Adrian Baker: “Sherry was done on the spur of the moment… it is just a vehicle to get into the charts.”
Sherry Trifle
FRANKIE VALLI and the Four Seasons had a hit back in 1962 with the song Sherry. An evergreen ‘summery’ number it has been rerecorded and released by an unknown artist called Adrian Baker. Slim, tall and dark he is the classic “good looker”. Talking he appears shy and unsure of himself.
Adrian isn't a newcomer to the music scene; he has been a session singer. Why then has he changed from session work and released his own single?
“I‘ve always been writing and I've had two records released before, but due to the record company they never really did anythinng.”
Adrian‘s manager interjected here.
It was just one of those things, the record company were in a state of transition at the time. We managed to get a ‘Hot shot’ on Radio Luxembourg though.
“I was on the road for two years.” continued Adrian. “This was in the Ilford area, where I came from and still live, I was semi-pro at that time.”
I tried to get him chatting some more but his manager came in again.
“He started playing the piano when he was seven. He's got three medals from the Royal College Of Music.”
“From The London Institute Of Music,” corrected Adrian. “I got a silver, gold and bronze. This was when I was at school and then I started the guitar at the age of thirteen.”
On Adrian's ‘reggae’ interpretation of Sherry there is only one instrument that he hasn't attempted to play, the drums. Why hasn't he played them as he's had a bash at everything else?
“I can play the drums, but I think that Reggae is a very specialised form of drumming.”
As Sherry was in a reggae style did this mean that Adrian was more
into this than any other form of music?
“I suppose I want to try and follow Brian Wilson's foot steps, but in a different way. I mean, Brian Wilson is a harmony fanatic the same as myself.”
Another record which ls getting some favourable reaction is Eighteen
With A Bullet. Comparisons are inevitable; both Wingfield and Baker are session men, they have both sung all the vocals on their records and they both have records out at the moment. Was this a fair comparison?
“It's a good single I don't think he‘s into the harmonies as much as I am. I get that impression — it's a good record though.
“With Sherry I did a three part harmony and the lead voice. Every voice is tracked separately in the studio. To record it you start with the basic drums and then you add everything from there. I did everything myself for a special recording we had to do for “Top Of The Pops”, the only instrument I didn't play was the drums. We made that tape in three hours and I did the mixing as well, we were working like mad.”
To go irom relative obscurity to “TOTP” is quite a jump. Was there any point where Adrian felt he had made the break?
“It just happened I think. Sherry was done on the spur of the moment. We were in the studio producing something else and had some spare time so we decided to use the time. That was about eight weeks ago.”
Since Sherry was made Adrian has been working on material for an album. He had with him a demo disc of two tracks, different from the reggae beat. They were ballads in a style reminiscent of David Cassidy. Was he conscious of this similarity?
“He sings and sounds a little bit American, I think it's his love of the Beach Boys that make him sound like this.” said the manager. “I've just realised now why it is that he sounds American, they must have had a strong influence on him.”
“I think the Americans are always one up on us,” Adrian said. “That's why I'm inο¬uenced by American sounds, production etc. I mean that Sherry is just a vehicle to get into the charts, when I do the album it will be my harmony ideas.
The state of the charts must be pretty bad it an artist has to release a single which isn't representative of his own style?
“Obviously, as I said it is just a vehicle to get into the charts. I mean, every single that I make will be a blatant pop record. it is very hard to record a really good pop record though.
“I've got to get recognition first,” continued Adrian. “Then I can start doing my own style of music. Possibly alter the next one or two singles.”
If Sherry can be accepted as the introduction to a new artist and Adrian producing some chart topping material then he might just pull it off — his own material might be more acceptable.
