Fancy (band)

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Fancy was a short-lived British pop-rock band formed in 1974 from a studio project by producer Mike Hurst and guitarist Ray Fenwick a year ago.

history

Mike Hurst's initial idea for what was later called Fancy was to reissue the Troggs classic Wild Thing with funk rhythms and more sex appeal than he thought the original had. His friend, guitarist Ray Fenwick, took part in the recording and stylistic development of the song from the start. Bassist Mo Foster, keyboardist Alan Hawkshaw and drummer Henry Spinetti joined as studio musicians . When casting the lead vocals, it was finally decided on the former Penthouse Pet (October 1971) Helen Caunt, who moaned her contribution more than sang.

In the spring of 1973 the single was released on Atlantic Records , but made no major impression in the UK. Only when Wild Thing appeared on the Atlantic sub-label “Big Tree” in the USA after a delay of over a year and surprisingly became a top 20 hit, did the previous studio project Fancy develop into a band, albeit with two new members. Annie Kavanagh was hired as a singer because the vocal performances of Helen Caunt seemed to be less suitable for live performances. Les Binks took over the place on the drums.

In the summer of 1974 Fancy toured North America and played a. a. in the opening act for Steppenwolf , Kiss and Wishbone Ash . The first album, also titled Wild Thing and produced by Mike Hurst, also contained the follow-up single Touch Me , which also made it into the top 20 on the US Billboard charts in late 1974 . Despite the two single successes, the album did not sell particularly well and the group then switched to Arista Records .

However, there were no further chart successes, and after the second 1975 album Fancy Turns You On ( Something to Remember in Great Britain ), which contains a cover version of Stevie Wonders I Was Made to Love Her - in Fancy I Was Made to Love Him  - was released the band project.

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
Wild thing
  US 14th 08/1974 (8 weeks)
Touch me
  US 19th 11/1974 (4 weeks)

Albums

  • 1974: Wild Thing (Atlantic, Collectables 2006)
  • 1975: Fancy Turns You On aka Something to Remember (RCA or Arista)
  • 2001: Wild Thing / Turns You On (Angel Air)

Singles

  • 1973: Wild Thing (Atlantic)
  • 1974: Touch Me (Atlantic)
  • 1975: She's Riding the Rock Machine (Arista)
  • 1975: I Was Made to Love Him (Arista)
  • 1975: Music Maker (Arista)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Alex Gitlin's Music Site from: Mike Hurst: Liner Notes for the CD release (2001) of the two Fancy albums on Angel Air Records (English)
  2. ^ Joel Whitburn: The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits . 7th edition. Billboard Books, New York 2000, ISBN 0-8230-7690-3 , pp. 226/227.