Unit 4 Plus 2 | Too Fast, Too Slow | Fontana | 1967

Unit 4 Plus 2 – ’Too Fast, Too Slow’/’Booby Trap’ (Fontana TF 834) May 1967

You’ve got to have style -SAY THE UNIT 4 PLUS TWO

UNIT 4 PLUS 2, whose first Fontana single “Too Fast, Too Slow” has just been released, are six young men with some very definite ideas on how a pop group should behave in public. “One of the major things wrong with pop these days is that too many people take the artistes for granted,” says leader Tommy Moeller (pronounced, he says, “back tooth!”).

“If you want to be a star it’s no use being seen walking around the street in scruffy clothes. You must have style. In fact, we think that pop artistes should be heard and not seen except when they are performing.”

Tommy himself backs up his statement by living in style in a smart Hampstead ‘pad’ and driving about in his R-Type Bentley Saloon. Both are the direct result of the income he has received from writing “Concrete and Clay”, which he estimates will have earned him nearly £20,000 by the end of the year. The song, which topped the British Hit Parade, has sold 21 million copies around the world and there are now close on 30 different recordings of it.

Laughs

The original group, which called itself simply Unit 4, was formed three years ago among members of a cricket and tennis club at Cheshunt, Tommy Moeller, Lem Lubin, Buster Meikle and Pete Moules found they sang naturally in harmony and began entertaining at socials and dances, with folk songs to the accompaniment of a couple of guitars.

“At first it was just for laughs and we never thought of asking for money. We only realised that we were bookable when people started coming to us, and then we suggested payment. (Top Pops, May 1967)

UNIT FOUR PLUS TWO: Too Fast, Too Slow; Booby Trap (Fontana TF 834) For me, their best since “Concrete And Clay”. Should help restore their chart fortunes to an extent – a catchy and entertaining show all round. Most brisk (Record Mirror, 20/05/67)

An unlucky group are UNIT FOUR PLUS TWO. They came in at the wrong time. They have a good sound and I hope “Too Fast, Too Slow” will be a hit. Surprised they didn’t write it though – they could have done better. (Cat Stevens, Disc, 20/05/67)