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Keef Trouble | |
|---|---|
 Keef Trouble accompanied by Jona Lewie | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Keith Trussell |
| Born | 13 September 1949 |
| Origin | Greenwich, London, England |
| Genres | Rock, pop, blues |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, zob stick, guitar |
| Years active | 1968–present |
| Labels | Sun House Records (UK) |
Keef Trouble (born Keith Trussell, 1949, Greenwich, London) is an English singer, songwriter and musician.
Trouble studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, London, from 1968 to 1972. He is a founding member of British country-blues band Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts [1] [2] as vocalist, guitarist, and player of the zobstick (also known as the lagerphone or monkey stick), and electric ironing board. Commercial success came in 1972 under the guise of Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs with "Seaside Shuffle" with fellow band members Graham Hine, John Randall, and Jona Lewie (of "Stop the Cavalry" notability). This record became a hit in Europe and Australia, and reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart. [3] Trouble is also part of, and writes original material for, the folk rock band Okee Dokee, which plays within West Sussex and Kent, including the Broadstairs Folk Week. He has self-produced two solo albums, Oasis and Kix 4 U, under his own Sun House Records, and has collaborated with Tony O'Malley, previously from the bands 10cc, Kokomo (band) and Arrival, writing the lyrics for O'Malley's "Mr. Operator" and "Naked Flame". O'Malley has also contributed to Trouble's recordings, as have artists such as saxophonist Mel Collins (Roxy Music, Rolling Stones, The Grease Band), guitarist Neil Hubbard, and vocalists Dyan Birch, Paddy McHugh and Frank Collins. In 2008 Trouble produced the Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts' album Keep on Moving; co-producer and audio engineer was Pete Ker, who produced The Motors, Man, and Arthur Brown, co-writing Brown's "Fire".
Trouble co-wrote the lyrics to Jona Lewie's 1980 hit "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties". [4] [5]
Trouble's association with Jona Lewie goes back to 1969, and later both were members of Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs. In 1986 the first recordings of Trouble's Oasis and Mix 'n’ Mingle for the album Oasis took place at Lewie's home studio in Streatham, with keyboard musician, arranger and composer Tony O'Malley, guitarist Neil Hubbard and engineer Pete Ker, producer for Arthur Brown and co-writer of Brown's "Fire". Trouble had secured a 45rpm single record deal with Rodd Buckle (Habana Music) for the release and distribution of Mix 'n’ Mingle. Because of master tape release difficulties and lateness of the production at the Lewie studio, the record deal fell. Oasis was re-recorded by Ker at a professional recording studio, Ferry Sound.
Although it is an accepted and commonly used name for this type of instrument, the 'zob stick' as a term has a definitive and recent origin. In the late 1960s, Trouble built a percussion instrument that he used in his blues band Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts. He invented a name for it, zob stick, with its use being termed 'zobbing'. It was largely based on the traditional folk music instruments monkey stick, ugly stick and lagerphone (Australian). After constructing his version of the instrument, the term 'zob' was used because of its risqué connotation as British naval slang, this suggested by fellow Brett Marvin band member, and ex-seaman, Jim Pitts. The instrument caused amusement when it was introduced in performance in France, where 'zob' has a similar meaning.
The Trouble zob stick construction uses a pole that is covered with typical partially nailed-in rattle-capable beer bottle caps. A circular solid wooden ring, edged with bottle caps, is added near the top of the pole, with a hand grip section beneath. All the wooden parts are brightly painted. At the bottom a boot, supported by an internal wooden block, is added, with a metal spring attached to the sole. The spring serves no musical purpose but has comedy potential. Halfway up the pole is a sleeved-on metal tube for greater volume and a crisper percussive sound. The Zob Stick is rhythmically bounced on the floor and the metal sleeve hit with a wooden stick. The stick itself, (usually an adapted hockey stick because of its durability,) is serrated to achieve a scraping sound effect when necessary. Although the resultant construction is heavy, requiring strength for continual use, this weight gives it a volume and 'clout' that the traditional monkey stick might not match, especially in a live and loud band situation.
A composition, "Hello Mum", had been recorded at Ferry Sound in the early 1990s. The recording was released in the UK and sold as a 7-inch vinyl single and greeting's card for Mother's Day in 1992 under the CoverHit label, with the pseudonym 'Dougie Damone'. In 2008, the song was reproduced as a YouTube video which, with the song, was reviewed in the Mid Sussex Times. [2]
Palmers Green is a suburban area and electoral ward in North London, England, within the London Borough of Enfield. It is located within the N13 postcode district, around 8 miles (13 km) north of Charing Cross. It is home to the largest population of Greek Cypriots outside Cyprus and is often nicknamed "Little Cyprus" or "Palmers Greek".
Jona Lewie is an English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his 1980 UK hits "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties" and "Stop the Cavalry".
A monkey stick is a traditional English percussion instrument, used in folk music. Some musicians have taken to fixing a small stuffed toy monkey to the tops of their instruments.
UK Records was a music label launched in 1972 by Jonathan King to distribute his own releases and those by some other artists. The abbreviation UK stands for "United King". The label was distributed at first by Decca Records and, after 1976, by PolyGram.
Melvyn Desmond Collins is a British saxophonist, flautist and session musician.
"Buckets of Rain" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded on September 19, 1974, in New York City and released in 1975 on Dylan's critically acclaimed album Blood on the Tracks.
Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs were an English novelty band that issued a few recordings in the early 1970s. The band was an alias adopted by Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts but signed to a different record label.
Blue Goose Records was an American independent record label set up in the early 1970s by Nick Perls.
Neil Terrence Hubbard is a British guitarist who has performed with Juicy Lucy, The Grease Band, Bluesology, Joe Cocker, Roxy Music, Kokomo, Alvin Lee, B.B. King, Kevin Rowland, Dexys Midnight Runners, Bryan Ferry and Tony O'Malley, and played on the original 1970 concept album Jesus Christ Superstar.
Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward.
"Stop the Cavalry" is an anti-war song written and performed by English musician Jona Lewie, released in 1980. The song peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart in December 1980, at one point being kept from number one by two re-issued songs by John Lennon, who had been murdered on 8 December that year. Initially a stand-alone single, the song was included on Lewie's album Heart Skips Beat which was released nearly two years later.
Kokomo are a British band whose members were prime exponents of British soul in the 1970s. They released three albums, and the second Rise & Shine was described as "the finest British funk album of the 1970s".
Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts were a British club and touring blues band, formed in 1968 and later, a rarely performing pub band. Under the pseudonym Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs they released "Seaside Shuffle", a novelty single that reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart in 1972.
Norman Joseph Watt-Roy is an English musician, arranger and composer.
Frank Collins is an English composer, singer and arranger who was a prominent member of the bands The Excels, Arrival, and Kokomo. He wrote Arrival's 1970s Top 10 hit record, "I Will Survive" ; a band that included keyboard and vocalist Tony O'Malley, vocalists Dyan Birch and Paddy McHugh, saxophonist Mel Collins, guitarist Neil Hubbard, guitarist Jim Mullen, bass player Alan Spenner, percussionist Jody Linscott, and drummer Terry Stannard.
Mark Alexander Smith was a British bass guitarist and record producer, who became known as a session musician for numerous artists and also as one-time bass guitarist for the mid-1980s synth-rock band, Boys Don't Cry.
Adam Phillips is a British guitarist.
Son of Gutbucket is a 1969 sampler album released to promote artists on the Liberty Records label. It followed the earlier release in 1969 of Gutbucket,.
"You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties" is a song by English singer-songwriter Jona Lewie. It was written by Lewie and Keef Trouble, and was released as a single in 1980. The song entered the UK Singles Chart in May, reaching number 16 and staying for 11 weeks on the chart. The song experienced the greatest success in New Zealand, where it reached No. 3 in October for two weeks, remaining in the top 40 for 17 weeks.
"Seaside Shuffle" is a song and single by British group Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs written by Jona Lewie under his real name John Lewis. The song was licensed for released on Jonathan King's UK Records, and was included in the Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts's album Alias Terry Dactyl.
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