Hard Ride – Rabbitt

Hard Ride – Rabbitt

This one’s for those guitar-heads out there who love nothing better than an electric guitar having a good old work out. I have no doubt that Trevor Rabin would make most lists of Greatest South African guitarists. One only needs to listen to the mastery on ‘Hard Ride’ to realise this. The song is guitar heavy and shows off his talents with an axe.

If one wishes to make international comparisons (although hardly necessary with Rabin as he did go on to international success as a member of Yes and as a composer of Hollywood film scores), one could liken him to Mike Oldfield as not only was he extremely good with a guitar, ‘Hard Ride’ also shows off his skills with a keyboard as there are piano-esque bits that dance around the howling guitars.

When listening to this track, it is easy to see why those guys in Yes took Rabin into their fold as it has a prog feel to it while still being pop rock. It thunders along at pace, carried by the guitar, but there are also orchestral swirls that boil in this cauldron of sound, lifting the song from being just another guitar track and making it a track of substance.

If you were a young teenage girl fantasising about taking Trevor Rabin (or any of the other Rabbitt boys) home to meet the parents, it would probably have been best to play them something like ‘Charlie’ as an introduction rather than ‘Hard Ride’ as ‘Hard Ride’ rocks and rocks hard. It’s a juggernaut of a track that doesn’t stop for breath.

Where to find it:
Boys Will Be Boys – Rabbitt (1976), Fresh Music, FRESHCD153

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Getting Thru To You – Rabbitt

Getting Thru To You – Rabbitt

What do you do when one of the main guys in your band leaves? Sometimes you call it a day, sometimes you get in new main guy and hope that he or she fits in. But sometimes you look around and think, well we can do this without them. And the latter is what Rabbitt did when Trevor Rabin decided to flee the hutch. Neil, Duncan and Ronnie decided to give it a go as a threesome.

They drafted in Julian Laxton as a producer and recorded the band’s 3^rd and only post-Rabin album, ‘Rock Rabbitt’. ‘Getting Thru To You’ is taken from that album and it would get to number 15 on the Springbok Top 20, matching the peak of their last Rabin hit, ‘Morning Light’. Obviously there would have been comparisons to see if the remaining members of the band were up to the challenge and in ‘Getting Thru To You’ fans would not have disappointed.

It is perhaps a little harder edged than their previous work and that may well be down to Laxton’s production work. It is also more of a straight rock track that lacks the kind of symphonic/operatic tinge a la Queen that Rabin brought to their earlier stuff. But this is being a little nit-picky as the overall the effect is a great rock track that not only has pace to it but generally maintains that Rabbitt freshness.

Sadly for Rabbitt fans, ‘Rock Rabbitt’ would be the band’s swansong and it is probably somewhat overlooked because Rabin had left the band. Perhaps the message of the track was that they were trying to get through to you that they could made good music without him.

Where to find it:
The Hits – Rabbitt (1996), Gallo, CDRED602

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Locomotive Breath – Rabbitt

Locomotive Breath – Rabbitt

Way back in 1971 a band called Jethro Tull (who were named after a famous agriculturist from the 1600-1700’s) recorded a song called ‘Locomotive Breath’. It appeared on their album called ‘Aqualung’. A couple of years later, in 1973, a local band called Rabbitt recorded a cover of it which had the same piano intro. That version would make it to number 11 on the Springbok Radio. However it was not the Rabbitt that people came to know and love later in the 70’s. This was an early incarnation of the band where the only member who would feature in the more popular line-up, was Trevor Rabin. He was accompanied on that early version by Errol Friedman, Francis Roos, Louis Forer and Cedric Samson.

Move on a few more years and Friedman, Roos, Forer and Samson had been ditched in favour of Faure, Cloud and Robot. This new line-up decided to dust off the old Tull classic and try it again, this time as a cleaner pretty boy rock version rather than the dense Freedom’s Children-ish rock version of the earlier line-up.

So which to choose from, the 73 version of the early incarnation or the 75 version from ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ (this is of course presuming you are happy to put the Tull version aside for a bit). Well, as already mentioned, the early version is a dense rock affair which has it’s own appeal, especially to those who like a thick sound, while those who prefer a crisper, quicker ‘train on a track’ paced sound with an electric guitar solo to air guitar to version, then the latter version is for you.

What the early version did reveal was what a talent we had in Trevor Rabin as you can already hear someone who knows how to handle an axe. By the time he picks up his guitar a few years later to re-record the song with his new band mates, he is well on his way to being noted as one of South Africa’s great guitarist. It’s up to you to choose which version you prefer, but the bigger question that comes from these 2 versions is did the way the word ‘Charlie’ is sung in the line in ‘Locomotive Breath’ that goes ‘Old Charlie stole the handle and the train it won’t stop going’, have any influence on Patric van Blerk when he wrote Rabbitt’s later hit.

Where to find it:
Boys Will Be Boys – Rabbitt (September 2006) RetroFresh, freshcd 153 (CD)
The Hits – Rabbitt (1996) Gallo, CDRED 602

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1976 version

Lifeline – Rabbitt

The Hits – Rabbitt

Rabbitt slowed things down a notch when they recorded this one. Their bigger hits such as ‘Charlie’ and ‘Locomotive Breath’, although not frenetic or particularly noisy, were certainly rockier affairs. But here we are in slow rock ballad mode. There are some aaahh’s underpinning the verses which are not that far away from the similar part on 10cc’s ‘I’m Not In Love’, but where 10cc keep it cool, Rabbitt do throw in some electric guitars every now and then to remind one that they knew how to handle an axe.

‘Lifeline’ really shows off the craftsmanship of Trevor Rabin and the boys when it came to putting a song together. The production is also slick, giving this love song a velvety feel as it seems to glide along on a cushion of air.

While their rockier numbers like ‘Charlie’, ‘Morning Light’ and ‘Locomotive Breath’ had chart success, ‘Lifeline’ prefers to hang around in the background, taking a slow seductive approach compared to the more ‘in your face’ sound of the hits. It showed another side of Rabbitt that I’m sure the girls loved just as much as their bouncier side.

Where to find it:
Boys Will Be Boys – Rabbitt (September 2006) RetroFresh, freshcd 153 (CD)
The Hits – Rabbitt (1996) Gallo, CDRED 602

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I Never Loved A Man – Margaret Singana

I Never Loved A Man – Margaret Singana

Yes, I know Aretha Franklin also did a song called ‘I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)’, but hers is a breathy, soulful song written by Ronnie Shannon. Margaret Singana’s is a completely different song, written by John Russell and produced by Patric van Blerk, Trevor Rabin and Julian Laxton. And with that production team, you know you’re going to have a great song.

‘I Never Loved A Man’ (Margaret’s one) was first seen, as far as I can tell, in 1977 when it was released as a single and included on her ‘Tribal Fence’ album. It has an early disco bounce to it that would have enticed most on to the dancefloor back then for a little boogie. It’s got a funky bass, a thumping beat interwoven with some 70’s rock guitar. All of this underpins Margaret’s strong vocals.

The song made it on to the Springbok Top 20 where it managed 18 weeks, spending 3 frustrating weeks at 3 while Heart’s ‘Barracuda’ and McCully Workshop’s ‘Buccaneer’ battled it out for the top 2 spots, then eventually made it to number 2 for a week on 13 January 1978, but was denied the top spot by ‘Barracuda’. This would be her most successful effort on our charts and also the best performance for the 3 producers with the exception of van Blerk who eventually saw a number 1 hit as producer with Joy’s ‘Paradise Road’. I guess one could say that We never loved a song (produced by Patric van Blerk, Trevor Rabin and Julian Laxton) the way we loved Margaret’s ‘I Never Loved A Man’.

Where to find it:
Lady Africa – Margaret Singana (1996), Gallo, CDRED603J

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The Rock Machine – The Bats

The Rock Machine – The Bats

In the days before disco we had rock and that is why The Bats could only recored a song called ‘The Rock Machine’ and only later Trevor Rabin and his friends came along with a band called Disco Rock Machine. The Bats, however, did a really good job of producing some fine rock with this little ditty.
It starts is a slightly, erm, batty manner with a very posh couple listening to and opining about some lounge style piano with the posh man eventually saying ‘By jove, do you think it’ll last?’ to which the posh woman replies, ‘Oh definitely it’s really quite super’. However they were wrong as the piano is sudden thrown out of the song and The Bats come in with a chant of ‘Way Hey The Rock Machine’.
We are not privy to the reaction this couple may have had to the intrusion of a rock machine into their peaceful piano music, but we don’t really care as we are caught up in a catchy Beatles-esque pop song which brings in folky and psychedelic elements into this melting pot, including a classical guitar interlude where one almost expects the return of the posh couple, but they don’t have time to get a word in because the songs descends into a swirling psychedelic spiral.
It’s not the easiest song to listen to with its shifting twists and turns. It’s a little experimental, but there is something catchy about it and sits on the poppier side of the pysch-rock that bands such as Freedom’s Children were making at a similar time. It is the folkier, hippy-happier side of the genre and there is not a disco beat in sight.

Where to find it:
The Best Of The Bats – The Bats (1996) Polygram, MORCD 612
Astral Daze 2 – Various Artists, RetroFresh, (2009), FRESHCD162

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House Of The Rising Sun – Hot R.S.

House Of The Rising Sun – Hot R.S.

‘The House Of The Rising Sun’ had been around for a while (possibly having its early origins in the 17th century), but was flung into popular culture by The Animals who took this traditional folk tune and introduced a rock element into it, so the song has become used to trying out different genres. And in South Africa it decided to see what it sounded like as a pounding disco anthem.

Cue Kevin Kruger and Dan Hill who assembled a band calling themselves Hot R.S. (I wonder where they got the name from). They drafted in a certain Rabbitt called Trevor Rabin, a chap called Cedric Samson, another called Duncan MacKay and for a sexy feminine touch a pre-Via Afrikan Rene Veldsman was called upon. They then set out turning this old folk tune into a mammoth dance track.

With drums pounding and atmospheric keyboards swirling around in your head, you can bust more than a groove on the dancefloor to this one. But don’t start out with the John Travolta moves as you will need to preserve your energy because the song, which takes up the whole side of the LP, clocks in at nearly 15 minutes, so build up to that moment when you swing your white suit jacket round your head.

And you may just have to have a cold shower standing by for the end of the song because as you head into the last 4 minutes or so, Rene Veldsman, who has been slinking sexily around the song, moves into orgasmic overdrive in a way that makes Meg Ryan’s ‘When Harry Met Sally’ effort seem positively faked. This must have had the mother grundies turning in their graves before they even died.

During the song, Rene also pleads ‘Rise again baby’ and Kruger, Rabin, and Veldsman did so under the name Disco Rock Machine which also produced some brilliant rocking disco track as the 70s drew to a close and the 80s dawned on us.

Hot R.S.’s version of ‘The House Of The Rising’ is a classic epic that is like a gym work out. I am sure that those troubadours of the 17th century would have marvelled at how far and how many roads their song had travelled.

Where to find it:
House Of The Rising Sun – Hot R.S. (1991), RPM, CDRPM 1120

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Living For The City – Disco Rock Machine

Living For The City – Disco Rock Machine

When Stevie Wonder recorded ‘Living For The City’ it was a slick and funky song. When Disco Rock Machine got hold of it, they turned it into a rocking, floorfilling, stomp-a-thon with a killer female vocal that grabs hold of the song and shakes it by its commuters. While Wonders version is silky and somewhat laid back, rather like a drive through the suburbs, Disco Rock Machine’s version struts down a busy Wall Street, head held high.

As the band’s name suggests, they combined the burgeoning disco sound with a rock sensibility to create a hard-edged song that you can dance to. But who were the cogs in this machine. Well, the names of this studio outfit should ring a few bells as we had none other than Trevor Rabin (Rabbitt and later Yes in case you’ve been living on another planet for the last 40 years) on guitars and keyboards while Kevin Kruger (possibly better known for his production work) on drums and a certain Rene Veldsman (she of Via Afrika fame) providing those powerful vocals. It is quite difficult to picture the voice on this song going on to give us the earthy, ethnopunk of ‘Hey Boy’ which is a credit to the vocal versatility of Veldsman.

The band would also record a cover of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Higher Ground’, but would not find any success on the Springbok Charts, perhaps it was lines like ‘To find a job is like a haystack needle/Cause where he lives they don’t use colored people’ from ‘Living For The City’ that put the old SABC off giving this cover version a good run in the public’s ears. However, you can get to hear it now if you can lay your hands on the ‘Disco Fever’ CD, otherwise, there is always Youtube.

Where to find it:
Disco Fever – Various Artists, (July 1999), Gallo, CDREDD 627 (Out of print, so you may struggle)

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Fantasy – Trevor Rabin

Fantasy – Trevor Rabin

Trevor Rabin

Yes, this is the Trevor Rabin who was in Rabbitt and spent some time in the group Yes. ‘Fantasy’ is the song that fell in the period between the two, where he was heading out on his own into the big bad world and seeing what he could do.

The song itself seems to land somewhere between Rabbitt and Yes not only on a Rabin timeline, but also in its sound. It still has that sort of 70s, clean-cut rock feel about it that Rabbitt perfected, but it also has leanings towards the big sound of ‘Owner Of A Lonely Heart’ that Rabin would help Yes score a big hit with. There are pounding disco-rock beats, loads of showy prog-esque guitars and Rabin’s AOR vocals that all pummel their way through the three mintes and tweny two seconds of this wall-of-sound pop barrage.

‘Fantasy’ was Rabin’s only solo top 20 hit in South Africa. It reached number 12 on the charts during its 8 week stay. This was better than anything he managed in Rabbitt whose best achievement on the Springbok charts was getting to 14 with ‘Charlie’. He did go one better with Yes when ‘Owner of…’ reached number 11. So chronologically, musically and chartwise, this is very much middle ground for Rabin. So why should you hear it? Because it is the lesser known chapter in the development of one of South Africa’s most successful musical talents.

Where to find it:
Beginnings – Trevor Rabin (2011), Voiceprint, VP254CD

Hear here:

https://myspace.com/trevorrabinfan/music/song/fantasy-63189103

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Morning Light – Rabbitt

Morning Light – Rabbitt (And then it dawned on me)

Rabbitt – A Croak And A Grunt In The Night (1977)

The mania that surrounded ‘A Croak And A Grunt In The Night’ was the peak of Rabbitt’s success in South Africa. However, where could they go from such success? The answer, as history tells us, is nowhere as a group. So they disbanded and the members went on to greater things on the world stage.

But in that time between ‘A Croak…’ and Trevor Rabin departing the band, they produced the gem called ‘Morning Light’. The song was written by Duncan and Trevor, and does hint at the worldwide smash Trevor was to have with Yes and ‘Owner of A Lonely Heart.’ You can find the full rock guitar sound and high pitched vocal harmonies here that made ‘Owner…’ the hit it was.

The song peaked at number 15 on the Springbok Top 20, spending only 3 weeks on the chart. This seems to belie just how massive the band actually was in the country. Yes, there was probably many a tear shed, particularly amongst the young girls, when the band split, but they did leave a fitting finale in ‘Morning Light.’ There was a further album and single without Trevor, but that’ll form part of another entry.

Where to Find it:
A Croak & A Grunt In The Night (bonus track)– Rabbitt (2006), Fresh Music, FRESHCD 154

SA Rock Encyclopedia:
Rabbitt

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