Angel Air Records (label)
16 January 2012 (released)
30 January 2012
Multi-talented John Du Cann shot to fame as singer / songwriter for Atomic Rooster.
However, prior to his days with the Rooster, he was at the forefront of the golden period of the late 60’s. Bands he played with included Attack, Andromeda, Bullett and Hard Stuff. In 1979, Du Cann had a surprise hit in the UK with the solo single ‘Don’t Be A Dummy’.
Sadly, John died in September last year, just as he had completed the re-mastering and artwork of the two Hard Stuff albums (released via Angel Air Records in November). Luckily for his fans, he had given instructions to Jeff Perkins to write the sleeve notes to this anthology, as well as compiling the track listing and creating the cover artwork for it.
The compilation offers 16 fiercely awesome tracks that are a mixture of the following bands: The Attack, Andromeda, Atomic Rooster, Bullett, Hard Stuff, and Du Cann.
‘Magic In The Air’ (The Attack, 1967) is much as you would expect a track with such title to sound like… somewhat psychedelic with some nostalgic bell sound intro, but still rockin’.
Very curious yet totally inspired is ‘Return to Sanity’ (Andromeda, 1969) which is broken into three parts: Breakdown / Hope and Conclusion. It has a slow start, reminiscent of ‘White Rabbit’ by Jefferson Airplane, then gets heavier and more percussion-based towards the end. Great track, that one!
‘Devil’s Answer’ (Atomic Rooster, 1971) has a fantastic early 70’s vintage vibe to it with almost unconstrained riff work and wicked keyboard sound. Du Cann’s voice is in top form as well (like on all the other tracks). ‘Night Living’ (A. Rooster, 1971) sounds utterly menacing and hardcore – well, like living hard and playing hard every night, basically!
Groovy hooks galore offers ‘Fortunes Told’ (Bullett, 1971), and the same goes for ‘Millionaire’ (Hard Stuff, 1972), only that it’s even speedier. ‘Jay Time’ and ‘Roll A Rocket’ (Hard Stuff, 1972/73) are songs that every Du Cann fan and beyond will know, so no point getting into this here.
Du Cann’s surprise solo UK hit single ‘Don’t Be A Dummy’ (1972) is indeed somewhat of a surprise, as it’s neither particularly catchy nor straightforward in its arrangement. In fact, ‘She’s My Woman’ which Du Cann dished out two years prior is, in my humble opinion, the better track. But who am I to argue.
The compilation ends with two songs from 1980, both by Atomic Rooster. ‘Don’t Lose Your Mind’ bears all the hallmarks of the usual Du Cann quality, but it’s ‘They Took Control Of You’ which truly rocks! Another brilliant number that commands you to lose control and just go along with the rhythm.
The excellent players on this excellent album are John Du Cann, John McCoy, John Gustafson (that’s a lot of John’s), Paul Hammond and Vincent Crane. Really, if you don’t get this anthology then you’re a dick, not a John!
