Label: Antic
Year of Release: 1974
As much as I believe that the mid to late sixties era is absolutely blessed with obscure pop music riches, and it's far easier to strike gold when digging around in that period than most others, the early glam rock era is also surprisingly fertile. While it may be an acquired taste, it's not difficult to find flop pieces of tinsel covered rock and roll which are insanely uplifting.
And here's one. Way back at the start of January, you may remember we explored the work of a synth-pop artist called Alpha Beta, fronted by the mysterious Pete Smith. A reader kindly pointed me in the direction of this single which was also his handiwork, and I was slightly surprised to find out that far from having a short career based in Numan styled observations on space aliens, he'd also had a brief glam rock past.
"See You Later (Little Baby Love)" is a honking Wizzard-esque piece of work filled to the brim with Spector styled arrangement, and a totally joyous bounce. It's not been compiled on to any of the existing compilations focused on Glam Rock obscurities, and that's slightly surprising because it's far superior to many of the tracks that have found a place - indeed, it seems unlucky not to have been at least a minor hit at the time. Had Wizzard themselves put this out, it would almost certainly have registered.
None of this really leaves me much the wiser as to who Pete Smith actually was and what else (if anything) he did, but he managed to straddle two entirely different styles across two 45s issued in the seventies, so I get the impression he could have turned his hand to a great deal of other work as a songwriter if he had wanted.
Label: Antic
Year of Release: 1974
As much as I believe that the mid to late sixties era is absolutely blessed with obscure pop music riches, and it's far easier to strike gold when digging around in that period than most others, the early glam rock era is also surprisingly fertile. While it may be an acquired taste, it's not difficult to find flop pieces of tinsel covered rock and roll which are insanely uplifting.
And here's one. Way back at the start of January, you may remember we explored the work of a synth-pop artist called Alpha Beta, fronted by the mysterious Pete Smith. A reader kindly pointed me in the direction of this single which was also his handiwork, and I was slightly surprised to find out that far from having a short career based in Numan styled observations on space aliens, he'd also had a brief glam rock past.
"See You Later (Little Baby Love)" is a honking Wizzard-esque piece of work filled to the brim with Spector styled arrangement, and a totally joyous bounce. It's not been compiled on to any of the existing compilations focused on Glam Rock obscurities, and that's slightly surprising because it's far superior to many of the tracks that have found a place - indeed, it seems unlucky not to have been at least a minor hit at the time. Had Wizzard themselves put this out, it would almost certainly have registered.
None of this really leaves me much the wiser as to who Pete Smith actually was and what else (if anything) he did, but he managed to straddle two entirely different styles across two 45s issued in the seventies, so I get the impression he could have turned his hand to a great deal of other work as a songwriter if he had wanted.
