New in at #38

If the artwork seems familiar, it's because it is similar to that used by Decca for the sleeve of The Last Time, which was featured in the Fab Forty for 28th February and for various other singles released around this time.

Another Brick in the Wall
This is a section of the Wall of Fame near Liverpool's Cavern Club, which holds a named brick for every artist who has appeared at the renowned club. We have coloured the bricks featuring no less than seven artists in this week's Fab Forty, in gold.

They are the Rolling Stones at #1, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, #7, the Searchers #9, the Hollies, #12, the Moody Blues, #16, Petula Clark, #20 and Gerry and the Pacemakers, #33.

On March 15th, the chart-topping Stones visited Radio London's Curzon Street offices.

11 8 Concrete And Clay Unit 4 + 2 Decca F12071

Brian Parker, who had played guitar first with the Hunters, then Adam Faith's backing band, the Roulettes, formed Unit Four with singer Pete Moules and guitarists Tommy Moeller and Dave 'Buster' Meikle. Parker was suffering from health problems, and left the band to be replaced by Lem (Howard) Lubin, but he continued working as a songwriter. With the addition of bassist Rod Garwood and drummer Hugh Halliday, the group became Unit 4 + 2.

At Beaconsfield Youth Club on April 15th 1966, the Knees Club recruited Rod (#203), Peter (#204), 'Buster'(#205), Hugh (#206), Tommy (#207) and Lem (#202), plus Tommy's brother Billy Moeller (#209), who was acting as the band's roadie. The following year, Billy toured as Whistling Jack Smith (see FF 26th Feb '67).

Two former Roulettes Russ Ballard and Bob Henrit were guest musicians on Concrete And Clay, the band's third single, written by Brian Parker and Tommy Moeller. In the States, Unit Four + 2 battled their way up the Hot Hundred to #28, with Concrete, beating Eddie Rambeau's cover. In a message on the tribute site to Connecticut's WDRC a listener recalls how in 1965, WDRC opted to play the Unit Four version, while rival Top Forty station WPOP championed Rambeau's. Neither station ever aired the other version!

In the UK, the group enjoyed the company of the offshore DJs. Caroline's Graham 'Spider' Webb shared a London flat with the Moeller brothers and Kenny Everett also mentioned on air that the band were his friends.

In 1970, Lem Lubin was enjoying another transatlantic success with Christie – Yellow River. Lem went into record production and worked on Judie Tzuke's first album Welcome to the Cruise. He also co-wrote the closing title track of the feature film based on the TV series Porridge, with scriptwriter Ian La Frenais.

Concrete was successfully covered in France by Richard Anthony (backed by the Roulettes) and has been more recently recorded by both Randy Edelman and Kevin Rowland. The song also featured in the 1998 Wes Anderson film, Rushmore.

The Moeller brothers now live in Australia on the Central Coast of NSW and continue to work on musical projects. Tommy has continued with his successful songwriting career and has more recently concentrated on musicals. In 1993, Leonardo – the Musical – A Portrait of Love written by Tommy and another brother, Greg, opened at London's Strand Theatre.

In February 2013, Graham 'Spider' Webb recorded a 13-minute interview with his old flatmate Tommy Moeller, which he very kindly shared with us. It includes a recently-recorded new version of Concrete and Clay.

Click on the picture for info on the 30-track Unit 4 + 2 The Singles CD, containing both 'A' and 'B-sides' of the band's singles released between 1964 and 1969. See nicholasthurkettle.com 'I will stick this song in your head whether you like it or not...', where there is more about the song, a clip of Unit 4 + 2 singing it and a collection of others' cover versions.

From Colchester, the band was first called Dane Stephens and The Deep Beats, but upon signing a Decca recording contract (resulting in one release, a cover of Dylan's Don't Think Twice...) they became the Fairies. Get Yourself Home is the first of two subsequent HMV singles. With Stephens temporarily out of the band, the line-up for the recording is replacement vocalist, Nick Wymer with John Acutt, Johnny 'Twink' Alder, John Gandy and Mick Weaver. The reputation gained by this single as a British R & B classic, combines with drummer Twink Alder's subsequent connections to highly-collectable names, to make Get Yourself Home a high-value slice of vinyl (mint £160).

Twink became a member of Tomorrow with Keith West and Steve Howe, having joined the band before its name change from The In Crowd. Their single My White Bicycle was selected by John Peel as one of the tracks in the final Perfumed Garden. The band, although not scheduled to appear, blagged its way onto the bill of the famous 14 Hour Technicolour Dream in April 1967. (See FF 12/03/67)

Twink later joined The Pink Fairies, an outfit including Peelie's friend Steve Peregrine Took of Tyrannosaurus Rex. The Fairies (the non-Pink variety) were signed to the Morrison-Duncan Agency, as were the Pretty Things. Twink was to become a member of the Pretties for two years, during which time he wrote a mime play depicting the story of the band's concept album S F Sorrow. Twink also collaborated with Syd Barrett and Jack Monck, in the extremely short-lived Stars.

(Right) Twink, pictured as the drummer of The In Crowd. Photo from the CD sleevenotes of Mothballs. (l to r) Junior Wood, Keith West, Steve Howe, Twink.

Mick Weaver, is not the Mick Weaver who played keyboards as Wynder K Frog.

The Fab 40 for March 21st contains nine new entries, but unfortunately for the Fairies, Get Yourself Home was not among them.

A statement on an Italian site (translated courtesy of Google) described the Fairies as a 'complex scandalously celebre for long hats (in 1964)'. Never one to shy away from a challenge, 'Fab' Alan Field back-translated, played with spellings and synonyms, and can tell us...

"The expression on the original Italian website is: 'complesso scandalosamente celebre per i capelli lunghi (nel 1964)'

'complesso' is another word for 'group', 'celebre' means 'famous', and 'capelli' with one 'p' means 'hair' (as opposed to cappelli with two 'p's meaning 'hats').

So it's a group scandalously famous for long hair (in 1964)!"

Not just the Rolling Stones and the Pretty Things, then!