70's Pick of the Week
‘Driver’s Seat” by Sniff N’ the Tears (1978)
The late seventies was a time of transition. We were moving from disco and punk to new wave and the era was ending for all the guitar bands – well at least for a while till the hair bands got going.
Like Dire Straits, this British band was in this strange ‘never-land’ of music. This is for sure a very well crafted pop song but it defies classification. It is certainly an odd recipe that makes this song what it is. There seem to be elements of blues/country, electronic of new wave, and lyrics and cadence give it almost a folk-like feel. Odd as the recipe may be, it cooks up well, clearly reflecting the diversity of musicians that were assembled to arrange and record it. . The bonus was, you could dance to it, and didn’t have to wear a white suit and snaggle- tooth.
The album itself is worth a listen. Songs, “New Lines on Love” and “The Thrill of it All” are both decent pop tunes.
Paul Roberts, who was lead singer, was also the artist who painted the album cover for their first album, ‘Fickle Heart’, which ranks up there with some of the best record album covers made.
Although they went on to make several more albums, no more hits were ever spawned after ‘Fickle’.
There are many bands with a flash of brilliance but like fireworks over the lake they are gone........but not the recordings they leave behind thankfully!
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