AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Records

Artist:The Records

Song:Teenarama

Album:Smashes, Crashes and Near Misses: The Best of the Records

Though you've probably never heard of them, I think fans of 70s power pop would enjoy the British band The Records. They only had one chart single and then they flopped. But they were critically acclaimed. I have a theory which I will get to shortly. The formation of The Records in 1977 came out of the ashes of The Kursaal Flyers led by drummer Will Birch. They played what was called at the time "pub rock". After three unsuccessful albums, Birch pulled the plug on The Kursaal Flyers and Birch started writing songs with guitarist John Wicks. They planned to form a new band and call it The Records. I think the name is too generic. It needed to be memorable. The other band members were Huw Gower on guitar and Phil Brown on bass. The Records were obviously influenced by 60s pop like The Beatles and favorably compared to bands like Big Star and The Raspberries. But I should point out that Big Star were never commercially successful either. Stiff Records hired The Records to tour and open for Rachel Sweet. They also wrote songs for her debut album. The Records signed with Virgin Records in 1978. Their debut single Starry Eyes topped the British charts. Then they released the album Shades in Bed. Despite critical acclaim, the album didn't sell and did even worse when it was released in the US. They even toured the US. Wick and Birch wrote most of the songs including Starry Eyes and Teenerama. Robert John "Mutt" Lange produced Teenerama. Other songs were produced by Tim Friese-Greene (Talk Talk) and Huw Gower. After three unsuccessful albums The Records split up in 1982. This comp is a good intro to their music. Why were The Records unsuccessful? As I said, I don't think the band name did them any favors. Also, there were a lot of similar bands around in those days. I guess they got lost in the shuffle. But The Records are worth a listen. Birch and Wicks both got into production. Birch produced the band Dr. Feelgood. Wicks moved to the US in 1994 and reformed The Records. He died in 2012. Here's The Records performing Teenerama on The Midnight Special Sept. 28, 1979.