The Rubettes

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The Rubettes were an English pop band of the 1970s assembled in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, the then head of A&R at Polydor Records, and his co-songwriter, Tony Waddington, after their doo-wop and 1950s American pop-influenced songs had been rejected by a number of existing acts. The band duly emerged at the tail end of the glam rock movement, wearing trademark white suits and cloth caps on stage.

1 Personnel
2 Career
3 Trivia
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Personnel

The original line-up of the band was:-

Alan Williams (born Alan James Williams, 22 December 1948 in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire) - vocalist / guitarist
Tony Thorpe (b Anthony John Thorpe, 20 July 1947 in London) - vocalist / guitarist
Bill Hurd (b William Frederick George Hurd, 11 August 1948 in East London) - keyboardist
Mick Clarke (b Michael William Clarke, 10 August 1946 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire) - bassist / vocalist
John Richardson (b John George Richardson, 3 May 1947 in South Ockendon, Essex) - drummer / vocalist

[edit] Career

The Rubettes’ first (and biggest) hit was “Sugar Baby Love” (released in 1974) which was a UK number one, going on to sell around three million copies worldwide. The distinctive falsetto lead vocal to “Sugar Baby Love” was however performed by Paul Da Vinci (real name: Paul Prewer) on the original Polydor recording session but never actually became a member of the band. The song is often mistakenly assumed by casual music fans and the younger generation to be by Showaddywaddy, possibly due to the refrain of the backing vocals, which sounds somewhat like the name of that band.

The Rubettes went on to have a number of other hits during the mid-seventies such as “Juke Box Jive” and “I Can Do It”, mostly written by the Bickerton-Waddington songwriting team. Their final hit was the 'country rock' styled ballad - "Baby I Know" - which reached number 10 in the UK in 1977.

The band split up in 1979, but reformed in 1983 in order to exploit the German market for 1970s nostalgia. In 1994, the group’s profile was raised by the inclusion of "Sugar Baby Love" in the hit movie, Muriel's Wedding. This song was also featured in the 2005 Neil Jordan film, “Breakfast on Pluto” soundtrack.

In 1999, the group hit the headlines once more when, following an acrimonius split and legal action, the Rubettes became the latest in a long line of bands (including Pink Floyd, the Beach Boys and Spandau Ballet) who ended up in the courts in a dispute over ownership of the band’s name. The Court ruled that both Williams and Hurd could tour as the Rubettes, as long as it was clear which member was fronting the band. Two bands, "The Rubettes featuring Alan Williams“, and “The Rubettes featuring Bill Hurd” were therefore created. Originals John Richardson and Mick Clarke also feature with Alan Williams in his band.

All was well until 2005 when Williams and Hurd were back in court following an appearance by Hurd’s band on the German television station ZDF, with Williams claiming Hurd had breached the terms of the original agreement. On 2 February 2006, a High Court judge found that Williams and Hurd had both been guilty of breaching the 1999 agreement. Costs of the trial were however awarded to Williams in view of the severity of Hurd's breaches. Hurd appealed against this decision but on 3 November 2006 the Appeal Court in London ruled against him awarding the costs of the appeal to Williams. Hurd has since gone bankrupt leaving Williams £80,000 out of pocket.

[edit] Trivia

The Rubettes' song "Sugar Baby Love" was also covered as the theme song for the Japanese children's anime Tiny Snow Fairy Sugar.
In early June of 2006, the Rubettes' song "Sugar Baby Love" was featured in an animated French AIDS-Awareness video, directed by Wilfred Brimo and released by the NGO AIDES. The video, also known as "Sugar Baby Love", follows the trek of a homosexual boy on a quest for love. Although slightly mature, showing near-nudity and a few scenes of non-graphic sex between males, the video strikes strong with its message to "Live Long Enough to Find the Right One".