Typically Tropical

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2007)

Typically Tropical had an unexpected number one UK hit in August 1975, with the song "Barbados".

The band was actually a duo comprising Geraint Wyn Hughes and Jeffrey Calvert, who had met through Hughes' band, Quasar. They would write and record songs at Morgan Studios, where Calvert worked with his father, when no-one else was around. Calvert had been on holiday in Barbados and based the song on his experiences. It was recorded with various session musicians, including guitarist Chris Spedding, drummer Clem Cattini, and Vic Flick.

Although the song, featuring mock vocals by Captain Tobias Wilcox (Hughes' alter ego) of Coconut Airways, was far from being genuine reggae it was originally intended to be released on Trojan, but the little known record label Gull Records came up with a better offer (reportedly £1,500). "Barbados" was ready for release in November 1974, but the label thought it best to wait until the next summer before releasing it.

"Barbados" entered the UK Singles Chart on 5 July 1975, and five weeks later was at No.1 for one week. In total "Barbados" spent eleven weeks in the UK chart.

The follow-up singles "Rocket Now" and "Ghost Story" failed to chart, and as a recording act the duo went their separate ways, billed forever as one-hit wonders. Ironically, Geraint Hughes (often billed and known as Max West) subsequently became a pilot, although not with Coconut Airways!

Hughes and Calvert meanwhile continued to work in the studio together, writing Sarah Brightman's "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper" in 1978, and later producing Judas Priest's album, Sad Wings of Destiny.[1]

"Barbados" was later successfully covered by the Vengaboys in 1999 as "We're Going to Ibiza".

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

Preceded by
"Give A Little Love" by Bay City Rollers		 UK number one single
August 3, 1975		 Succeeded by
"I Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)" by The Stylistics
Languages