Page 16 - Radiodowntown online March 2021

wesalute... The Rubettes
The Rubettes were an English pop band put together by musician John Richardson in 1974 after the release of “Sugar Baby Love”, a recording assembled of studio session musicians in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, then the head of A&R at Polydor Records, and his co- songwriter, Tony Waddington, after their doo-wop and 1950s American pop-influenced songs had been rejected by a number of existing acts.Waddington paired the group with manager John Morris, the husband of singer Clodagh Rodgers and under his guidance, the band duly emerged at the tail end of the glam rock movement, wearing trademark white suits and cloth caps on stage.
Their first release, “Sugar Baby Love” was an instant hit remaining at number one in the United Kingdom for four weeks in May 1974, while reaching number 37 on the US chart that August,and remains their best-known record.Subsequent releases were to be less successful, but the band continued to tour well into the 2000s with two line-ups in existence.
Classic era (1974–1980)
The Rubettes’ first and biggest hit was “Sugar Baby Love” (1974) which was a number one in the United Kingdom, going on to sell around 500,000 copies in the UK and three million copies globally. With three more songs, “Sugar Baby Love” was recorded for Polydor in October 1973 at Lansdowne Studios in Holland Park, London, by a group of session musicians featuring the distinctive falsetto and lead vocals of Paul Da Vinci (born: Paul Leonard Prewer). However, Da Vinci did not join the others to become a member of the band put together by John Richardson, and instead pursued solo work, having signed a contract with Penny Farthing Records. “Sugar Baby Love” was their only UK No. 1 and sole US Top 40 entry.
In November 1974, NME music magazine reported that The Rubettes, The Glitter Band and Mud were among the UK bands who had roles in a new film titled Never Too Young to Rock.
when, following an acrimonious split and legal action, the Rubettes became the latest in a long line of bands (including the Beach Boys and Spandau Ballet) to end up in the courts in a dispute over ownership of the band’s name. The court ruled that both Williams and Hurd could tour as the Rubettes, as long as it was clear which member was fronting the band.
All was well until 2005 when Williams and Hurd were back in court following an appearance by Hurd’s band on the German television station ZDF, with Williams claiming Hurd had breached the terms of the original agreement. On 2 February 2006, a High Court judge found that Hurd and Williams had both been guilty of breaching the 2002 agreement. Costs of the trial were, however, awarded to Williams in view of the severity of Hurd’s breaches. Hurd appealed against this decision, but on 3 November 2006 the Appeal Court in London ruled against him, awarding the costs of the appeal to Williams.Hurd has since gone bankrupt.
On 28 March 2008, “Sugar Baby Love” was declared to be the most successful oldie of all time by the German television station RTL.
In March 2012, Thorpe digitally released the No Hits, No Jazz Collection and performed at Darwen Library Theatre with a live eight-piece band for his ‘50th Anniversary 1-Gig-Tour’. It featured session musicians Iain Reddy, Liam Barber, Justin Randall and Greg Harper. “You’re the Reason Why” was played.
In 2002, the group hit the headlines once more16