JohnTem82387976

29 November 2015

Champs Boys - Tubular Bells/ Fleur



Label: Philips
Year of Release: 1976

"Disco sucks!" roared the Rock purists in the seventies. And I'll tell you this, it very frequently didn't, and the fact that European disco cover versions of some of their most highly critically regarded artists were available was (and is) hilariously funny. Imagine the looks on those hateful, hairy little faces. We've already established that a disco version of "Days of Pearly Spencer" was made, but far beyond that you could enjoy disco versions of Pink Floyd classics too if you wanted. Marvellous stuff.

This dancefloor interpretation of "Tubular Bells" is oddly adventurous, taking the familiar chimes of the original and turning them into synth patterns undercut with the occasional brassy moog sound. Suddenly, Mike Oldfield's pension plan sounds much  more like the theme tune to a Saturday evening American crime drama series (complete, no doubt, with freeze frame shots of the main characters all pointing guns at the screen) than the eerie, disquieting piece of music it usually is. 

The B-side "Fleur" is an absolute must for lovers of all things Moogy too, being absolutely chock full of analogue synth sounds. 

This single only just qualifies for this blog, having peaked at number 41 in the British charts. These days, though, it seems like a complete and total obscurity and a little acknowledged chapter in the "Tubular Bells" story. 

Sorry for the pops and crackles on this record. 



2 comments:

Lee said...

I bought this at the time, and I still like it :)

Anonymous said...

excelent thanks