The Hotshots

Last updated

The Hotshots
Genres Ska
Years active1973
Labels Mooncrest Records
Past members
  • Clive Crawley (vocals)
  • Brian Bennett (keyboards)
  • The Cimarons:
  • Franklyn Dunn (bass)
  • Carl Levy (keyboards)
  • Locksley Gichie (guitar)
  • Maurice Ellis (drums)
  • Wild Country:
  • Alan Kanter (bass)
  • Pete Dye (guitar)
  • Kelvin Purcell (drums)
  • Albatross:
  • Terry Keyworth (vocals, guitar)
  • Danny Balkwill (bass)
  • John "Joe" Jones (guitar)
  • Malcolm Player (drums)

The Hotshots was a ska band which had a hit single in the UK singles charts with a cover of "Snoopy Vs The Red Baron" in 1973.

Contents

History

In Spring 1973, the head of Mooncrest Records, Clive Crawley, decided to record a cover of the Royal Guardsmen's hit "Snoopy Vs The Red Baron" as a counter to the heavy metal that was becoming popular. Crawley got together with the label's regular session keyboardist, Brian Bennett, and, in order to create a lilting ska sound, hired an Anglo-Jamaican band, The Cimarons, [1] to provide the appropriate rhythm.

The recording, released on 4 May 1973 [2] under the group name The Hotshots, entered the UK singles charts for the week ending 2 June 1973, and peaked at no. 4 for the week ending 14 July 1973. [3] However, rather than use The Cimarons to promote the single, Crawley recruited a different band - Wild Country - which twice appeared on Top of the Pops performing the song. [4]

As the single dropped out of the charts, Wild Country, which did not have the rights to the Hotshots name, recorded a follow-up single ("Here Come The Three Bears") under the name The Hi-Shots, with Cliff Bennett as lead singer. [5] Brian Bennett recruited a new band, Albatross, to be The Hotshots; this different combine recorded four further ska singles as The Hotshots, as well as an album, but none was a hit, and Albatross reverted to recording under their own name. [6]

Discography

Albums

YearAlbum UK
1973Snoopy Vs The Red Baron

Singles

YearSongUK
1973"Snoopy Versus The Red Baron"4
1973"Battle of New Orleans"
1973"Yesterday Man"
1974"Caribbean"
1975"Mellow Yellow"
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Rivers</span> American rock musician

Johnny Rivers is an American musician. He enjoyed success throughout the 1960s and 1970s as a singer and guitarist, characterized as a versatile and influential artist. Rivers is best known for his 1960s output, having popularized the mid-60s discotheque scene through his live rock and roll recordings at Los Angeles' Whiskey a Go Go nightclub, and later shifting to a more orchestral, soul-oriented sound during the latter half of the decade. These developments were reflected by his most notable string of hit singles between 1964 and 1968, many of them covers. They include "Memphis", "Mountain of Love", "The Seventh Son", "Secret Agent Man", "Poor Side of Town", "Baby I Need Your Lovin'", and "Summer Rain". Ultimately, Rivers landed 9 top ten hits and 17 top forty hits in the American charts from 1964 to 1977.

The Royal Guardsmen are an American rock band best known for their 1966 hit singles "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron", "The Return of The Red Baron", "Snoopy For President", and the Christmas follow-up "Snoopy's Christmas".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wild Cherry (band)</span> American rock band

Wild Cherry was an American funk rock band formed in Mingo Junction, Ohio, in 1970 that was best known for its song "Play That Funky Music".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albatross (instrumental)</span> 1968 single by Fleetwood Mac

"Albatross" is a guitar-based instrumental by Fleetwood Mac, released as a single in November 1968, later featuring on the compilation albums The Pious Bird of Good Omen (UK) and English Rose (US). The piece was composed by Peter Green.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No-Man</span> English art pop duo

No-Man are an English art pop duo, formed in 1987 as No Man Is an Island (Except the Isle of Man) by singer Tim Bowness and multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson. The band has so far produced seven studio albums and a number of singles/outtakes collections (most notably, 2006's career retrospective, All the Blue Changes). The band was once lauded as "conceivably the most important English group since The Smiths" by Melody Maker music newspaper, and a 2017 article of Drowned in Sound described them as "probably the most underrated band of the last 25 years".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smalltown Boy</span> 1984 single by Bronski Beat

"Smalltown Boy" is a song by British synth-pop band Bronski Beat, released in May 1984 as the first single from their debut album, The Age of Consent (1984). The song was a big commercial success, reaching number three in the band's native UK. It was also a number one hit in the Netherlands and Belgium, and hit the top 10 in Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland and West Germany. The track reached number 48 in the US pop chart and was a number one US dance hit. A remix by Stephen Hague was released as a single on 24 December 1990. The song was released again in December 2013 after featuring in a Christmas advertising campaign for Boots UK. "Smalltown Boy" was also re-recorded by Jimmy Somerville and released as "Smalltown Boy Reprise" (2014) for the 30th anniversary of its initial release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Think (Aretha Franklin song)</span> 1968 single by Aretha Franklin

"Think" is a song written by American singer Aretha Franklin and Ted White, and first recorded by Franklin. It was released as a single in 1968, from her Aretha Now album. The song reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Franklin's seventh top 10 hit in the United States. The song also reached number 1 on the magazine's Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles, becoming her sixth single to top the chart. Franklin re-recorded the song in the Atlantic Records New York studio for the soundtrack of the 1980 film The Blues Brothers and in 1989 for the album Through the Storm. Pitchfork placed it at number 15 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Our House (Madness song)</span> 1982 single by Madness

"Our House" is a song by the English ska and pop band Madness and was written by second lead vocalist Chas Smash and guitarist Chris Foreman. It was released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, The Rise & Fall, on 12 November 1982. The song charted within the top ten in several countries, and it was the band's biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100. It won the category Best Pop Song at the May 1983 Ivor Novello Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maneater (Hall & Oates song)</span> 1982 single by Daryl Hall & John Oates

"Maneater" is a song by American duo Hall & Oates, featured on their eleventh studio album, H2O (1982). It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on December 18, 1982. It remained in the top spot for four weeks, longer than any of the duo's five other number-one hits, including "Kiss on My List", which remained in the top spot for three weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Train Runnin'</span> 1973 song recorded by the Doobie Brothers

"Long Train Runnin'" is a song recorded by American rock band the Doobie Brothers and written by band member Tom Johnston. It was included on the band's 1973 album The Captain and Me and was released as a single, becoming a hit and peaking at No. 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Love Train</span> 1972 single by the OJays

"Love Train" is a hit single by the O'Jays, written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Released in 1972, it reached No. 1 on both the R&B Singles and the Billboard Hot 100 in February and March 1973 respectively, and No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart and was certified gold by the RIAA. It was the O'Jays' first and only number one record on the US pop chart. The song has been considered one of the first songs of disco music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey Day</span> 1981 single by Madness

"Grey Day" is a 2-Tone song written by Mike Barson and recorded by British pop/ska band Madness. The song was the first single released from the band's third studio album 7. It was a big departure from their early ska sound with a much darker, miserable feel. The song title does not appear in the lyrics as a single phrase, though a couplet rhyming "grey" with "day" features in the chorus.

"Winchester Cathedral" is a song by the New Vaudeville Band, a British novelty group established by the song's composer, Geoff Stephens, and was released in late 1966 by Fontana Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snoopy vs. the Red Baron (song)</span> 1966 single by The Royal Guardsmen

"Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" is a novelty song written by Phil Gernhard and Dick Holler and recorded in 1966 by the Florida-based pop group The Royal Guardsmen. The song was recorded at the Charles Fuller Productions studio in Tampa, Florida, and was released as a single on Laurie Records. Debuting at #122 on the Bubbling Under the Hot 100 on December 10, 1966, the single skyrocketed to #30 on December 17, 1966, shot up again to #7 on December 24, 1966, and peaked at #2 on the Hot 100 during the week of December 31, 1966 ; made #6 on the Record Retailer (UK) chart in February 1967; was #1 in Australia for 5 weeks from February 1967; and #1 for 3 weeks in Canada. On the Hot 100, "Believer" at #1 kept "Snoopy" at #2 from reaching the Hot 100 summit from December 31, 1966, through January 21, 1967, after which "Snoopy" fell off while "Believer" stayed at the top for another 3 weeks; however the song spent one week at the top of the Record World charts. The song sold close to three million copies.

The Cimarons are a British reggae band formed in 1967. They were the UK's first self-contained indigenous reggae band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Day 'n' Nite</span> 2008 single by Kid Cudi

"Day 'n' Nite" is a song by American rapper Kid Cudi. The song was written and produced by Cudi alongside his longtime collaborator and friend, Brooklyn-based producer Dot da Genius. It was issued as Cudi's commercial debut single on February 5, 2008, but had initially been released on Cudi's MySpace page and later featured on several music blogs in November 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gangsters (song)</span> 1979 single by The Special A.K.A.

"Gangsters" is the first single by the English ska group The Specials.

"The Jolly Green Giant" is a song written by Lynn Easton, Don Harris, and Dewey Terry and performed by The Kingsmen. It reached No.1 on the Canadian chart, No.4 on the U.S. pop chart, and No.25 on the U.S. R&B chart in 1965. It was featured on their 1965 album The Kingsmen Volume 3. The song was based on Green Giant's mascot the Jolly Green Giant. The single originally only credited Easton as the writer, but Harris and Terry were later added when it was determined the song was a re-write of The Olympics song "Big Boy Pete".

Phillip Arnold Gernhard was an American record producer, record label executive, and songwriter. He is best known for his successful collaborations in the 1960s and 1970s with Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, The Royal Guardsmen, Dion, Lobo, Jim Stafford, and the Bellamy Brothers.

References

  1. "Discography". The Cimarons. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  2. "Record details". 45cat. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  3. "HOT SHOTS (sic)". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  4. "08/06/1973". Top of the Pops Archive. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  5. "Top spots for Hi-Shots?". Middlesex Chronicle: 2. 24 August 1973.
  6. "Albatross/The Hotshots". Bournemouth Beat Boom. Retrieved 20 February 2024.