Look-in writer John Doyle recalls Leicester's biggest band from days of old - and comes bang up-to-date on their present-day success.
Showaddywaddy Clean Up
Showaddywaddy have shown the way to do it - yet again - with their current hit 'A Little Bit Of Soap' currently jiving its way skyward in the charts.
'A Little Bit Of Soap', released in June, follows 'I Wonder Why', which itself reached No 2. Showaddywaddy's track-record is extremely impressive with four out of their last five records gaining either first or second billing in the charts.... and this doesn't include the newie! 'Under The Moon Of Love' sold one million copies throughout early 1977 and was their first No 1 hit.
Simply writing about Showaddywaddy's particular brand of fast-moving nostalgia brings back some pleasant memories for me. I saw most of todays line-up in Leicester over six years ago when they were still two separate groups, The Choice and The Golden Hammers (both a great deal easier to spell than Sha-Shu-Showaddywaddy). I can clearly remember watching both groups in the same place on the same evening, and the best part was their jam session together at the end of the evening. Furthermore, shortly after they combined resources to form the slick eight-man band we know today who swept clean on New Faces, a few years ago. I saw them, or rather soaked them up, at the Top Rank dancehall in Leicester. They were electric! They sang and danced their "home crowd" into a frenzy which ran over into four or five encores. Most people thoroughly enjoy rock'n'roll purely for the stomp and entertainment - that's what Showaddywaddy sell and they sell it superbly. Talking of "home crowds", by the way, the first time I saw drummer Romeo Challenger was at Leicester City's football ground, Filbert Street, when he came streaming down the wing as part of the Leicester Youth Team. Needless to say, he was as skilful in football boots as he is in crepe-soled boppers.
Showaddywaddy seem to have mastered both recording and stage techniques in an extraordinary way. Their stage show verges on the "send up" of rock'n'roll and they certainly include as many laughs in their act as they can force in. However, it doesn't rest there. When singer Dave Bartram was talking about the original idea of the band he said, "We thought it would be much more fun to put together an act in great show-business tradition, to give the crowd a good night out, something they could really enjoy. On stage we swop around alot, do a lot of routines." They use the rock'n'roll sound because they enjoy it - it's immediate and forceful and they are determined that their audience will enjoy it as well. Their album-audience must certainly enjoy the sound because collectively it has bought some 10 million LP's throughout the world - and 3 and a half million in Britain alone.
Their hits have included a broad mixture of "something new, something old". Early records such as 'Hey Rock and Roll', 'Rock and Roll Lady', 'Hey Mister Christmas' and 'Sweet Music' they wrote themselves, while others including 'You Got What It Takes' and Dancin' Party' are rearrangements of standard rock'n'roll classics. 'A Little Bit Of Soap' is another old classic which has been given the Showaddywaddy treatment.
Unlike many of the major bands today Showaddywaddy are not great publicity seekers. They are willing to accept any publicity that comes their way, but beyond that... well, the group's thinking is that their shows and record sales speak louder than words. In terms of actually getting around the country, Showaddywaddy must be one of the hardest working and widest travelling groups in the business. Last year they gave some 250 shows and this year they are well on the way to matching that. That means, apart from a couple of week's holiday, they are performing almost every night. That's a hectic schedule and for an eight-man band with tons of equipment, something of an organisational nightmare.
When they travel, the equipment and clothes go ahead in trucks, while the band race here and there in two huge Lincolns, the Rolls Royce of American cars. Deciding who goes with who is no problem, because the four who were originally in The Choice travel together, likewise the four who were in The Golden Hammers. It's a happy arrangement and suits them all.
On a very human note, the band was approached in the spring to visit 17 year old Sandra Knibb who had been injured in a car smash and was in a deep coma. Showaddywaddy visited her, although she was still completely unconscious, and their records were played non-stop by her bedside. After 19 days Sandra pulled out of the coma. Now she is well on the way to a full recovery and as Showaddywaddy's No1 fan, has been invited by the boys to one of their future big shows as the groups guest.
Finally another piece of nostalgia, Showaddywaddy's old single and album, which are both entitled Trocadero, are named after an infamous cinema house in Leicester. No great connection there.... except that one very balmy summer night, years ago, my brother and I watched the place roar in to flames and burn itself to the ground. Who knows, maybe one of the Leicester born lads - Malcolm Allured, Billy Gask, Al James and Trevor Oakes - was standing close by, equally hypnotised by the flames, and remembered that night years later when choosing a record title.