Leyton Buzzards
After 19 & Mad: Vernon Austin replaces Dave Monk on Guitar & Vocals
“The Leyton Buzzards story began in 1977 when London duo Geoff Deane and David Jaymes started a band called the Leyton Buzzards, a play on the name of the Bedfordshire town, Leighton Buzzard. Briefly changing names to Nick Nayme and Dave De Prave (ho-ho), they issued a single, ’19 & Mad’, on indie label, Small Wonder.
Suddenly the band’s future looked rosey when they won a competition organised by The Sun. Included in the prize was a deal with Chrysalis Records and a short time later the Leyton Buzzards released their best-known single SATURDAY NIGHT BENEATH THE PLASTIC PALM TREES, a paean to the first wave of skin and ska culture in late 60s Britain. Despite its regular plays over the years, the song was never a hit back in the day, reaching only #50 in the UK charts.
“If it had been a hit,” recalled Geoff, “everyone would probably have forgotten about it now. It came at a strange time as it just preceded bands like The Specials. It was the first record going in that direction and we opted to move out of it rather than capitalise on it.”
Relations, however, with Chrysalis deteriorated exacerbated by a badly managed American tour. “The normal set-up in record companies is that managers are terribly unpopular and the group are nice boys. But at Chrysalis we became terribly unpopular. I had been studying law and David has a fair head on his shoulders and we knew things were going wrong.
“We used to be the ones who banged on desks. People grew to resent us and we never got the right service. Chrysalis didn’t have the vaguest idea about anything we were doing. They were pushing us – Leyton Buzzards – to become the archetypal punk group because they had blown it with Generation X. But we weren’t punks.”
This resentment saw the band change personnel, add a synth, bring in the disco rhythms, step into Latin dance music territory and become MODERN ROMANCE. This was dance music made by white London boys in nicer venues.
The U-turn in musical direction saw the band attacked in the music papers with unbelievable bitterness. They were accused of all manner of ills but the most common charge was that they stole the salsa rhythm from the newly emerging Blue Rondo.
“I mean, the Leyton Buzzards changing their name to Modern Romance, and then doing something that a lot of people thought was a Latin record,” said Linx vocalist David Grant. “But I’m sure even the guys in the band knew that ‘Everybody Salsa’ has as much to do with Latin music as I have to do with the Nazi party, which isn’t very much, I can assure you.” From the sleevenotes to Jellied Eels compilation album
Punk77 says
You can see why there was cynicism in the press and among fans even. They kicked off with the excellent 19 And Mad, though as they say above they weren’t a punk band, so were they bandwagon jumping? Once they signed to Chrysalis, via a competition, they had their edges rounded off and moved to a more new wave sound look. The fact that they transitioned next to Modern Romance so easily and quickly was probably the final nail! 🙂
TalkPunk
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