| I suppose we expected things to change,
once we’d had the ‘hit’, and that we would
suddenly see, what we’d been missing all these years.
In many ways it did, such as a ‘sort of audition’
for a part in a film, I think it was called ‘Bunny
Lake Is Missing’. This was for the big film director, Otto Preminger. We had to play on stage at one of the West End theatres, while this ‘director ‘sat in the dark, watching and listening, we obviously weren’t cut out for acting, as ‘the Zombies’ got the part! Another chance did come along to appear in film called 'A Village In Mayfair', and this time we got the part. This was a ‘documentary’ on ‘Shepherds Market’ which is a very ‘up market’, but slightly ‘notorious’ part of Mayfair in London. We appeared as the band playing in a club scene, with people doing those funny dances they used to do back then! I think we did two, maybe three songs altogether. This picture was taken on the roof of the London Penthouse Club, in Shepherds Market, during a break in filming. I don’t know who the girl was! |
|
| In another film, we were featured on the
soundtrack only, along with ‘the Foundations’.
They sang the title track of the film, called ‘Take
A Girl Like You’. The film starred, Oliver Reed and
Hayley Mills. We sang ‘It Takes A Lot Of Loving’,
which you can find on EM Records cd, ‘Harmony Grass’. Another very interesting thing, if it had happened, would have been recording with Quincy Jones. He became Michael Jackson's record producer many years later. Our manager came up with this idea, and it was all go for a while, but didn’t happen in the end. This may also have been for a film, but the ‘sands of time’ have taken their toll on my memory. |
 Soundtrack album |
| Mainly we just carried on working, gigs
that had been booked before the ‘hit’, so for a
while the money was the same as usual. The ‘Cosmo
Club’, Carlisle, comes to mind. Not because of the
money, but the promoter was Les ??? (forgotten his
surname), and we’d played there many times
over the years, doing 2 x 45 minute spots. By now, we
were only doing a one hour set everywhere, but big Les
wouldn’t have it, “you’re doing 2 x 45s,
I don’t care if you are in the charts” he
insisted, (he was a big bloke) so we had to try
and remember things that we’d stopped doing. Such was our new status in the business! I think one of the other groups on that night, was the Herd, with ‘the face’ of the late ‘60s’, Peter Frampton. The first time we actually felt like we’d had a ‘hit’ was when we managed to get an ‘advance’ against royalties from RCA, which came as a bit of a bonus. We split the money in half, bought some new Fender equipment with one half, then split the other half between the six of us!!! Funny we never did see another royalty cheque, or statement, for that ‘hit record’ we’d been waiting for. Someone got it, and it wasn’t us. I wonder who did? (in joke)! |
 Harmony Grass ‘live’ Haslemere, Surrey, 1970.
|
| When RCA asked us for an album, to
capitalise on the success of ‘Move In A Little
Closer Baby’, we started to feel like we were
getting somewhere at long last. RCA wanted the album a.s.a.p. and we had several songs, that we’d already recorded, (as Tony Rivers and the Castaways). Some of these really only were demos, recorded in 4 track studios, like the Polydor studio, just off Oxford St, in London. This was small, but we always got a great vocal sound. Byrd Avenue was definitely recorded there, and so was a song straight from our stage act, ‘Chattanooga Choo Choo’. The 6 unreleased ‘Castaways’ tracks, with the ‘Grapefruit’ boys were also recorded in this studio. The engineer was Carl Adolph Olms, and he was a genius with sound. He loved us, he really was a big fan. IBC
was another studio we liked, and I think some of the
albums ‘newer’ tracks were done there. I’m
fairly sure that Tom Dooley was recorded there, although
not for the album. This was done at the end of another
session, much earlier in 1968. |
 Recording at Polydor Studio, (probably trying to look like Brian Wilson) Stanhope Place, London. W1. approx. 1967/8 Studer tape machine behind me. |
| I’d been writing songs, usually
‘b-sides’, ever since former manager Terry
Oates had got me into it years before. This was the
perfect opportunity to write for our own album. Seven of
the songs on the album were written by me, (1 or 2 were
co writes with Kenny Rowe). Publisher Cyril Shane also found us another great song, ‘Good Thing’, written by ‘Capitanelli & O’Connor’ composers of ‘Move In’ and we found another great song, called ‘What Do You Do When Love Dies?’ I think I got the most pleasure though, from those ‘original’ songs we did. These all showed that we had our own vocal sound and style, and even that we could write in our own style as well. This was really pleasing to me. |
 ‘H’, Brian, Ray, Tom, Tony and Kenny, from the program, Olympia, 1970 |
