OZZIE YUE (Star of the Orient) - Lead guitar/Lead
vocals
ALBIE DONNELLY (The Mighty Whirlwind) - Tenor Saxophone/Electric
Saxophone/Vocals/Verbals
BOB PETERSON (The rodent) - Tenor/Baritone Saxophone/Guitar/Vocals
ALAN PETERS (Dorian Mode) - Trumpet/Flugelhorn/Vocals.
TONY DUNMORE (The Beast) - Bass Guitar/Twisting
DAVE Irving (Cheese Cobham) - Drums/Twisting Melons.
Piano on 'Wine, Wine, Wine' and 'Lazy Lady'
played by VINNIE PARKER (Dorian Grey).
CD LINER NOTES
In 1974, the Liverpool band 'Supercharge' organised its first
commercially available recording, 'Between Music And Madness'. Only
a small initial run was produced, and this album has been unavailable
for over 25 years. A number of copies have recently been located,
resulting in the production of this CD.
By the late 60's, both the record buying pubic and the London-based
British record industry had become disenchanted with 'Merseybeat'.
Although there is no doubting the worldwide impact of Liverpool bands
during this decade, surprisingly this fact did not appear to encourage
the development of any effective local 'Music Industry' infrastructure.
As Albie Donnelly puts it,
"The national scene was fed-up with the whole idea of the
'Beat Group' thing. … Being in a band from Liverpool was by
now becoming a definite handicap and we were all back to 'square
one'. So, once again, if you were after a record deal, you had to
get a gig in London and then invite as many record companies as
possible down to see you - hoping that one or two of them would
turn up! … It was also a good idea to have a decent studio
recording."
The London pub and club scene was well aware of this situation, and
as a consequence the fees that they offered to unknown out-of-town
bands trying to break into the national recording scene was minimal.
In Liverpool, however, musicians could still make a living on the
local 'live' scene, and in 1970, the Liverpool tenor-saxophonist Albie
Donnelly decided to organize his own band - using musicians who were
interested in performing the material that they wanted to play;
as opposed to selecting material that they thought audiences wanted
to hear. The first of these bands, 'Minnesota Fats', soon secured
a regular gig at 'The Timepiece', which was one of Liverpool's many
nightclubs operating at that time. This band was quickly followed
by 'Speed' who worked regularly on gigs such as the 'Masonic', a pub
located near Liverpool's South-End.
By 1973, Albie had organized his first 'Supercharge' - a band whose
relentless touring schedule would provide steady employment for many
of Liverpool's top rhythm and blues musicians for the next three decades.
It would also receive a number of the most positive unsolicited press
reviews of any British live band; one of their Virgin albums would
go 'Gold'; and the group would also score a couple of top ten hits
abroad. From now on Albie would be referred to as 'Mr Supercharge',
and he and the various members of his band would (over the next thirty
years or so) drink enough beer to sink a small ship!
'Supercharge' very quickly secured a regular Sunday night gig at
'The Sportsman', a popular Liverpool town-centre pub. These Sunday
sessions became so successful that Monday night (traditionally the
quietest night of the week for live-music in Liverpool) was soon added.
Both of these nights would be packed-out for the next couple of years.
Although the band did write some original material, they played mostly
obscure covers. Their sets included material by Billy Cobham's 'Dreams';
'Edgar Winter's White Trash'; Stevie Wonder; Frank Zappa, and James
Brown. To this was added a bizarre - and for much of the time improvised
- stage performance.
Albie had organized 'Supercharge' in order to take advantage of the
live scene in Liverpool, and it was not his original intention to
do any recording. His idea was rather was to gig as much as possible,
as the UK at that time still had a superb club and university circuit
(a situation which was soon to be severely threatened by a lethal
combination of Thatcherite politics and cheap punk bands).
'Supercharge' rapidly became Liverpool's top live band (something
which Albie now admits he was totally unprepared for) and in 1974
he was approached by a local promoter, Alan 'Curly' Cottam, who offered
to manage them. As a consequence of this, a small local record label,
'Stag Records', agreed to produce a limited run of 1,000 LPs. This
album, 'Between Music and Madness', was recorded in Chester at the
'Abbott Sound' studios. The whole session took five days, and the
concept was extremely simple - 'Supercharge' would record a selection
of the material that they performed live at 'The Sportsman'.
However, there were a few problems. The first of these was that nobody
had the faintest idea about how 'Supercharge' would transfer its surreal
live performance to disc. The second involved the band's recent decision
to turn 'pro'. Albie had informed the other members of 'Supercharge'
that they needed to gig in London if they were to have any chance
of securing a major record deal, and that this now seemed to be a
distinct possibility. But the band's other tenor saxophonist, Allen
'Gaz' Gaskell, decided to stay with his day job at the last minute
- thus effectively quitting 'Supercharge' at a crucial time. This
meant that Albie now had to play all of the horn solos, with virtually
no time to prepare. Despite these problems, the album went ahead,
and on release it quickly sold-out in the Liverpool area.
As is usual with this kind of deal, the band received no royalties,
and 'Stag Records' did not re-press, with the result that 'Between
Music And Madness' quickly dropped out of sight.
However, a number of copies of the LP have recently been located and
transferred to CD.
Here then is a second chance to listen to that very first 'Supercharge'
album. A slice of recorded history that provides a fascinating snapshot
of the music scene in Liverpool during the early seventies; and which
also documents the beginnings of what proved to be one of Liverpool's
most enduring popular bands
BOB HARDY
Special thanks to Richard 'Ped' Rowe, and Dr Mike Brocken
Bob Hardy has an MA in Popular Music Studies from
the Institute of Popular Music at Liverpool University, and is currently
working on a book about the music scene in Liverpool called, 'Speak
For Yourself!'. He played keyboards with 'Supercharge' during 1984
and part of 1985, and appears on the album ''Groovers In Paris' -
Supercharge Live At Tina Onasis's Wedding'. He formed JJ Records in
1988.
For more information visit the web site of JJ Records at: www.jjrecords.co.uk
