After munching through one egg and starting on another I thought I would return this week to a subject that has cropped up in this blog a few times.
Some of my past posts about this band was more reflective looking at what being that Rollers fan was to me and some of those records we bought while this looks at the four core albums and their reception.
Most things on this blog tend to be "connected" in someway to my life rather than blog of reviews and the like.
This entry is about four albums that were part of that life.
The first album got off to a good start with Saturday Night, the first single since September 1971 to actually go top 30 in late 1973 and Remember from early 1974 recorded with Nobby Clarke on lead vocals before Les joined the band.
The success of Shang-a-lang in the Spring of 1974 made recording an album by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter easy and those first two songs were re-recorded with Les on vocals together with new songs such as Summerlove Sensation which meant by release in October it didn't just come out as the bands popularity was on the march, it had four hit singles.
The album sold extremely well aided by having those four hits split between two sides mixed with some of Bill and Phil's own songs plus a a few from Eric Faulkner and Stu "Woody" Wood such as Ain't It Strange which is a folk flavoured favourite of mine from it.
All Of Me Loves All Of You, a non album single had done well in October and so they were the poster child of a new brand of hysteria in pop bigger than anything Mud, Slade or Gary Glitter could muster.
It was "screaming "do or die" access your idols mania!
In March of 1975 Once Upon a Star, the second album had been released recorded with them playing most of the instruments following criticism of the use of session players which was very common place back then.
This album had a high proportion of self composed songs too so it was no surprise this record was played when I transferred to boarding school that year which the act of talking about my love for band aided the transition.
Timed for the Christmas market, Wouldn't You Like It was released December 1975 featuring Give A Little Love which had been a Number 1 single but interestingly missed out Money Honey their newest.
Again apart from being a gatefold, initial copies also had a tartan bag that contained pictures of the individuals the idea being you'd separate and stick upon your bedroom wall.
As you would expect, it was highly promoted in the music press and featured Too Young To Rock 'N' Roll which was the theme song of the Glam rock movie that came out that year.
The following review shows just how much respect reviewers had for their maturing musical and lyrical talent, something the band has over the years been unfairly ridiculed for.
By September 1976 things were changing in the UK with funk based disco and the "New wave" on the rise just as North America experienced Rollermania and this lead to the fourth album being recorded in Toronto, Canada which captured their maturing sound and was the only album Ian Mitchell who had replaced Alan at the end of 1975 played on before he too left.
Interesting the UK edition did feature 1975's Money Honey but ignored both Love Me Like I Love You a number 4 hit single we all song on the school bus and the cover of I Only Wanna Be With You, the latter did make the Canadian and U.S. versions of this album.
To me this is easily their best album mixing great ballads with exquisite power-pop such as Rock 'N' Roll Love Letter, hit in Europe and North America that I have the Japanese single of with insert.
These are albums that I still own, well cared for for the memories associated with them during that era.
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