A1 - Born To Be Special
B1 - 80's Girl
B2 - Give Generously
Julie Harding (Voc)
Mick Fanning (Lead Guitar)
Bob Timms (Rhythm Guitar) Not Credited as he left before the record was released
Ian McKenzie (Drums)
Alan Baker (Bass)
The Band formed as a trio [Alan, Julie & Mick] in Dec 1978. Based in the Basildon/Southend area, they added Bob Timms (Rhythm Guitar) and Julie's older brother Bob Harding on Drums a few months later. By Sept '79 they had won 2 local talent contests & gained Tony Coulton as a manager, this then led to them being signed to Carrere in March 1980 [for a 3 single deal]
Their 1st 45 [Sin City] was unfortunatly banned by the BBC [due to the lyrical content - which not being written by them must have rankled]
By the time of recording their 2nd 45 Ian had replaced Bob H on the drum stool & Bob T was on his way out.
As with the 1st 45 Carrere once again forced them to record someone elses [Jeff Chegwin] words for the A-side.
I'm not sure how the story ended but I guess by the end of 1981 the band was no more.
Alan explained to Malcolm Dome in Record Mirror [01-11-80] how their name came about:
It's a purely fictitious character and came about when I was in London with a few friends. We'd had a bit to drink' someone mentioned that name in conversation and it stuck in my mind.Later on we thought "hey Eric Blake, that sounds good for a rock band". Previously, we'd tried all sorts of weird names, such as Passing Wind and none sounded as instant as Eric Blake."
Discography
7" - Sin City/Zero 6 - Carrere [CAR 141] 13 Jun 1980
7" - Born To Be Special//80's Girl/Give Generously - Carrere [CAR 179] 24 Apr 1981
7'' - Born To Be Special//80's Girl - Carrere [CAR 2070] German Pressing 24 Apr 1981
Useless info 1 - If the band were asked to sign their Sin City 45 they would always sign The Zero 6 side.
Useless Info 2 - Zero 6 was a local nightcub in Southend-on-Sea
Sounds, Scans & More
