The radio plays it up and down, the Beach Boys medley ‘Beach Boys Gold’, their greatest hits from the 60s in the typical summer sunshine-happy sound. A Beach Boys record comeback? Hardly, because the successful single production does not come from the famous boys from Florida. ‘Beach Boys Gold’ is by Gidea Park. - Never been there? But maybe you've seen seen it. Helga Feddersen and Frank Zander introduced the group in their last ‘Plattenkiiche’.
Sorry, that's not quite right. The pretty singers in the transparent plastic tubes were actually only decoration. Gidea Park actually consists of just one man: Adrian Baker. And Adrian Baker is, to add to the confusion, actually three groups or singers. Got it?
“Admittedly, it's a bit difficult,” Adrian told us with a laugh when we visited him in his house, which is basically one huge recording studio. “Firstly, I produce records under my real name, which is Baker. I do a kind of disco-funk thing, similar to the Bee Gees and Earth, Wind and Fire. Secondly, I'm also The M Squad. That means I've applied for the Eurovision competitions under that name with my own song.” He has already reached the final round as The M Squad, and at the beginning of March it will be decided whether his song ‘Miss Caroline Newley’ will be allowed to compete for England in the international singing competition ‘Eurovision Song Contest’.
But back to Gidea Park. Adrian says “It's basically a Beach Boys revival band, but I only formed the band after the record was on the market. I made the recordings myself.”
To this end, the 28-year-old hid away in his perfectly equipped 16-track studio and brooded, tinkered and rehearsed.
“I played all the instruments myself: bass, guitars and keyboards. I only hired someone for the drums. The instrumental side of this idea was the least of my problems, things only got exciting when I recorded the vocals. I sang my own voice twelve times until I had a really good Beach Boys sound.”
The result is really so amazing that you can't tell the difference between it and the original recordings.
“It was a real labour of love that I wouldn't want to repeat in a hurry,” Adrian groans. “That's why I then got four musicians and formed a proper band.” And with them he already has his next single, 'Boogie Romance' in the can and an album in the works. “I wrote the single myself this time, but again in the old Beach Boys style.” And this is despite the fact that the 'Beach Boys Gold' single was not a commercial success in England. Adrian says “The record will be released here again in the Spring and then maybe it will work out.”
