20 Golden Greats @45

[iefje]

Lefje wrote:

What happened between "Tasty" and "String Of Hits" (an album with largely original material vs. an album with largely derivative material), happened again between "Guardian Angel" and "Moonlight Shadows". Largely original material didn't do much on the charts, but after that, derivative material got them much higher in the charts again.

What is often unmentioned is that even though The Shadows had plenty of opportunity that year (they did a summer tour of the UK - I saw them three times in Kent), they did absolutely no promotion of "Guardian Angel". Not a single number played on stage and not even a mention of the LP which was on sale out in the theatre foyer on each occasion.

That is strange indeed. They did promote the album to some extent in early 1985, when they toured Australia and New Zealand. Someone on this forum posted an interview from that period (available on YouTube), in which they talked about the album. Anyway, during that tour, they played "How Do I Love Thee" and "Hammerhead". The latter was also released as a single over there.

Going back on topic, during the "20 Golden Dates" tour, The Shadows only played "Walk Don't Run" from their "Tasty" album, which had not yet been released at that point, but for which the recording had been completed. The original compositions from that album lent themselves very well for live performances, so I also wonder why no further material from "Tasty" was ever performed live by the group.

[drakula63]

...I agree.

There were tracks on Tasty that would have sounded brilliant played live, but as they were touring to promote 20GG, I guess it was the wrong time and place. Personally, I am still surprised that Walk Don't Run wasn't released as a single - say during the tour - as I feel it would have sold. I'm almost sure that I heard it played on the radio. I'd also go with Cricket Bat Boogie as an obvious single, as it tied in with the visuals from the famous (and award winning) TV ad. Another Night was not a good choice for a single, in my opinion, but Montezuma's Revenge (just listen to that bass!) would have been. And speaking of such things, I bet Francis would have enjoyed playing Bermuda Triangle live. Tasty was a brilliant album and, in a way, it's a shame that it came out in 20GG's shadow and was eclipsed by its phenomenal success, as it might have done better if they'd released it in '78.

[Fenderman]

Were The Shadows still an active band by early 1977? I read somewhere they split up after the Paris Olympia album and John Farrar left to emigrate to the US to produce Olivia Newton-John.

[drakula63]

I think they did a little bit of recording in 1976, but very little else. They were releasing an album roughly every two years by then, so I imagine Tasty would have come out at some point in 1977 anyway. However, it was certainly 20GG that convinced them to get back together full time.