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:: The Bernie Tormé Band - Weekend ::

If I told you the other bands that this trio played in, you would think their attempt at powerfully popped punk would be perfectly putrid. Head man Bernie Tormé was an axe mercenary for Ozzy Osbourne, Atomic Rooster, Ian Gillan and scads of other kind of scary hard rock acts. Bassist Phil Spalding did time with Mike Oldfield, and even GTR. You know, the band that got the legendary SHT review in Musician Magazine. Mark Harrison is the cool kid, because he was briefly in the Nipple Erectors with Shane McGowan.

I had low expectations for this 1979 single, but it's actually quite good. The bass playing is furious and punchy, and reminds of cool old stuff like the Rezillos. The drums are locked in solidly. The guitar playing is probabaly a little too good for this kind of music, but it's a welcome thing to my ears. I just can't figure out how these guys ended up making this music.

One final thing I have to mention is that on the cover here, Phil Spalding (on the left) looks like he's posing for Prison Buggery Monthly.


Tony

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 30, 2005 at 8:10 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.