''Initial Success'' is the third studio album by Scottish musician

BA Robertson Brian Alexander Robertson (born 12 September 1956) is a Scottish musician, composer and songwriter. He had a string of hits in the late 1970s and early 1980s characterised by catchy pop tunes and jaunty humorous lyrics, including " Knocked It ...

, released on 7 March 1980 by

Asylum Records Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/Asyl ...

. The album peaked at number 32 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

and several singles were released, including the top 10 hits "Bang Bang", " Knocked It Off" and "

To Be or Not to Be To Be or Not to Be may refer to: * ''To be, or not to be'', the soliloquy from ''Hamlet''. Films and TV, theatre and books * ''To Be or Not to Be'' (1942 film), directed by Ernst Lubitsch * ''To Be or Not to Be'' (1983 film), a remake produced ...

". The album was reissued on CD on 12 May 2017 by

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as we ...

and includes several of the singles' B-sides as well as songs performed live at the 2004

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

Background

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

, Brian Alexander Robertson began his musical career in 1973 with the release of his debut album ''Wringing Applause'', a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. So ...

recorded with

Terry Manning Terry Manning is an American photographer, composer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, audio engineer, and visual artist. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has worked with Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Bryan Adam ...

and released on

Ardent Records Ardent Records is an American record label based in Memphis, which was founded by John Fry in 1959. Ardent of the 1960s and 1970s featured pop music acts and was distributed by Stax Records from 1972 until 1975. It is best remembered today for B ...

. Having found a new key collaborator in session bass player

Herbie Flowers Brian Keith "Herbie" Flowers (born 19 May 1938) is an English musician specialising in electric bass, double bass and tuba. He is noted as a member of Blue Mink, T. Rex and Sky. Flowers has contributed to recordings by Elton John ('' Tumblew ...

, Robertson released ''Shadow of a Thin Man'' in 1976 on

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertain ...

. Neither album found any success, and Robertson felt out of place amidst the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

movement. Robertson soon found himself attuned with the burgeoning new wave movement, having heard "So It Goes" by

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and new wave,ELP Elp is a small village in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Midden-Drenthe Midden-Drenthe () is a municipality in the northeastern Netherlands. The municipality was created in 1998, in a merger of the former muni ...

or dare I say

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book o ...

or Yes. It sounded more like ''

Ready Steady Go! ''Ready Steady Go!'' (or ''RSG!'') was a British rock/pop music television programme broadcast every Friday evening from 9 August 1963 until 23 December 1966. It was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Associated-Rediffusion, Rediffusion TV. Al ...

'' to me, or '' Thank Your Lucky Stars''. Robertson sent a four song demo tape to

Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

, and on the strength of "

Goosebumps ''Goosebumps'' is a series of children's horror fiction novels by American author R. L. Stine, published by Scholastic Corporation, Scholastic Publishing. The protagonists in these stories are tweens or young teens who find themselves in scary ...

" was sent to Regent Sound,

Denmark Street Denmark Street is a street on the edge of London's West End running from Charing Cross Road to St Giles High Street. It is near St Giles in the Fields Church and Tottenham Court Road station. The street was developed in the late 17th century ...

to record a professional demo. This led to a signing with

Release and reception

''Initial Success'' was released on 7 March 1980, following the success of the singles "Bang Bang", "Knocked It Off" and "Kool in the Kaftan". Robertson-Britten composition "Carrie" was a number 4 hit for

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

on 1 March 1980, a week prior the album's release. Robertson embarked on a 20-date UK tour in support of the album during April and May 1980. Writing in ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...

'', Robin Smith described Robertson as "trying too hard", commenting "experiencing Robertson fully unleashed is like being strapped into a chair where you're forced to watch 100 repeats of ''

The Benny Hill Show ''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV (from 1969) between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, paro ...

''". Smith considered "Eat Your Heart Out Sandy Nelson" the album's weakest track, and described "The B Side" as "a boring

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

piss take that's been flogged time and time before". Though he praised "Knocked It Off" and "Man or a Mouse?", Smith declared "sorry chums, but I don't think the three minute hero can cut it for an entire album". Reviewing the album's 2017 reissue, '' Record Collector's'' Mark Elliott commented "Bordering the novelty but BA’s offbeat lyrics don’t diminish a melodic flair". Ian Canty of ''

Louder Than War ''Louder Than War'' is a music and culture website and magazine focusing on mainly alternative arts news, reviews, and features. The site is an editorially independent publication that was started by journalist John Robb in 2010 and is now ru ...

'' considered Robertson's "in your face" nature to be detrimental to the songs, commenting "he’s always there, filling in any gaps with stupid voices and jokes, like a very nervous first dater scared of leaving a silence... ...though Robertson can without doubt come up with a good tune, he couldn’t leave it alone for any length of time". Canty concluded "''Initial Success'' is really a well-produced, inventive record, but a bit faddy and flaunts its cleverness just a bit too much for me".

Track listing

2017 bonus tracks:

Personnel

Musicians *

– lead vocals, backing vocals, additional keyboards *

Terry Britten Terence Ernest Britten (born July 1947) is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and record producer, who has written songs for Tina Turner, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo and Michael Jackson amongst many others. Britten (along ...

– backing vocals, guitar,

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form i ...

(track 5) * Alan Jones – bass guitar *

John Giblin John Giblin, is an active session musician, contributing mainly as an acoustic and electric bass player, and spanning genres of jazz, classical, rock, folk and avant-garde music. Best known as a studio musician, recording film scores and cont ...

– additional bass guitar * Graham Jarvis – drums * Stuart Elliott – additional drums *

Billy Livsey Billy Livsey is an American songwriter, keyboardist, and producer originally from St. Louis, Missouri and now resides in Nashville, Tennessee. He has worked with many musicians including Tina Turner, Kevin Ayers, Phil Manzanera, 801, Gerry Raff ...

– keyboards *

Adrian Lee Adrian Lee (born 9 September 1957, London, England) is an English musician, known especially for his brass instrumentation work with several well-known acts of the 1980s. Career Lee was first signed to Phonogram Records in the late 1970s as g ...

, Mike McNaught – additional keyboards * Barry Morgan,

Chris Karan Chris Karan (born Chrisostomos Karanikis, 14 October 1939) is a Britain-based Australian jazz drummer and percussionist of Greek descent. Life and career Karan was born in 1939 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Karan played in The Three Out t ...

, Jim Lawless, Lennie Clarke, Louis Jordan, Pete Baron, Tony Carr – percussion * Neil Sorrell –

sarangi The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, and Boro folk music (there known as the ''serja'') – in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. It ...

(track 13) Technical * John Hudson – engineer * Richard Savage – art direction * Bob Searles – illustration * Niall Doull-Connolly, Adrian Boot – photography * Recorded at

Mayfair Studios Mayfair Recording Studios, earlier called Spot Studios or Ryemuse Studios, was a recording studio in London, England, located in Mayfair from the 1960s to 1981, then in Primrose Hill from 1981 until it closed in 2008. In the early years the studio ...

, London and mastered at Utopia Studios, London

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1980 albums BA Robertson albums Asylum Records albums