Post by Mrs Foster on Oct 5, 2011 18:25:26 GMT
Oct 4, 2011 12:31:21 GMT @roadworm said:
Great to see Alex Junior receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. I've never really been one for "awards" as such (the BAFTAs always wanna make me puke!), but his dad really deserved it. Has anyone read the new updated Wikipedia article on SAHB's "Rock Drill" with lots of new information on "No Complaints Department"?Here it's here for aw you lazy buggers who cannae be arsed findin' it , it's very interesting.....;D
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This article is about the Alex Harvey album. For hammer rock drills, see Drifter (drill).
Rock Drill
Studio album by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
Released March, 1978
Recorded Ridge Farm, Dorking, with the Maison Rouge Mobile and at Basing Street Studios, London in 1978
Genre Rock
Length 37:13
Label 1978 LP released on Mountain Records, 2002 CD reissue released on Mercury Records
Producer The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
Professional reviews
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Allmusic link
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band chronology
Fourplay
(1977) Rock Drill
(1978) Zalvation
(2006)
Rock Drill is the last studio album by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, which was released in the UK in 1978. This album did not feature the band's keyboardist Hugh McKenna, owing to an internal dispute - however three songs from the album are co-credited to him. McKenna has since recorded his regrets at the confrontation, given what lay ahead in the next five years. The album was released separately on CD, but is now more widely available on a 2-in-1 album, coupled with the album "SAHB Stories". "Rock Drill" was originally to feature a track entitled "No Complaints Department", which appeared on the German and Norwegian Vertigo releases of the album (Cat No: 6370 423) but it was later pulled before the album was released on Mountain Records (TOPS 114). It also appeared on the 1987 CD compilation "Portrait" (Start STFCD1) where it was incorrectly listed as "Mrs Blackhouse." The "Portrait" CD was also released on LP and cassette in the UK, both containing "No Complaints Department" (listed as "Mrs Blackhouse."). The French issue of this CD (pressed by MPO) contains the song "Mrs Blackhouse" as listed.
The story behind "No Complaints Department" is quite involved. The melody and structure of the song was inspired from a poem by Rudyard Kipling called "The Ladies." Jimmie Grimes (bassist with Alex's Soulband in the 50s & 60s) adapted the poem, composed music for it and retitled it "I Learned About Women" (credited to Kipling/Grimes), which Alex recorded on his 1964 solo LP "The Blues" (Polydor HI FI 46 441 [mono] & SLPHM 237 641 [stereo]). In 1977 Alex took the music from this song and wrote the lyrics of "No Complaints Department" over it. In November 1977, Mountain Records were planning to release the song as a single "No Complaints Department" b/w "Anthem" (1977 Mountain - Cat No: TOP 34). Alan Freeman played an acetate of the single on his Saturday Show and announced that it would be SAHB's 'new single.' However, Alex was afraid of upsetting his parents, Leslie and Margaret with the lyrics "My brother was killed on the stage" and phoned up Jimmie Grimes telling him NOT to sign the publishing rights clearance form. Jimmie was offered money by Mountain Records, but he stuck to his guns and refused to sign. The single had to be pulled. Unfortunately, copies of the "Rock Drill" sleeve had been printed on Mountain listing "No Complaints Department" on Side Two. The album, due for release in November 1977 in the UK was held up and had to be re-pressed with a replacement track "Mrs Blackhouse" on it. "Rock Drill" was finally released in the UK in March 1978 (Mountain - Cat No: TOPS 114). Some early UK white label test pressings of "Rock Drill" contain "No Complaints Department", but an actual finished British copy of the album on the Mountain label has never been seen containing the track to this day (although the sleeve has an amendment sticker over the Side Two listing stating "Mrs Blackhouse"). In late 1977 "Rock Drill" was released on Vertigo in Germany and Norway containing "No Complaints Department", but the album was quickly withdrawn and replaced by copies with "Mrs Blackhouse" on them. The acetate of the single played by Alan Freeman is the original mix of the song. The David Batchelor remixed version of "No Complaints Department" appears on the UK edition of "Portrait" (LP/CD/cassette), the UK white label test pressing of "Rock Drill" and the German & Norwegian pressings of the album. "No Complaints Department" never reached the pressing stage as an actual single.
"NO COMPLAINTS DEPARTMENT" - What the lyrics actually mean.
"I've seen stars disappear in a hurry, overdoses of satin and silk" - this refers to the death of Elvis Presley who died as a result of stardom and rich living.
"Some others who can't feed their children coz they don't have the money for milk" - a reference to Margaret Thatcher who, as Education Secretary, abolished free school milk to primary school children and became known as "Thatcher the milk snatcher."
"So my best friend died in a plane crash, my brother was killed on the stage, so don't be upset if I'm angry and seem in some kind of a rage" - refers to the death of Alex's manager and best friend Bill Fehilly, who was killed in a plane crash in 1976 in the Grampians. Also a reference to Alex's younger brother Leslie who was electrocuted onstage with Stone The Crows on 3rd May 1972 at the Swansea Top Rank ballroom when he touched a live microphone.
"There is no complaints department, it's only up to you..." - the chorus means that there is no point complaining about bad things that happen in your life. It's up to you to deal with it yourself.
"I've got friends who are armed with magnums, they don't get their money from me, coz it never is no kind of pleasure to see somebody suffer you see" - a reference to Alex's minder/bodyguard John Miller, who once tried to capture Ronnie Biggs and bring him to justice.
"They took my old pal to the madhouse, in horror and fear and in pain, with surgery done in a hurry to do a transplant in his brain" - refers to former Soulband guitarist Robert Nimmo, who suffered for many years with psychological problems.
"NO COMPLAINTS DEPARTMENT"' - The following is a comparison of the melody to Rudyard Kipling's "The Ladies" poem and the adapted song version "I Learned About Women."
THE LADIES: "I've taken my love where I've found it" NCD: "I've seen stars disappear in a hurry"
THE LADIES: "I've wandered and ranged in my time" NCD: "Overdoses of satin and silk"
THE LADIES: "I've had my pickings of sweethearts" NCD: "Some others who can't feed their children"
THE LADIES: "And three of these were just fine" NCD: "Coz they don't have the money for milk"
"No Complaints Department" was the last song SAHB ever recorded in the studio and Alex broke down in tears after he finished it. The album cover shows the torso cast from Sir Jacob Epstein's challenging 1913 sculpture The Rock Drill, symbolising mankind's descent into a less than human machine hybrid. Alex Harvey found this statue deeply moving and it influenced the entire "Rock Drill Suite." Zal Cleminson rates "The Dolphins" as one of the best things SAHB ever produced next to "Faith Healer" and "Give My Compliments To The Chef." One track recorded during the "Rock Drill" session that never made it onto the finished album is "Engine Room Boogie." The track ended up as the B-side of SAHB's final single release "Mrs Blackhouse" (1977 Mountain - Cat No: TOP 32). The band performed "Mrs Blackhouse" and "Engine Room Boogie" at the 1977 Reading Festival on Sunday 28th August with Tommy Eyre on keyboards. This was the SAHB's final gig.
[edit] Track listingsThe Rock Drill Suite
1.(i) "Rock Drill" (Alex Harvey/Tommy Eyre)
2.(ii) "The Dolphins" (Alex Harvey/Alistair "Zal" Cleminson/Chris Glen/Hugh McKenna)
3.(iii) "Rock 'n' Roll" (Alex Harvey/Alistair Cleminson/Hugh McKenna)
4.(iv) "King Kong" (Max Steiner)
5."Booids" (Traditional: arranged by Alex Harvey/Alistair Cleminson/Chris Glen/Edward McKenna/Tommy Eyre)
6."Who Murdered Sex?" (Alex Harvey/Alistair Cleminson/Tommy Eyre)
7."Nightmare City" (Alex Harvey)
8."Water Beastie" (Alex Harvey/Chris Glen/Hugh McKenna)
9."Mrs. Blackhouse (Alex Harvey)
10."No Complaints Department" (Alex Harvey/J. Grimes; pre-release issue)