1980-09-XX - Beach Boys Stomp 21 - Adrian Baker Article & Discography

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ADRIAN BAKER'S ARTICLE/DISCOGRAPY
ADRIAN BAKER BY MIKE GRANT
Back in STOMP 16 I did a short UK harmony discography featuring Chris Rainbow, Alan Carvell, and Chris White. I wanted to include Adrian Baker as well but I did not have enough disc information at the time to do so. Since then Chris Rainbow has released his third album “White Trails” and is working on a new one. Alan Carvell has released nothing lately. He seems to be just doing sessions now and Chris White seems to have disappeared.

 
In April 1980 the Australian Magazine “California Music” did a fine Adrian Baker article written by Kingsley Abbott, but not all STOMP subscribers read “California Music”, though you should. Anyway I would like to do a list of most of Adrian's main releases which might interest STOMP readers

 
In June when Capital Radio played the top six in The Beach Boys Top 12 on Brian's birthday, Roger Scott played a beautiful version of "Happy Birthday Brian Wilson” by Adrian. This prompted me to give him a call and thank him very much for doing it. "I enjoyed doing it how I think Brian would have done it” he told me. He also invited me over to his studio to see how he works. So without apprehension I went one Sunday afternoon. Adrian’s studio is built into the basement of his home and it really is quite marvellous and very homely. Being in the basement there are no windows and the time of day does not seem to matter. The walls display sheet music of Adrian’s songs or songs he has recorded but pride of place is the Silver Disc for Liquid Gold’s "Dance Yourself Dizzy” the first record on his own label and the most successful record he has been involved with. Adrian informed me that he does everything except lead vocals and drums on the Liquid Gold 'A’ sides. Adrian then started demonstrating the fabulous sound system by puting on a reel-to-reel tape of a tremendous wordless harmony track called "Birth of the Universe” which really was quite stunning. Tape after tape he played me of TV jingles, radio jingles, backing tracks and a track from his hopefully forthcoming album. The song was called “Little Jack Horner” a sort of harmony/disco track but very good.

 
We did get to talking about the Beach Boys and how in the very early days things like “Surfer Girl” and “I Get Around” influenced him. But nowadays Adrian misses the strong melodies of Brian’s sixties songs and he wishes they would do something like “Help Me Rhonda” again.
A couple of projects he had in mind were to record “Don’t Worry Baby” as he feels no cover version so far has done the song justice. He also has ideas to do a “Fun, Fun, Fun” type of song which he also feels could be a big hit. He thinks there are still many people who like that type of sound. He is also planning to record the Four Seasons “Big Girls Don’t Cry” which could be another “Sherry” for him.

 
He has also talked about the difficulties of puting the Beach Boys gold singles together like trying to get the changes right, e.g. how he had to discard “You’re So Good to Me” because it just wouldn’t flow with anything else. Anyway my afternoon spent with Adrian made me a confirmed Adrian Baker fan.

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY
Singles:
Adrian Baker
Sherry / I Was Only Fooling - Magnet - 34
Candy Baby / Dance To It - Magnet - 41
So You Think You've Got It Made / Don't Do It - Magnet - 61
Why Haven't I Heard From You / Vibration - Magnet - 82
Work, Work, Work / Marlena / Look For A Miracle / Cry Baby Cry (EP) - Magnet - 117
I'll Keep You Satisfied / Feel Like Dancing - MCA - 395
Crazy About You / Lovemaker - Polo - 3

THE TONICS
White Christmas / Leave Me Alone - Magnet - 52
All Summer Long / Stand Back - Magnet - 67
Love Is Forever / Take A Chance - Magnet - 74

GIDEA PARK
Beach Boy Gold / Lady Be Good - Stone - SON 2162
The Boogie Romance / From Me To You - Ariola - ARO 167

POLO LABEL RELEASES:
Dance Yourself Dizzy / Instrumental - POLO - *Liquid Gold
Everything's Electric / Lady Casanova - POLO - *Dazz
Crazy About You / Lovemaker - POLO - Adrian Baker
Substitute / Instrumental - POLO - *Liquid Gold
California Girls / Summer Girls - POLO - *Aero

* also released on 12″ singles.

Albums:
ADRIAN BAKER - Into A Dream - Magnet - MAG 5009
LIQUID GOLD - Liquid Gold - POLO - POLP 101

Unreleased
ADRIAN BAKER - Voices In Harmony - BRH 6
(a whole album of wordless harmonies including 'Birth Of The Universe').

1992 - California Music - The Sounds Of Summer: Adrian Baker And Gidea Park (CM79)

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THE SOUNDS OF SUMMER

ADRIAN BAKER AND GIDEA PARK

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

THE STORY SO FAR
“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.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
(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

198X - Gidea Park (Featuring Adrian Baker) - Sounds Of Summer Poster

198X - Gidea Park (Featuring Adrian Baker) Poster

1976 - Stevenson's Rocket - Here I Am Promotional Sticker