Very clever, NS.
Marmalade is not a LADY.
Anders 1, Marmalade 0
Formed in Scotland in 1963 as Dean Ford and The Gaylords, a soul and Tamla covers band who recorded three singles that
deserved to do better. By 1967 they had signed to CBS and chosen a new name, Marmalade, which was more akin with the
times. Despite being little more than a mainstream pop outfit at this time they managed to get gigs at 'underground' venues like
the Marquee and were a regular attraction at jazz and blues festivals. Various publicity stunts were used to put them in the public
eye, including a promotional film and the distribution of jars of marmalade to various radio stations. By now the group had
relocated to London and set up communal home in Archway.
Their debut 45, It's All Leading Up To Saturday Night, had a harpsichord introduction and conveyed the imagery of weekend
freedom pretty effectively. The flip was a rather lightweight composition of their own. The follow-up, Can't Stop Now, was a
pop/soul effort rather overshadowed by another group original on the flip. Their third release was a considerable advance - their
first self-penned 'A' side. Notable for its tight harmonies, strong chorus and tuned-down lead guitar line, I See The Rain
captured them at their most creative and together with the follow-up, Man In A Shop, which was full of gorgeous harmonies and
swirling tapes, captured the feel of that memorable Summer of 1967, though sadly neither were hits here, though I See The
Rain did get to No 23 in Holland.
Their breakthrough finally came with a cover of US band The Grassroots' Lovin' Things, a commercial, bubblegum-style song,
which CBS pretty much forced upon them, as time was running out for the band. On the flip side they did a cover of Hey Joe -
they'd earlier been on a tour with Hendrix. Having achieved a hit formula they stuck to it with Wait For Me Mary-Anne and a cover
of Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da from The Beatles' White Album, which took them to No 1. Both songs were extremely commercial and
destroyed any 'underground' credentials which some of their earlier recording had nurtured. They were a classic case of a band
who had to compromise to achieve success. Baby Make It Soon gave them another Top 10 hit, though Butterfly, one of their
more creative songs and their final release for CBS sadly flopped, as did their album, There's A Lot Of It About.
On 14 November 1969 they signed a new contract with Decca, which gave them complete freedom to write, arrange, produce
and record whatever material they wanted free from record company interference - something they'd never enjoyed with CBS.
The first result of this new arrangement was Reflections Of My Life, a ballad penned by Campbell and McAleese. It went down
well climbing to No 3 in the UK and No 10 in the US. A new album inevitably followed, but Reflections Of The Marmalade failed
to make much impact here in the UK, though it got to No 71 in the US, where it was issued as Reflections Of My Life.
Rainbow and My Little One gave them further UK hits and their next album, Songs, had its moments. Rainbow also made it
to No 51 in the US. By now though Junior Campbell felt the band had gone as far as it could and departed (forming a new band
Hallelujah Freedom the following year), to be replaced by Hughie Nicholson, who'd earlier played for another Scottish group,
The Poets. Whitehead also left and was replaced by another ex-Poet, Dougie Henderson.
These changes gave the group a new injection of life in the short-term. A Nicholson composition, Cousin Norman, Back On
The Road and Radancer were all pretty lively songs which made the Charts and kept the band in the public eye. Though, after
the first of these hits Fairley 'retired' from the group. The band received some adverse publicity, though, in 1972, when a
popular Sunday newspaper accused the band of sexual debauchery in a typical tabloid-style groupie expos? and the promising
Radancer became the revitalised line-ups final 45 and their final 45 for Decca.
Nicholson left to join Cody but in 1974 Ford, Knight and Henderson re-grouped and signed to EMI with a new six-piece line-up
(D). This recorded the Our House Is Rockin' album and three 45s but Knight left almost as soon as the new line-up was put
together and it was clear that the group was falling apart.
It was left to Knight and Whitehead to haul the band out of the ashes in 1976 and put together a new line-up. Signing to Target
Records they enjoyed a further UK hit with Falling Apart At The Seams (which certainly described the band's predicament a few
years earlier), which also climbed to No 49 in the US, where it was released on Ariola America. Subsequent singles and an album
flopped and, in any case, they are beyond this book's remit. Still the band was certainly durable and recorded in various
incarnations throughout the eighties.
A good introduction to the band's material is probably The Best Of The Marmalade (CBS) 1969. It surveys both their early hits
and their psychedelic pop period. Ob La Di (Embassy) 1973 includes most of their late sixties hits. Their post-1972 recordings
are not recommended.
The Reflections Of The Marmalade CD contains their 1970 album for Decca plus eight 45 cuts from 1970 onwards. Particularly
noteworthy from the original album is Kaleidoscope, as its name suggests a fine slice of psychedelia.
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