The Sensational Alex Harvey Band

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band (SAHB) was a theatrical Scottish hard-rock band that released eight studio albums and a live disc on Vertigo between 1972 and 1978. They formed when veteran soul-rock singer Alex Harvey enlisted hard-rockers Tear Gas as his backing band. Their popularity peaked with the 1974/75 albums The Impossible Dream and Tomorrow Belongs to Me and the singles “Delilah” and “The Boston Tea Party.”

Members: Alex Harvey (guitar, vocals), Zal Cleminson (guitar, vocals), Chris Glen (bass), Ted McKenna (drums), Hugh McKenna (keyboards, 1972-77), Tommy Eyre (keyboards, 1977)

Background

Alex Harvey (1935–1982) first performed in skiffle groups during the mid-1950s. Between 1958 and 1965, he headed Alex Harvey & His Soul Band, which gigged the UK and German club circuits. For a time, the band included his younger brother, guitarist Leslie Harvey (1944–1972). In 1964, they issued three singles and a self-titled album on Polydor, which also issued Harvey’s debut solo album, The Blues, that same year.

In 1965, Harvey cut two singles on Fontana, followed in 1967 by a pair of singles on Decca, both produced by (later Alan Parsons partner) Eric Woolfson with uncredited backing by Giant Moth. Two singles in Harvey’s name with no involvement from the singer appeared in 1966 on GTA Records.

Harvey’s second solo album, Roman Wall Blues, appeared in 1969 on Fontana. He also played on Band On the Wagon, a 1969 Bell Records release credited to Hairband, a psychedelic rock project produced by Alan Price with percussionist Frank Ricotti and string arranger Paul Buckmaster. In 1970, Harvey sang on the first of two albums by Rock Workshop, a brass-rock supergroup that featured guitarist Ray Russell, trumpeter Harry Beckett, and reedist Bob Downes.

In early 1972, Harvey’s third solo album, Joker’s Wild, appeared on the German Metronome label. The album contains three Harvey originals (“Penicillin Blues,” “Make Love to You,” “Flying Saucer’s Daughter”) and covers of Frank Zappa (“Willie the Pimp”), Larry Santos (“I’m Just a Man”), and The Hollies (“He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”).

Joker’s Wild features some of the last recordings of Leslie Harvey, who died on May 3, 1972 (aged 26) from an onstage electrocution during a Swansea concert with Stone the Crows.

Soon after Joker’s Wild, Harvey assembled the Sensational Alex Harvey Band with guitarist Zal Cleminson, bassist Chris Glen, drummer Ted McKenna, and his keyboardist cousin Hugh McKenna, all from the final lineup of Tear Gas, which issued a well-regarded eponymous album (their second) the year prior.

Framed

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band released their debut album, Framed, in December 1972 on the Vertigo “swirl” label (UK, Germany, Canada, Oceania) and reappeared in 1973 on the Vertigo spaceship label.

Side A opens with the Leiber/Stoller title track, followed by three Harvey originals, including “Isobel Goudie,” a three-part suite. “Hammer Song” and “Midnight Moses” originated on his 1969 solo album Roman Wall Blues.

Side B contains SAHB’s take on a Willie Dixon chestnut and Harvey co-write with Ray Russell (“Hole In Her Stocking”) and Giant Moth’s Jim Condron (“There’s No Lights On the Christmas Tree…”).

Framed features guest appearances by Gass/Chapter Three auxiliary saxophonist Phil Kenzie and Big Bud’s Brass, comprised of Rock Workshop trumpeter Bud Parks, Keef Hartley trumpeter Martin Driver, and Chapter Three saxist Geoff Driscoll.

A1. “Framed” (5:24) is a composition by the American songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller; first released as a 1954 doo-wop b-side by The Robins and covered as a 1958 rock ‘n’ roll b-side by Ritchie Valens (erroneously credited as the writer).
A2. “Hammer Song” (4:20)
A3. “Midnight Moses” (4:22)
A4. “Isobel Goudie” (7:32)
— a. “My Lady of the Night”
— b. “Coitus Interruptus”
— c. “Virgin and the Hunter”

B1. “Buff’s Bar Blues” (3:10)
B2. “I Just Want to Make Love to You” (6:45) originated as a 1954 Chess a-side by Muddy Waters; written by fellow Delta bluesman Willie Dixon and popularized in 1960 by Etta James. Harvey first covered the song with His Soul Band, whose January 1964 version predated The Rolling Stones‘ rendition by three months.
B3. “Hole In Her Stocking” (4:20) is Harvey’s second version of a song that first appeared on the 1970 CBS release Rock Workshop.
B4. “There’s No Lights On the Christmas Tree Mother, They’re Burning Big Louie Tonight” (3:20) originated on the 1969 Hairband album Band On the Wagon, co-written earlier with Harvey’s Giant Moth bandmate Jim Condron.
B5. “St. Anthony” (4:20)

Sessions occurred at Morgan Studios in Willesden, Northwest London, where Harvey produced Framed with staff engineer Mike Bobak, a soundman for multiple post-psych legends (Audience, Dada, Little Free Rock, Pussy, Steamhammer) with credits on recent albums by Donovan, Faces, The Kinks, and 1971 breakout releases by Carly Simon and Rod Stewart.

Framed appeared in a gray gatefold designed by the Bloomsbury Group, the graphics firm behind 1971/72 cover visuals for Beggars Opera, Black Sabbath, Magna Carta, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, The Peddlers, and Soft Machine. The cover has a die-cut reveal to a distant photo of Harvey that (when opened) shows him seated in a tenement window sill, as seen from a lower-floor side wing. The photographer, Jim Wilson, also snapped the 1971 debut cover image of fellow Scottish rockers Nazareth. Framed appeared in New Zealand and Brazil with the tenement image on full display without the die-cut gatefold.

In late October 1972, Vertigo issued “There’s No Lights On the Christmas…” as an advance single, backed with “Harp,” a non-album Harvey original.

B. “Harp”

Next…

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band released their second album, Next…, in November 1973 on Vertigo.

The album contains five Harvey originals co-written by keyboardist Hugh McKenna, including “Swampsnake,” “The Faith Healer” (both singles) and “The Last of the Teenage Idols,” an epic split into three parts on later issues. Hugh plays organ, grand, and electronic piano.

Next… takes its title from a Jaques Brel song, covered on Side B along with the early rock chestnut “Giddy-Up-a-Ding-Dong.”

A1. “Swampsnake” (4:54)
A2. “Gang Bang” (4:42)
A3. “The Faith Healer” (7:21)

B1. “Giddy-Up-a-Ding-Dong” (3:14) is a 1956 song by Freddie Bell & The Bellboys; written by their singer and featured in the musical film Rock Around the Clock starring Bill Haley & The Comets.
B2. “Next” (4:02) originated as “Next (Au Suivant)” in the 1968 musical revue Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris; an Off-Broadway production of songs by the Belgian songwriter with English lyrics by Mort Shuman.
B3. “Vambo Marble Eye” (4:25)
B4. “The Last of the Teenage Idols” (7:15)

Sessions occurred in London at Apple Studios and Audio International Studios with Phil Wainman, a soundman on the second Rock Workshop album with credits behind Galliard, The Yardbirds, and (most recently) The Sweet. Next… was engineered by Audio’s Peter Coleman (Lynsey De Paul, Mud) and Apple’s John Mills, who also worked on 1972/73 albums Badfinger, Bang, Capability Brown, Donald Byrd, Eulenspygel, Stealers Wheel, and countrymen Nazareth (Loud n Proud).

SAHB’s “Giddy Up a Ding Dong” first appeared on October 12, 1973, as an advance UK single, backed with the earlier “Buff’s Bar Blues.” In mid-February 1974, “The Faith Healer” became the second single, backed with the earlier “St. Anthony.” For the US market, Vertigo lifted “Swampsnake” (b/w “Gang Bang”). Next… entered the UK Top 40 and later achieved Silver status.

The Impossible Dream

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band released their third album, The Impossible Dream, in October 1974 on Vertigo. The title comes from a song in the 1965 Broadway musical Man of La Mancha; covered here in a medley with the Fifties R&B classic “Money Honey.”

Harvey lone-wrote “Weights Made of Lead” and collaborated with Hugh McKenna on “River of Love,” “Long Hair Music,” “Anthem,” and “Vambo.” The last of those forms the epic “Hot City Symphony” medley with “The Man In the Jar,” a Zal Cleminson co-write. Producer David Batchelor served as a third-writer on “Sergeant Fury” and “Tomahawk Kid.”

The songs (barring “River of Love” and the two covers) originated from scrapped March–April 1974 sessions with Sixties producer Shel Talmy. On track from those sessions, “Last Train,” became “Anthem,” which features bagpipes and martial drums by the London Scottish Pipers and backing vocals by Vicki Silva.

A1. “The Hot City Symphony”
— a. “Vambo” (5:02)
— b. “The Man In The Jar” (8:11)
A2. “River of Love” (3:10)
A3. “Long Hair Music” (4:36)

B1. “Sergeant Fury” (3:26)
B2. “Weights Made of Lead” (2:36)
B3. “Money Honey / Impossible Dream” (2:06)
B4. “Tomahawk Kid” (4:30)
B5. “Anthem” (7:42)

Sessions occurred in mid-1974 at Apple Studios, where ex-Tear Gas singer/keyboardist David Batchelor produced the album in the company of engineer Martin Rushent, a budding soundman with credits behind Badger, Curved Air, Gentle Giant, Groundhogs, PFM, and Snafu. Silva provided subsequent backing vocals for Nazareth on their 1975 epic “Please Don’t Judas Me.”

SABH recorded “Sergeant Fury” with Rock Workshop trombonist Derek Wadsworth at Ramport Studios, a Battersea facility recently built by The Who for their 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia. Ramport staffer Dave ‘Cyrano’ Langston engineered the track amid work on 1974 albums by Ablution, Three Man Army, and Baker Gurvitz Army.

The Impossible Dream appeared in a gatefold sleeve with comic illustrations by Keith ‘Face’ Davis, who depicted Harvey as a giant MC on a movie poster, placed on a pile of vintage pulp covers. He designed the right inner-gate (lyrics) and back (titles) with an orange/yellow/green scheme. His comic style also graces the 1973 Nucleus albums Roots and Labyrinth. The left inner-gate displays SAHB performance pics by Peter Waldman, whose photography appears on 1974 sleeves for Esperanto and Rick Wakeman.

“Sergeant Fury” appeared on August 2, 1974, as an advance single, backed with the earlier “Gang Bang.” In November, Vertigo issued an edit of “Anthem” backed with the album version. The Impossible Dream reached No. 16 on the UK Albums Chart. In the US, the album appeared in a single sleeve with a photo of SAHB seated in a movie theater with two Pipers.

Tomorrow Belongs to Me

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band released their fourth album, Tomorrow Belongs to Me, in April 1975 on Vertigo. The title comes from a song in the 1966 musical (and recent film) Cabaret.

Harvey wrote “Snake Bite” and “Shake That Thing” and collaborated with Hugh McKenna on the album’s epic, “The Tale of the Giant Stoneater,” which segues into “Ribs and Balls,” a rare co-write by bassist Chris Glen.

The album marked newfound writing input from Zal Cleminson, who co-wrote “Shark’s Teeth” and third-wrote the Harvey/McKenna numbers “Action Strasse,” “Give My Compliments to the Chef,” and “Soul In Chains,” the last of those fourth-written by producer David Batchelor.

Derek Wadsworth arranged the album’s brass and strings. “Action Strasse” and “Soul In Chains” feature backing vocals by Barry St. John, Vicki Brown, and Pink Floyd sidewoman Liza Strike.

A1. “Action Strasse” (3:15)
A2. “Snake Bite” (3:55)
A3. “Soul In Chains” (3:55)
A4. “The Tale of the Giant Stoneater” (7:20)
A5. “Ribs and Balls” (1:51)

B1. “Give My Compliments to the Chef” (5:36)
B2. “Sharks Teeth” (5:54)
B3. “Shake That Thing” (3:30)
B4. “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” (4:14) is a song by composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb for the 1966 Broadway production Cabaret, a period musical set in late-Weimar period Berlin.
B5. “To Be Continued” (0:50)

Sessions occurred in early 1975 at AIR Studios with engineer Peter Swettenham, a former musician (Grapefruit) who worked on 1973–74 albums by Caravan, Cockney Rebel (The Human Menagerie), Mott the Hoople, Tempest (Living In Fear), and Thin Lizzy. SAHB held further sessions in Camden at Scorpio Studios with engineers Dennis Weinreich (Hummingbird, Prelude, Streetwalkers) and Ray Hendriksen (Darryl Way’s Wolf, Mick Ronson, John Entwistle’s Ox).

Logo design group illustrator Dave Field created the gatefold cover art for Tomorrow Belongs to Me, which show a dinosaur squared off with a sentient bulldozer on a barren canyon. The package features lyrics and concert photos (inner gates) and backside liner notes by Harvey.

Tomorrow Belongs to Me reached No. 9 on the UK Albums Chart.

“Delilah”

On July 18, 1975, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band released a non-album single: “Delilah,” a Tom Jones cover backed with the TBtM album track “Soul In Chains.”

A. “Delilah” (4:06) is a song by English composer Les Reed and lyricist Barry Mason; first released as a February 1968 single by Tom Jones, whose version reached No. 1 across Europe and No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart.

SAHB mimed “Delilah” for the July 17 broadcast of the BBC music program Top of the Pops, which thrice aired their version amid summer ’75 in-studio numbers by David Essex (“Rolling Stone”), Hot Chocolate (“A Child’s Prayer”), The Moments (“Dolly My Love”), and Sparks (“Get In the Swing”). “Delilah” reached No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart.

Meanwhile, Cleminson and the McKenna brothers played on the 1975 debut solo album by Nazareth frontman Dan McCafferty.

Live

In September 1975, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band released Live, a document of their May 24 show at London’s Hammersmith Odeon.

Live contains an extended rendition of “Framed” and one song each from Next… (“Faith Healer”) and Tomorrow Belongs to Me (“Give My Compliments to the Chef”), plus their recent hit “Delilah” and two Impossible Dream numbers: “Tomahawk Kid” and “Vambo.”

A1. “Fanfare (Justly, Skillfully, Magnanimously)” (1:24)
A2. “Faith Healer” (6:50)
A3. “Tomahawk Kid” (5:50)
A4. “Vambo” (9:25)

B1. “Give My Compliments to the Chef” (7:05)
B2. “Delilah” (5:17)
B3. “Framed” (11:04)

Live appeared in a single sleeve with diagonal live shots and blue stripes. The album appeared on Vertigo (UK, Europe) and Atlantic (North America). Live reached No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 100 on the US Billboard 200.

In late 1975, SAHB entered Basing Street Studios in West London and recorded a double-album’s worth of material, split between covers and originals. On November 14, they unleashed the first fruits of these sessions: “Gamblin’ Bar Room Blues,” a Jimmie Rodgers cover backed with the TBtM cut “Shake That Thing.”

SAHB mimed “Gamblin'” for the 11/27 TotP broadcast, which also featured in-studio numbers by Jim Capaldi (“Love Hurts”), Mud (“Show Me You’re a Woman”), Steeleye Span (“All Around My Hat”), and former Aphrodite’s Child singer Demis Roussos (“Happy to Be on an Island in the Sun”). “Gamblin’ Bar Room Blues” peaked just inside the UK Top 40.

The Penthouse Tapes

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band released their fifth studio album, The Penthouse Tapes, in March 1976 on Vertigo.

The album contains the pre-released “Gamblin’ Bar Room Blues” and six further covers, including songs by Del Shannon (“Runaway”), Jethro Tull (“Love Story”), and Alice Cooper (“School’s Out”).

Penthouse Tapes includes three originals: one Harvey co-write with Zal Cleminson (“I Wanna Have You Back”), one group-written song with input by producer David Batchelor (“Jungle Jenny”), and the Harvey lone-write “Say You’re Mine (Every Cowboy Song),” which features ex-Cochise steel guitarist BJ Cole.

A1. “I Wanna Have You Back” (2:42)
A2. “Jungle Jenny” (4:07)
A3. “Runaway” (2:46) was a 1961 global No. 1 single by Michigan rock ‘n’ roller Del Shannon; co-written with keyboardist Max Cook.
A4. “Love Story” (5:10) was the 1968 third single by Jethro Tull, written by their frontman Ian Anderson.
A5. “School’s Out” (5:02) was the hit title-track from Alice Cooper’s 1972 fifth album; co-written by the band with producer Bob Ezrin.

B1. “Goodnight Irene” (4:30) is a folk standard first recorded in 1933 Louisiana bluesman Lead Belly and popularized in 1950 by Greenwich Village folk combo The Weavers.
B2. “Say You’re Mine (Every Cowboy Song)” (3:23)
B3. “Gamblin’ Bar Room Blues” (4:09) originate as a 1933 Bluebird a-side by Mississippi country singer Jimmie Rodgers (1897–1933); co-credited to Dallas songwriter Shelley Lee Alley.
B4. “Crazy Horses” (2:54) was a 1972 transatlantic chart-topper by The Osmonds; co-written by brothers Alan, Merrill, and Wayne Osmond.
B5. “Cheek to Cheek” (3:52) is a song by American composer Irving Berlin for the 1935 dance comedy Top Hat starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Batchelor produced Penthouse and the followup at Basing with engineer Denny Bridges, a soundman on 1974–76 albums by Camel (Mirage), Fripp & Eno (Evening Star), The Movies, Nova, Sassafras, and Stackridge. The sessions also involved Island staffer John Burns, a soundman on earlier classics by Jethro Tull (Aqualung), Genesis (Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot), T2 (It Will All Work Out in Boomland), and recent titles by Dog Soldier, Gonzalez, and Hanson.

SAHB released “Runaway” as a single backed with the TBtM cut “Snake Bite.” The Penthouse Tapes reached No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart.

On May 31, 1976, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band supported The Who at Charlton’s 60k-seat Valley Stadium as part of a multi-act bill that included Little Feat, Outlaws, Streetwalkers, and Widowmaker. The six acts also played shows in Glasgow (6/5: Celtic Park) and Swansea (6/12: Vetch Field).

For subsequent UK release, SAHB joined Nazareth’s Mountain label, which also housed the Baker Gurvitz Army.

SAHB Stories

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band released their sixth studio album, SAHB Stories, in July 1976 on Mountain (UK) and Vertigo (Europe).

Side A contains one Hugh McKenna original (“Sirocco”), a Jerry Reed cover (“Amos Moses”), and the group-written songs “Dance to Your Daddy” and “Jungle Rubout,” both six-way credited with producer David Batchelor.

Harvey and McKenna collaborated on “Boston Tea Party,” SAHB’s second UK hit. They co-wrote “Dogs of War” with Zal Cleminson, Harvey’s collaborator on “Sultan’s Choice” and “$25 For a Massage,” the latter third-written by bassist Chris Glen.

A1. “Dance to Your Daddy” (5:43)
A2. “Amos Moses” (4:20) is a song by American country singer Jerry Reed, whose original became a 1971 US Billboard crossover hit.
A3. “Jungle Rubout” (4:25)
A4. “Sirocco” (6:50)

B1. “Boston Tea Party” (4:36)
B2. “Sultan’s Choice” (4:06)
B3. “$25 For a Massage” (3:22)
B4. “Dogs of War” (6:10)

Sessions occurred at Basing Street with engineer Phill Brown, a soundman on 1975/76 albums by Back Street Crawler, Moon, Rock Follies, Robert Palmer, Trapeze, and the Island super-project Go, a collaborative effort by Stomu Yamash’ta, Steve Winwood, and Automatic Man drummer Michael Shrieve. SAHB Stories was mixed at Air Studios by Roxy Music soundman John Punter, who also worked on 1975/76 titles by Caravan (Blind Dog and St. Dunstans), Chopyn, Doctors of Madness, Krazy Kat, and Mr. Big.

SAHB Stories appeared in a gatefold photographed by Sixties Rolling Stones photographer Gered Mankowitz, whose images grace mid-Seventies sleeves for Budgie, Fox, Groundhogs, Slade, Gino Vannelli (The Gist of the Gemini), and Murray Head (Say It Ain’t So).

Stories shows SAHB from behind at a crowded bar with their reflections in the mirror behind the counter, underneath their nameplate in the style of a vintage neon bar sign. The inner-gate shows a reduced image of the scene with quotes attributed to various characters, inducing one patron who exclaims “A guitar is more important then a machine gun!” Bloomsbury Group’s Geoff Halpin designed the logo amid work on concurrent visuals for Barclay James Harvest, City Boy, Graham Parker, Horslips, Nutz, and Vangelis.

“Boston Tea Party” appeared on May 28, 1976, as an advance single (b/w “Sultan’s Choice”). SAHB mimed the song for the June 10 and July 8 broadcasts of TotP, which aired the song four time amid summer ’76 in-studio numbers by Billy Ocean (“L.O.D. (Love on Delivery)”), Lee Garrett (“You’re My Everything”), Osibisa (“Dance the Body Music”), Pilot (“Canada”), The Real Thing (“You to Me Are Everything”), Slik (“Requiem”), Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel (“Here Comes the Sun”), Surprise Sisters (“Got to Get You Into My Life”), Sutherland Brothers & Quiver (“When the Train Comes In”), and The Wurzels (“Combine Harvester”).

“Boston Tea Party” reached No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart. In late August, “Amos Moses” became the second single, backed with “Satchel and the Scalp Hunter” (aka “$25 For a Massage”). SAHB Stories reached No. 11 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 33 in Sweden.

Once promotions wrapped, Harvey took a break to grieve over his best friend, SAHB and Nazareth manager Bill Fehilly, who died in a plane crash on July 28, 1976.

Fourplay

The Sensational Band released Fourplay, their only album without Alex Harvey, in February 1977 on Mountain.

Fourplay contains one song by keyboardist Hugh McKenna (“Love You for a Lifetime”), two by guitarist Zal Cleminson (“Shake Your Way to Heaven,” “Big Boy”), and the co-written numbers “Chase It Into the Night” and “Pick It Up and Kick It.” Hugh also wrote songs with bassist Chris Glen (“Smouldering”) and drummer Ted McKenna (“Outer Boogie”). Side B concludes with the group-written “Too Much American Pie.”

Hugh sings everything apart from one lead vocal each by Ted (“Outer Boogie”) and Zal (“Big Boy”).

A1. “Smouldering” (5:32)
A2. “Chase It Into the Night” (5:30)
A3. “Shake Your Way to Heaven” (5:05)
A4. “Outer Boogie” (4:55)

B1. “Big Boy” (4:53)
B2. “Pick It Up and Kick It” (4:20)
B3. “Love You for a Lifetime” (5:07)
B4. “Too Much American Pie” (6:11)

The Sensational Band co-produced the album at AIR Studios and Basing Street with John Punter, who engineered and mixed Fourplay in sequence with Rock Follies of ’77 and titles by Ray Russell and Sad Cafe (Fanx Ta Ra). The album’s back cover shows Harvey bound and gagged behind a speaker case while the band (backs turned) cavort around microphones.

“Pick It Up and Kick It” appeared in late January as a single (b/w “Smouldering”).

Meanwhile, Harvey narrated the 1977 K-tel release Presents the Loch Ness Monster, a spoken-word LP with first-hand accounts of alleged sightings of the creature. The limited-run album (300 copies) appeared in a gatefold sleeve with a 16-page booklet.

“Mrs. Blackhouse”

On August 26, 1977, the regrouped Sensational Alex Harvey Band released their twelfth single: “Mrs. Blackhouse,” Harvey’s sarcastic appeal to British conservative social crusader Constance Mary Whitehouse (1910–2001), a staunch opponent of post-war permissiveness*. Chris Glen produced the song and its b-side, “Engine Room Boogie,” a group-written number.

A. “Mrs. Blackhouse” (3:34)
B. “Engine Room Boogie” (6:52)

SAHB recorded the single with keyboardist Tommy Eyre, a former member of the Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, Riff Raff, and Zzebra. Eyre stepped in for Hugh McKenna, who stepped aside for creative differences.

*Pink Floyd addressed Whitehouse in the third verse of “Pigs (Three Different Ones),” an opus on their 1977 release Animals.

Rock Drill

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band released their seventh album, Rock Drill, in December 1977 on Vertigo (Europe) and March 1978 on Mountain (UK).

Side A consists of a title-suite in four parts, which Harvey co-wrote with Tom Eyre (“Rock Drill”) and Zal Cleminson (“The Dolphins,” “Rock & Rool”).

Side B contains Harvey’s “Nightmare City” and the group-arranged traditional “Booids,” plus Harvey/Cleminson co-writes with Eyre (“Who Murdered Sex?”) and Glen (“Water Beastie”). Despite his absence, Hugh McKenna made writing contributions to “The Dolphins,” “Rock & Rool,” and “Water Beastie.”

Original Vertigo copies contains “No Complaints Department,” a Harvey confessional set to a tune by his onetime Soul Band colleague Jimmie Grimes. Due to its personal nature, Harvey vetoed its inclusion on Mountain pressings, which replace the track with “Mrs. Blackhouse.”

The album’s title comes from a 1913 plaster figure by American-British modernist sculptor Sir Jacob Epstein (1880–1959), whose 1916 recreation, Torso in Metal from Rock Drill, appears on the cover.

A. “The Rock Drill Suite”
— 1. “Rock Drill” (6:22)
— 2. “The Dolphins” (6:10)
— 3. “Rock & Rool” (3:40)
— 4. “King Kong” (3:15) is SAHB’s interpretation of the film composer Max Steiner’s theme to the 1933 adventure-horror film.

B1. “Booids” (1:38) trad
B2. “Who Murdered Sex?” (5:16)
B3. “Nightmare City” (3:48)
B4. “Water Beastie” (4:50)
B5. “No Complaints Department” (5:00) lifts its music from “I Learned About Women,” a Grimes-composed number on Harvey’s 1964 solo album The Blues. The lyrics take aim at Margaret Thatcher and address the deaths of Bill Fehilly and Alex’s younger brother, Leslie Harvey.

Sessions occurred at in London (Basing Street) and Dorking, Surrey (Ridge Farm), where SAHB self-produced the album with recent Split Enz soundman Guy Bidmead, who engineered Rock Drill in sequence with 1977 albums by Crawler, Kabaka, and Bob Marley & The Wailers.

Post-SAHB

Zal Cleminson joined Nazareth for their 1979–80 albums No Mean City and Malice in Wonderland.

Chris Glen joined the Michael Schenker Group for their 1981–83 albums MSG, Assault Attack, and Built to Destroy.

Ted McKenna joined the backing band of Rory Gallagher for the 1978–80 albums Photo-Finish, Top Priority, and Stage Struck. He reunited with Eyre on the 1981 solo debut by Greg Lake. Both reunited with Glen on Assault Attack.

Alex Harvey resumed his solo career with the 1979 RCA release The Mafia Stole My Guitar, recorded with Eyre and veteran saxophonist Don Weller. Harvey died of a heart attack on February 4, 1982, in Zeebrugge, Belgium. He was one day shy of his 47th birthday.

Discography: