Thinking About Tomorrow: Excerpts from the Life of Keith West
Ian L. Clay - Hawksmoor Publishing
I've just been watching a BBC compilation of one-hit wonders from 'Top Of The Pops' and there were some impressive names featured, artists who have had full and lasting careers like Ralph McTell, Peter Sarstedt and Arthur Brown. One caption referred to the misfortune of only having one hit, but surely the artist should be fortunate that he had one at all. I knew Peter Sarstedt quite well and he told me that wherever he played, 250 people would turn up to see him. That sounds good to me.
I was watching the programme because I was hoping that Keith West would be appearing with his 'Excerpt From A Teenage Opera', but he didn't. He's forgotten today. If you went out on the street, I doubt that many passers-by would know his name or the title of his hit song, but if you said, 'Grocer Jack', some would smile in recognition of that chorus. Indeed, Edward Heath became known as Grocer Heath because he supported small grocers or something like that and I can remember being at a folk club where everyone was chanting 'Grocer Heath' to the tune of 'Grocer Jack'.
But whatever happened to Keith West or for that matter, 'A Teenage Opera'? In 1967 there was a buzz around what the completed work would be like, but it wasn't released until 1996 and even then, they had not the funding to complete it properly. That funding excuse is flimsy: my friend Colin McCourt produced a full-length rock opera for 'The Devil Rides Out' and you would never guess that it had been made on a shoestring.
The cover of 'Thinking About Tomorrow' looks like the autobiography of Keith West but hidden away in the bottom right-hand corner is the author's name, Ian L Clay. I've had my share of arguments with publishers and I'd have been annoyed if I'd been side-lined like that. It gives the impression that this is an autobiography when really it is an authorised biography.
Keith West's beginnings in the music industry are very well covered - we have Four+1 (the strange name aping Unit Four+2), the In Crowd who made a few soulful singles, and the psych band Tomorrow, which included Steve Howe (later with Yes) and Twink (later with the Pretty Things). In 1966, the In Crowd were filmed for the trendy 'Blow-Up'; Antonioni wanted the Velvet Underground, got the In Crowd, didn't like the footage and replaced them with the Yardbirds, but they did get on screen in George Melly's 'Smashing Time'. This film came out after Swinging London had briefly been and gone, which made it old-hat and unsuccessful. However, I disagree with the author as that doesn't matter as you don't know 'Smashing Time' wasn't made at the time as you watch it today.
Tomorrow made a great single, 'My White Bicycle' which Keith wrote after seeing the corporation-owned cycles in Amsterdam. N 1975, it was revived by Nazareth, who didn't change very much. I was waiting for Olivia Newton-John to pop up in the text but her group was called Toomorrow (sic) and was a completely different unit.
Keith West worked with the EMI producer, Mark Wirtz, who saw himself as another Phil Spector and made the lavish 'Excerpt From A Teenage Opera', the song being written with Keith. It was fun and grandiose, albeit telling a sad story, and was a Top 10 hit. The follow-up was more of the same: a huge production again with a children's choir on a song called, wait for it, 'Sam'. The melody of the 'Grocer Jack' chant was repeated and although there were further singles by Wirtz, West and Tomorrow, nobody seemed interested. The beneficiaries were Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd-Webber who realised you could issue a single from a rock opera, 'Jesus Christ - Superstar', and have hits.
'Thinking About Tomorrow' becomes an anti-climax after the hit single, but the author manages this well as he follows Keith recording for Deram, making an album for the German market, playing on 'The Old Grey Whistle Test', and dabbling in both punk and ska. He worked in music publishing and record production and he ran Burns Guitars with Barry Gibson. In recent years Keith has been doing some gigs but he does not perform 'Teenage Opera', which surely is shooting yourself in the foot.
In short, this is an informative and entertaining book: the talent was there but success is largely a matter of making the right decisions at the right time.
Spencer Leigh
Excerpt From A Teenage Opera
Fatea Showcase Sessions
The Fatea Showcase Sessions are a series of downloads featuring acts that we've really enjoyed and think that more people should get the chance to hear.
Pirate is the current session and features 16 fantastic artists check out the website to find out more about them and download your copy
www.fatea-showcase-sessions.co.uk for all the artist information.
