The Rockers were they short-lived ensemble of famous musicians. The lineup consisted of Chas Hodges (Chas & Dave), Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy), Roy Wood (The Move / Wizzard) and John Coghlan. (Status Quo)
Firstly, the featured lineup is an incredibly underrated selection of musicians from acts that created celebrated music throughout the ’70s and ’80s. It’s also an unlikely grouping, but it does glean some rewarding content to a point.
The Single
The single was released by CBS Records in December 1983, reaching a peak UK chart position of 81. The track was performed on OTT, a Tiswas spin-off presented by Chris Tarrant, with Cozy Powell standing in for Coghlan.
The A-side was a medley of rock and roll songs from the 1950s and 1960s. The medley uses a “We Are The Boys” wraparound section that opens and closes the song. The featured cover songs for the 7″ version included “Great Balls of Fire”, “Keep-a-Knockin'”, “Johnny B Goode”, “Roll Over Beethoven” “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans”, and “Chantilly Lace”.
The 12″ version extends this by adding songs including “It’ll Be Me”, “Something Else”, “Dance with the Guitar Man”, “Bird Dog”, and “The Girl Can’t Help It”.
The B-side, very much in the spirit of its flipside, is a Lynott/Wood composition called “Rockin’ on Stage”.
Production
The cover versions included on this single are very brief, just enough to get a flavour. Most of the choices fit together quite nicely; others perhaps not so much. The production is very much of its time, including a very gated drum sound, but one can’t fault the performances.
Context of the Time
This medley would have been capitalising on a trend which became apparent in popular music in the early 1980s. The likes of Tight Fit and Stars on 45 were rising high in the charts with medleys of popular songs, mostly re-recordings imitating the originals.
The trend would reappear around 1989, when Jive Bunny began sampling vintage records and putting a beat behind them. By coincidence, a lineup of Status Quo would have a number 2 UK chart hit with a medley of Rock and Roll songs in 1990.
Where can I listen to The Rockers now?
This recording is very hard to get hold of these days, having never been issued on CD. The only way to hear it is by grabbing a copy of the seven-inch or 12-inch single from 1983. This isn’t surprising considering the throwaway nature of the material, but the lineup perhaps has more power to sell a reissue than a record executive thinks.
The next best place, although they’re mostly needle drops, would be to seek out The Rockers on YouTube.
