Jigsaw is a long standing British
pop
music group, fronted by the singer-songwriter duo of
Clive Scott and Des Dyer. In Australia the group was called "British
Jigsaw" due to the existence of a local band of the same name.
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Contents
- 1 Overview
- 2 The
early days
- 3 Change
in musical direction and commercial success
- 4 Break-up
- 5 Selected
discography
- 6 Most
bizarre connection to Jigsaw
- 7 References
- 8 External
Links
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Overview
Originally a six piece band, formed in Coventry by Tony
Campbell in 1966, they went on to score a number of hit singles
around the world.
They also released thirteen albums. The group was partly influenced by
fellow British musicians
The
Beatles, at times sounding Beatle-like, especially their ballads, which
show leanings towards Paul McCartney's musical
and vocal arrangements.
The early days
The original line-up consisted of Dave "Biffo" Beech (vocals and drums), Clive
Scott (keyboards and vocals), Barrie
Bernard (bass
guitar), Tony Campbell (guitar), Tony Britnell (saxophone)
and Kevin "Beppy" Mahon (saxophone). Biffo left in the first year, and
was replaced by Des Dyer drums), who took over lead vocals.
Scott was previously in "Scott and The Antarctics", Dyer had
played in both "The Surfsiders" and "Clockwork Shoppe", Campbell, Mahon
& Beech had worked together previously in "The Mighty
Avengers", Bernard had been a member of "Pinkerton's Assorted
Colours", whilst Britnel had worked with "The
Fortunes".
Change in musical direction and
commercial success
In their early days Jigsaw were a wild rock band who had a
high energy live show (drum kits were set on fire, explosions were set
off as an effect, etc), however, as the 1970s began to roll around, they began writing
and recording more mainstream pop.
The group gives credit to their producer, Chas Peate, for
inspiration to get songs completed. As Jigsaw toured a lot, Scott and
Dyer would only write snippets of songs separately in their spare time,
but, as Dyer said in an interview in the 1990s, “it was Peate who would say ‘we’re
recording an album soon, you’ll need 10 songs by then’ ”. The two would
then combine their work together for the planned recording sessions.
As songwriters the duo had a hit song with “Who Do You Think
You Are?”, which was covered by the UK band 'Candlewick Green' in 1974.
The song was also on Jigsaw's own album “I’ve Seen The Film, I’ve Read
The Book” and the song was also further covered by Bo Donaldson. This
version made the US charts. The band's own single from the album
“You’re Not The Only Girl” was not a chart success and they were soon
dropped by their current recording label, BASF.
Wanting to carry on, the group continued to make music and
signed a new deal with independent UK label “Splash”, which was founded
by Chas Peate himself. Their first single for their new label, entitled
“Sky High”, was recorded for the film The Man From Hong Kong,
a 1975 martial-arts action movie starring George
Lazenby. Splash pressed a couple of hundred promotional copies and
reaction to the song was good, especially from Radio Luxembourg which
began playing the song with high rotation during its nightly English
pop music broadcasts to the UK. Sky High
subsequently made the UK Top 10 in November 1975. Chelsea Records
released it in the USA (where Splash had no pressing plants) and it was
also a hit there, going to #3. It charted all over the world and was #1
in Japan.
Their album also entitled “Sky High” sold very well too,
especially in Japan, and the next single “Love Fire” was another hit,
although not in the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, 'Love Fire' was
followed by two new albums, one for the British market called “Pieces
of Magic” and another for the American market, the eponymous “Jigsaw”.
In 1977, the band recorded their album “Journey Into Space” in
Los Angeles. Years later, Clive Scott revealed in an interview that the
record label paid for the band to fly out to make the album, paid for
their accommodation, and gave them cash advances (or, as Scott called
it, “pocket
money”) to live off for three months while making the record. However,
it was never released, much to the frustration of the group.
Jigsaw returned to Britain and scored another hit with the
single “If I Have To Go Away”, after which they recorded ten original
songs for the motion picture “Home Before Midnight”.
Break-up
A little-known fact is that Bernard left the band in 1978 and
was replaced by Jon Fox. Campbell & Fox left the band in 1979
and were replaced by Tim Stone and Pete Dennis. This new group lineup
recorded one album for Elektra. However, the group
disbanded in 1981, at which time the record was still in
pre-production. The album, a disco influenced set (that was never
released in the United Kingdom) was issued in the United
States the following year. A final single under the Jigsaw name was
released by Splash in early 1983 called 'Love Isn't At Home'.
Since the group split, Scott and Dyer have continued to be
successful songwriters, having their work recorded by Nicki
French, Bad Boys Inc., Boyzone,
John Otis
and many others. After leaving his music career behind when he quit
Jigsaw in 1979, Tony Campbell went back to his first occupation,
ophthalmic engineering. Barrie Bernard continued to work in the
entertainment business, running night clubs as is also an active magician.
The group have reformed several times since they split for revivals,
playing concerts and though no new studio albums have been issued,
eight newly recorded songs were included on a 1995 compilation CD,
entitled “The Best Of Jigsaw”, just one of the collections of their
music released.
Despite the longevity they had, many consider the group to be
highly underrated and believe they made some of the finest music of
their era. Much has also been made about their lack of success in the
UK charts, where only two of their singles made the Top 40. It has been
suggested this was because BBC Radio 1, the most popular station in
the UK at the time, gave little or no airplay to their singles after
"Sky High" in 1975. However, the group lasted a long time and were big
stars in Japan, as well as having four Billboard
Hot 100 hit singles in the USA. Their music is also still in print on compact
disc, enjoying healthy sales. The sleeve notes to their 1998 Greatest
Hits collection, “The Very Best Of Jigsaw” stated “A look at Jigsaw’s
songs reveals the innovative work of its creators: the advanced song
structure, the clever use of classical techniques like counterpoint and
a novel approach to using sound effects – leaving the listener with a
sadly-overlooked-but-very-impressive catalogue of melodic pop songs”.
Selected discography
- "I Need Your Love" (1968, single)
- "Letherslade Farm" (1970, Album)
- "Keeping My Head Above Water" (1971, single)
- "I've Seen The Film, I've Read The Book" (1974, single)
- I've Seen The Film, I've Read The Book
(1974, album)
- Sky High (1975, album)
Track listing on the above album differs from country
to country
- "Sky High" (1975, single)
- "Love Fire" (1976, single)
- "Cry 'Til The Tears Run Dry" (1976, single)
- "If I Have To Go Away" (1977, single)
- "You Bring Out The Best In Me" (1980, single)
- "Prizefighter" (1980, single)
- "Love Isn't At Home" (1983, single)
Most bizarre connection to Jigsaw
It is claimed in the book "The Music of Time" by conspiracy author, Preston
B. Nichols that Jigsaw's song "Sky High" was recorded in the future,
and beamed from that vantage point back to the present.
References
-
Nichols, Preston. The Music of Time. Sky Books.
Retrieved on 2007-04-08.
External Links
