Whistling Jack Smith
I Was Kaiser Bill’s Batman
1967
There was a singer called Whispering Jack Smith. This is Whistling Jack Smith, no relation. This is the very definition of a one hit wonder, and the whistling is great and the tune is as catchy as they come.
Do you remember The Carpenters, you know, the married couple Karen and Richard?
Well no, we don’t either. Firstly, they were not married, but actually brother and sister.
Secondly, their group was not “The Carpenters” but simply Carpenters (no “the”). I believe Richard made up the name, and he always seemed to quite like to do odd things. I suspect he regretted it – if you’re introducing them, or talking about them, it sounds strange. “The Carpenters” is more natural.
You may think it is odd that they are included on our site.
The history of the duo is well-known and not terribly happy. Drug addiction, over work and Karen’s eventual death are just a part of it.
Richard played piano, he sang, wrote songs, did arrangements and production. He is a talented chap. Karen really did play drums, wanting to join in, but she also a fabulous singer, though she hated fronting the band, at first at least.
I was lucky enough to be born in the mid 1950s and my musical tastes were heavily influenced by bands of the 1960s and early 70s. People like The Beatles (John, Paul, George and Ringo), King Crimson (Robert, Ian, Michael, Greg and Peter), Pink Floyd (Roger, Nick, Richard and David), Small Faces (Ronnie, Steve, Ian and Kenney) and so on, including The Moody Blues (Mike, Ray, Justin, Graeme and John).
I just named a few at random, and have given the first names of their ‘classic line up’. If I’d included The Rolling Stones it would have been Bill, Charlie, Brian, Mick and Keith.
So, why am I doing this?
If you think of a band you like, certain members will come to mind. They may not be the original members (The Beatles had Pete Best as drummer before Ringo, The Moodies had Denny Laine and Clint Warwick before Justin and John etc), but they are the line up you think of first, the people who produced one or more ‘classic’ albums. The classic Moodies produced seven good albums (plus another) known as the ‘core’.
It’s inevitable, though, that members will come and go. I believe they call it ‘churn’. (This is a good posting if you like technical words beginning with ‘c’). People die, they move on, they retire, bands have a big falling out… all sorts of things can happen. Sometimes, members who have left come back, but usually they don’t. No matter how much fans would like to see Roger Waters, Nick Mason and David Gilmour play together again, this seems somewhat unlikely.
