Monday, November 3, 2014

Sharks

Artist: Sharks
LP: First Water
Song: "Driving Sideways" 
[ listen ]

I've probably said before that one of my favorite things about weeding through my records in search of things to get rid of is re-discovering some of the treasures I didn't know I had. This 1973 LP by Sharks is one of the things I'd forgotten about. Formed in England in 1972, Sharks bandmates Fraser, Simon and Spedding auditioned several singers before, thankfully, settling on Snips (aka. Steve Parsons) whose gravely vocals allow Sharks to dive into the deep end of the ocean where the other great early-'70s bands swim. (Robert Palmer and Leo Sayer had also been interested in the lead-singer role. Can you imagine?) Guitarist Chris Spedding outfitted his Pontiac Le Mans with shark accoutrements for the band's first tour, but the group ended up "Driving Sideways" on their way home from a gig in Cleethorpes in early 1973 and ran the shark car into a tree. Sharks released a second LP after some lineup changes and were working on album #3 when things went south and the group called it quits in 1974. There have been reunions, and even another Sharks release in the late 1990s, all of which you can read about here.

[ Sharks — with Sharkmobile ]

No comments:

Post a Comment