Mick Houghton
Poacher turned gamekeeper, Mick Houghton was a music writer during the 70s (for Let It Rock, Zigzag, Circus, Sounds and Time Out, among others) but in 1980 set up his own independent PR company with a remarkable roster that included the Ramones, Talking Heads, The Undertones, Echo & The Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes. He came to specialise in so called ‘difficult’ artists (by far the most press worthy) : The Jesus & Mary Chain, Sonic Youth, Spiritualized, Mercury Rev, Julian Cope, Elastica and The KLF. These days he is particularly proud to be looking after his boyhood, folk music heroes: Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Richard Thompson and Shirley Collins. Mick Houghton’s book about his all time favourite record label, Elektra Records and its founder Jac Holzman, Becoming Elektra, was published last October. In recent years he has also contributed to Mojo and Uncut magazines. He considers that a misspent youth due to an unhealthy obsession with pop music saved him from the real world and ever having to get a proper job for over forty years.
He is invariably described as a veteran writer and a respected publicist although, in the words of Noah Cross in Chinatown: “Even politicians, ugly buildings and whores all get respectable if they last long enough.”
I bought my first record just after my eighth birthday. The year was 1958.
It’s easy to lie about the first record you bought but I’m now man enough to admit that mine was the gimmicky, emasculated, doo wap flavoured ‘Lollipop’ by The Mudlarks.The song was recently used in a TV ad for Dell Computers but, in the Summer of 1958, it was a big hit for Jeff, Fred and Mary Mudd though they never came close again. At the time, my parents’ collection of 78s was easily my favourite toy. Train sets, Dinkies and Airfix kits were not for me. It was a motley collection, though, including records by Frankie Vaughan, Lita Rosa, Guy Mitchell, Winifred Atwell, Mantovani, Teresa Brewer, Dickie Valentine, Ronnie Hilton, David Whitfield, Frankie Laine, and Johnny Ray – but I loved the feel of them, I loved the labels and I loved stacking the deck of the family Radiogram purchased on the never never, like the massive black and white television set which dominated the opposite corner of the front room.
45s were just beginning to replace the old, breakable 78s that snapped far too easily when you knelt on them. Michael Holliday’s ‘The Story Of My Life’ was the first 45 we had at home and the era of the LP was just being ushered in, too. Our first LP was the monumental Rock Around The Clock by Bill Haley and his Comets. I remember my Dad bringing it home one day, a real wow moment for me. It was on Brunswick and had an eyecatching, colourful, graphic cover, dominated by the word ROCK; the centrepiece ‘O’ was a beaming clock face, the other letters made up from a shoe and sock and a set square ruler. I loved the percussive rhythm of the music, but mostly I I loved the titles and the words of songs like ‘Razzle Dazzle’, ‘Shake Rattle And Roll’, ‘Thirteen Women (And Only One Man In Town)’ and ‘Rock-A-Beatin’ Boogie’. They were meaningless to an eight year old but sure beat the operatic, schmaltz of David Whitfield’s ‘When You Lose The One You Love’.
I would never have said so at the time but I was lucky to have two elder sisters, four and eight years older than me and Beryl, only 16, was already going steady. Her boyfriend was a bit of a Teddy Boy as far as my Mum was concerned. He mumbled like Brando, his hair was Brylcreamed back and he wore drainpipe tight trousers, but for me, he was responsible for bringing real rock ‘n’ roll into the house for the first time. My sister borrowed his classic Elvis 10 inch LPs like Rock ‘N’ Roll and the Lovin’ You soundtrack plus 45s by Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, and the Everly Brothers. The 45 that still stands out was Elvis’ ‘Lawdy Miss Claudy’, coupled with ‘I’m Left You’re Right She’s Gone’. The A-side was impenetrably raw to my young ears, the B-side simply had the best and cleverest title ever.
My other refuge from being forced outdoors to play was radio. At weekends, the old BBC Light Programme served up a pretty good menu of rock ’n’ roll and pop by the end of the 50s. On Sunday you had the Keith Fordyce hosted Easy Beat, followed by Two Way Family Favourites and on Saturday, Brian Matthews’ long running Saturday Club was followed by Jack Jackson’s brilliant Record Roundabout. Jackson was a former bandleader whose unique presentation mixed the day’s hits with surreal and brilliantly edited comedy clips – The Goons, Tony Hancock , Beyond Our Ken (later Round The Horne) , The Glum Family, Bob Newhart and Al Read. It was a technique that anticipated and influenced Kenny Everett’s shows a decade later.
Between the radio and the influence of my sisters and their boyfriends, my own taste gradually improved after its shaky start with The Mudlarks. My middle sister, Sheila, was a trad jazz fan, drawn to it by the commercially successful triumvirate of Kenny Ball, Chris Barber and Acker Bilk but interspersed with cooler stuff by Humphrey Littleton, Ken Colyer and Terry Lightfoot. Otherwise, the family collection was typical of the day, stretching to include plenty of Cliff Richard and Shadows’ singles, No.1’s from Eden Kane, Craig Douglas and John Leyton, pianist and housewives’ favourite Russ Conway (he of the missing fingertip), and unashamed novelty hits by Antony Newley, Charlie Drake, Benny Hill and the post skiffle Lonnie Donegan’s ‘My Old Man’s A Dustman’.
Piecing together my own Top Twenty of the first records I bought myself, I realise the debt I owe to my sister Beryl’s future husband Lee, for introducing me to Elvis, Buddy Holly and the Everlys. Looking at the list now, there‘s the odd lapse into novelty pop (Adam Faith), a few slushy teen ballads (Paul Anka, Bobby Darin, Johnny Tillotson) and a healthy penchant for falsettos (Roy Orbison, Jimmy Jones, Del Shannon). What surprises me, though, is how many of these would still demand consideration for my all time top twenty singles: ‘Cathy’s Clown’, ‘Halfway To Paradise’, ‘Shakin’ All Over’, ‘Runaway’ and post-Army Elvis’ finest moment, ‘(Marie’s The Name) His Latest Flame/Little Sister’.
My Top Twenty (in chronological order of purchase, of course)
The Mudlarks: Lollipop, 1958
Adam Faith: What Do You Want, 1959
Bobby Darin: Dream Lover, 1959
Paul Anka: Put Your Head On My Shoulder, 1959
The Buddy Holly Story EP, 1959
The Everly Brothers: Cathy’s Clown, 1960
Eddie Cochran: Three Steps To Heaven, 1960
Johnny Kidd: Shakin’ All Over, 1960
Jimmy Jones: Good Timing, 1960
Elvis Presley: It’s Now Or Never/Mess Of Blues, 1960
Roy Orbison: Only The Lonely, 1960
Shadows: Apache, 1960
Johnny Tillotson: Poetry In Motion, 1960
Elvis Presley: Are You Lonesome Tonight, 1961
The Everly Brothers: Walk Right Back, 1961
Del Shannon: Runaway, 1961
Rick Nelson: Travellin’ Man, 1961
Billy Fury: Halfway to Paradise, 1961
Temperance Seven: Pasadena, 1961
Elvis Presley: (Marie’s The Name) His Latest Flame/Little Sister, 1961
