THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,726) Rick Price — “Top Ten Record”
Birmingham’s Rick Price (see #1,299, 1,606) dropped this hilarious and rocking take on the pursuit of a chart hit, which did not become a top ten record but should have! “Of course, I can always join an underground band!”
An unidentified newspaper review enthuses that:
[A] tongue-in-cheek fun-poking number about the rat race to attain Chart status. Delivered in a semi-spoken drawl, and with a few amusing asides and distortion effects thrown in for effect, it’s the sort of disc that could well make his fellow musicians fall about with laughter. The fans may not appreciate the subtleties so readily, they’re more likely to approve of the dual-tracked chorus and the rolling beat. Produced and co-written by Rick, and a thoroughly entertaining track.
https://images.45cat.com/rick-price-top-ten-record-1971-3.jpg
David Wells notes that “apart from the drums, Rick did everything on this track, including the girlie backing vocals” (liner notes to the CD comp Rick Price & Mike Sheridan: This Is to Certify: The Gemini Anthology)
Bruce Eder writes about Rick Price:
Rick Price was probably the least-known member of the Move, if only because he never really established a well-defined musical (or personal) identity of his own . . . . Price was born in Birmingham .. . . . His earliest band of any note was the Cimarrons, who sounded a lot like the Shadows (or tried to). . . . [H]e moved on to the Sombreros, who changed their name to Sight & Sound a little later. Their original focus was harmony vocals, their influences the Four Seasons and the Beach Boys, but by 1967 they’d started doing songs in keeping with the psychedelic boom. And by that time, Price had started a songwriting partnership with Mike Sheridan, the former leader of Mike Sheridan & the Nightriders. The group recorded three singles, “Ebenezer,” “Little Jackie Monday,” and “Alley Alley,” all co-written by the duo and none successful. The group eventually deteriorated into more of a musical comedy outfit. One day in early 1969, after a performance in front of a club audience that included Roy Wood, the leader/principal composer of the Move . . . offered him a spot in the group. He joined just as “Blackberry Way” was making its way up the U.K. charts to number one. He was with them through the brief period of cabaret performances, plus their first (and only) tour of the United States, and lasted two years with the group. Price even recorded most of the original bass parts to the first Electric Light Orchestra album, although the latter were re-recorded by Wood . . . . From there, Price moved into an ultimately unhappy contractual relationship with Gemini Records, recording This Is to Certify . . . . Then he was . . . in an outfit called Light Fantastic, who showed a lot of promise but could never get it together in terms of recording. This was followed by a stint in the progressive rock band Mongrel . . . . From there it was on to Wizzard, Roy Wood’s new band . . . . last[ing] through 1975, then Price moved on to the Wizzo Band, playing pedal steel guitar, no less.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/rick-price-mn0000357165#biography
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