70s STARS ROLLS BACK THE YEARS

MARTIN LENON
21 Apr 2006
Evening News

Blast From The Past III, Usher Hall ***

WITH hits like Shang-A-Lang and My Coo Ca Choo, the 70s were famous for many things, but meaningful song titles weren't always among them.


Not that it mattered, of course, in the face of memorable melodies, pin-up pop stars, and what you might term "interesting" fashions. Last night, at the Usher Hall, it all came flooding back.


In a (mostly successful) bid to get the audience in the mood, the programmes came with goodie-bags containing, among other things, an inflatable pink plastic guitar and a tartan scarf.


First up were the Glitter Band. Dressed in lamé jackets, the group strode on to the 1812 Overture and got the glitter ball rolling with Let's Get Together Again, then launched into the Exciters' 1962 hit, Tell Him.


The band may have lost some of their costume, and in some cases their hair, and they've certainly gained a few pounds, but they've definitely not lost that pile-driving beat that was always their trademark. Songs like Angel Face and Rock 'N' Roll Part 2 swept the years away, though it was slightly odd to hear Leader Of The Gang sung only by the gang.


T Rex emerged looking far more like a grungy rock band from the seventies than the pixie of pop ever used to. This incarnation - arguably now a tribute band - were formed by original T Rex percussionist Mickey Finn before he died in 2003, so they have that stamp of authority. Not that they really needed it though - once vocalist Rob Benson sang the first few lines of Ride A White Swan, everything was alright.


The band bopped through perfect renditions of Metal Guru, Telegram Sam and Children Of The Revolution faithfully and full of life. Bolan would have been proud of their gritty playing of Hot Love and the inevitable Get It On.


The Englishman in black, Alvin [?] Stardust [?] wandered happily out on stage leaving the boys in the band to do the posing he made famous. He thundered into a brief medley of Queen's One Vision and Tom Robinson's 2, 4, 6, 8 Motorway, smiling and waving to the audience the whole time.


Clad entirely in leather, his hair was no longer dyed jet black nor quiffed, and the look was more Hollyoaks than menacing, but he still had it. Stardust [?] may well inherit the Peter Pan of Pop title from Cliff Richard, because he didn't look anything like 63, or even 53 for that matter. And his voice hasn't aged either and as he danced his way through Jealous Mind and, naturally, My Coo Ca Choo, it wouldn't be a surprise if he was still doing this at 83.


Finally, after 35 years, the Bay City Rollers have found trousers that go all the way down to their shoes. The boys bounced out, showing only a hint of tartan compared to their glory days, and launched straight into Summerlove Sensation.


With incredible Beach Boys style harmonies, the first and most striking thing about Les McKeown's new/old group is how solid and rocky they sound. Due in part to the improved sound systems of today, it just shows how much more powerful a lot of 70s music could have been at the time.


They sang all the hits, turning the 40-something ladies in the crowd into 17-year-old, tartan scarf-waving screaming girls again. The encore, which featured all the bands on stage, was Bye Bye Baby. Well, it had to be, really.