The Hammer –Hitchcock’s Lullaby/Doggone –EMI 5C 006-25 046 (1974 NL)
Hitchcock’s Lullaby is quite a departure from Smyle’s (Mark Boon’s previous band) usual fare as the A side comes across like Alistair Riddell’s Space Waltz or The Tigers on Vaseline in maximum horror Camp Glam mode. Their image was the invention of their Manager and my guess is that he got to see a preview of Brian De Palma’s brilliant Phantom of The Paradise (check out the black and white make up worn by The Undead AKA The Juicy Fruits/ Beach Bums in that movie ). He was probably on space yoghurt at the time and his delusional plan to turn the band into a sensation included not even listing the band’s name on the cover or label! File under...god knows what –this is one of the reasons why it is so hard to find this single these days.
Check out the Nederglam site for an interview with Mark Boon and to watch the great video clip: http://www.nederglam.nl/html/smyle.htmlThe B side is more akin to Mark’s usual Beatles/Pop material, which made a full blown come back on both sides of The Hammer’s next single -The Powerpop classic I’d Do It All Again/Cos I’m in Love.
Hear a full version of Hitchcock’s Lullaby
