Post 789 - Drummond - Complete Singles

 

Drummond was one of the most prominent one-hit wonders of the 1970s in Australia. This fictitious studio band was created by Ron Tudor, owner of Melbourne-based label Fable Records. The main musicians who recorded the first two Drummond singles were Graeham Goble, Russ Johnson and John Mower, the members of Alison Gros, the trio which was renamed Mississippi in 1972,  which evolved into Little River Band in 1975.

Drummond's first single, released in June 1970, was "For You Blue" / "The Grasshopper". The A-side is a cover of the George Harrison track from the Let It Be album. This debut single  sank without trace, but their second single became one of the surprise hits of 1971. In a shameless cash-in on the massive success of Daddy Cool, Drummond recorded a novelty 'chipmunk' version of the Slay-Crewe standard "Daddy Cool" which Daddy Cool themselves had recorded for their hugely successful debut album. Remarkably, the Drummond version of "Daddy Cool" became a massive national hit, rocketing up the charts and knocking Daddy Cool's "Eagle Rock" off the top spot. It was at #1 for eight weeks on the Go-Set national chart and spent a staggering total of 34 weeks on the Top 40 in the second half of 1971 and into early 1972, becoming one of the biggest selling Australian singles of the year. It is now rated #87 in the list of the 100 longest-charting #1 singles on the Australian Top 40.

Fable subsequently released another four singles under the Drummond pseudonym, but none of these were successful and it is understood that the Goble, Johnson and Mower were not involved in these recordings. Fable (who owned the band name) used the name 'Drummond' for different ensembles of studio musicians until September 1977.Drummond did not release an LP, but "Daddy Cool" has been included on numerous "Various Artists" hit compilations. 

A big thank you to Jon Carter for providing the long lost missing link I was starting to think the last single was just a myth because up till now I've never seen it for sale or in the wild but here it is. And as always a big thank you to Henry DeRooy for the fine art work. 

PERSONAL NOTE:- As I've said many times on my posts, maybe someone out there can help with who sang and played on some of these Drummond singles. Fable band "Bulldog" so I've read played on the first single "For You Blue" and "Alison Gros" of coarse played on "Daddy Cool" and I spoke with Mike Brady once and he confirmed he sang on the "Singing The Blues" as well as penned and sang the B side. So fingers crossed that someone out there can fill in the gaps for us. Flac