Metaphorically speaking, if you could walk the hills of the rock and roll landscape and visit all of the musical villages there, somewhere between the big cities of Elvis Presley and The Beatles, just down the road from The Rolling Stones, west of the Box Tops and north of Big Star, around the corner from The Zombies, up the hill from the Beau Brummels, across the river from The Raspberries, just past the Left Banke, near Badfinger, you would stumble across a wide spot in the road known as The Dwight Twilley Band.
And, in this out of the way, off the beaten path little burg, you would discover the pure, sweet sound of a musical style called Power Pop.
Power Pop, a term supposedly coined by Pete Townshend from The Who in a 1967 interview, describes a style of music with roots in both rock and roll and rhythm and blues.
Power Pop is a melody driven, hook laden, backbeat slappin', slapback echoin', harmony singin', fun lovin', bubble gum chewin', lip smackin', patty wackin' style of music that drives young girls wild and makes young boys want to run off and join rock and roll bands.
And, in my humble opinion, nobody played Power Pop more powerful than The Dwight Twilley Band.
Why the Dwight Twilley Band is so hard to find on the rock and roll map defies explanation.
That's not really true, the sad truth is that it requires too much explanation and as Mr. White (Tom Hanks), the manager of The Wonders, says in That Thing You Do, "It's a very common tale."
* * * * *
Album: Dwight Twilley Band - Twilley Don't Mind
Original Release: 1977
Label: Shelter
The legend goes like this... a couple of junior high kids from Tulsa, Oklahoma bump into each other outside a movie theater after seeing 'A Hard Days Night' and decide to start a band. They rush home and start writing songs and over the next few years develop a collection of classic pop tunes that eventually become their first album. They score a top twenty hit with their first single and then slowly sink into the obscurity of one hit wonderland.
Those two guys were Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour, the founding members of the Dwight Twilley Band, and their first record, an Elvis meets the Beatles blending of rockabilly and mod music, titled I'm on Fire, reached number 16 on the Billboard charts in 1975 and led to an appearance on American Bandstand. It was the first step in what should have been a long and prosperous musical career.
Unfortunately, the Dwight Twilley Band became a footnote in the big book of rock and roll history. But, hey, at least they're in the book. That's more than you can say for most people who rushed home to form a rock and roll band after seeing A Hard Day's Night.
The Dwight Twilley Band signed with Shelter Records, and at the time it appeared Shelter might be the label to produce the next big thing. The label was owned by Leon Russell and Denny Cordell and besides Leon Russell, their roster of artists included the newly signed Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, J. J. Cale, Phoebe Snow and The Gap Band.
Things were definitely moving in the right direction, but as is often the case when things start moving, things fall apart.
The follow up single to I'm on Fire was another catchy power pop classic called Shark.
Unfortunately, there was a movie in the theaters at the time called Jaws, so the label, fearing the song might be perceived as an attempt to cash in on the movie's popularity, decided not to release it. They also decided to postpone the release of Sincerely, the debut album.
Then, things started going bad at the label, Russell and Cordell had a falling out and Russell left to form his own label. The Dwight Twilley Band's follow-up single and completed album were put on hold. A second album was recorded in England, but it was shelved as well due to the internal label problems.
Eventually, Sincerely did get released, but a year and a half had passed since the phenomenal success of I'm on Fire, and in the world of rock and roll radio a year and a half is a millennium.
Despite being, by today's standards, a classic power pop collector's item, Sincerely sank like a stone, and the new chosen follow-up single, You Were So Warm, sank with it.
Perhaps, because of all of the legal entanglements and the problems at the label, Twilley, Seymour and Tom Petty became friends and contributed to each other's recording efforts.
The Dwight Twilley Band eventually left Shelter and signed with Arista Records and released Twilley Don't Mind in 1977.
Twilley Don't Mind comes complete with all of the hooks, the harmonies, the melodies, the sound that can only be described as power pop - no assembly required, batteries included!
Despite the heart-throb cover photo, Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour lay down a collection of classic rock and pop tunes that would cause Eric Carmen to roll over and tell Alex Chilton the news...if you get that one.
Kicking off with the rockabilly title cut and moving straight to the heart of the matter with Looking for the Magic, followed by That I Remember, this album moves from hook to hook like a fish in water. (I don't know if that makes any sense or not, but what else can you put after moves from hook to hook?)
My personal favorite is Trying to Find My Baby...why this wasn't a hit single still puzzles me to this day. When they use that Buddy Holly hiccup stop...So get out of my way - I'm trying to find my baby...and they make baby rhyme with way, it sends a shiver down my spine.
The next cut, Here She Come, could just have easily been a Tom Petty song, it has that guitar jangling, driving beat arrangement right out of the first Petty and the Heartbreakers album.
Then comes the six-minute string laden mini-epic, Sleeping, followed by Chance to Get Away, which can only be described as chiming as in the jingle-jangle Byrds/Flaming Groovies/Beatles chiming - it's West Coast mop-topish.
The whole album is a shining example of the late seventies post-disco, pre-punk sound that should have been next big thing...but wasn't. MTV changed all that.
And, even though the Dwight Twilley Band had the look to go with the sound - they couldn't make the transition.
It's a very common tale.
And, in this out of the way, off the beaten path little burg, you would discover the pure, sweet sound of a musical style called Power Pop.
Power Pop, a term supposedly coined by Pete Townshend from The Who in a 1967 interview, describes a style of music with roots in both rock and roll and rhythm and blues.
Power Pop is a melody driven, hook laden, backbeat slappin', slapback echoin', harmony singin', fun lovin', bubble gum chewin', lip smackin', patty wackin' style of music that drives young girls wild and makes young boys want to run off and join rock and roll bands.
And, in my humble opinion, nobody played Power Pop more powerful than The Dwight Twilley Band.
Why the Dwight Twilley Band is so hard to find on the rock and roll map defies explanation.
That's not really true, the sad truth is that it requires too much explanation and as Mr. White (Tom Hanks), the manager of The Wonders, says in That Thing You Do, "It's a very common tale."
* * * * *
Album: Dwight Twilley Band - Twilley Don't Mind
Original Release: 1977
Label: Shelter
The legend goes like this... a couple of junior high kids from Tulsa, Oklahoma bump into each other outside a movie theater after seeing 'A Hard Days Night' and decide to start a band. They rush home and start writing songs and over the next few years develop a collection of classic pop tunes that eventually become their first album. They score a top twenty hit with their first single and then slowly sink into the obscurity of one hit wonderland.
Those two guys were Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour, the founding members of the Dwight Twilley Band, and their first record, an Elvis meets the Beatles blending of rockabilly and mod music, titled I'm on Fire, reached number 16 on the Billboard charts in 1975 and led to an appearance on American Bandstand. It was the first step in what should have been a long and prosperous musical career.
Unfortunately, the Dwight Twilley Band became a footnote in the big book of rock and roll history. But, hey, at least they're in the book. That's more than you can say for most people who rushed home to form a rock and roll band after seeing A Hard Day's Night.
The Dwight Twilley Band signed with Shelter Records, and at the time it appeared Shelter might be the label to produce the next big thing. The label was owned by Leon Russell and Denny Cordell and besides Leon Russell, their roster of artists included the newly signed Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, J. J. Cale, Phoebe Snow and The Gap Band.
Things were definitely moving in the right direction, but as is often the case when things start moving, things fall apart.
The follow up single to I'm on Fire was another catchy power pop classic called Shark.
Unfortunately, there was a movie in the theaters at the time called Jaws, so the label, fearing the song might be perceived as an attempt to cash in on the movie's popularity, decided not to release it. They also decided to postpone the release of Sincerely, the debut album.
Then, things started going bad at the label, Russell and Cordell had a falling out and Russell left to form his own label. The Dwight Twilley Band's follow-up single and completed album were put on hold. A second album was recorded in England, but it was shelved as well due to the internal label problems.
Eventually, Sincerely did get released, but a year and a half had passed since the phenomenal success of I'm on Fire, and in the world of rock and roll radio a year and a half is a millennium.
Despite being, by today's standards, a classic power pop collector's item, Sincerely sank like a stone, and the new chosen follow-up single, You Were So Warm, sank with it.
Perhaps, because of all of the legal entanglements and the problems at the label, Twilley, Seymour and Tom Petty became friends and contributed to each other's recording efforts.
The Dwight Twilley Band eventually left Shelter and signed with Arista Records and released Twilley Don't Mind in 1977.
Twilley Don't Mind comes complete with all of the hooks, the harmonies, the melodies, the sound that can only be described as power pop - no assembly required, batteries included!
Despite the heart-throb cover photo, Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour lay down a collection of classic rock and pop tunes that would cause Eric Carmen to roll over and tell Alex Chilton the news...if you get that one.
Kicking off with the rockabilly title cut and moving straight to the heart of the matter with Looking for the Magic, followed by That I Remember, this album moves from hook to hook like a fish in water. (I don't know if that makes any sense or not, but what else can you put after moves from hook to hook?)
My personal favorite is Trying to Find My Baby...why this wasn't a hit single still puzzles me to this day. When they use that Buddy Holly hiccup stop...So get out of my way - I'm trying to find my baby...and they make baby rhyme with way, it sends a shiver down my spine.
The next cut, Here She Come, could just have easily been a Tom Petty song, it has that guitar jangling, driving beat arrangement right out of the first Petty and the Heartbreakers album.
Then comes the six-minute string laden mini-epic, Sleeping, followed by Chance to Get Away, which can only be described as chiming as in the jingle-jangle Byrds/Flaming Groovies/Beatles chiming - it's West Coast mop-topish.
The whole album is a shining example of the late seventies post-disco, pre-punk sound that should have been next big thing...but wasn't. MTV changed all that.
And, even though the Dwight Twilley Band had the look to go with the sound - they couldn't make the transition.
It's a very common tale.
* * * * *
Dwight Twilley still makes music today.
Dwight Twilley still makes music today.
Phil Seymour lost his battle with cancer in 1993.
Dwight Twilley, in his letter of rememberance to Phil Seymour...
"I'll never forget the cold November night at the Church Studios in Tulsa. Phil and I had just signed our first recording contract. We had been instructed by the record company to get acquainted with working in a 'real' 16-track studio and not to record a 'real' record.
In the confusion of a pivotal moment, it was Phil who pulled me into a secluded hallway and said, "Dwight, let's make a hit record right now."
That night we recorded 'I'm On Fire'."
Dwight Twilley, in his letter of rememberance to Phil Seymour...
"I'll never forget the cold November night at the Church Studios in Tulsa. Phil and I had just signed our first recording contract. We had been instructed by the record company to get acquainted with working in a 'real' 16-track studio and not to record a 'real' record.
In the confusion of a pivotal moment, it was Phil who pulled me into a secluded hallway and said, "Dwight, let's make a hit record right now."
That night we recorded 'I'm On Fire'."
Here is a classic Dwight Twilley Band video featuring Dwight on keyboards, Phil on drums and Tom Petty on bass guitar...
No comments:
Post a Comment