Fabulous? Solo Sailors

Rip It Up, Issue 12, 1 June 1978, Page 2

Fabulous? Solo Sailors

It must have been the worst-kept secret since Dolly Parton’s wig. Hello Sailor, the darlings of Auckland, were having a short rest, largely for the benefit of singer Graham Brazier’s voice, and the rest of the band in search of (depending which story you fancied) that old-time pub-rock feeling, a few extra dollars, or a future without Brazier, were out on their own for a couple of weeks. On the evidence of their show at the Island of Real, under the name the Fabulous Fabrications, the first motive must have been the most important. There were no new directions, and not a huge crowd to watch the show. There was, however an abundance of rock and roll. The band split singing duties fairly evenly between Harry Lyons and Dave McCartney, and it seems reasonable to guess that they were largely responsible for the choice of songs they each sang. There were two new numbers one each which will in all probability find their way into the Hello Sailor repertoire, McCartney’s "Two Bit Train" and Lyons’ "Morrocco Roccoco", and a clutch of

other Sailor songs to compare with the original. Strangely, it was on two songs from their album which Brazier does not sing that his absence was most marked. The lack of saxophone in "Gutter Black" and harmonica in "All Around This Town” made them uncomfortably hollow by comparison with the Hello Sailor versions. For the rest of the evening, the Fabrications picked over the last fifteen years of rock and roll with Lyons’ taste inclining more to the Kinks and Buddy Holly, while McCartney favoured Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. If the little excursion was all just to have and give a good time, it was an undoubted success, with the added bonus of revealing just how good a singer Harry Lyons is. As for all the other speculations, suffice it to say that at the next appearance by the Fabulous Fabrications, at the Windsor Castle, they featured none other than Graham Brazier. You work it out. Francis Stark