Casino -

Casino was an English pre-wave cabaret glam band that released a 1976 self-titled album on State Records.

Members: Peter O’Donnell (guitar, vocals), Rob Sinnick (bass), Chris Moores (guitar), Syd Guppy (drums, 1973-?), Steve Mills (vocals), Simon Breakspear (keyboards), Timothy Pavitt (drums)

Background

Casino evolved from Tuesday, a Yeovil, Somerset, folk act formed in 1972 by singer Rod Trott and guitarist Peter “Jock” O’Donnell. The pair met through a local folk club while O’Donnell worked as an apprentice footballer. Trott wrote songs and played in local groups on the same circuit. The first Tuesday lineup added bassist Rob Sinnick, drummer Syd Guppy, and acoustic guitarist Pat Haynes.

Tuesday linked with Pye for their November 1972 standalone single “Big Mr. Little Man” (b/w “Sewing Machine”), both Trott/O’Donnell originals produced by David MacDougald. By December, Haynes cleared for guitarist Chris Moores. A&M then financed unreleased album sessions at Rockfield Studios in Wales and AIR Studios in London.

In 1974, Trott and Pavitt left Tuesday, which reconfigured as Casino and signed with State Music. O’Donnell assumed lead vocals in Casino, backed by Moores, Sinnick, keyboardist Simon Breakspear, and drummer Timothy Pavitt. On November 7, 1975, State issued their first single: “Crazy” (b/w “So Much Love”).

Casino

Casino released their singular self-titled album in January 1976 on State Records.

The album contains ten titles credited to Peter O’Donnell and Rod Trott. The album presents the State-era lineup with O’Donnell as lead singer and guitarist, Chris Moores on guitar, Rob Sinnick on bass, Simon Breakspear on keyboards, and Timothy Pavitt on drums. “Crazy” carries O’Donnell’s solo credit on its single label.

Musically, Casino compresses cabaret verses, ivory flourishes, synth chatter, and leering vocals into restless songs that dodge plain section order. Its quirks come through in narrated peril, mock-martial turns, stop-start bars, and sudden instrumental spill, where domestic innuendo and station melodrama play like tavern theatre.

A1. “Tonight’s the Night” (3:31)
A2. “Crazy” (4:12) – activates with taught cabaret keys and cocky Harley-esque vocals; intensified with syncopated rhythmic jolts and synth-laden passages with high-register vocal backing; replete with a multi-sectional break.
A3. “Romancer” (3:26)
A4. “Shooting Star” (3:27) – flashes with arpeggiated Wurlitzer e-piano and rapid-fire couplets about a harrowing station scenario, unresolved through the brisk chordal sequences that meld into a Moog-sputtering riff fest.
A5. “Squire Gordon” (3:16) – opens with a classical piano etude, which slows for an Essex-like half-sung narrative about a Christian soldier, cutting to an operatic martial bar before a lengthy instrumental.

B1. “So Much Love” (3:31)
B2. “When Your Mother Walks In” (4:43) – rolls with pulsing bass and raunchy power chords amid relentless cymbal rattle; the track spins with heightened intensity as O’Donnell loops the pressing yet imprecise domestic innuendo.
B3. “There’s a Cuckoo in Your Nest” (3:10)
B4. “Binoculars” (4:22) – fades in with ivory minor modality and faint vocals, filling with Leslied licks and subtle rhythm backing before stop/start bars contrast fuller, harmonized couplets.
B5. “Midnight Groover” (4:12) – barrels forth on a deep, lumbering rhythmic churn and guttural vocals; sharpening with moderato chordal drive and heated lyrics that trigger an instrumental frenzy with dualing clavinet and scales across galloping fuzz.

Casino recorded most of the album with producer Peter Gage, the former Vinegar Joe guitarist and musical director for Elkie Brooks. Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington produced “Shooting Star” and “There’s a Cuckoo in Your Nest.”

Casino appeared in a sleeve with art direction by Ian Murray, design and lettering by Grant Smith, and photography by Keith Morris and Peter Lavery. The front cover shows a hand holding an ace of spades, with the band photograph inset inside the card and separate playing-card tiles spelling the group name. On the backside, the five members group around a green-felt card table under a single hanging lamp. US copies show a casino tray lady who cavorts with the band on the backside.

State issued “Crazy” in November 1975, backed with “So Much Love.” The single also appeared in Australia and the United States during 1976.

Postlude

Casino continued through the second half of the seventies with live work in Britain and continental Europe. The group’s circuit included Dutch, German, and Italian dates, plus London appearances at the Marquee and the Speakeasy.

O’Donnell continued as a singer, guitarist, and songwriter after Casino. He later worked as a resident performer at The Ritz in London and issued albums under his own name, including Alone in Paradise, Rain, Icons, Dream, Moon Over Water, Hollywood Chateau, and Yard Cat.

Casino reconvened as The Band Casino four decades after the State album. The reunited lineup brought back O’Donnell, Moores, Sinnick, Breakspear, and Pavitt for the 2018 album TBC. The album contains ten newer O’Donnell songs and remakes of “Shooting Star” and “Midnight Groover.”

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