Meet The casuals

The Casuals | Toy | Decca | 1968 | Meet The Casuals, four guys who had a big, big hit with “Jesamine” followed by their exciting, raucous “Toy”. A few years ago the group decided to leave Britain and try their fortunes in Italy, speaking no Italian, with very little money. Most other groups chose Germany. So why did Howard Newcomb, John Tebb, Alan Taylor and Bob O’Brien choose Italy, a country not renowned for its scene like Germany?

Says Howard: `We thought the German scene was played out. O.K., so you can play seven nights a week there if you want to, but who the heck wants to play for four hours a night for 40 pounds? You soon wind up dead!”

Says John: “When we arrived in Italy we has a quid between us and a tin of peaches, that’s all. But we met this guy at the station who took us along to a club, and the fellow who owned it gave us a job there. During the summer we played at another club he owned in Rimini.”

Says ‘Plug’ Taylor: “We did get a record contract on the strength of being an English group. Eventually we left CBS and went to Decca where we met David Pardo, our ager.”

Flowers in the rain

Says Howard: “We thought we would be producing our own record, as we had at CBS, so we went along to the studio and set up the gear and this guy walks in and says, ‘I’m David Pardo, your producer.’ He played us ‘Flowers In The Rain’ and we were knocked out by it and recorded it right off. Then The Move decided to release it in Italy and ours was scrapped, which was a bit of a choker.”

Says Bob: There’s quite a thing in Italy about records being in Italian. It doesn’t always follow that the original version in English will do well in Italy if someone else records it in Italian. Very often the original is better, but the Italian will be the hit.”

Says John: -The first record we did was an Italian version of The Walker Brothers’ hit “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine”. We had that and another record before “Massachuetts” and they had very useful sales. Helped us get established and put our money up. With David’s help we got to a pretty good position in the Italian group world.”

Says Howard: “And then we did “Adios Amor” for England. It was released, we came over to promote it. It didn’t do anything, so we went back to Italy. Then we did “Jesamine”, and came over to promote that didn’t do anything, so we went back again, and an were just starting to give up and it I happened, and here we are.”

The Casuals | Toy | Decca | 1968

Says John: “The greatest thing has been the reception the hit received in Lincoln, which is where we started the group and is where Howard and I come from. The Mayor and Mayoress held a civic reception in our honour, which is a real knock-out thing to have happen to you.”

But what about the present?

Says ‘Plug’: “It’s funny having a hit. You can’t really say what it is, but there’s a different feeling about everything when you have proved you can have a hit. Suppose you could call it being on top of the world.”

Says Bob: “We’ve spent so much money on equipment and getting ourselves established that really we ploughed everything we earned in Italy back into the group. In the long run I suppose it’s the best thing possible.”

Says Howard: “It’s funny, but people think if you have a big hit record you are going to change your character. I don’t feel any different to the person who climbed out of the van in Milan a few years ago, wondering how long the quid we has would last, and sick to death of peached.”

Says John: “Three years ago we thought we could be the best group in the world, and all that jazz. It’s been proved time and time again to us, by ourselves and other people, that we are NOT the best group. We are good in our particular field – pop music – as long as we’re making enough money to live on, and occasionally freaking out with a hit, we’ll be very happy.”

The Casuals | Toy | Decca | 1968

What about the future, boys?

Says John: (smiling) “Professionally, I’d like to be known as the man who brought skiffle back. Ah, those were the good old days, when all you needed was a tea chest and a bit of rope, and a washboard and thimble and an untuned guitar. No equipment worries, no music worries. Just bash, bash, bash.”

Says Howard: “Typical! I’d like to visit Stockholm for a holiday. I went out with this fantastic Swedish girl in Italy, and she told me so much about Stockholm, and about Sweden, that I want to see if it’s as marvellous as she kept on saying. Professionally, I just want to establish the group in the same professional category as The Hollies, Dave Dee, and The Tremeloes. They are consistent and consistently good. You can’t beat their track record.”

Says Bob: “I want to see Japan. 1 here’s some-at country that I think I’d like. The girls are on to a good scene—they obey the men and spend half their time time wanting to please you.”

Says ‘Plug’: “Do you know what I’ve always wanted to own? An Irish wolfhound. Really, and I’m going to buy myself one. It might be difficult, with us being on the rood a lot.” (Top Pop Stars annual, 1969)

THE CASUALS – “Toy” / “Touched” (Decca F.22852) November 1968

Over a year later, the Beatles “Sgt Pepper” and “All You Need Is Love” period remains an influence on singles producers. One could describe this as an “imaginative” production, but really the succession of ideas are all highly derivative and familiar. It’s not too difficult to trace back the source of the trumpet fade-out, for example.

The basic beat is in the James Brown tradition, one which most drummers are heartily sick of playing, and all but the most short-haired mods are heartily sick of hearing. A clever record, but not a good record, while the Casuals themselves make no personal impact. (Melody Maker, 23/11/68)

THE CASUALS: Toy (Decca) I must admit I put the Casuals down as a one-hit wonder after “Jezamine”, but this one, a beaty’ Chris Andrews’s opus, should have no difficulty in gaining a top ten placing. Full marks to the Casuals for attempting something in a very different mood to their previous hit.

There’s a very catchy musical-box break, and the ending is very Sgt. Pepper-ish. Chris Andrews hasn’t been too lucky recently. This one should restore him to the charts as a songwriter, and help consolidate the Casuals’ position as leading contenders for the most promising new group this year. (Top Pops, 30/11/68)

Success – the Casuals’ new-found toy

IT was four very subdued and thoughtful Casuals I met at their publicist’s Oxford Street office. But then they’ve got good reason to be. Released this week is “Toy”, the Chris Andrews-penned follow-up to the group’s last single, “Jezamine”, which only just failed to reach the top spot.

“It’s going to be a number one,” urged publicist David Sanderson. “The advance orders are very, very good.”

The Casuals, who have quickly earned themselves a reputation as being four of the most amiable people in pop, were rather less confident. While Bob O’Brien and Howard Newcomb read last week’s Top Pops, I chatted to John Tebb and “Plug” Taylor, and discovered that they had “Toy” even before “Jezamine” was released.

“It was really a toss-up which one we issued,” Plug told me. “As it turned out, we couldn’t have done much better whatever record we released. “But the new one is a worry. ‘Toy’ is so different from ‘Jezamine’, and once people have put you down in their minds as a harmony group, it’s difficult to get away with a raver.”

Did John agree with all this?

“Yes, it’s a bit of a problem,” he nodded. The record has got very good reviews, and that takes a lot off your mind.”

We’ve built up a following

John, it seems, is the one most of the girls have taken to.

“Yes, that’s a bit of a problem, too,” John replied, in a vain attempt to sound bashful. “Actually, we have been surprised to find that we have built up quite a sizeable following of our own.”

“When you consider,” interrupted Plug, “that we have only had one hit, it’s odd, because we all thought the days of groups having their own fans were over.

“Nowadays, the trend seems to be for the kids to buy good records, and ignore the bad, no matter how big the name on the label is. “It keeps the groups on their toes,” Plug added, “and makes sure that the charts aren’t filled with utter rubbish.”

The Casuals have just returned from Italy, where they were very popular long before “Jezamine”. I asked John how the Italian fans were likely to react to the group spending more and more of their time in Britain.

“Of course, they know by now that we have made it in Britain.” “But I haven’t been close long enough to any Italian kids to let them know we won’t be seeing them so often.”

“It’s not a question of loyalty,” said Plug, anticipating my question, and opening his eyes wide at an attractive girl who had joined the queue to chat to them. “The important thing is for us to get this record high into the charts, and the next. Then we can start thinking of Italy again. But as long as they want us to go over there, we will.”

The Casuals performed on most of the dates on the recent Scott Walker tour. Did they have any qualms about joining a well-known cast, after just one chart entry?

“We were scared out of our minds that first night,” John answered, “but only that one night. It was a great tour, and we had no regrets at all. “In my opinion, we went down very well, and I’m sure it did us a lot of good.”

“Tours are supposed to be a thing of the past,” Plug said, “but we would go out on another as soon as some-body asked us.” (Top Pops, 30/11/68)