Fancy started off as a studio concoction that came together when British music scene mover and shaker
Mike Hurst decided it would be a good idea to update
the Troggs' "Wild Thing" for the more salacious mid-'70s. After roping in a crew that included keyboardist
Alan Hawkshaw and guitarist
Ray Fenwick, he signed up an adult model named Helen Caunt to provide vocals. The result was a glittery slab of disco glam that became a huge hit in America and inspired the group to become a real band. They hired a new vocalist named Annie Kavanaugh and cranked out two albums that barely sounded like their initial single. Instead, the group tackled boogie rock, Motown, hard rock, and barroom blues, and only tried to follow up "Wild Thing" once with the much better "Touch Me." Lemon's
The Complete Recordings compiles the two albums (1974's
Wild Thing and 1975's
Something to Remember) along with non-LP singles and a short, cleanly recorded live set played at Ronnie Scott's in London during the first half of 1975. The collection certainly shows that the band were more than a one-hit wonder and actually a pretty decent rock & roll band distinguished by Kavanaugh's impressive vocals and the group's straightforward approach that allowed them to sound as convincing on a cover of
Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made to Love Him" as they do on the stripped-down glam of "Touch Me." Their first album is a little hit-or-miss; the band doesn't quite lock into an identity as they wander from pub rockers ("Move On") to slinky acoustic ballads ("I Don't Need Your Love"), dive headfirst into some rumbling disco funk ("Feel Good"), and even take a run at
Peggy Lee's "I'm a Woman" with decidedly mixed results.
Something to Remember is a much more cohesive album, made after the band had coalesced more as a unit much less liable to go off the rails. The cover of "I Was Made to Love Him" is gripping rock-funk that slows the song down, adds slashing strings, and gives Kavanaugh a chance to make the song her own. It's the highlight, but the tough rocker "She's Riding the Rock Machine," the dramatic ballad "Stop," and the rollicking and self-referential "The Tour Song" are the work of a band with some really good ideas and the skills to bring them off. The band was never going to be respected, or even remembered fondly, thanks to the throwaway nature of "Wild Thing," but
Complete Recordings might convince anyone willing to give them a chance that there's something more going on. Not always something great, but something consistently interesting, occasionally quite good, and definitely worth checking out for fans of obscure bands of the '70s. ~ Tim Sendra