As a recording artist, the career of Britisher Adrian Baker has been well documented by this magazine ever since he first hit the road with Gidea Park, CM 61, the BRITISH BEACH MUSIC issue, featured an extensive story on the studio wiz. Subsequent issues have attempted to augment any additional developments.
Now a full time vocalist with The Beach Boys, Adrian has also recently issued A B C D, a sixteen track CD of some things old, some things borrowed and some things new. At present it is a private issue only, but can be readily acquired from Gidea Park group member Martin Lawford, c/o The Shire, Grosvenor Road, Orsett, Essex RM16 3BT, UK
“After I had finished talking to Bruce I found myself to be in a state of shock which lasted for several hours afterwards.” This is how Adrian Baker described his feelings after Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys had called to congratulate him on the quality of the jingle Adrian had put together to commemorate Brian Wilson's birthday in 1981 (1). This call led to Adrian meeting The Beach Boys and working with them over the next three years.
Adrian's career had reached a high point with his two main bands Gidea Park and Liquid Gold seeming to hit the UK charts with every new release. It is a badly kept secret that apart from percussion and Ellie Hope's voice, Adrian had produced, arranged, recorded, engineered, played all the instruments and sung lead and harmony vocals at his basement studio in East London, finding time to write Liquid Gold's hits in-between.
It had always been a dream of Adrian's to make his living from music. He started at school, rehearsing in the classrooms with his school friends until joining local bands and playing in youth clubs in London. 'Then he hit the road with Pebbles, a top show band that toured throughout Britain and Europe during the mid sixties. Although he was the youngest member of the band, he had become heavily involved in Pebbles' recording career, learning his trade by recording in studios such as Abbey Road, Pye and many other famous studios that were springing up all over London. After Pebbles, he joined a well established East London band called Playground, whose members subsequently became the nucleus of several of his later recording projects. Playground became one of the most popular live acts in London. Adrian's high falsetto vocal and searing guitar solos were often the high point of the act.
Adrian's recording career took off in 1976 when he took his reggae version of The Four Seasons' song Sherry into the British Top 10. This catapulted Adrian into the mainstream of the mid-seventies Rop scene. He was then introduced to Liquid Gold and started writing and recording, soon finding success with a self penned song Anyway You Do It in 1978. Adrian was riding high in the charts again with Beach Boy Gold (Gidea Park) and Dance Yourself Dizzy (Liquid Gold) when he took the call from Bruce, a call that was to dramatically change his life for the next few years.
“Joining The Beach Boys on tour did not only mean realising a lifetime dream, but gave me the experience I would need to further my future career.” This was how Adrian described the years spent on the road with The Beach Boys in the early eighties. Then followed many other hits such as Substitute and The Night, The Wine And The Roses for Liquid Gold and following a mid-tour break in 1981, Adrian recorded the next Gidea Park hit Seasons Of Gold. Three years of touring the USA with The Beach Boys saw Adrian return to the UK to begin the next phase of his career After the release of the 1985 single Summertime City, he decided to hit the road once again, this time with some close friends from Gidea Park With brother Ian (keyboards, vocals), co-writer Martin Lawfccd (guitar, vocals), Alex Duncan (drums), Dave Walker (drums, percussion) and Roger Whatling (bass, vocals).
Over the next six years Adrian fronted the band on numerous gigs and TV shows throughout Europe, moulding the band into the forefront of the European live-music scene. A major move change took place when Adrian moved to Suffolk and rebuilt his studio at his new home “Yew Tree Farm” where after several months revamping and resting his recording equipment, he began work on several solo singles. Two of these - Warmth Of The Sun and Endless Sumner Days - were used to promote Continental Airlines in Europe and the UK to great critical acclaim.
In the summer of 1990 Adrian was invited to rejoin The Beach Boys' line-up and with prat regret he left his close friends in Gidea Park and set off to start a new life in the USA. The proudest moment of his carer came in 1991 when his parents and all his close friends saw him appear on stage at Wembley Stadium with The Beach Boys. Following a heavy touring schedule, he returned to Suffolk in December 1991 and together with Martin Lawford compiled a sixteen track CD of various recordings taken from the previous ten years of sessions at “Yew Tree Farm” and the basement studios in East London. A B C D is the result.
(1) The single in question was: Happy Birthday Brian Wilson b/w Don't Worry Baby: POLO 11 - 1981 [Issued under the name ADRIAN BAKER
ABCD
Track Lineup:
The Surf Is Up/Surfer's Paradise/Warmth Of The Sun/Lazin' On The Beach/Have You Seen That Girl?/Party Beach/I've Got Rhythm/Endless Summer Days/ La-La-La-Limbo/Bring Back Those Surfin' Days/Back In '65/Don't Look Back/American Girls/Summertime City/Stay Healthy/And Your Dream Comes True
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