| TERRY
DACTYL - A CAVALRY MAN YOU MIGHT FIND IN THE KITCHEN AT
PARTIES
John
Lewis started in showbusiness as a keyboard player in
Sussex pubs in a group called Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts.
Seaside
Shuffle was his first big hit under the pseudonym Terry
Dactyl and the Dinoasaurs. The song made No.2, but after
the follow up On A Saturday Night only just about made
the Top Fifty, Lewie left the group.
No
more was heard of Terry until 1977 when under a new
name Jona Lewie he began doing the pub scene again,
this time with songs from the New Wave scene. He was
taken on by the leading independent label Stiff, which
had numerous hits with Madness, Kirsty MacColl and Lene
Lovich among others.
He
sang in a deadpan voice and in 1980 had a Top Twerty
hit with a radio play hit - You'll Always Find Me In
The Kitchen At Parties.
Later
that year he had one of the most unlikeliest but biggest
Christmas hits with the anti war and brassy Stop The
Cavalry. It made Number Three. It's heard most winter
seasons on British radio, although it was never intended
as a Christmas single. When he realised it was being
released before Christmas, he added some words about
the festive season.
Though
he's had no more hits in Britain, Louise We Got It Right
was a hit in some other countries.
SEE
EMILY PLAY WAS A GAME FOR MAY !
The
song, which can be found on the Relics album, was written
by Syd Barrett for Games For May - Space Age Relaxation
for the Climax of Spring, a concert put on by Pink Floyd
at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's South Bank.
It was here that quardrophonic sound equipment was used
for the first time. Other songs in the event included
Matilda Mother and Arnold Layne. The latter was a minor
hit single for the Floyd, released before See Emily
Play.
Norman Smith produced See Emily Play as he did Pink
Floyd's first two albums. It was producing the Piper
At The Gates Of Dawn album which prevented him from
working on The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts
Club Band, as that was being recorded at the same time
in another studio.
Norman would go on to have hits himself as Hurricane
Smith.
See Emily Play was recorded on May 23, 1967. Writer
Syd Barrett used a Zippo ligther as a slide on his guitar
on the recording and went on to use it on other early
Floyd work.
Syd Barrett would leave the group in 1968, becoming
something of a recluse. Dave Gilmour replaced him, helping
Pink Floyd to become a super group with great recordings
such as Dark Side of the Moon, Animals and The Wall.
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