Inside Tracks #37: "Do Anything You Wanna Do," Eddie & The Hot Rods, w/Covers by Huw Gower, Manfred Mann, Flashcubes, Michael Monroe & More
Apparently, punk didn't want them or the song. Fine; marketed in the punk arena, is "Do Anything You Wanna Do" masquerading as one of the best power pop songs, after all? Contradictions abound!
This “Inside Tracks” was inspired by the recent article by
of The Song’s the Thing. Nic was an assistant audio engineer at London’s iconic Trident Studios in the early ‘80s. He began in January 1981 at age 18. It’s fair to say he was smack-dab in the middle of all that was happening, UK/’80s/pop music and trends.He mentioned having seen The Rods at the equally iconic The Marquee, which he claimed “was just heaving chaos.” I take that two ways, and either would be accurate….as the two-word adjective, “heaving-chaos,” as well as a noun preceded by a verb; from what I remember reading about The Marquee (and its heavily punk-weighted bookings), it fairly heaved chaos nightly!
Nic’s eye-popping article from the belly of that Soho-centered recording beast:
Punk’s UK Rumblings
The 1976 rush of UK-based punk bands included Eddie & The Hot Rods. At least, that’s what I thought!
RateYourMusic.com has a chronological list of the UK releases of punk singles, EPs, and albums starting on October 22, 1976, which was the release date of the debut single by The Damned, “New Rose.”
But, the list doesn’t mention Teenage Depression, the Rods’ first album, which was released on November 22, 1976, a full month following The Damned’s single. Apparently, that source doesn’t place the Rods’ debut album into the punk genre. Fine. As long as we know where we stand.
But, as is so often the case when genre-slotting is attempted, there may be disagreement!
Three more punk singles and an EP (by various bands) were released (according to the RateYourMusic list), through January 1977, before UK punk’s very first LP was released, altering the recording- and the new genre-landscape forever: Damned Damned Damned by The Damned, worldwide on Stiff Records, February 18, 1977. Discounting a 1989 reissue on Frontier Records, Damned Damned Damned was not originally released by Stiff in the States in ‘77.
Following the release of Damned Damned Damned, all bets were off, and the new wave of punk was unrelenting, with records of all sizes coming out by these solidly punk entries: Eater, The Clash, Elvis Costello, Sex Pistols, Stranglers, The Adverts, et al.
The single, “Do Anything You Wanna Do,” was dropped in late July 1977, some six months before their sophomore Life on the Line album (with the song) was released by Island Records in December ‘77. The single reached #9 on the UK Singles Chart in 1977, and was voted the 9th best single of the year in the End of Year Critics Poll in the New Musical Express (NME) UK tabloid.
The only other “punk” artist active at the time who came artistically close to The Rods was the 3-piece Jam.
But, even then, Paul Weller and company was fully-acknowledged (by fans and the press) as having the mod, pop-leaning roots of The Who, Kinks (they even covered their ‘67 “David Watts”), and other ‘60s legacy bands, proudly exchanging the era’s safety pins and ripped shirts for speedy Vespas and sharp suits:
Mark Deming of Allmusic.com doubles down on The Rods’ presence in the pure punk arena: “Arriving during the waning days of pub rock, Eddie & the Hot Rods helped usher in punk rock in the UK. Working from the same bluesy, Stonesy three-chord foundation as contemporaries like Dr. Feelgood, the Hot Rods were faster, tougher, wilder, and louder than any other pub rock band.”
Curiously, though, the above RateYourMusic punk-release list has no mention, whatsoever, of The Rods being part of the 1976-77 pile o’ punk vinyl! Maybe the rear-view mirror of punk history has erased The Rods from punk’s history. Appropriately so, from what I saw and heard, even especially at that time!
Now that we can apparently eliminate The Rods from the punk mosh pit, let’s focus on them from the properly-adjusted rear-view mirror!
Punk’s Bay City Rollers Rods?
“Do Anything You Wanna Do” was written by the band’s guitarist, Graeme Douglas (formerly of the very pop-leaning Kursaal Flyers, whose records were never released in the U.S.), composed the music, and their manager, Ed Hollis (lyrics), who just happens to be the brother of Talk Talk’s Mark Hollis. Hollis produced with the band arranging. Six-time Grammy winner, Steve Lillywhite, was the engineer.
Rollicking instead of angry; singing instead of shouting; a purposeful jangling instead of punk’s noted angry guitar roar. The damn thing even has hand-claps! This, easily, was far closer to Scotland’s tartan Rollers than the brothel-stomper-wearin’ gobbin’ yobs of Soho’s Vortex:
General style of song and playing (not necessarily anything specific like melody, etc): Feel free to compare (from April 1976, 15 months before “Do Anything…”):
In 1977, I could easily hear The Rollers covering “Do Anything You Wanna Do,” just as easily (and eagerly) as I could hear the Rods doing Tim Moore’s “Rock and Roll Love Letter”! One of the more universally esteemed power pop bands, The Records, even covered “Rock and Roll Love Letter” in 1979:
The Rods “live” on UK’s Top of the Pops in ‘77. Quite obviously synching to track, we get both the recording studio sound plus how they perform on stage:
The evidence is mounting: The Rods’ bassist, Paul Gray (who left the band to join The Damned in 1980), drops some behind-the-scenes of the creation and recording of the song, as well as playing the song whilst playing bass along with!👇Keen-eyed viewers will note that Paul prefers playing the very power-pop-forward blond Rick bass:
The Rods, live at Epic Studios, 2013, playing “Do Anything You Wanna Do” as a proper revved-up raver. Barrie Masters singing; he’d pass away six years later:
Huw Gower, 1984, the first cover
As the lead guitarist on The Records’ power pop pinnacle, “Starry Eyes,” I had high hopes for Gower’s “Do Anything…” as being the urgent, jangly classic only hinted at by The Rods. It’s good, but, it has subdued backing vocals, no handclaps, but fine guitar work throughout. A+ on the well-placed piano glissandos (and overall playing) by fellow David Johansen bandmember, Eric Doney! Huw produced, and handled the lead vocals.
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, June 1986
If you recall the Earth Band’s cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Blinded By the Light” (#1 Gold Record in the U.S. in 1976, #6 UK), you’ll recognize similar stylistic elements here a full decade later. What’s new and creative are A) a kiddie-choir chorus, and a bit of a reggae beat breakdown in parts (while a slower approach overall)! More lip-synching from a controlled studio setting (with fake applause in and out from a studio devoid of an audience!), but we get to hear the true studio production with the benefit of their stage look:
Did Everything They Wanted to Do (Covers by Genre Over the Decades)
Punk covers
Section 5, 1990:
The Oppressed, 1998:
Michael Monroe (former Hanoi Rocks lead singer), 2013 radio appearance (below). In his original 2003 studio recording, his attack is a little more punk/hard rock. In this August 2021 live performance (click here), the arrangement’s a little more smoothed-over.
The Business, 2003: The best of both worlds? With Steve Kent’s formidable guitar wall gloriously loud and more jangly than we might expect (or deserve), The Business (formed in 1979 in South London), nevertheless, has a punky vocal delivery by Micky Fitz, whose obligatory snarl is palpable. Oh, and there’s hand claps! We can maybe put a check in the power pop column. Gee, I hope they don’t mind!
Dee Cracks from Austria, in a show from 2019.👇They originally recorded it in 2018.
Power Pop Covers (includes the 1984 Huw Gower cover featured earlier)
The Flashcubes, 2003: Veteran, legit power poppers, they had a landmark indie single, “Christi Girl” in 1978 (back of pic sleeve show above; a single I used to own). Translation? They know power pop. Find’em on Facebook here.
Great great great stuff. I’m not a fan of punk but you’re so right this tracks cross-overs and even defies the norm of what would traditionally be expected in the genre. I quite liked the track, actually. Decent vocals, a catchy melody, a sense of rhythm my ears find more palatable than the typical punk repertoire (no disrespect to the genre, it’s just not my cup of tea, but I’ve always valued its rightful place in society more so than the music itself).
Great stuff! I find it fascinating that there isn’t more talk of just how important pub rock was for the development of both punk and power pop. There was a lot going on musically in mid-70s Britain, lots of transformation, and it seems like pub rock laid the groundwork for a lot of what followed to some degree (glam too). And, from what I can tell, there was a brief moment when punk and power pop were like twins.