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Thunderclap Newman – Hollywood Dream – Confessions Of A Record Thief

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On the one-hit wonders thread Thunderclap Newman’s Something In The Air was mentioned and Mr. Saucecraft spoke of their only LP in disparaging tones.

I’d like to redress the balance here.

Now read on…

http://i627.photobucket.com/albums/tt351/mojoworking01/ThunderclapNewman-HollywoodDream1_zpskpjd0blv.jpg

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  2. For a couple of years from 1969-71 my best mate Charlie used to run the UK branch of the James Brown fan club. Once a month he was allowed office space at Polydor Records’ swanky West End HQ to mail out the newsletters etc. This was not only pre-computers of course, but pre-photocopiers too, so Charlie would crank out the newsletters by hand on a noisy Gestetner machine. It was a labour intensive process, so he often invited me along to help him stuff the envelopes. I always enjoyed these trips as Polydor was like a music fan’s Aladdin’s cave and there was always plenty of scope for a little “bunce” if you get my drift. They probably call it “perks of the job” these days.

    The Polydor offices occupied several floors of an office block in Stratford Place, a curious cul-de-sac down at the Bond Street end of Oxford Street and just a stone’s throw from the original HMV shop. We always timed our visits for lunchtime when we knew the staff would be down the pub and the place was quiet. The label was booming at the time and in every office desk was groaning under the weight of promo records, posters and general music paraphernalia .

    Really, there was stuff EVERYWHERE. This was October 1970 and here was a dozen copies of the yet-to-be-released Rory Gallagher single Sinner Boy. Over there was a box of a now unfeasibly rare Tony Williams Lifetime 45 One World (featuring Jack Bruce and John McLaughlin!). On the floor I tripped over a full carton of 25 copies of the Derek & the Dominos single Tell The Truth, the Phil Spector produced version that was immediately withdrawn on release and would soon rocket in value. You get the picture. “Stick ’em in yer bag!” barked Charlie over the clank and wheeze of the Gestetner.

    Charlie was like a rock & roll Arthur Daley (actually he pre-dated Arthur by several years, come to think of it) and his barrow boy mentality meant he never missed the chance to earn a few bob.

    This went on for a while as we helped ourselves to whatever records we fancied. Then I saw it: a white label LP in a plain white cover. Written on the sleeve in pencil was “Thunderclap Newman – Hollywood Dream”. “This is that band who did Something In The Air, isn’t it?” I said, referring to the big hit of May 1970, five months earlier. “This must be their new LP”. “Stick it in yer bag!” repeated Charlie again, without looking up from his work.

    With Charlie keeping a weather eye out for the uniformed doorman, we eventually left Polydor weighed down but well pleased with our monthly haul of illicit records. In the coming days the Thunderclap Newman LP bothered me though. I didn’t like the white sleeve and determined to secure a proper cover for it. As luck would have it, I worked on Old Compton Street at the time just a few doors away from the offices of Track Records.

    Despite being under the Polydor umbrella, Track was a label in its own right of course, handling Hendrix, The Who and (now) Thunderclap Newman, but its releases were wholly distributed by Polydor, hence I’d found the white label promo there. So one lunchtime a few days later, I breezed into the Track Records reception as brazenly as you like and asked if they had any spare sleeves for Hollywood Dream (you could do that kind of thing in those days). “Hang on a minute” said the bored receptionist and she clicked an extension and said something I didn’t catch into the intercom. Next minute a bloke came bounding down the stairs. “I hear you have a copy of the Thunderclap Newman LP” he said, eyeing me quizzically. “Yeah, that’s right” I answered cheerily, “but the thing is, I don’t have a sleeve, see”. “Well, that’s funny, the record is not released until next week, so perhaps you can explain how you have a copy already?” he fired back.

    “I, I, er, I, I, I, er, have a mate who works at, er, Polydor and he gave me his copy” I blustered, thinking on my feet. I figured it was close enough to the truth to be plausible. After a long pause he bought the story and said “OK come back next week and we’ll give you one” and he bounded back up the stairs.

    The Track man was true to his word and the Thunderclap Newman sleeve was waiting for me in reception a week later. Finally, the package was complete and what a great unassuming little record it was. I loved it all: the ten minute version of Accidents, the Basement Tapes Dylan cover of Open The Door Homer, the guitar instrumentals and of course the slightly longer version of Something In The Air. And what a band! Speedy Keen’s quirky songwriting and reedy high-pitched vocals, the guitar wizardry of future McCartney sideman Jimmy McCulloch and the strangely incongruous piano playing of Andy Newman himself. They sounded like nothing else I’d ever heard.

    I treasured that album for decades until the CD era dawned and Hollywood Dream because available with pristine sound and BONUS TRACKS! Without a moment’s hesitation or regret I sold the white label LP for fifty quid on eBay. The few remaining Derek & Dominoes withdrawn singles went the same way as well, as the tracks became available on the Clapton Crossroads box set (hey, a guy’s got to eat).

    But It’s still a fine album and occasionally gets pulled out for a spin to this day. Thank you Polydor and thank you Track records.

  6. Great story Johnny. Twas I who posted ‘Something in the Air’ on the One Hit Wonders thread. I think that the album is a one-off, like the single. Newman’s rollocking piano was perhaps an acquired taste and there was precious little time to acquire it.

    • The album’s pretty good. Accidents is great. But Something In The Air was just such a great single, quite as great as anything by The Who (or The Beatles for that matter) that the album seemed like a missed opportunity. It occasionally gets a spin on the Victrola, but those two singles show them at their best. Which was as good as anyone else’s IMHO although OOAA and I’d hate anyone to think what I’m saying is “right” or indeed “wrong” because you know opinions are equal, we’ve all got ’em, like arseholes I say, anyway, that’s my two cents worth. Just sayin’.

      Come on Johnny, FFS.

  7. After the wonderful single I too was disappointed by the album. But over the years, unlike virtually album I own, this one has actually got better.

    Now be quiet all of you while I play Taylor & Ryan’s versions of Bad Blood on constant repeat…

  10. Are we saying that after all the ‘Mojo Working Is God’ graffiti, Johnny Conchmeister is the equivalent of ‘Top’ Topham rejoining the band? Or Pete ‘Best’ depping for Ringo? Or Francis Rossi filling in with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in some circumstance beyond my ability to construct a plausible hypothesis? I think we should be told…

  12. Credit where it’s due. Ianess is largely responsible for luring JC back. He never gave up (unlike me) and it was his enthusiasm and support and begging (mostly) that eventually broke down JC’s resistance, encouraging him to take up his vacant throne here. It was definitely a lesser blog for JC’s long absence, but as Ian gets a lot of stick here (mostly from people who don’t know what a great man he is) I thought I’d give him this unasked-for “up”, and I’m sure Johnny won’t mind.

  16. What a fab yarn! And I’m another fan of this album. I also quite like this cover version, he’s done a studio cover too

    Also of note and possibly part of your Polydor stash is Blue’s album also featuring Jimmy McCulloch

    • I still have the album and I’m looking at the cover now . . . Jimmy McCulloch isn’t on it. I think he was with Stone the Crows until June ’73 and joined Blue after their first album was recorded as they wanted a second guitarist for live performances. He didn’t stay long and joined Wings in ’74.

      The main man in Blue was / is the very talented Hugh Nicholson. Here he is with his excellent previous group:

      • Jimmy is on Little Jodie the single version but not on the album. It’s a great album, i saw them play live round about this time which led me to buy the album.

  18. JC – the single was number one in ’69, not May 1970.
    IIRC, when the moon landing was taking place on the Beeb, there was an incongruous visit to a ‘swinging’ niteclub, where a refreshed Jackie Stewart was interviewed, among others. SITA was playing in the background. Bizarre what the memory retains.

  19. ‘Something In The Air’ also pitched up in the brilliant ‘The Magic Christian’.

    ‘Accidents’, the follow-up 45, has to be one of the strangest records ever made, and I believe was released a whopping 10 or so months after the huge hit.

  21. The Dukes Of September (Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs) know a good song when they hear one.

    Shakey cameraphone, shakey performance but I would have loved to be there.

  22. And it’s worth repeating here that Thunderclap Newman were put together by Pete Townshend, who also produced the LP and played bass (credited under the name “Bijou Drains”) and Jimmy McCullough’s older brother Jack played drums.

    John “Speedy” Keen was Pete’s driver for a while.

  24. Now the fuss has all died down……
    SITA is one of the best songs evah, but the LP, I have it on expanded CD “import”, is, actually, trite and tosh, any good bits being the Andy Newman increasingly odd piano solos, segued into various unrelated random chugalongs.

  25. It’s interesting that Hollywood Dream contains Open The Door Homer, one of the Dylan Basement Tapes track that were being hawked around London in 1969 in acetate form.

    Considering Dylan was semi-retired and out of the public eye in 1968/69, his songs were everywhere.

    Probably the best known of these is the Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & the Trinty recording of This Wheel’s On Fire

    From Wiki:
    Peter, Paul and Mary, managed by Albert Grossman, had the first hit with a basement composition when their cover of “Too Much of Nothing” reached number 35 on the Billboard chart in late 1967.

    Ian & Sylvia, also managed by Grossman, recorded “Tears of Rage”, “Quinn the Eskimo” and “This Wheel’s on Fire”.

    In January 1968, Manfred Mann reached number one on the UK pop chart with their recording of “The Mighty Quinn”. In April, “This Wheel’s on Fire”, recorded by Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity, hit number five on the UK chart. That same month, a version of “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” by the Byrds was issued as a single. Along with “Nothing Was Delivered”, it appeared on their country-rock album Sweetheart of the Rodeo, released in August.

    The Hawks, officially renamed the Band, recorded “This Wheel’s on Fire”, “I Shall Be Released” and “Tears of Rage” for their debut album, Music from Big Pink, released in July 1968.

    Fairport Convention covered “Million Dollar Bash” on their 1969 album Unhalfbricking.

    Jonathan King also had a hit with “Million Dollar Bash”

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