The Sad Story Page

The Sad Story Concludes...

"The Original Mr Mick" - the recent CD version of the Mr Mick story as the band wished it to be heard is available from the merch page.

To make the recording of "Mr Mick" more "commercially accessible", Rocket Records insisted on changes. Out went large chunks of the linking dialogue and the incidental music and in came "Hold Me Tight" to open the album ... a fine track but absolutely nothing to do with the concept of Mr Mick. As Andy later said,

"The whole thing was to open with Alan Freeman knocking on the door and "Breakfast With Werner Von Braun "... that's why it's called breakfast for God's sake ... what other reason? But Rocket forced us to put "Hold Me Tight" on Mr Mick at the beginning.

Mutter and Steve Augarde spent a dispiriting day at AIR Studios scribbling new pieces of dialogue on the backs of envelopes and hurriedly recording them in order to try and give some kind of continuity to their "hijacked" conception of "Mr Mick". The result? Sounds called it, "One of the most bastardised albums to hit the market in some while," NME referred to it as "a compromise," and commented that it was "a shame that the concept of "Mr Mick" has been so disadvantageously tampered with". Mutter in particular was bitterly disappointed and Andy believes that record company interference "rendered the story completely meaningless and precipitated the band's final demise,"

However, despite the horrendous tampering by Rocket, critics still recognised quality and depth in the music. NME said, "Musically the album stands up very well with strong melodies and an excellent production," whilst Sounds claimed, "Davis' melodies and Mutter's character-acting have never been heard in more attractive combination," and called the album "beautiful," and "deeply satisfying," with "a sound full of wit and understanding." The press adverts for Mr Mick employed a quote by Phil Sutcliffe: "It isn't 10CC or Pilot that have the nearest to the sound and spirit of The Beatles, it's they there turnip-heaving Stackridges," High praise indeed, but praise which still reminded readers of the band's "yokel" image at a time when they wanted to be taken a little more seriously.

In addressing the problems of old age, Stackridge had taken a difficult and unusual theme for a youth-oriented rock culture, and managed to empathise with it, releasing an album of quality and distinction which contained some outstanding music, in particular "Fish In A Glass" the stunning and compelling finale.

(Catch "Fish In A Glass" LIVE with superlative fiddle from Mike, Ruth and Nina on the CD of Stackridge Live at Cropredy 2000: "Pick Of The Crop". )

But "finale" it was, for in June 1976 the press reported that the band had "probably split up," after a Rocket Records spokesman announced "the group is in abeyance. They are waiting to see what happens to their new album which is about to be released in the States on Sire." The band went to America to discuss their future with Seymour Stein of Sire Records, who had expressed an interest in releasing a live "uncut version" of "Mr Mick" (which was ironic considering Sire Records had been responsible for chopping and changing previous Stackridge releases in the USA!) but returned to find that their management office had disappeared. It was the final straw and the band disintegrated.

MCA recognised the party was over and released a 14 track compilation entitled "Do The Stanley" in late 1976 which brought together 6 single A-sides, 4 B-sides, one track from each of the first 3 albums and one previously unreleased track, "Let There Be Lids", a fiddle extravaganza and a great concert favourite. (The 6 "rare" tracks can be found on the CD releases of "Friendliness" and "Man In the Bowler Hat")

In the word of the bard, "the rest is silence ..." but of course it isn't, for the release of the all-new, all-singing, all-dancing "Something For The Weekend" in 1999 heralded the beginning of a fresh chapter in the band's history. Long may it continue. Keep on clucking!