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| Mind the
Houses by Dancer comes from the Tales of the Riverbank album which remained
unreleased as the band were already on the verge of breaking up when it
was recorded. Mind the Houses is performed by Dancer on Vaguely Sunny - Isle of Wight Rock anthology CD, price £10 p&p |
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Dancer
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An
extract from Isle of Wight Rock - a music anthology:
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In my mind three innovators came from Island rock, Anthony Minghella, Tony Walton and Paul Athey. I first came across Tony Minghella in a little band from school. That song of his ‘You, Me and The Whip’, he was writing about sexual perversions, flying in the face of adversity. The Waltons were one of the most innovative bands the Isle of Wight ever had. - Mike Jolliffe |
| All three of Mike Jolliffe’s named innovators were involved in Dancer. Anthony Minghella and Paul Athey in the band and Tony Walton as roadie. Well known local bouncer cum impresario Wilf Pine took a fancy to Dancer’s Tales of the Riverbank a lengthy tour-de-force that was built around Anthony Minghella’s You, Me and the Whip opus. |
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Wilf Pine signed Dancer to Worldwide Management when we were residents at Julisa’s Ventnor. They also looked after Black Sabbath, Yes, The Groundhogs and Gentle Giant. Dancer were funded with American money and when we got off the boat we were taken up to the studios at Barnes in a white Rolls-Royce. Gentle Giant were brought in to assist on the album but when Wilf Pine saw the standard of musicianship in the band he exclaimed ‘******** hell! We don’t need them! - Mike Jolliffe |
| The album Dancer recorded at Olympia Studios in Barnes was produced by Groundhogs guitarist Tony McPhee. The band were in fear of McPhee who “imposed strict discipline” during the recording sessions. |
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It took twenty-two hours to record Tales of the Riverbank. Wilf Pine went mad. The track was recorded in a number of sections. The guy cutting the tape was spot on, it’s probably a skill that’s gone now. The LP was recorded over a period of a month, we went up three or four times. Tony McPhee had his arm in plaster, he still did the solo at the end of the track. - Mick Cuffe Dancer’s bassist |
| The album was never released. Tapes have since surfaced which confirm this is one album that deserves a CD release. |
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Tony Minghella’s ‘You, Me and the Whip’ theme is there with the words re-written, you can hear his keyboard work. Tony McPhee does the end guitar solo, we thought we would let him a little play. It’s the change of mood and colours that you get on a riverbank, we used to talk it through. We found an old bit of Jimi Hendrix tape on the studio floor and put it on backwards. - Mike Jolliffe explaining Dancer’s Tales of the Riverbank |
| Also on the intended album is a fifteen minute version of the Soft Machine’s ‘Why Am I So Short?’ which features Tony McPhee on moog synthesiser and Anthony Minghella on mellotron. ‘Mac’s Cafe’ was the intended single from the album. |
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It would have been better to have left the track ‘America Woods’ all acoustic. It was one of the tracks that didn’t have much time spent on it. - Mick Cuffe Dancer’s bassist |
| With Dancer falling apart there was no point in releasing the album which judging from the tapes we have heard should be laid before those discerning collectors. |
| (so we made a start five years after the book came out): |
| Mind the
Houses by Dancer comes from the Tales of the Riverbank album which remained
unreleased as the band were already on the verge of breaking up when it
was recorded. Mind the Houses is performed by Dancer on Vaguely Sunny - Isle of Wight Rock anthology CD, price £10 p&p |
