SMACK
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Sunshine Bullsheet on Smack by Craig Ward
Many moons ago, in the distant lands of Mat-lock, there lived the people of Rea-ney, the people of Oli-ver and the people of Reid-Smith. And it came to pass that there was great famine on the lands, and the peoples of Mat-lock were starving and cold. The Kings of the three clans called a meeting to discuss what could be done to prevent their peoples from becoming extinct. After long discussions, it was decided that each first born should go from the lands of Mat-lock and return only when they had sufficient food and provisions for everyone.
And so it happened. Gordon of the Rea-neys, Oli of the Olivers and Mar-go of the Reid-Smiths departed taking with them only a Gibso SG, A Fender Musicmaster Bass and two Shure microphones. And they travelled for 40 days and 40 nights until they reached the God-forsaken city of Coven-tree. At the same time, another young man arrived in the city called Nich-o-las Trevi-sick having been banished from his homeland of Barnstaple and having nothing with him but a Ludwig drum kit (and three pairs of sticks!). And, quite by chance, Nich-o-las did espy the other three and beckoned them saying "Verily, ye have ye Gibsons, Ye Fender and ye microphones; I have my Ludwig, let us form a funky-rock-band and call it SMACK!
And they did. And they played. And all the people of Coven-tree were sore amazed. And they listened. And they saw it was good. And SMACK! became famous and returned to their homelands with lots of food and money for all, and they all lived happily until this very day. You see word had reached the land of the Mat-lock that SMACK! had created PUBLIC DEMAND!!! And SMACK! Said 'Let us go among the peoples of London, Man-chester and Car-diff and lets us sweat our rocks off for the people of Glas-gow and Kings-Lyn. And the peoples of these foreign countries had heard of SMACK! (from a rather pathetic info sheet) and did book them. But alas! some of the wise men were not so wise and did not book SMACK! And the heavens opened and the people rose up and attack all the promoters and agents who did not book SMACK! and destroyed all of the venues where SMACK! were not appearing. And the promoters and agents did weep and say unto one another "Oh, why did I not book SMACK! when I had the chance".
And friends, I say unto you, be ye careful because it just MIGHT happen again.....
SMACK! were -
Gordon Reaney - Lead Guitar;
Andrew Roland Oliver (AKA Ollie or Doc Mustard Bass/Vocals;
Margo Buchanan-Reid-Smith - Vocals and Smiles; and
Nicky Trevisick - Drums.
Andrew Oliver - Doc Mustard
Margo Buchanan-Reid-Smith
Nick Trevisick
News on Smack! from Hobo (Coventry Music and Arts magazine) 1974
SMACK! ...MISS UNDERSTOOD
(From Hobo Issue Issue Three (Unpublished version c Jan 1974)
"SMACK! formed from the now defunct Derby band Pug-ma-Ho, are now completing a tour of Germany. a single is due out around Christmas time on the (dreaded) Bell label.
The number is entitled "Miss Understood" and was written by that old son of a gypsy gnome, Bob Young. The line up of the band consists of Gordon Reaney on lead guitar; Andrew (Ollie) Oliver on bass guitar; Nicky Trevisick on drums and a female vocalist by the curious name of Margo- Buchanan-Reid-Smith (Later a backing vocalist with Mud)."
From Hobo Issue 3 (Published version February 1974)
SMACK! PLAY GERMANY
Just returned from a successful tour of Germany are SMACK!. The group who are Coventry based, hail mainly from Matlock. This phunky rock band who play original material, consists of these curios Smackeroos - Gordon Reaney - lead guitar, Andrew Roland 'Ollie' Oliver bass and vocals, Margo-Buchanan-Reid-Smith on Vocals and smiles and Nicky Trevisick on drums.
.....................................
Andrew Roland 'Ollie' Oliver (AKA Doc Mustard) later played with Machine / Hot Snacks who appeared on the Sent From Coventry Album. Margo later sang backing vocals for MUD; is one of the UKs key backroom vocal talents, the first-choice backing singer for megastars including David Gilmour, Tina Turner Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, James Blunt, KT Tunstall, and countless others. Margos vocal coaching skills were also responsible for turning familiar TV faces into spectacular musical voices on the recent hit BBC One show Just The Two Of Us.
Margo has been gigging from 15, turned down The Specials when asked to dye her hair blonde (the only job she regrets saying "no" to), refused MCA attempts to market her as the girl with the red guitar in the eighties and has subsequently played with some of the biggest and best in the business - including performances at the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations!
While Margo feels she "should've done this years ago", in many ways the timing for her debut solo record couldn't have been better. In a record industry where female singer-songwriters are forced to assume a "cool" or "kooky" veneer, Margo's music is a breath of fresh air - harking back to a time when the likes of Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac and Carole King proved that a well-produced, consummately arranged and painstakingly written song will endure far longer than the latest over-hyped new thing.
Her lifetime experiences of the record industry - both first and second hand - have given Margo the hard-earned wisdom to see beyond such limitations and inform the very core of their songwriting.
The single "Years Ago" is released on 03/04/2006.
The album "I Should've Done This Years Ago" is released on 15/05/2006.
Buy Margo Buchanan's music Nicky Trevisick - is now a writer and producer living in Tennessee and recently wrote and produced It's a beautiful day for India Aria for the Jennifer Lopaz movie Back up Plan. He later played with A Band Called George who made the single NCB Man.
