THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,687) Zoot — “Little Roland Lost”
Classic Australian pop psych pre-Rick Springfield, written by band members Beeb Birtles and Darryl Cotton with a guitar solo by the Twilights’ (see #563, 1,667) Terry Britten. The chorus “I’m lost, I’m lost, find me” found its way into Land of the Lost: “[T]he 70’s American Sid and Marty Kroft show . . . featured someone doing a song that nicked the chorus from “Little Roland Lost” over the end credits of the show!!” (wilthomer, https://www.45cat.com/record/do8801) Hey, I used to watch that as a kid — little did I know!
Milesago puts on its zoot suit:
Zoot started out as one among scores of hopeful young beat groups who that formed in and around the migrant settlement suburbs . . . . The founder members of Zoot were English-born John D’Arcy and Netherlands-born Gerard Bertelkamp, who became mates at Plympton High School. . . . Together with drummer Ted Higgins . . . [they] formed their first band, named Times Unlimited in 1966. They only played one gig at a scout hall before the bass player decided to leave. John told Gerard (who was universally known [as] “B.B.”) that he would have to learn to play bass guitar and sing at the same time. Fortunately, B.B. was up to the task . . . . [T]hey recruited singer Darryl Cotton from another local band . . . changed the name to Down The Line . . . . [and] played regularly around Adelaide during 1966, and they became friendly with local heroes The Twilights . . . . [T]he group would tape the ABC radio replay of British TV’s Top Of The Pops and work out their own stage versions of hits by the mod icons of the day, The Move, The Small Faces The Who and their beloved Hollies, songs that would usually not be released until weeks or months later in Australia. . . . [Their] ability to perform note-perfect renditions of current overseas hits gave them a strong appeal with local Mods. . . . By 1967 Down The Line had become a hot live attraction, and like many other bands they supplemented their gigs by backing visiting solo singers. . . . [including] Johnny Farnham . . . . [The band] changed its name [to Zoot and] continued to perform around their hometown for another year. . . . [but it] was clear [they] would have to leave Adelaide if they wanted to further their careers. In mid ’68, EMI producer David McKay was on the road with The Twilights, and when the tour hit Adelaide he was finally introduced to Zoot . . . by Twilights vocalist Paddy McCartney. . . . He was suitably impressed, and immediately offered them a recording deal: Daryl [Cotton]: “We only had homemade guitars and amps and hardly any money to go to Melbourne to make our first single. So The Twilights loaned us their incredible Marshall amps and paid our train fares across” . . . . [T]hey recorded the tracks for their first single — a dynamic psych-pop cover of Jackie Lomax’s “You’d Better Get Going Now ” . . . . [which] showed off their formidable musical chops, and especially the high, bright harmonies that have become a trademark of Beeb’s work. Zoot returned to Adelaide to await its release. This was to be the only commercial recording by the original Zoot lineup and John D’Arcy then left the band, to be replaced by Steve Stone. . . . “McKay was pleased with the record” says Cotton, “but he insisted we needed management. The next day a fellow called Wayne de Gruchy knocked on our door”. Wayne was the manager of Berties Disco and, together with owner, Anthony Knight, he came up with a masterstroke of promotion: “Think Pink – Think Zoot”. Zoot’s debut single was launched at a now-legendary media party at Berties . . . . Knight decked out the disco in pink, adding accessories like pink champagne and pink carnations. The launch didn’t do a great deal for the single in Melbourne — although it reached #12 in Adelaide — but the night was a huge success from a promotional stance — although in the long run it took on a life of its own and became a millstone around the boys’ necks. Beeb: “It was this outrageous thing where the band dressed up in all-pink clothes, which of course, y’know, all the young girls loved us in these ridiculous outfits and all their boyfriends hated our guts, y’know? (laughs) . . . . I always felt very, very uncomfortable dressing that way, ‘cos it wasn’t me. But, at the same time, it worked, and you can’t knock the success that the band had over that two-year period between ’69 and ’71 when we travelled all over Australia and became a very popular teenybopper group …” A second single was quickly recorded, but this time both sides were produced and written by Twilights guitarist Terry Britten . . . . “1 x 2 x 3 x 4” . . . was released in December ’68 and it became a moderate Melbourne hit (#32). However but combined with the “Think Pink” campaign, it cemented Zoot’s image as an lightweight bubblegum pop outfit. . . . Shortly after the second single was recorded Higgins and Stone left the band and returned to Adelaide, but Beeb and Daryl were determined to continue, so they recruited Roger Hicks, a talented young classically-trained guitarist . . . and Rick Brewer , an experienced . . . drummer . . . . [T]he group parted ways with de Gruchy and signed with Johnny Farnham’s management team, Darryl Sambell and Jeff Joseph . . . . Zoot’s third single came out in June ’69. The jaunty . . . “Monty & Me” was an engaging ditty . . . . The psyched-up production . . . . only made [it to] #33 in Melbourne, [but] surprisingly shot to #1 in Brisbane. . . . It was backed by . . . “Little Roland Lost” . . . . In July they took to the road on their first major tour, slogging through the backblocks of Queensland . . . generating teen frenzy all along the way. . . . [I]n September, they joined Russell Morris, Johnny Farnham, Johnny Young, Ronnie Burns, The Valentines, The Masters Apprentices and Doug Parkinson In Focus on the famous Operation Starlift, a huge (but financially disastrous) national capital city tour by the top echelon of the Australian pop world. . . . Just before the Operation Starlift tour, Roger Hicks decided he had had a gutful of the “pretty pink pansies” ridicule and defected to The (Brisbane) Avengers. Ironically, The Avengers settled on Hicks after missing out on their first choice, Rick Springfield. . . . [B]oth The Avengers and The Valentines were vying for Rick’s services and they were soon joined by Zoot, who had first met him during their Queensland tour. . . . Rick considered all the offers and decided that his best chance lay with Zoot. If they had been good teen-idol fodder before, the arrival of Springfield took it to new heights. . . . Zoot’s desire to rid themselves of the ‘Think Pink’ gimmickry . . . was given added impetus by Springfield’s arrival. . . . [H]is distaste for the teenybopper image was obvious and in early the new year the group ceremonially burned all the hated pink gear on camera during a TV appearance . . . . As Rick began adding his considerable creative input, Zoot set to work on their first and only album – Just Zoot . . . . For Zoot fans, their first obvious shift in direction came in April with the release of the . . . fifth single, “Hey Pinky”. It marked a sea change for them– the Rick Springfield song was a blistering piece of riff-driven heavy rock, its lyrics a caustic and vehement attack on their former image and their manipulation by management and the media. It was promoted by a cheeky Go-Set ad sporting a nude rear-view shot of the group . . . . [O]n June 20 . . . Zoot played at the nationally televised Go-Set Pop Poll and literally stopped the show with a defiant performance . . . . With backs to the audience they slammed into a pounding, heavy-metal rendition of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” that brought the house down. . . . . Two months later they . . . narrowly lost Hoadley’s National Battle of the Sounds to The Flying Circus [see #944]. . . . After the strong reaction to the Pop Poll performance, Gable insisted on “Eleanor Rigby” as the next single and it was duly released in December 1970. . . . eventually peaking at #3 during its 21-week chart run. . . . Their excellent follow-up single, the Springfield-penned concept piece “The Freak”/”Evil Child” . . . reaching #27 in Melbourne only. . . . [B]y early 1971 the frustrations of their loss to Flying Circus . . . and the poor showing of “The Freak” led to rumours of an impending break-up, fuelled by reports that Birtles might be called up for National Service, and that Springfield was being courted to pursue a solo career (which was true) and that he had threatened to leave the band unless they went to the US. The crunch came in May when RCA America — who were very excited about “Eleanor Rigby” — were thwarted in their attempts to secure Zoot for a US deal because of work visa problems. With their chances of heading overseas success thwarted, Zoot announced their split later that month.
Here are the end credits to Land of the Lost:
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