THE TARNEY/SPENCER BAND
''THREE'S A CROWD''
1978
36:22
1 - Bye Bye Now, My Sweet Love/3:17
2 - Takin' Me Back/3:01
3 - It's Really You/3:51
4 - We Believe In Love/3:49
5 - Maybe I'm Right/3:31
6 - I Can Hear Love/3:25
7 - Set the Minstrel Free/3:56
8 - Magic Still Runs Through Your Head/2:58
9 - Capital Shame/5:02
10 - Easier for You/3:07
Lynton Naiff/Strings Arrangement
Trevor Spencer/Drums, Electronic Drums [Syndrums], Percussion
Special Thanks To The Following Musicians For Their Additional Help/Colin Cooper, Derek Holt, Joe Polland, John Cuffley, John Perry (7),
Lynton Naiff, Peter Haycock*, Peter Filleul, Stu Claver*, Tony Rivers
Alan Tarney/Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar, Synthesizer
BIOGRAPHY
By Wikipedia
Tarney-Spencer Band was an Australian rock band composed of Trevor Spencer and Alan Tarney in the late 1970s. The band recorded three albums, and is notable for the song "No Time to Lose" which received substantial air-play in the USA on Album-oriented rock radio stations, and charted twice on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Alan and Trevor began working as a duo in 1975. Their first, eponymous album Tarney and Spencer was released in 1976 in the UK only, on the Bradley's Records on the Bradley's label, produced by Dave Mackay and features the Shadows's (during 1977-2004) piano/keyboards player, Cliff Hall on Keyboards. Tarney played lead, rhythm and bass guitars during these sessions in London. The master tape of this album (and all other Bradleys albums were/was) was destroyed by a senior employee of Bradleys Records on the express orders of the CEO of Bradleys records in 1976. However, fortuitously for posterity, a recording engineer of this session, impressed by the quality of the music of this album, took a (reel-to-reel tape) back-up copy of the master tape which was subsequently returned to Castle Communications in 2003.
In 1976 Tarney and Spencer's first UK single I'm your man rock and roll nearly reached the bottom portion of the top 30 national UK chart thus, unusually at that time, enabling them to make a one-off appearance on BBC1's Top Of The Pops introduced by Tony Blackburn. Both Tarney and Spencer successfully mimed their near-hit single with Tarney 'playing' an un-amplified Sunburst Fender Stratocaster and Spencer 'playing' a Drum-kit with pieces of cardboard covering all the drum-skins by themselves with absolutely no session musicians covering the bass guitar or keyboards to visually fill the gaps. Tony Blackburn ended this somewhat bizarre (even by TOTP standards) performance by informing the viewers that Tarney played all the other instruments on the single. This TOTP appearance was repeated on Friday April 1, 2011 courtesy of a series of 1976 TOTP re-runs on BBC4 TV.
In 1978 the Tarney / Spencer Band signed a contract with A&M Records for 10 albums but only completed 2 albums after being un-expectantly released from their contract by A&M. The remainder of these eight albums were subsequently completed by mutual agreement with A&M with other British artists e.g. Leo Sayer(one album), Barbara Dickson(two albums), Cliff Richard(two albums) and Charlie Dore(70% of one album).
In 1978 the single "Takin' me Back" reached the top 10 on the South African singles charts. What was unusual though was that exactly the same song, by a different band named Sweet Chocolate, was on the charts at exactly the same time, and climbed higher than the Tarney-Spencer version.
The band's second 1978 album (1st for A&M), recorded in London, was titled Three's a Crowd, produced by David Kershenbaum and featured cover art with rounded corners, shaped like an American style cafe menu card. The album received modest airplay on AOR radio station in the US and reached #174 on Billboard Magazine's album chart. A single from the album, "It's Really You" hit #86 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the UK and Europe it failed to chart and none of the singles received any airplay on Radio1 or Capital Radio. The British/European version of this album had conventional square corners. Members of the Climax Blues Band guested on this album.
The third album, Run For Your Life (2nd for A&M), recorded in the USA, again produced by David Kershenbaum appeared in 1979. Again, with airplay at AOR radio, the album charted in the US reaching #181. One of the album's tracks, "No Time To Lose" was released as a single and rose to number #84 on the singles chart. The album cover sleeve was manufactured with four slightly different cover sleeves with the album title in one of four colors: red, green, silver, and gold with a library of paper-back novels as an artwork theme. The British version of this album sleeve is completely different with a female shin with stiletto shoe avoiding an oncoming sports car.
After the release of a non-LP single, "Cathy's Clown" b/w "If there's anything I can do", with picture sleeve, this time produced by Bruce Welch, in 1979, the band was released from their contract with A&M and discontinued their work together as Tarney-Spencer Band. The Cathy's Clown single received a substantial and solid six weeks of intensive air play on London's Capital Radio (95.8FM/194 mW) but again just missed the bottom end of the national chart.
Two years after the band broke up, the track "No Time To Lose" got the attention of MTV. In 1981, when MTV launched, the channel occasionally aired a video clip for "No Time To Lose". A&M then reissued the track as a single. The song charted a second time on Billboard's Hot 100, fairing slightly better than the first time around, reaching #74.
Their biggest achievement, "No Time To Lose" has never officially seen mainstream release on CD, either as part of the Run For Your Life album or on a various artist compilation (though a very limited import edition of Run For Your Life with questionable legitimacy was issued in the early 90s - see below).
During the 1990s all three Tarney/Spencer band (aka Tarney and Spencer) albums were 'reissued' on CD on the illegal Fertile Crescent label in Canada resulting in Police prosecutions.
TO THE TOP
''THREE'S A CROWD''
1978
36:22
1 - Bye Bye Now, My Sweet Love/3:17
2 - Takin' Me Back/3:01
3 - It's Really You/3:51
4 - We Believe In Love/3:49
5 - Maybe I'm Right/3:31
6 - I Can Hear Love/3:25
7 - Set the Minstrel Free/3:56
8 - Magic Still Runs Through Your Head/2:58
9 - Capital Shame/5:02
10 - Easier for You/3:07
Lynton Naiff/Strings Arrangement
Trevor Spencer/Drums, Electronic Drums [Syndrums], Percussion
Special Thanks To The Following Musicians For Their Additional Help/Colin Cooper, Derek Holt, Joe Polland, John Cuffley, John Perry (7),
Lynton Naiff, Peter Haycock*, Peter Filleul, Stu Claver*, Tony Rivers
Alan Tarney/Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar, Synthesizer
BIOGRAPHY
By Wikipedia
Tarney-Spencer Band was an Australian rock band composed of Trevor Spencer and Alan Tarney in the late 1970s. The band recorded three albums, and is notable for the song "No Time to Lose" which received substantial air-play in the USA on Album-oriented rock radio stations, and charted twice on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Alan and Trevor began working as a duo in 1975. Their first, eponymous album Tarney and Spencer was released in 1976 in the UK only, on the Bradley's Records on the Bradley's label, produced by Dave Mackay and features the Shadows's (during 1977-2004) piano/keyboards player, Cliff Hall on Keyboards. Tarney played lead, rhythm and bass guitars during these sessions in London. The master tape of this album (and all other Bradleys albums were/was) was destroyed by a senior employee of Bradleys Records on the express orders of the CEO of Bradleys records in 1976. However, fortuitously for posterity, a recording engineer of this session, impressed by the quality of the music of this album, took a (reel-to-reel tape) back-up copy of the master tape which was subsequently returned to Castle Communications in 2003.
In 1976 Tarney and Spencer's first UK single I'm your man rock and roll nearly reached the bottom portion of the top 30 national UK chart thus, unusually at that time, enabling them to make a one-off appearance on BBC1's Top Of The Pops introduced by Tony Blackburn. Both Tarney and Spencer successfully mimed their near-hit single with Tarney 'playing' an un-amplified Sunburst Fender Stratocaster and Spencer 'playing' a Drum-kit with pieces of cardboard covering all the drum-skins by themselves with absolutely no session musicians covering the bass guitar or keyboards to visually fill the gaps. Tony Blackburn ended this somewhat bizarre (even by TOTP standards) performance by informing the viewers that Tarney played all the other instruments on the single. This TOTP appearance was repeated on Friday April 1, 2011 courtesy of a series of 1976 TOTP re-runs on BBC4 TV.
In 1978 the Tarney / Spencer Band signed a contract with A&M Records for 10 albums but only completed 2 albums after being un-expectantly released from their contract by A&M. The remainder of these eight albums were subsequently completed by mutual agreement with A&M with other British artists e.g. Leo Sayer(one album), Barbara Dickson(two albums), Cliff Richard(two albums) and Charlie Dore(70% of one album).
In 1978 the single "Takin' me Back" reached the top 10 on the South African singles charts. What was unusual though was that exactly the same song, by a different band named Sweet Chocolate, was on the charts at exactly the same time, and climbed higher than the Tarney-Spencer version.
The band's second 1978 album (1st for A&M), recorded in London, was titled Three's a Crowd, produced by David Kershenbaum and featured cover art with rounded corners, shaped like an American style cafe menu card. The album received modest airplay on AOR radio station in the US and reached #174 on Billboard Magazine's album chart. A single from the album, "It's Really You" hit #86 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the UK and Europe it failed to chart and none of the singles received any airplay on Radio1 or Capital Radio. The British/European version of this album had conventional square corners. Members of the Climax Blues Band guested on this album.
The third album, Run For Your Life (2nd for A&M), recorded in the USA, again produced by David Kershenbaum appeared in 1979. Again, with airplay at AOR radio, the album charted in the US reaching #181. One of the album's tracks, "No Time To Lose" was released as a single and rose to number #84 on the singles chart. The album cover sleeve was manufactured with four slightly different cover sleeves with the album title in one of four colors: red, green, silver, and gold with a library of paper-back novels as an artwork theme. The British version of this album sleeve is completely different with a female shin with stiletto shoe avoiding an oncoming sports car.
After the release of a non-LP single, "Cathy's Clown" b/w "If there's anything I can do", with picture sleeve, this time produced by Bruce Welch, in 1979, the band was released from their contract with A&M and discontinued their work together as Tarney-Spencer Band. The Cathy's Clown single received a substantial and solid six weeks of intensive air play on London's Capital Radio (95.8FM/194 mW) but again just missed the bottom end of the national chart.
Two years after the band broke up, the track "No Time To Lose" got the attention of MTV. In 1981, when MTV launched, the channel occasionally aired a video clip for "No Time To Lose". A&M then reissued the track as a single. The song charted a second time on Billboard's Hot 100, fairing slightly better than the first time around, reaching #74.
Their biggest achievement, "No Time To Lose" has never officially seen mainstream release on CD, either as part of the Run For Your Life album or on a various artist compilation (though a very limited import edition of Run For Your Life with questionable legitimacy was issued in the early 90s - see below).
During the 1990s all three Tarney/Spencer band (aka Tarney and Spencer) albums were 'reissued' on CD on the illegal Fertile Crescent label in Canada resulting in Police prosecutions.
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2 comments :
Thank you oldrocker man!!!
Thank you oldrocker man!!!
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