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.
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