Part 2,
1970 - 1975
Part 2,
1970 - 1975
After the Shadows had split up for the second
time in 1969, it really did seem like the Shadows story was over. As well as writing and
doing sessions, Hank and Brian embarked on solo careers. John Rostill joined Tom Jones
backing band and spent much of his time in the USA.
Two years after the Bruce left the Shadows, he and Hank made plans to work together again
but in a different context than 'the Shadows'. They invited John Farrar to join them. John
is a very talented singer and guitarist they had met whilst he was playing with a group
called 'The Strangers' in Melbourne. He had a tremendous talent for arranging vocal
harmonies and they did a lot of West Coast harmonies in the style of Crosby, Stills and
Nash.
Marvin Welch and Farrar made their first
appearance on the Cliff Richard TV series in January 1971, releasing their first album and
a single 'Faithful' the following month. A European tour followed in March for which they
were augmented by Brian Bennett on the drums so 75% of the group had joined up again (John
Rostill being unavailable because he was contracted to play in Tom Jones' backing band).
Not suprisingly, tour promoters wanted to bill the group as 'the Shadows' but they
insisted that they were doing a new act comprising all acoustic/vocal numbers.
Despite getting good reviews from critics, their
second album 'Second Opinion' was not a commercial success and none of their singles
'Faithful' and 'Marmaduke' made the charts. Fans at concerts were always yelling for
'Apache' and 'FBI'. It seemed impossible to shake off 'the Shadows tag' and eventually,
they had to bow to public opinion and include Shadows numbers such as 'Dance On'.
On top of this, Bruce was hit very badly by the break up of his engagement to Olivia Newton-John in 1972 and had to leave the group again. Hank and John reorganised their act and continued as a 'duo'. So in September, Marvin and Farrar (without Welch) toured the Far east with Cliff and Olivia. Brian, John Rostill and Alan Hawkshaw were also involved. This tour was recorded and released on the album 'Cliff Goes East', but not in the UK. The Marvin and Farrar set which mixed Shadows favourites with more contemporary vocal material was issued on an Italian (bootleg?) CD 'Atlantis' in 1994.
Marvin and Farrar released one LP and two singles but these didn't sell well.
By 1973, Bruce had recovered enough to become
involved with recording again and in October, Hank, Bruce, Brian and John Farrar finally
gave in to countless requests and reformed again but this time under the name of 'The
Shadows' once more to record a single 'Turn Around and Touch Me' and the superb Album
'Rockin' with Curly Leads'. These events were however overshadowed by the tragic death of
John Rostill, electrocuted in his home studio in November.
Although live appearances were still not on the
agenda, the group played a half-hour spot in John Peel's "Sounds On Sunday"
radio program in March 1974 (A performance which has appeared on bootleg albums) and also
guested on one of Cilla Black's TV shows.
Later in 1974, they appeared again at the London Palladium for a charity event. Bill
Cotton, head of BBC Light Entertainment asked them to represent Britain in the 1975
Eurovision Song Contest.
They appeared on Lulu's TV series,
singing one song a week for six weeks before the viewers chose 'Let Me Be The One'.
Despite Bruce forgetting the words and fluffing the first line, they finished second in
the contest. 'Let Me Be The One ' gave the Shads their first hit for eight years, reaching
number 12 in the UK charts. The six Eurovision songs together with six instrumental
numbers were issued on the LP 'Specs Appeal'. Following their appearance at
Eurovision, they appeared at the Paris Olympia - a concert which was taped and released on
album.
In 1975, Olivia Newton-John decided to
move to the USA to consolidate her career. John Farrar moved with her as musical director
and record producer. This brought to an end the 'John Farrar era' of the Shadows although
one more single 'It'll be me Babe' featuring John's vocal was released in 1976.
last modified 03 February 2000