“Viva Bobby Joe” (Marble Arch MAL 1182) October 1969

Since I took early retirement a couple of years ago I spend a lot of time searching for cheap records in charity shops. I don’t mind taking a chance and spending a couple of quid on an album. It’s still quite a buzz finding vinyl junk.

I’ve decided to begin a new series on my blog where I’ll focus on a track from a budget label release, remaster a FLAC directly from the record, create a YouTube video and investigate / research the performer and album under the spotlight.

My new series will be called “Budget Label Curios.”

Who knows what I’ll uncover, the music may be delightful to your ears or it could make you want to bang your head against the nearest brick wall to make the pain go away.

The LP “Chartbusters – Movin’” cost £3, from Oak Tree Animals’ Sanctuary, a local charity shop in The Galleries, Washington. The weight of the vinyl is heavy and the front cover is glossy, no expense spared by Marble Arch with the package.

There’s a rather badly lit photo on the cover of a hippie type wearing what looks like a Nazi helmut and a slim blonde Marianne Faithfull look-a-like dressed all in black, is having a cheeky go on his chick hunting motorbike.

“Natural Born Bugie” – originally a hit for Humble Pie almost made selection status but the song didn’t have a hook to get me excited and the other decent cut, “Need Your Love So Bad” by Fleetwood Mac was a decent effort but the remake was no where near the quality of Peter Green’s outfit.

I therefore decided to give selection status to “Viva Bobby Joe” by The Equals. This catchy bubblegum number has a bouncy rhythm with repeated lyrics that just can’t fail to stick in the mind. No wonder the record, released on President during July 1969, was a hit for them reaching number #6 in the charts.

This Chartbusters remake is fairly accurate but I’m thinking the session singer is not really trying to sound like one of the boys in the Equals. Not sure who sang this number in the Equals, could have been Eddy Grant?