Music videos that feature Thunderbirds

[Basvarken]

A T-bird with Smokie. Who would have thought 

[gearHed289]

Smokie is a new one on me. I like the guy's voice. Nice, simple music. I miss that.

[Basvarken]

They had a string of hits in Europe during the seventies. I think they (or at least their lead singer) are still very popular in Germany.

[Highlander]

Mostly known as a "pop" act here...

[uwe]

They had a string of hits in Europe during the seventies. I think they (or at least their lead singer) are still very popular in Germany.

I always dug them, though they were (or perhaps because they were) Chinn/Chapman hit factory. The bass player had a habit of playing a different bass whenever a new single came out, much like Steve Priest. They ruled Germany for a while indeed and Chris Norman and whatever Smokie remnants there are still do the oldies circuit here.

Smokie's faux country sound was never really intended for the States, the home of the original music - that is why their management never really attempted to crack the US market. One of the songs initially written for them became a minor hit for early Pat Benatar (still sans leotard, for those lecherous louts of you expectin' somethin'!) though.





Smokie's tell-tale harmony backing vocals were for a while on almost all RAK recordings, you can hear them here (and of course Suzi's If You Can't Give Me Love is in essence a Smokie sound song):





Finally, even Yanks know this one!

[uwe]

Rob just didn't know about Smokie and the TBird because he pretends to only listen to cool stuff (Led Zep, Thin Lizzy & Mothers Finest mostly ), not teeny bop fodder like I still do, yikes!    That is why he doesn't appreciate the greatness of Racey (love the bubbly bass!)





or BCR either ...



Let's not even talk about Kenny!



Or Slik, a band Midge Ure (yup, he of Vienna and Band Aid fame) wants us to forget about too!



Whenever I go to a Midge Ure concert I fervently hope that he has the guts to do this number as a spoof encore - he always chickens out. 

[uwe]

Honorary mention: Hello!

[4stringer77]

I’d like to talk about Kenny, or the bass in the video at least. Seems like a two tone or tobacco burst precision with a black guard. I didn’t think those even existed. Maybe the the red is just obscured by the video quality.
This music is so corny and weird. Some nice Basses though. The one in the Slik vid looks like it’s more gold than natural, which is a nice departure from the norm. 

[uwe]

"This music is so corny and weird."

Of course it is, but that is part of its charm. We're talking about the Atlantic mirror image to, say, 1910 Fruitgum Company, Archies, McCoys etc, 70ies glam teeny bop was Europe's answer to US bubblegum. It followed a recipe: loud drums, catchy sing-along choruses, Rick Nelson type guitar riffs, lots of harmony double-tracking of lead guitar lines, a certain "fairground merriment" in the (often overblown) arrangements and the instrumentation, novelty lyrics that picked up on teenage slang, but didn't really attempt to make sense. As teeny bopper music often is, glam rock was actually quite retro, the actual hit factory songwriting was firmly planted in 50ies and 60ies rock'n'roll and pop, even Doo-wop craft. BTW: Qualitywise, Kenny were certainly at the bottom of the heap even as glam rock goes. (BCR's group performance, otoh, was underrated IMHO - lost behind all the tartan crap and girly screaming. I'm with Joey Ramone who liked them too!)

Smokie, The Sweet, Mud and Suzi Quatro all had the same songwriting and production team (and sometimes the same session cracks playing on their singles) as did BCR and Slik (the Slik song posted above was initially slated for the Rollers and you can sure hear it!).

[Basvarken]

Rob just didn't know about Smokie and the TBird because he pretends to only listen to cool stuff (Led Zep, Thin Lizzy & Mothers Finest mostly ), not teeny bop fodder like I still do, yikes!    That is why he doesn't appreciate the greatness of Racey (love the bubbly bass!)

I'm a few years younger than you are Uwe.
When the teeny bopper bands had their hey-day I just wasn't really that interested.
I had a few older nieces who had their entire rooms covered in posters of Smokie, Mud, Bay City Rollers, Sweet and Rubettes (how could forget them!) Maybe that made me not want to listen to these bands too much when I was 9 years old?

Racey was a little bit later. But even cornier.
When Racey hit the scene I was into punk. Bands like Sham 69, UK Subs, Sex Pistols had my attention back then.

In hindsight I have to admit the Smokie had some good songs. And they seem decent players. Something you couldn't say of all the Chinn/Chapman pupils.

[uwe]

Smokie were actually an unknown, recording deal-less hard rock band in the Faces vein when Chinn-Chapman "reinvented" them. Same with Hello, they were crunchy pub rockers when Russ Ballard (who penned New York Groove) discovered them as a possible vehicle for his songwriting.

And Sweet always wanted to be Deep Purple, but no one let them/took them serious with it! Which is why they then decided that they would like to be like 10cc, which didn't work out either.

And I remember a Melody Maker interview from the mid-seventies where even Eric Faulkner (reasonably competent lead guitarist of the Bay City Rollers) was adamant about his blues and hard rock pedigree ("I have left those 10 minute guitar solos on stage already behind me!"). That was the time when the Rollers saw their own best-used-before-date running out, clambering for muso recognition (and Jimmy Iovine as a producer to mature their sound).

The trouble with teeny bop bands is their comparatively short shelf life - once your audience's periods set in, your period with them runs (pun non-intended for Chrissakes!) out. What a rag it is getting old ... (ok, that one was intended ...  ).

[uwe]

I always liked the story of the Living Next Door to Alice lyric ... (before they played that song to death and the horrible "who the f*** is Alice?"-version became popular).



And Clout ("Are the perms cheaper if the whole band gets them?") mirrored the exact same theme a few years later ...



Uwe and his rubbish music taste! 

[Basvarken]

the horrible "who the f*** is Alice?".

That was the blame of Dutch musician/producer Peter Koelewijn. At that time already was a terribly outdated has been with a questionable musical reputation. He made that horrible version under the name Gompie.

[4stringer77]

"This music is so corny and weird."

Of course it is, but that is part of its charm. We're talking about the Atlantic mirror image to, say, 1910 Fruitgum Company, Archies, McCoys etc, 70ies glam teeny bop was Europe's answer to US bubblegum. It followed a recipe: loud drums, catchy sing-along choruses, Rick Nelson type guitar riffs, lots of harmony double-tracking of lead guitar lines, a certain "fairground merriment" in the (often overblown) arrangements and the instrumentation, novelty lyrics that picked up on teenage slang, but didn't really attempt to make sense. As teeny bopper music often is, glam rock was actually quite retro, the actual hit factory songwriting was firmly planted in 50ies and 60ies rock'n'roll and pop, even Doo-wop craft. BTW: Qualitywise, Kenny were certainly at the bottom of the heap even as glam rock goes. (BCR's group performance, otoh, was underrated IMHO - lost behind all the tartan crap and girly screaming. I'm with Joey Ramone who liked them too!)

Smokie, The Sweet, Mud and Suzi Quatro all had the same songwriting and production team (and sometimes the same session cracks playing on their singles) as did BCR and Slik (the Slik song posted above was initially slated for the Rollers and you can sure hear it!).

Thanks for the very thorough and logical synopsis. So where did yacht rock evolve from? An evolution of the same pop origins for a more mature audience?

[uwe]

Yacht rock is dumbed down Steely Dan for the masses. With bad ears, but a good stereo.

But even in its blander forms it is skillfully made (most Yank music is) und it has a certain longevity to it. Glam rock/pop was for the moment only, yacht cruises can last forever.