Unit 4 + 2

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Unit 4 + 2
Origin Hertfordshire, England
Genre(s) Pop Rock
Years active 1963-1967
Label(s) Decca Records
Fontana Records
Former members
Brian Parker
Tommy Moeller
Buster Meikle
Peter Moules
Howard 'Lem' Lubin
Rod 'Humble' Garwood
Hugh Halliday
Nigel Snook
Russ Ballard
Bob Henrit

Unit 4 + 2 were a British pop band, who had a number one hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1965 with the song "Concrete and Clay". The track topped the UK chart for one week.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] Early days

Brian Parker after a short spell as a guitar player in Adam Faith's backing group The Roulettes in early 1962, formed the fledgling outfit, as Unit Four with fellow guitarist Tommy Moeller, Dave 'Buster' Meikle and lead singer, Peter Moules. Due to ill-health Parker quickly dropped himself from playing duties with the group, and concentrated on songwriting for them. His place was taken by Howard ' Lem' Lubin. The quartet was named 'Unit Four' simply on account of their having four band members. When two further musicians joined the group (Rod Garwood and Hugh Halliday), they augmented the name accordingly. They were later joined by the multi-talented Nigel Snook, becoming Unit Four Plus Two in Late 1963.

As Unit 4 + 2, the sextet issued their debut single, on Decca Records. "Green Fields" reached a modest number 48 in the UK in 1964. Their second single release "Sorrow and Pain" fared even worse.

[edit] Success

Unit 4 + 2's song "Concrete and Clay" became a big hit the following year, reportedly thanks to exposure on the pirate radio stations of the day, most notably Wonderful Radio London. The radio station's music director, Tony Windsor, later recalled in an interview that he had initially rejected the song for the station's playlist, but was persuaded to change his mind by DJ Kenny Everett. The disc was recorded using the skills of two guest musicians, Russ Ballard and Bob Henrit (two of Parker's former bandmates from their Roulettes days), who debuted much earlier together at venues such as Cheshunt Boys' Club together with Buster Meikle as members of The Daybreakers. As well as its chart topping exploits in the UK, "Concrete and Clay" was a worldwide hit, and the group suddenly found themselves on radio playlists across the globe. In America, a competing cover version by Eddie Rambeau (produced by Bob Crewe) split sales, with Rambeau reaching #35 on the Billboard charts and Unit 4 + 2 placing at #28. Cash Box charted the two versions together, and they reached a combined #12.

Decca released a hastily put together album, also entitled Concrete and Clay, to capitalise on the success, but it was not as notable in style or content as the single. Nevertheless, the next single release "You've Never been in Love like This Before" reached the Top Twenty in Britain, and #95 on the Billboard chart in the U.S. The song returned to the Top Twenty of the UK Singles Chart in 1976, courtesy of Randy Edelman's cover version. More recently, the original song appeared in the film, Rushmore (1998).

[edit] Downhill

After the release of three less successful singles, the band underwent several personnel changes with the 1967 shake up, and experienced a change of record label to Fontana Records, but neither was able to revive the group's fortunes.

By 1968, with Ballard and Henrit on board as fulltime members, their sound was toughened up, but a stab at Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" was comprehensively outsold by The Byrds own cover version. They moved into psychedelic mode with their final single offering "3.30" with lavish orchestration and harpsichords aplenty. It failed to chart, and with another album Unit 4 + 2 quickly following suit, the group disbanded in 1969.

[edit] Band member details

  • Brian Parker (born 1940, in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire): vocals, guitar; later taught guitar playing in his local area, but died whilst playing tennis in 2000. Co-writer of "Concrete and Clay".
  • Tommy Moeller (born Thomas Moeller, 23 February 1945, in Liverpool): lead vocalist, guitar, piano; was the brother of Billy Moeller, who became one hit wonder Whistling Jack Smith, and took "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman" to number five in 1967. Tommy Moeller was the other co-writer of "Concrete and Clay".
  • 'Buster' Meikle (born David Ian Meikle, 1 March 1942, in Goff's Oak, Hertfordshire): vocals, guitar; former lead singer of Buster Meikle & The Day Breakers, (That included Russ Ballard, Roy Ballard, Russ's older brother on keyboards and Bob Henrit) and a founding member of Unit 4 + 2. Left in 1967 and had chart success overseas as half of Buster & Bill.
  • Peter Moules (born Peter Charles Moules, 14 October 1944, in Barnet, Hertfordshire): original member and bass vocalist.
  • Howard 'Lem' Lubin (born 20 January 1944, in Hampton Court, Middlesex): replaced Parker (above) in the group's early days.
  • Rod 'Humble' Garwood (born Rodney John Garwood, 27 March 1944, in Diss, Norfolk): bass guitar; who left in 1967.
  • Hugh Halliday (born 12 December 1944): drums; who also left in 1967. Replaced by Allan Price who went on to join Jade Warrior.
  • Nigel Snook (born Nigel Ian Norman Snook, 26 February 1944 in Poole, Dorset Died 05 November 2007): later addition to the group.
  • Russ Ballard, who came from Waltham Cross, joined in 1967 from Adam Faith's one-time backing ensemble, the Roulettes. He later joined Argent and became a successful songwriter.
  • Bob Henrit, joined in 1967, also from the Roulettes. Eventually joined both Argent, and later still The Kinks.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

  • "Green Fields" - February 1964 - UK #48 RR
  • "Sorrow and Pain" - August 1964 Did Not Chart
  • "Concrete and Clay" - February 1965 - UK #1 RR, #2 NME
  • "You've Never Been In Love Like This Before" - May 1965 - UK #14 RR, #17 NME
  • "Hark" - September 1965 - UK #30 NME
  • "You've Got To Be Cruel To Be Kind" - December 1965 - UK #23 NME
  • "Baby Never Say Goodbye" - March 1966 - UK #49 RR, #28 NME
  • "I Was Only Playing Games" - January 1967 Did Not Chart
  • "Too Fast, Too Slow" - 1967 Did Not Chart
  • "Butterfly" - 1967 Did Not Chart
  • "Loving Takes A Little Understanding" - 1967 (released as single by "The Unit") Did Not Chart
  • "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" - March 1968 Did Not Chart
  • "3.30" - October 1969 Did Not Chart

(Chart positions from Record Retailer and New Musical Express)

[edit] Albums

  • Concrete and Clay - 1965
  • Unit 4 + 2 - 1969


[edit] References

[edit] External links

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