Roogalator (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Roogalator


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Origin = London, England
Genre = Pub Rock, Funk, New Wave
Years_active = 1972 - 1978
Label = Stiff Records
Virgin Records
Do It Records
Proper Records
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Current_members = Danny Adler
Julian Scott
Nick Monnas
Past_members = Bobby Irwin
Paul Riley
Jeff Watts
Malcolm Mortimer
Dave Solomon
Nick Plytas
Steve Beresford
Justin Hildreth

Roogalator was a Pub Rock band formed in London in 1972 by USA-born guitarist, Danny Adler.

That same year, Adler had recorded demos with 10cc's Graham Gouldman at Strawberry Studios. Prior to Roogalator, Adler had also played with Smooth Loser, a band formed with BBC DJ Emperor Rosco's brother, bass guitarist Jeff Pasternak and guitarist Chris Gibbons. Bass guitarist Giorgi Dionisiev and drummer Malcolm Mortimer (GT Moore and the Reggae Guitars), were also members for a time. Mortimer returned to Adler for an early incarnation of Roogalator before leaving to join Ian Dury in a later incarnation of Kilburn and the High Roads.

Career

Roogalator played their first live show in November 1972, at a talent night staged at the Marquee Club in London to muted response. Adler, killing time between the Irish C&W circuit and jam sessions with Ginger Baker's African drummers, spent some time in Paris studying jazz theory, returning to London to form the second line-up of Roogalator with drummer Bobby Irwin, pianist Steve Beresford and keyboardist Nick Plytas.

The band recorded a demo which resulted in a booking agency deal. Neither Beresford nor Irwin wanted to take things any further, and with their first live shows ahead, Adler and Plytas rebuilt the line-up. Drummer Dave Solomon, a band mate of both Plytas and Beresford in a Motown covers band, replaced Irwin. Irwin noting the band was still minus a bass guitarist, gave a copy of the Roogalator demo to Paul Riley, a member of the successful pub scene band Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers. Riley joined Roogalator just before their September 1975 debut and for a time it was his fame which attracted the band's first press notices.

They became one of the fixtures on the London pub rock scene of the mid-'70s, at the same time establishing themselves among the most un-pub-like bands on the circuit. Drawing deep from Adler's own experience on the Cincinnati club circuit of the late '60s, Roogalator offered an angular, minimalist funk sound which was utterly at odds with the country, blues, and early rock sounds normally heard on the scene and created a distinctive blueprint for what would become the Britfunk explosion of the early '80s.

In November 1975, the band recorded demos for United Artists Records and met Robin Scott, who would become their manager, producer and record label chief. Roogalator continued to soar and gigged through the end of that year and in January 1976 they supported Dr. Feelgood at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. The show was by their own consensus a disaster and marked the end of the classic Roogalator line-up. Within weeks, Solomon quit, to be replaced with the returning Bobby Irwin, Paul Riley also departed. With Jeff Watts recruited on bass guitar, Roogalator recorded a John Peel session on 13 May 1976, and embarked on a European tour. The tour was marred by the band having all their possessions stolen from the van, and both Watts and Irwin departed to reunite with Paul Riley in The Sinceros, a band the bassist was now managing.

Encouraged by his manager Robin Scott, Adler recruited a new rhythm section; bass guitarist Julian Scott (brother of Robin) and drummer Justin Hildreth. In early summer '76, Roogalator signed a one-off single deal with Stiff Records and released "All Aboard" / "Cincinnati Fatback". The band continued gigging relentlessly returning to the BBC for a second John Peel session on 28 October 1976.

In 1977, the band released another one-off single, "Love And The Single Girl", on Virgin Records. They declined a recording contract with Virgin who had insisted that they also sign a publishing contract in addition to a recording contract. The band returned to the BBC for a third and final John Peel session on 16 August 1977.

The band released their debut album, "Play It by Ear", in 1977 on manager's Robin Scott's Do It Records label, essentially an opportunity to preserve the band's repertoire on vinyl. The album was well-received but suffered poor sales.

The band played at ‘Front Row Festival’, a three-week event at the Hope and Anchor, Islington in late November and early December 1977. This resulted in the band’s inclusion, alongside the likes of Dr. Feelgood, The Only Ones, the Saints, The Stranglers, X-Ray Spex, and XTC, on a hit double album of recordings from the festival. The "Hope & Anchor Front Row Festival" compilation LP (March 1978) reached number 28 in the UK Albums Chart.cite book
first= David
last= Roberts
year= 2006
title= British Hit Singles & Albums
edition= 19th
publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
location= London
pages=
id= ISBN 1-904994-10-5]

When Plytas left, the band opted not to replace him and continued to gig as a trio, releasing in 1978, one more single, "Zero Hero" and demoing a second album. Hildreth was next to quit to be replaced by Nick Monnas (from Stomu Yamashta band).

Adler, discouraged by the constant changes in the line-up and with feelings that the band had run its course, disbanded Roogalator in July 1978, with many of the songs intended for their second album being reworked for his solo debut, "The Danny Adler Story". Roogalator's repertoire has since been re-issued on the "Cincinnati Fatback" compilation album.

Discography

Albums

LP - "Play It By Ear" (Do It Records - 1977)
CD - "Cincinnati Fatback" (Compilation) (Proper Records - 1999)

ingles

7" - "All Aboard" / "Cincinnati Fatback" (Stiff Records - 1976)
7" - "Love and the Single Girl" / "I Feel Good (I Got You)" (Virgin Records - 1977)
7" - "Zero Hero" / "Sweet Mam Kundalini" (Do It Records - 1978)

References