Genre: rock
Rating: 3 stars ***
Title: Video King
Company: Jet
Catalog: JETLP
212
Year: 1978
Country/State: UK
Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+
Comments: UK pressing; blue vinyl; still in shrink wrap (opened); original lyric insert
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5638
Price: $20.00
Can't say I know a great deal about Steve Parsons (aka Snips). Stretching back to the early-1970s he served as lead singer for a number of bands including The Baker Gurvitz Army and replacing Andy Fraser in the post-Free Sharks. He also released a pair of late-1970s/early-1980s LPs "Video King" and "".
His solo debut came with the release of 1978's "Video King". Co-produced by Snips and Steve Lillywhite the set featured backing from The Video Kings (former Sharks bassist Jackie Badger, rhythm guitarist John Bentley, drummer Graham Deakin (who'd toured and recorded with the late John Enwistle), and journeyman lead guitarist Mick Dyche).
I'll be perfectly honest and admit I'd never been a big fan of Snips earlier work. His fragile voice always struck me as being poorly suited for the rock repetoire both Baker Gurvitz Army and Sharks put out. Accordingly I wasn't sure what to expect from this album - add in the funky pseudo-Goth cover and the fact it was released on the Jet label (best known for Jeff Lynne and The Electric Light Orchestra) and I was clueless what this one was going to be like. Well, anyone expecting another set of Sharks-styled rock was in for a major surprise. Featuring all original material, tracks like 'Film Club', 'Waiting for Tonight' and 'Animal Century' were surprisingly pop-oriented, though with an occasional touch of new wave angst ('Walking'), or goofiness ('Dracula'). In fact, 'Stravinsky's Shoes' even sounded a bit like Snips have been listening to too much Morrissey. The other big surprise was that this time out Snips' voice proved far better suited to the more pop oriented material. Yeah, 'Under Suspicion' and 'Babaloomah' found him falling back into that mildly operatic mode, but those were the exception. Elsewhere Dyche turned in some first-rate solos - check out his performances on 'Film Club' and 'Eat It Up'. Maybe not a classic LP, but far better than I expected and worth looking for since you can still find copies relatively cheap.
"Video
King" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Love Is Blind (Snips) -
2.) Film Club (Snips) -
3.) Walking (Snips) -
4.) Under Suspicion (Snips) -
5.) Eat It Up (Snips) -
6.) Waiting for Tonight (Snips) -
(side
2)
1.) Video Kings (Snips) -
2.) Dracula (Snips) -
3.) Stravinsky's Shoes (Snips) -
4.) Babaloomah (Snips) -
5.) Animal Century (Snips) -
I don't know if it was released before or after the album, but there was also a stand-alone 45:
- 1978's 'Waiting for Tonight' b/w 'Smash Your T.V.' (Jet catalog number S JET 118) - the 45 was originally pressed on green vinyl
I've never bothered to track down a copy, by there's a 1981 follow-up "La Rocca!" (EMI catalog number EMC3359). With support from the likes of Bill Nelson, Chris Spedding, and Midge Ure it supposedly has more of a new wave edge. EMI tapped the second LP for a series of three singles:
- 1980's '9 O'Clock' b/w 'What's Your Number' (EMI catalog number EMI5040)
- 1980's 'You're a Wonderful One' b/w 'Mr. Dillinger' (EMI catalog number EMC5071)
- 1980's Telepathy'' b/w 'Lolita' (EMI catalog number EMC5107)
