For Fox Sake - Fox (The) > Reviews > Brighton Rock

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Standard
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Not applicable
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	It's damn good music !
Disadvantages:	Hard to pigeonhole, and people like things to be pigeonholed .  One clunker of a track .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

First things first, this is NOT the Fox who sashayed up the charts in the mid-70s with "Only You Can" and "S-S-S-Single Bed".
This Fox originated from Brighton in the late 60s. Local musos Alex Lane (keyboards), Tim Reeves (drums) and percussionist Nick Apostiledes joined forces with student Steve Brayne (guitar) to form a new band with the intention of playing their own songs rather than bash out the Blues and Psychedelic covers that had been the staple diet of their various groups during the preceding years. With Dave Windross on bass, The Fox were born and they began rehearsing and playing the pub circuit.
Nick dropped out as lead singer and was replaced by Winston Weatherall, a 'superstar' of the Brighton scene owing to his stints in groups such as Gary Farr & The T-Bones. His guitar and sitar playing blended in well with Steve and Alex, and lead vocals were shared around.

As The Fox gained more attention they were snapped up by ambitious management types who took them off to Radio Luxembourg for what the band thought was a test recording. They cut eleven songs in twelve hours, including vocals and overdubs. Although the band were happy with what they thought were a batch of demo recordings, they were more than a little miffed to discover that their managers wanted to release them as an album, and the rather too obviously titled "For Fox Sake" is that album.
Back in 1970 the album died a death, but, as with so many obscure 60s and 70s albums, a bootleg CD, dubbed from a crackly vinyl copy, appeared in the 90s and, of course, it sold a lot more copies than the original LP had done. The buzz about the album and this 'unknown' group grew, with appearances on compilation albums, and web-sites dedicated to them. Eventually, Steve Brayne, who was by now playing the London pubs and clubs with his Blues Band, managed to dig out the master tapes and assist in this official re-release, and a fine job it is too.
What's the music like? Well, I've always found it difficult to tie it down. It's not Heavy Rock, but there are certainly some hard, riffy moments. It's certainly not Bubblegum but there are some classy pop songs here. It's not really psychedelic but there are definitely elements of the weird and wonderful on a few tracks. See what I mean? Maybe I should just run through the songs.

First up is "Second Hand Love". An Alex Lane song that has 'HIT" stamped right through it. I tell ya, if any Boy Band manager is looking for a sure-fire hit for his lads then here it is. Alex sounds uncannily like Paul Carrack vocally on this. It's a soulful performance with nice organ vamping.

"Lovely Day" is from the pen of Steve Brayne, who takes a strident lead vocal on this exultant number (NOT the Bill Withers song)

"As She Walks Away" (Lane/ Apostiledes) slows the pace down to a crawl. A melancholy mood broken by the next track "Glad I Could" (Brayne), another uptempo track with excellent playing all-round, extolling the virtues of a girl that everyone else puts down.

"Butterfly" is probably the best-known track on the album following its appearance on the legendary "Rubble" series of Psychedelic compilation albums. Steve takes lead vocal on this beautiful song, backed by what appears to be sitar but actually isn't (according to Steve anyway).

"Look In The Sky" (Brayne/Lane) is a jagged, dramatic song with powerful vocals. One of the heavier tracks on the album.

"Good Time Music". Usually there's one clunker on every album and unfortunately this is it. Stuffed full of Rock & Roll cliches it's the type of thing that should have been left to the Dave Clark 5, or John Travolta in "Greased Lightning" mode. At least with CDs you can easily move on to...

"Mr Blank" (Brayne) Remember "London calling" by The Clash? That staccato one-note guitar riff? Well, The Fox used it a decade earlier! Lyrically though, instead of "calling from the edge of the world", this is a put-down of a bloke who's a 'nothing' type of chap with no thoughts, opinions or personality of his own.

"Man In A Fast Car" (Brayne) Attractive guitar and organ playing in this brisk-paced song. "He's just a man in a real fast car" sings Steve. No, it isn't a tribute to Jeremy Clarkson.

"Birthday Card" (Lane/Apostiledes) Back to slow atmospherics before the final track and magnum opus of the album, the nine minutes plus "Madame Magical", co-authored by Brayne and Apostiledes, this is the big, psychedelic/proggy jam number that was de rigueur at the time. Lots of fairground effects, guitar riffing and Phantom Of The Opera organ are underpinned by some great, jazzy drumming from Tim Reeves (who is excellent throughout the album, incidentally).

This re-issue also features bonus demos of "Lovely Day" and "Mr Blank", which are decent enough but suffer from noticeable hiss.

There you go then. Sorry if you're still a bit in the dark as to what this album is like. Back in 1970 there was "Heavy" i.e yer Sabbaths, Purples, Zeps etc, and then there was "Pop" i.e Middle Of The Road, Pickettywitch, New Seekers etc.
The Fox don't fit in to either extreme. If you have to put them anywhere on the scale it would be slightly off-centre, inclined towards the Heavy end, but really this is a 1967 album in a 1970 disguise.

Unfortunately for The Fox, their managers discovered Black Sabbath and dumped the group, leaving them disillusioned and in debt. They were due to play a set at the 1970 Plumpton Rock Festival (where the Reading Festival moved to for a couple of years) but they decided to break up instead. Apart from Tim Reeves, who, rather incongruously, joined Mungo Jerry on their "Boot Power" LP, the members of The Fox faded from the scene. The Fox were just another "If only" statistic...until now!

I'd recommend this disc to lovers of 'quality' 70s pop groups such as Badfinger. There are lots of good songs and good playing, and you can't ask for any more than that.