Roogalator was a

pub rock Pub rock is a rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particu ...

band formed in London in 1972, by the US-born guitarist Danny Adler. Earlier that year, Adler recorded demos with 10cc's Graham Gouldman at Strawberry Studios. Prior to Roogalator, Adler had also played with Smooth Loser, a band formed with Jeff Pasternak, the brother of BBC disc-jockey Emperor Rosko. Bass guitarist Tony Lester, guitarist Chris Gibbons and drummer Malcolm Mortimer (

G.T. Moore Gerald Thomas Moore (born 2 May 1949) is an English singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist with a recording career that stretches back to the early 1970s. Moore recorded and performed with numerous musicians such as Jimmy Cliff, Lee 'Scratc ...

and the Reggae Guitars), were members for a time. Mortimer returned to Adler for an early incarnation of Roogalator before leaving to join Ian Dury in Kilburn and the High Roads .

History

Roogalator played their first live show in November 1972, at a talent night staged at the

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London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to muted response. Adler, killing time between the Irish Country and Western circuit and jam sessions with Ginger Baker's African drummers, spent time in Paris studying

jazz theory Jazz harmony is the theory and practice of how chords are used in jazz music. Jazz bears certain similarities to other practices in the tradition of Western harmony, such as many chord progressions, and the incorporation of the major and minor ...

. He returned to London to form the second line-up of Roogalator with drummer Bobby Irwin, pianist Steve Beresford and keyboardist Nick Plytas. The band recorded a demo which resulted in a booking agency deal. Neither Beresford nor Irwin wanted to proceed. With their first live shows ahead, Adler and Plytas rebuilt the line-up. Drummer Dave Solomon, a bandmate of both Plytas and Beresford in a

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cover band, replaced Irwin. Irwin, noting the band was still minus a bassist, gave a copy of the demo to Paul Riley, a member of the successful pub-scene band Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers. Riley joined Roogalator just before their September 1975 debut, and for a time it was his fame that attracted the band's first press notices. They became one of the fixtures on the mid-1970s London pub rock scene, establishing themselves as unique on the pub circuit. Drawing from Adler's experience on the

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

club circuit of the late 1960s, Roogalator offered an angular, minimalist funk sound which was at odds with the standard country, blues, and early rock sounds and created a distinctive blueprint for what would become the Britfunk explosion of the early 1980s. In November 1975, the band recorded demos for

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

and met Robin Scott, who would become their manager, producer and record label chief. In January 1976 they supported Dr. Feelgood at the Hammersmith Odeon in

. The show was by their own consensus a disaster and marked the end of the classic line-up. Within weeks, Solomon quit, to be replaced by the returning Bobby Irwin. Riley also departed. Adding bassist Jeff Watts, Roogalator recorded a

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

session on 13 May 1976 and embarked on a European tour. The tour was marred by the theft of all their possessions from their van. Watts and Irwin departed to reunite with Riley in the Sinceros, which he was now managing. Encouraged by Scott, Adler recruited a new rhythm section; bass guitarist Julian Scott (brother of Robin) and drummer Justin Hildreth. In early summer 1976, Roogalator signed a one-off single deal with Stiff Records and released "All Aboard"/"Cincinnati Fatback". The band continued gigging returning to the BBC for a second Peel session on 28 October 1976. In 1977, the band released another one-off single, "Love And The Single Girl", on

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldw ...

. They declined a recording contract with Virgin, who had insisted that they also sign a publishing contract in addition to a recording contract. The band returned to the BBC for a third and final session with Peel on 16 August 1977. The band released their debut album, ''Play It by Ear'', in 1977 on manager's Scott's

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label, essentially an opportunity to preserve the band's repertoire on vinyl. The album was well-received but sold poorly. The band played at ‘Front Row Festival’, a three-week event at the

Hope and Anchor, Islington Hope and Anchor is a pub on Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington which first opened its doors in 1880. During the mid-1970s it was one of the first pubs to embrace the emergent, but brief, phenomenon of pub rock. With the decline o ...

, in late November and early December 1977. This resulted in the band's inclusion, alongside Wilko Johnson, the Only Ones, the Saints,

the Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origin ...

, X-Ray Spex, and XTC, on a hit double album of recordings from the festival. The '' Hope & Anchor Front Row Festival'' compilation LP (March 1978) reached number 28 in 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 ...

. When Plytas left, the band opted not to replace him and continued to gig as a trio, releasing in 1978, one more single, "Zero Hero" and demoing a second album. Hildreth was next to quit to be replaced by Nick Monnas (from Stomu Yamashta band). Adler, discouraged by the constant changes in the line-up and with feelings that the band had run its course, disbanded Roogalator in July 1978, with many of the songs intended for their second album being reworked for his solo debut, ''The Danny Adler Story''. Roogalator's repertoire was later re-issued on the ''Cincinnati Fatback'' compilation album.

Discography

Albums

LP - ''Play It by Ear'' (

- 1977)
CD - ''Cincinnati Fatback'' (Compilation) (Proper Records - 1999)

Singles

7" - "All Aboard" b/w "Cincinnati Fatback" ( Stiff Records, 1976)
7" - "Love and the Single Girl" b/w "I Feel Good (I Got You)" (

, 1977)
7" - "Zero Hero" b/w "Sweet Mama Kundalini" (

, 1978)

References

External links

allmusic.com: Roogalator
nbsp;– History of band * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roogalator English rock music groups Musical groups from London British pub rock music groups English funk musical groups British rhythm and blues musical groups English blues musical groups English new wave musical groups