The Rubettes

The Rubettes were an English pop band of the 1970s assembled in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, the then head of A&R at Polydor Records, and his co-songwriter, Tony Waddington, after their doo-wop and 1950s American pop-influenced songs had been rejected by a number of existing acts. The band duly emerged at the tail end of the glam rock movement, wearing trademark white suits and cloth caps on stage.

Personnel

The original line-up of the band was:-
*Alan Williams (born Alan James Williams, 22 December 1948, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire) - vocalist / guitarist
*John Richardson (b John George Richardson, 3 May 1947, South Ockendon, Essex) - drummer / vocalist
*Mick Clarke (b Michael William Clarke, 10 August 1946, Grimsby, Lincolnshire) - bassist / vocalist
*Tony Thorpe (b Anthony John Thorpe, 20 July 1947, London) - vocalist / guitarist
*Pete Arnesen - keyboardist
*Bill Hurd (b William Frederick George Hurd, 11 August 1948, East London) - keyboardist

Of the Original Rubettes line-up only John Richardson, Alan Williams and Pete Arnesen participated in the recording of "Sugar Baby Love".

Career

The Rubettes’ first (and biggest) hit was "Sugar Baby Love" (released in 1974) which was a UK number one, going on to sell around eight million copies worldwide. Two million copies being sold in France alone an achievement matched by no other British group. The distinctive falsetto lead vocal to "Sugar Baby Love" was performed by Paul Da Vinci (real name: Paul Prewer) on the original Polydor recording session who declined the opportunity to actually become a member of the band put together by John Richardson.

The Rubettes went on to have a number of other hits across Europe during the mid-seventies such as "Tonight", "Juke Box Jive" and "I Can Do It" sung by Alan Williams, mostly written by the Bickerton-Waddington songwriting team. Their most successful self composed hit was the 'country rock' styled ballad - "Baby I Know" - which reached number 10 in the UK & Germany in 1977.

The band continued releasing records into the 1980s, then re-grouped in 1983 in order to exploit the German market for 1970s nostalgia. In 1994, the group’s profile was raised by the inclusion of "Sugar Baby Love" in the hit movie, "Muriel's Wedding". This song was also featured in the 2005 Neil Jordan film, "Breakfast on Pluto" soundtrack.

In 2002, the group hit the headlines once more when, following an acrimonius split and legal action, the Rubettes became the latest in a long line of bands (including Pink Floyd, the Beach Boys and Spandau Ballet) who ended up in the courts in a dispute over ownership of the band’s name. The court ruled that both Williams and Hurd could tour as the Rubettes, as long as it was clear which member was fronting the band. Originals John Richardson and Mick Clarke along with ex-Kinks keyboardist Mark Haley feature with Alan Williams in his band, while Hurd is the only member of his group connected with the original line up.

All was well until 2005 when Williams and Hurd were back in court following an appearance by Hurd’s band on the German television station ZDF, with Williams claiming Hurd had breached the terms of the original agreement. On 2 February 2006, a High Court judge found that Hurd & Williams had both been guilty of breaching the 2002 agreement. Costs of the trial were however awarded to Williams in view of the severity of Hurd's breaches. Hurd appealed against this decision, but on 3 November 2006 the Appeal Court in London ruled against him, awarding the costs of the appeal to Williams. Hurd has since gone bankrupt.

On 28 March 2008 'Sugar Baby Love' was declared to be the most successful oldie of all time by the German television station RTL.

References

* Guinness Book of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-190-X
* The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits - ISBN 0-85112-250-7

External links

* [http://www.rubettes.com The Rubettes' website]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:5x6atra9kl1x~T1 The Rubettes biography at the AMG web site]
* [http://www.supersoul.com/yoga/bio.htm John Richardson biography]