HERE WE ARE IN TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE

 

'' INTERPLANERTARY TWIST '' by SCREEMER is a jaw dropping example of LATE PERIOD UK GLAM ROCK, produced by PHIL WAINMAN and co-written by him with the singer / songwriter RICHARD MYHILL. WAINMAN was a very successful producer during the 70's and worked with a host of big hitting UK acts including SWEET, MUD, BAY CITY ROLLERS, HELLO and THE SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY BAND. The record was released on BELL RECORDS in the summer of '76 a few years after the GLAM WAVE had peaked. Label mates HELLO had a UK hit with '' STAR STUDDED SHAM '' earlier that year, but the Glam element had been turned down a notch and BELL had recently abbreviated The Glitter band's name to the G Band in a vain effort to distance them from their past and prevent their sliding popularity. Given that, the label seem to have had high hopes for the record and and sent out 50,000 promo packs containing a band photo, press release and FLEXI DISC with excerpts from the song and messages from the group in advance of it's release. The song begins with a spoken intro over the sound of an ATMOSPHERIC SWIRLING SYNTH. We're told it's the year 2025, then a '' BALLROOM BLITZ '' style drum roll kicks in and we learn that '' People in the Twenty First Century ain't never seen a Rock ' n ' Roller '' and the way to save humanity is to '' ALL JOIN HANDS AND DO THE INTERPLANERTARY TWIST ''. The song is a CAMP SCI-FI GLAM EXTRAVAGANZA that builds { and builds! } on the foundations of SWEET , MUD and THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW to great effect. The B-Side '' BILLY '' is an admirable band penned effort that uses a BO DIDDLEY BACKBEAT similar to BOWIE'S '' PANIC IN DETRIOT '' from ''ALLADIN SANE ''

The band was comprised of New Zealand born ZAINE GRIFF { Bass and Vocals }, ALAN COATES { guitar and vocals }, DAVID WELLS { guitar }, ROBERT NORMAN { keyboards } and ADRIAN SHEPPARD { drums }. They appear to have been formed the previous year and they played { bottom of the bill } at a FREE OUTDOOR CONCERT, held in HYDE PARK on MAY 31st and headlined by DONE MCLEAN, CARAVAN and JOAN ARMATRADING. LONDON GIG GOERS also remember them playing regularly at THE BRIDGE HOUSE in CANNING TOWN and THE THREE RABBITS in MANOR PARK around this time

             SCREEMER at THE HYDE PARK FREE CONCERT 

Notwithstanding the singles failure, their record label { Rebranded as ARISTA } issued a follow up in '77, again produced by PHIL WAINMAN, but this time, both songs were group compositions. '' IN THE CITY '' was penned by ZAINE GRIFF and the flip: '' JOEY CORRELLA '' was jointly written by WELLS and NORMAN. The former was a MELODIC GLAM POP number similar to STEVE HARLEY's post COCKNEY REBEL work and the latter a complex and well crafted song that sits somewhere between 10CC and QUEEN. The single seems to have fared no better than the first and no more was heard from the band. ZAINE GRIFF played on THE KINKS '' MISFITS '' LP the following year and went on to achieve a degree of success as a solo performer during the next decade

                                      COUNTDOWN TO THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE

2003 - RPM Records release '' VELVET TINMINE '' a compilation CD of super obscure UK Glam Rock 45's from the 70's. THE JUNSHOP GLAM craze kicks off. Records made by bands like IRON VIRGIN, CRUNCH and THE WASHINGTON FLYERS start to change hands for REAL MONEY and CASTLE MUSIC release a similar comp on CD titled '' GLITTER FROM THE LITTER BIN ''

2005 - RPM release '' BOOBS { THE JUNKSHOP GLAM DISCOTHEQUE } '' a JUNKSHOP GLAM compilation CD that includes SCREEMER's '' INTERPLANERTARY TWIST ''

2008 - PSYCHIC CIRCLE release '' BLITZING THE BALLROOM { 20 UK POWER GLAM INCENDIARIES } '' a JUNKSHOP GLAM compilation CD that includes SCREEMER's '' BILLY ''

2019 - '' INTERPLANERTARY TWIST '' is included on '' GLAM! GLAM! GLAM! a JUNKSHOP GLAM compilation, pressed on vinyl and { unofficially } released by GLITTER RECORDS

2023 - '' INTERPLANERTARY TWIST '' is included on '' TEENAGE GLANPAGE! '' a 4 CD JUNKSHOP GLAM Boxset issued by CHERRY RED

JOHN BAKER, a 70's Glam ROCK Fanatic from NEW ZEALAND is interviewed by WIRED UP! Fanzine. During the interview he mentions the existence of an acetate containing a previously uncreased SCREEMER song

A playlist appears on YouTube containing 11 songs by SCREEMER. The playlist is titled '' SINGLES COMPILATION '' The list is credited to CHERRY RED RECORDS. The first four tracks are the A's and B's of their two 45's and the remaining seven are previously unreleased and appear to have been produced by PHIL WAINMAN around that time

Screemer • Album

'' KAMIKAZE QUICK-STEP '' is the aforementioned track that JOHN BAKER heard on a demo disc and it's cut from the same cloth as '' INTERPLANERTARY TWIST ''. There isn't a composers credit, but again it sounds like the work of WAINMAN and MYHILL. The song contains a humorous and slightly convoluted lyric around DOING A DANCE OF DEATH with a BIONIC JAPANESE WOMAN. It's a dynamic number that makes use of the '' TIGER FEET '' drum beat, the break from '' LET THERE BE DRUMS '' and the horn riff from '' IN THE MOOD ''. It features a snappy BOOGIE PIANO, a slick double tracked QUEEN style harmony vocal and is arguably the only remaining song that could strictly be defined as a GLAM ROCK number

'' THE ESCAPE '' is a well crafted BEACH BOYS / 10CC style pop song with harmony vocals co-written by guitarist ALAN COATES

'' FOR MY LOVE '' is a mid tempo pop number that could have fitted into a WINGS album from the same period

'' MR SAX AND THE GIRL '' is a SOUL / DISCO number written by DOMINIC BUGATTI and FRANK MUSKER who penned hits for PAUL NICOLAS as well as numbers performed by the fictional group KIPPER in the movie '' CONFESSIONS OF A POP PERFORMER ''. This version features a female vocal similar to LULU, so maybe this presents the band in session mode rather than an actual group project? PAUL NICOLAS picked up the song and added his own version to the '' GRANDMA'S PARTY '' EP in '76

'' JOLLY ROGER AND THE EVER HOPEFUL SEAMAN '' is another WAINMAN / MYHILL penned song. It's laced with the sort of BLACK HUMOUR and INNUENDO that ALEX HARVEY and ANDY ARTHURS deployed. Imagine CAPTAIN HOOK crashing a performance of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW and you're halfway there

The DARK HUMOUR continues with another WAINMAN / MYHILL song: '' JACQUES THE RIPOFF ''. Here we find NOEL COWARD style VAUDEVILLE going into a DEEPLY UNSETTLING place. The forerunner of SPINAL TAP's '' SAUCY JACK '' ?

The set concludes with '' IF YOU CAN'T BE MY LOVER BE MY FRIEND '' a straight COUNTRY TINGED BALLAD that's somewhat reminiscent of ALAN PRICE 

TWO SUPER RARE JUNKSHOP GLAM TUNES ARE BACK ON '45

JUST ADD WATER RECORDS have recently issued two of the RAREST 70's JUNKSHOP GLAM numbers on 7'' VINYL 

'' IT CAME IN THE NIGHT '' by A RAINCOAT first saw release in the UK on EMI RECORDS in 1976. The ART GLAM outfit were led by ANDY ARTHURS who went on to produce a number of NEW WAVE acts, including 999, THE SOFT BOYS, TONIGHT and LITTLE BO BITCH. The recording sits somewhere between the MIKE BATT penned '' HUMPHREY SONG '' and the TWISTED NURSERY RHYME feel that SYD BARRET utilized in early PINK FLOYD numbers. Underground film maker KENNETH ANGER later used the song in the soundtrack to his movie RABBIT'S MOON. The JAW release features a picture sleeve { originals came in a standard company one } and a new B-SIDE "Vote For Me"

''WE DON'T CARE '' by GUMBO could originally be found on the B-SIDE of  '' THE DEVILS '', a disc that seems to have sunk without trace when it was released in selected EUROPEAN COUNTRIES in '74. Fittingly JAW have switched it to the A-SIDE for this release. It's a high energy GLAM / PROTO PUNK stomper that predates similar sounding numbers by THE RUNAWAYS. The song also turned up on a 4 song EMIDISC ACETATE which was simply marked as ' GIRL GROUP '. Nothing else seems to be know about the band. In case you are wondering: The photo on the sleeve is of an ALL MALE group called THE GOOD SHIP LOLLIPOP. It was used for the original release and presumably a GUMBO group shot is still to surface

* VINYL COLLECTORS TAKE NOTE: BOTH OF THESE RECORDS ARE LIMITED TO 300 COPIES EACH AND CAN BE BOUGHT DIRECTLY FROM JUST ADD WATER RECORDS

Just Add Water UK Shop

Just Add Water Shop { for rest of world }