Wednesday 29 June 2022
Monday 27 June 2022
1981-08-17 - Record Business - Soundalike Summer of '81 Puts The Sparkle Back In Pop
And while mysterious Dutch disco-mix expert Lobo zips up the Top 20 with his handclapping versions of Harry Belafonte standards, Britain's own one-man Beach Boys industry Adrian Baker is making similar progress with 'Beach Boys Gold' under the pseudonym of Gidea Park.
Baker is said to have picked the name because so many on Britain's top close-harmony singers have come from that strange no-man's-land segment of South Essex, and he actually recorded the piece three years ago. It went on to make the Top 10 in Holland and w as a hit in Australia, Belgium and Germany without ever getting anywhere in the UK
In the meantime, Baker was asked to record a bithday tribute jingle to Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys by Capital Radio's Roger Scott and Wilson happened to hear it while in Britain for the Knebworth Festival. When he was looking for a replacement Beach Boy, Adrian sprang to mind, and he got the gig.
With the rise of soundalikes in Britain, DJs remembered Baker's Beach Boy medley and began playing it again, with a resultant grass roots response. “Over the years, the record must have down well over half a million sales,” said Baker's manager Mel Medalie.
Soundalike disco thumpers show no sign of a let-up. Next week there will be a Sam Cooke medley on the market, while original artists have got in on the act by splicing together disco-mixes of their own material — The Supremes, Beach Boys and the Hollies have all done it. There is even a punk soundalike medley out produced by original Sex Pistols desk man Dave Goodman. Where will it all end?
The answer is probably in a wave of parody discs, which could well be hitting the market before September is out. Record Business has heard rumours of spoofs from several quarters, including ones aimed at the classical, all-girl and Beach Boy markets.
The remarkable Adrian Baker - one-man Beach Boys' band who cracked the charts with 'Beach Boy Gold' and then went on to join his favourite group.
Sunday 19 June 2022
1981-10-XX - Beach Boys Stomp 27 - Interview With Adrian Baker
The following is an interview with Adrian Baker by Brian Mathew, on Round Midnight, Radio 2 on 31st August.
After playing I Get Around (Beach Boys version) BM introduces AB as a British musician who has become a Beach Boy 'albeit in a temporary sort of fashion'.
BM: It's an interesting story how this has come about, Adrian, but how do you feel about it, because you also exist under a number of other names as well as in your own right, don't you?
AB: Well, the Beach Boys... it's a kind of music that I've adored and loved all my life... it's not just the Beach Boys, in fact, it's vocal harmony. Ever since the age of 1 ½ I started to get into vocal harmony, and it's led me to the music business.
Asked about his ability with a number of instruments AB puts it down to his mother who made him learn piano at the age of seven. His mother plays the organ, his father the drums, and they play regularly four nights a week. Adrian, himself says he plays 'basically keyboards, guitar, bass, acoustic guitar' and that his studio took him a year to build - 'a sixteen track'. He says he picked up electronics as he went along, bought a ready made control desk and converted it from eight to sixteen track. Asked about facilities he agrees he could record a small group quite easily, in fact there are three electric pianos at the moment as well as a drumkit. Drum-tracks are done in a garage at the end of the garden to avoid annoying the neighbours.
BM: You've produced a lot of other people on record, haven't you?
AB: Yes, I've produced Liquid Gold, who have had six hits so far... very successful... I play a few of the instruments on the records
BM: And you do the production yourself in your own studio?
AB: Yes, everything I record I do in my own studio. I don't like working in other studios, in my own studio I know what to do to create sounds.
BM: Now then, I think it's really unfair to say to people 'well, we've heard the Beach Boy and now we'll hear Adrian - how close do they sound?', so what we've done is dub off a little section of one of your records and little bit of one of theirs and stuck them together, so we can really get a very close comparison here, and it goes something like this.
(follows, a short section of AB's Fun, Fun, Fun then the original)
BM: Well, you've got to admit it's close. There is a difference, of course, what would you say it was?
AB: The difference? I would say... the fact that The Beach Boys recorded that in 1965, was it? and they all had to stand around one mike and they only had one take... I think it's the slightly out of tune voices that give it that certain character.
BM: Do you not think, too, that you do inevitably get a different characteristic, because on your own record all the voices are yours, and on theirs there are five guys singing.
AB: Yeah, well I take more time over getting my voices right. I think mine has a smoother appearance to it.
BM: Now, how did The Beach Boys get to hear of you, get to hear your product, and ask you to join them?
AB: Well, dare I say it, Roger Scott from Capital Radio is a great friend of Bruce Johnston and about a year ago Roger Scott gave Bruce Johnston the record 'Beach Boy Gold', and Bruce has been sitting on it for about a year wondering how he could get me involved with the Beach Boys. I think the perfect opportunity has arisen where Carl Wilson has gone on tour promoting his solo album, so Bruce phoned me, totally out of the blue, via Roger, and said come out, meet the guys, and it's ended up with my touring with them.
BM: Well, that's really the next part of our story, so lets, before we get into that in detail, listen to your own record which you put out as Gidea Park.
(plays Beach Boy Gold)
BM: You've been out in the States a couple of months now.
AB: Yes, I've just been back a week.
BM: How many dates did you do?
AB: We did 32 shows in all.
BM: What is a Beach Boy date like now, and what kind of reaction do they attract?
AB: It’s fantastic, you would not believe the audiences… I mean the average audience size was about 22,000
BM: Were most of these dates on the West Coast?
AB: No, actually, they were east coast. We did a few west coast, but they go down a storm anywhere in the States. There’s no ‘better’ part of the States to play.
BM: This is astonishing isn’t it? What was the biggest audience you were in front of?
AB: Ah! That was Washington. I think it was a record breaker of 525,000.
BM: The mind can't conceive an audience of that size... (compares it to the Royal Wedding)... can people actually hear, did you get any impression of what the sound system was like?
AB: Well, I think Mike Love tested that, and he said 'How are you doin' to the people right at the back, and they all screamed… they could hear it fine.
BM: Were you already familiar with the Beach Boys repertoire?
AB: Oh yes, actually, you would not believe this but we didn't even have a rehearsal…
BM: Good grief... did you fill in one voice... how did it work?
AB: There were obvious parts to sing with Carl Wilson not being there. I just sort of learnt with each gig we did... they gave me different parts.
BM: Are you going to do some more with them?
AB: Yes, I'm going back in about two weeks time to do a tour of Canada.
BM: What about this business of making records - getting back to your own output now - depends to a large extent on what somebody else has done before. I'm not saying it's a copy because it's rather different from that, but you do take someone elses creation and then do your own thing with it, don't you…
AB: mm..mm..
BM: Don't you feel it in any way kind of frustrating in that it isn't something you devised yourself.
AB: Ah... I still do work on my own material, and I suppose, sadly, I haven't had any success with my own material. If there’s a demand for that kind of record - Beach Boy Gold - it makes sense, if I do it well, to do it.
BM: Oh sure, I didn't offer that in any sense as a criticism. I just wondered how you felt deep down... you know, you really like to do something that was all yours…
AB: I think I will, it's going to happen... I mean in a way with Liquid Gold. I write the songs, I produce them... that's a little bit my baby.
BM: Sure very much so.
AB: Well, very much so, yeah…
BM: Will you, meanwhile, do more Beach Boy type records on your own?
AB: ...Probably…
BM: Especially as you've now toured with them... do they mind? How do they feel about that?
AB: They don't mind, actually they don't mind at all. No, I probably will do that, I shall make.. I hate the word soundalike... make records with vocal-harmony content…
BM: Fair comment. All right, and off with them, probably to Australia in the near future.
AB: Yes, in January.
BM: And when is your next record engagement, or is it already in the can, in which case don't tell us about it.
AB: I have got something in the can, and I'm not going to tell you about it. (laughs..)
BM: I thought that might be the case, OK, thank you very much for joining us and giving us a glimpse of this rather interesting aspect of the record business. We're going to play another one of yours right now, and it's the current Don't Worry Baby.
Saturday 4 June 2022
1999-04-08 - The Kansas City Star - "KC Vibrations"
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KC Vibrations
The Beach Boys were in Kansas City on Wednesday to do some recording. No, they weren't making a new album, just a jingle for a Sonic Corp. ad campaign. The session took place at Evolution Audio, 515 W. 39th St. The Beach boys are Bruce Johnston (left), Adrian Baker (third from left) and Mike Love (right.) Joining in were Sonic executives Cliff Hudson (second from left) and Ken Keymer.
1999-04-25 - The Sunday Oklahoman - If Every Corner Had A Sonic...
From left, Beach Boy Bruce Johnston, Sonic Chief Executive Officer Cliff Hudson, Beach Boy Adrian Baker, Sonic Chief Operating Officer Ken Keymer and Beach Boy Mike Love sing the new jingle Sonic Industries will use for its advertisting this summer.
If Every Corner Had A Sonic ...
Drive-in restaurants and the sound of the Beach Boys both mean summer, and this year Sonic Industries has combined the two.
For the last two years, Beach Boys classics have been the background in the Sonic TV commercials, but this year they've gone one better.
Starting Saturday, this summer's national radio and TV ads feature a new song by the Beach Boys, and they've added two new singers to the band.
Original members Mike Love, Bruce Johnston and Adrian Baker asked Sonic's Chief Executive Officer Cliff Hudson and Chief Operating Officer Ken Kemyer to sing along.
Hudson has sung and played guitar for years, and admitted that if he wasn't in his current job, he very well would have his own rock band.
Keymer, also a guitar player and singer, played Beach Boys songs as a teen-ager n a rock band.
Thursday 2 June 2022
1975-11-22 - Burton Daily Mail - "Pop Star Opens John Menzies New Burton Store"
Pop Star Opens John Menzies New Burton Store
Adrian Baker busy signing records.
John Menzies opened their new store in Burton yesterday and the premises in St. Modwen's Walk were packed to capacity when pop star Adrian Baker made a personal appearance and for more than an hour signed autographed photos.
Store manager Mr. David Smith, said the opening had gone according to plan and that the extra effort made by staff during the past two weeks to get everything ready had been worthwhile.
About 25 members of staff have been recruited for the store from the Burton area—including Saturday sales girls.
The spacious new store offers a wide selection of books, toys, records and stationery and John Menzies are offering several pre-Christmas offers in all departments.
But the highlight of yesterday's opening was the appearance of Adrian Baker—successful with a recent hit with the record “Sherry” one of the new numbers featured on a newly released album “Into A Dream” which was played in the store throughout his visit.
Adrian spent most of his time at the store signing autographs and chatting with the many of hundreds of youngsters who waited patiently to see him.
One secret he did unfold—and that was he hoped to release a new record in January.
Mr. Smith said it was hoped that personal appearances by other personalities would be arranged between now and Christmas at the new store.
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