973
11. Queen / Son And Daughter / July 1973
12. Status Quo / Softer Ride / September 1973
13. Grand Funk / The Locomotion / March 1974
14. Bad Company / Can’t Get Enough / May 1974
15. Bachman Turner Overdrive / You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet / August 1974
16. Aerosmith / Walk This Way / April 1975
17. Sweet / Action / July 1975
18. Thin Lizzy / Rosalie / August 1975
19. Steve Miller Band / Rock’N’Me / May 1976
20. Ram Jam / Black Betty / July 1977
21. Whitesnake / Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City / June 1978
22. Robert Palmer / Bad Case Of Loving You / July 1979
