Fabulous Poodles -

The Fabulous Poodles were an English rock band that released the 1977–78 UK Pye albums Fabulous Poodles and Unsuitable. Their 1979 Epic compilation Mirror Stars spawned a minor US hit with the title track. John Entwistle produced the first album and onetime Spencer Davis Group bassist (and Sparks–Deaf School soundman) Muff Winwood produced Unsuitable and the Poodles’ third album, Think Pink.

The Fabulous Poodles matched debonair 1930s attire with sounds drawn from Kinksian music hall, ’50s rock, and Western swing. Singer–guitarist Tony de Meur co-wrote their material with wordsmith John Parsons, whose topics include haircuts, b-movie stars, toy civilizations, bionic men, and sentient lovelorn microphones.

Members: Tony de Meur (vocals, guitar), Bobby Valentino (violin), John Bentley (bass, 1974-75), Bob Suffolk (keyboards, 1974-75), Gordon Coxon (drums, 1974-75), Bryn B. Burrows (drums, 1975-80), Richie C. Robertson (bass, 1975-80), Chris Skornia (keyboards, 1979-80)

Background

The band formed in 1974 as The Poodles, composed of singer/guitarist Tony de Meur, violinist/mandolinist Bobby Valentino, pianist Bob Suffolk, bassist John Bentley, and ex-Comus drummer Gordon Coxon.

As a teenager, Suffolk worked as a teaboy at Pye Studios and played in The Depth, an unsigned mod band that shared rehearsal space with The Moments, the pre-Small Faces band of Steve Marriott^>.

The Poodles

On the London pub circuit, the Poodles mixed vaudeville comedy and stage props with trad numbers indebted to Tin Pan Alley, early rock ‘n’ roll, and Sixties beat music. Comedian John Parsons doubled as their band manager and opening act, the Blue Poodle, who rode a blue unicycle with his harmonica-playing Jack Russell dog, Nipper.

Parsons wrote the lyrics to “Chicago Boxcar,” a song about haircuts set to a Fifties-style rock tune by de Meur. Suffolk pitched the demo to Private Stock, a New York pop indie behind the recent comeback of Frankie Valli.

On February 14, 1975, the Poodles released the Private Stock single “Chicago Box Car” backed with “Love and Sorrow,” a Suffolk/Bentley number.

A. “Chicago Box Car (Boston Back)” (3:15)
B. “Love and Sorrow” (2:57)

The Poodles recorded both sides with producer Brian Oliver, a co-writer on “Take the Heat Off Me,” the title-track to the debut album by Boney M. “Chicago Box Car” gained the Poodles an early champion in BBC Radio One DJ John Peel.

After this single, Suffolk, Bentley, and Coxon cleared the band. Bentley backed musician Snips (ex-Sharks singer Steve Parsons) and joined Squeeze for their 1980–82 albums Argybargy, East Side Story, and Sweets from a Stranger. In 1983, he cut a one-off single in Luxury, a synthpop duo with Suffolk, who subsequently launched Suffolk Studio Design, an interior design firm that specialized in recording-studio layouts.

Classic Lineup

Tony de Meur and Bobby Valentino reconfigured as the Fabulous Poodles, a four-piece with bassist Richie C. Robertson and Welsh drummer Bryn B. Burrows.

On October 7, 1976, the Fabulous Poodles played their first Peel session for the DJ’s 10/27 broadcast, which aired BBC studio takes of four setlist numbers: “Roll Your Own,” “Cherchez la Femme,” “Grow Too Old,” and “Pinball Pinups.”

Determined to get them signed, Peel summoned the Poodles for a second session on April 18, 1977, at Maida Vale, where they performed “Workshy,” “When the Summer’s Through,” “Mr Mike,” and a rarity (“On the Street Where You Live”) for the DJ’s 4/27 broadcast.

The Fabulous Poodles signed with Pye Records, a leading label of Sixties UK pop (Donovan, The Kinks, Petula Clark, The Searchers) that recently closed its North American operation but persevered with the Spiders from Mars, Status Quo, Stray, and fellow new signees Flashman and The Real Thing.

Fabulous Poodles

The Fabulous Poodles released their self-titled debut album in September 1977 on UK Pye. It features ten songs by Tony de Meur, including the Peel-previewed lead single “When the Summer’s Thru,” a Fifties-style ballad with plucked mandolin by Bobby Valentino.

John Parsons wrote the lyrics to eight songs, including the fan-favorites “Rum Baba Boogie,” “Rosie Pink,” “Mr. Mike,” and “Cherchez la Femme.” Side B contains the Mel McDaniel cover “Roll Your Own.”

Fabulous Poodles producer John Entwistle plays 8-string bass on the last two songs and “Doctor,” an early setlist number by former member Bob Suffolk, who plays piano on “When the Summer’s Thru” and “Pinball Pin Up.”

A1. “The Ending” (0:16) is the joke song-ending (with no attached song) that serves as a prelude to…
A2. “Doctor” (2:34) is a punked-up rendition of an early Poodles setlist number co-written by Suffolk and former bassist John Bentley. Opening: G power strum with looping bassline. Verse: G major with taut syllables and brisk tempo. Tony sings of a Dr. Feelgood (an unscrupulous physician who prescribes false “feel-good” drugs). Chorus: “Everyone knows the doctor” (G…A…C…G…). Double-bridge form with two frenzied violin solos.
A3. “Workshy” (3:26)
A4. “Bike Blood” (3:51)
A5. “Rum Baba Boogie” (3:48) is a Fifties rockabilly/skiffle tune. Intro/verse: 1-3-5 in C major (C…F…G…C…). Strummed mandolin refrain (Fmaj7…Cmajor7…). Tony portrays a wayward bloke, hooked on rum from an early age. Chorus: up-volume, harmonized (F…C…) with tripping refrain stutter. Plucked double-tracked mandolin outro.
A6. “When the Summer’s Through” (2:39) is a Fifties summer love ballad with a descending mandolin figure in the pentatonic C scale (C…Am…F….G…) with a quasi-waltz polymeter (3/4 over 4/4). Bridge: pent-up tonal variations (F…Fm…C…C7…).

B1. “Rosie Pink” (2:44)
B2. “Roll Your Own” (2:43) originated on Gentle to Your Senses, the 1977 debut album by Nashville country singer Mel McDaniel.
B3. “Pinball Pin Up” (3:49)
B4. “Mr. Mike” (3:39)
B5. “Cherchez la Femme” (“Look for the women,” 3:35) is an uptempo pub-rock track. Intro: E wind-up to G on the dominant (B-C-C#-D). Verse: raunchy 12-bar progression (A…E…) with lyrics about a guy down on his dating luck (clubs, tarots, bars, personals don’t work). Reverb-laden guitar break (mid-scale). Outro: descending lick (x4) and power riff (G…D…A…).

Entwistle produced the album at Ramport Studios, a Who-owned building on 115 Thessaly Road also used for Roger Daltery‘s concurrent third solo outing (One of the Boys) and 1977 albums by Judas Priest (Sin After Sin) and the Intergalactic Touring Band, a Passport Records all-star project with Arthur Brown, Rod Argent, Meat Loaf, Ben E. King, and the singers of Flame (Marge Raymond), Strawbs (Dave Cousins), and Renaissance (Annie Haslam).

Fabulous Poodles was engineered by Who associate Dave “Cyrano” Langston, also credited on recent albums by Baker Gurvitz Army, Moon, and the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. Additional work took place at Air Studios on Oxford Street and Scorpio Sound in Camden. This remained Entwistle’s sole outside production credit apart from a 1978 release by the Newport Male Voice Choir.

Fabulous Poodles shows a smiling poodle photographed by Sally Anne Thompson, who also took the black cat photo on the 1978 Budgie album Impeckable and the panda bear image on the 1987 Frankie Goes to Hollywood single “Watching the Wildlife.” Parsons designed the blue/pink scheme and took the back-cover portrait shots of each member.

“When the Summer’s Thru'” preceded the album as a single on August 12, 1977 (b/w “Bike Blood”). Peel aired the song on that day’s playlist amid cuts by The Lurkers, The Vibrators, Johnny Moped, and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.

On September 6, the Fabulous Poodles played their third Peel session for the DJ’s 9/19 broadcast, which aired in-studio takes of three album tracks (“Rum Baba Boogie,” “Bike Blood,” “Chicago Box Car”) and two rarities (“Johnny the Jockey,” “See You Later Alligator”).

On January 31, 1978, the Fabulous Poodles performed “Mr. Mike” and “Bike Blood” on The Old Grey Whistle Test. They appeared on the twenty-first episode of the BBC2 program’s seventh season, which also featured Talking Heads with two songs from their recent debut: “Psycho Killer” and “Don’t Worry About the Government.”

Unsuitable

The Fabulous Poodles released their second album, Unsuitable, in late 1978 on UK Pye. It contains their US cult hit “Mirror Star” and a re-recorded “Chicago Boxcar (Boston Back).”

Tony de Meur and John Parsons co-wrote eight Unsuitable songs, including “Oh Cheryl,” “Tit Photographer Blues,” “Suicide Bridge,” and the ska-tinged “Toytown People.” Meur plays sitar, harmonica, and jaws harp in addition to electric and acoustic guitar.

Bassist Richie Robertson plays keyboards, percussion, and occasional electric guitar on Unsuitable. He helped write “Mugs Game” on Side B, which also contains the group-credited “B Movies” and the Amazing Rhythm Aces cover “Third Rate Romance.”

A1. “Mirror Star” (4:31) opens in A major with an up-slide lick to the dominant (E). The lyrics detail a shy dreamer boy who manifests his hidden popstar ambitions, despite ridicule. First verse balloons from humble beginnings to a power chorus (in F/A). Added layers on the second verse (mandolin accents, choked harmonica) and chorus (ghostly “mirror mirror” backing on Tony’s vicious delivery). Hard-rock middle-eight with crowd applause. Third verse: the subjects is now a spoiled, hotel-wrecking rock star caricature.
A2. “Topless Gogo” (3:31)
A3. “Chicago Boxcar (Boston Back)” (3:54)
A4. “Oh Cheryl” (3:20)
A5. “Toy Town People” (2:07) is a cartoon ska tune with Bob Suffolk on ‘Weedy’ organ. Choppy syncopated chords (Gm..Am..B♭..Am.. x4) and wind-up clock sounds. Tony likens simpletons (“noddies and the plods”) to wind-up toys. Bridge: covers details like “glue upon their hair” and “wagons full of tripe” (A♭…Gm…). Climax: Bobby doubles on the chords amid startled vocables.

B1. “Convent Girls” (4:17)
B2. “‘B’ Movies” (3:17)
B3. “Tit Photographer Blues” (2:45)
B4. “Third Rate Romance” (3:06) originated on Stacked Deck, the 1975 debut album by the Amazing Rhythm Aces; written by their singer Russell Smith.
B5. “Mugs Game” (3:12)
B6. “Suicide Bridge” (3:31)

Sessions took place in the summer of 1978 at Basing Street Studios, where the Fabulous Poodles recorded “Convent Girls,” “Tit Photographer Blues,” and the bulk of Side A with producer Muff Winwood, Steve‘s older brother and onetime Spencer Davis Group bandmate.

Muff produced earlier titles by Patto, Russ Ballard, Sutherland Brothers, the influential Sparks (Kimono My House, Propaganda) and two immediate contemporaries: the vaudevillian Deaf School (2nd Honeymoon) and the jump blues Burlesque (Acupuncture). Winwood worked on Unsuitable directly after the debut album by Dire Straits.

The Fabulous Poodles co-produced “Toy Town People” and the balance of Side B with Howard Kilgour, a prior engineer for Camel (Mirage), East of Eden, Free (Heartbreaker), Lard Free, Mott the Hoople, and String Driven Thing. Unsuitable features Burlesque saxophonist Ian Trimmer and session keyboardist Nick Rowley (Lindisfarne, Kevin Ayers).

Unsuitable sports a cracked-face image by Hipgnosis, the UK Seventies design firm behind iconic 1978 covers for 10cc (Bloody Tourists), Al Stewart (Time Passages), Alan Parsons Project (Pyramid), Be-Bop Deluxe (Drastic Plastic), John Miles (Zaragon), and Peter Gabriel (“scratch”).

On October 6, 1978, Pye issued “Mirror Star” as a single (b/w “‘B’ Movies”). The Fabulous Poodles performed both songs for their fourth Peel session, aired on 10/25 with two additional Unsuitable cuts (“Convent Girls,” “Toytown People”) and one rarity (“We’ll Meet Again”).

The Fabulous Poodles signed with Epic Records in the US, where “Mirror Star” appeared as a single in February 1979 (b/w “Tit Photographer Blues”).

Epic distilled the two Pye albums into Mirror Stars, a North American compilation that gathers five more Unsuitable tracks (“Chicago Boxcar,” “Oh Cheryl,” “Toytown People,” “B Movies,” “Tit Photographer Blues”) with four songs from the first album (“Work Shy, ” “Roll Your Own,” “Mr. Mike,” “Cherchez la Femme”). Mirror Stars appeared on black and pink vinyl with the Unsuitable cover art.

In mid-May, “Workshy” appeared as a UK/US single (b/w “Toytown People”).

Meanwhile, “Mirror Star” gained stateside FM airplay while the Fabulous Poodles toured coast-to-coast as openers for Bruford, The J. Geils Band, The Ramones, Sha Na Na, and Tom Petty. The Poodles briefly served as the backing band for rock legend Chuck Berry. Their efforts landed Mirror Stars in the US Billboard 200, where it peaked at No. 61, an unexpected feat for a British new wave band of the period.

Think Pink

The Fabulous Poodles released their third studio album, Think Pink, in 1979 on US Epic.

Think Pink contains ten songs by Tony de Meur, including “(Hollywood) Dragnet,” “Anna Rexia,” “Cossak Cowboy,” and the single “Bionic Man.” He co-wrote the last two (and three others) with John Parsons.

Drummer Bryn Burrows co-wrote “Any Port In a Storm. The entire band wrote “Pink City Twist,” whose sole lyric is a repetition of the album title. Side A opens with the Everly Brothers cover “Man With Money.” Planets keyboardist Chris Skornia supplements the band.

For US buyers, Think Pink included two earlier cuts not found on Mirror Stars: “Bike Blood” (from Fabulous Poodles) and “Suicide Bridge” (from Unsuitable). In 1980, Think Pink appeared in the UK on Blueprint, a Pye subsidiary that retained the US tracklist (including the two repeat tracks).

A1. “Man With Money” (2:32)
A2. “Bionic Man” (4:31)
A3. “Any Port In the Storm” (2:43)
A4. “(Hollywood) Dragnet” (4:22)
A5. “Bike Blood” (3:30)

B1. “Cossack Cowboy” (4:11)
B2. “Anna Rexia” (2:57)
B3. “You Woudn’t Listen” (3:12) features ex-Burlesque saxophonist Ian Trimmer.
B4. “Suicide Bridge” (3:37)
B5. “Pink City Twist” (2:22) has the line “think pink” sung in repetition by Mary Ann Morgenthaler, the album’s cover photographer.
B6. “Vampire Rock” (3:38)

Sessions took place with Muff Winwood at Marquee Studios, located behind the former punk club at 90 Wardour Street in Covent Garden. Winwood produced Think Pink in sequence with Laser Love, the second album by After the Fire. Medicine Head soundman Phil Dunne engineered Think Pink along with Halfway Hotel by Voyager.

Morgenthaler designed the Think Pink cover and took the Instamatic photos, which capture the Poodles, their crew, and assorted randos in the same pair of oversized pink-rimmed glasses (sans lenses).

In December 1979, “Man With Money” appeared as a US promo single (b/w “B Movies”).

On February 29, 1980, an edited version of “Bionic Man” became an international single (b/w “Pink City Twist”).

On October 17, 1980, the Fabulous Poodles released their final single: “Stompin’ With the Cat,” a Tony de Meur original backed with “Don’t You Lie to Me,” a Chuck Berry cover. The 12″ contains the Think Pink track “Suicide Bridge.”

A. “Stompin’ With the Cat”
B. “Don’t You Lie to Me”

Post-band Activity

Burrows later resurfaced in Freur, a Welsh electronic band that made the 1983–85 albums Doot-Doot and Get Us Out of Here.

Valentino played on recordings by Private Lives, Red Box, The Style Council, Bronski Beat, and The Men They Couldn’t Hang, in addition to finding a second niche as a Clark Gable lookalike.

Tony de Meur became an actor/comedian and writer under the name Ronnie Golden.

Discography: