The Records formed out of the ashes of the Kursaal Flyers, a pub rock group featuring drummer Will Birch. In 1977, John Wicks joined the band as a rhythm guitarist, and he and Birch quickly started writing songs together, Wicks as composer, Birch as lyricist. The Kursaal Flyers dissolved three months after Wicks joined, but he and Birch continued to write songs together with the hopes of starting a new four-piece group with Birch on drums and Wicks on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. Birch soon came up with a name for the formative band: The Records. The group's line-up initially included bassist Phil Brown and lead guitarist Brian Alterman, whose guitar riffs have been compared to that of the Byrds. Alterman played on two early demos that were later included on the album Paying for the Summer of Love, before joining another band. Alterman was replaced by Huw Gower in 1978. Like Birch and Wicks, Gower and Brown were music veterans: Gower had played with a band called the Ratbites from Hell and Brown had been the bass player for the Janets.
The new group was heavily influenced both by British Invasion bands like The Beatles and The Kinks and early power pop groups such as Badfinger, Big Star, and Raspberries. Power pop was experiencing a renaissance on both sides of the Atlantic, thanks in large part to the burgeoning punk/new wave movement.
They were hired to back Stiff Records singer Rachel Sweet on the "Be Stiff Tour '78". The Records opened the shows with a set of their own. Birch and Wicks also wrote a song for Sweet's debut album entitled "Pin a Medal on Mary". The songwriting duo also penned "Hearts in Her Eyes" for the Searchers, who made an unexpected comeback with their power pop oriented album The Searchers in 1979.
Based on their demos (later released as Paying for the Summer of Love), the band was signed to Virgin Records in 1978. Their debut single, "Starry Eyes", was released in the UK that December and has since become their best-known song and an oft-covered power pop standard. Allmusic called it "a near-perfect song that defined British power pop in the '70s". Due in part to its clear influence by American power pop, the song was a bigger hit in the US than in the UK; it peaked at No. 56 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1979.
The group prepared their debut album with producers Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Tim Friese-Greene. Huw Gower produced "The Phone", which was added to the album in preference to one of Lange's efforts, a cover of Tim Moore's "Rock 'n' Roll Love Letter". The debut LP Shades in Bed yielded another single, "Teenarama", their second-best known song. The album was released in the US in July 1979 as The Records with different song sequencing and with the original single version of "Starry Eyes" replacing Lange's re-recording that appeared on the UK edition. The album was sufficiently well received to peak on the Billboard chart at No. 41. Gower also produced the bonus four track disc of cover tunes included in the album release, which also received FM airplay, notably the version of Spirit's "1984", which was strong enough to become short-listed by Virgin as the second single off the album.
That was the pinnacle of their success. Returning to the UK, Will Birch engaged the services of producer Craig Leon to record two new songs and to remix two tracks from Shades in Bed for a possible single release. Huw Gower acted as co-producer. After an aborted German tour with Robert Palmer, Gower left the band and relocated to New York, where he joined forces with New York Dolls lead singer David Johansen. Their collaboration led to the successful album Live It Up.
Jude Cole, a 19-year-old American, who had been in Moon Martin's backing group The Ravens, joined for the album Crashes (1980). The album was not a hit, and did not yield any successful singles, and record company support for the band dried up during the Crashes tour. Cole stayed in the US, while the core of Birch, Wicks and Brown returned home to England.
The trio expanded into a quintet with guitarist Dave Whelan and lead singer Chris Gent. Previously, most of the songs had been sung by Wicks, but with other members frequently taking lead vocals for individual songs. Birch has since declared that the decision to recruit a lead singer was made "perhaps unwisely". This line-up recorded a third album for Virgin, 1982's Music on Both Sides. Like its predecessor, the album was not a hit.
After this, the band effectively broke up. Birch turned to tour managing, running 'Rock Tours', a sightseeing London Bus venture, producing and writing. In 1990 the original band briefly reformed to contribute a track for the 1991 Brian Wilson tribute album, Smiles, Vibes & Harmony. Birch, Brown and Wicks cut the basic track for "Darlin'" in London; Gower added his parts and mixed it in New York. The same year also saw the US release of Paying for the Summer of Love. Both recordings received great press, but were not enough to outweigh unresolved past issues within the core membership, which effectively killed any possibility of restarting the group. Wicks relocated to the US in 1994 and was writing, recording and performing both solo and with a new incarnation of the band up until 2018.
John Wicks died on October 7, 2018 in Burbank, California.
The Phone
The Records Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Calling from...area code...I'm
Sorry but that number doesn't answer...will you please try your number again, again again)
Away in the corner
I always know it's there
If ever I'm lonely
I can call up anywhere
If I got a problem
There's a number
That I can ring
Whenever I'm hungry
It can get me anything
It brings me luck and
It brings me permanent danger
Pick it up and
I hear the voice of a stranger
(Stranger)
Who's calling, who's calling
Who's calling, who's calling
(Calling)
You know you're never there
So don't bother givin' your number
I'll see you anyway
And we'll talk about it
And talk about it and talk
How are you?
I feel fine
Find your number
I've got to try
Some strangers exchange lines
Keeps us talking
Through the night
It brings us luck and
It brings us permanent danger
(Danger)
Pick it up and hear
Your voice or a stranger's
Who's calling 8x
The Record's "The Phone" is an upbeat and catchy tune that captures the essence of how a phone can have a profound impact on our lives. The lyrics represent the dynamic relationship that individuals have with their phones. The first verse talks about how the phone is always there when we need it. We can call from anywhere, and it can get us anything. The phone becomes a part of our daily routine, and we become reliant on it to keep us connected.
The chorus is a repetitive section that emphasizes the urgency and excitement of receiving and making calls. It highlights the emotional response we have when the phone rings, and it's hard not to answer it. The lyrics in this section convey the idea that the phone brings us both luck and danger. Luck because it keeps us connected with our loved ones, and danger because it lures us into talking to strangers.
The middle section of the song is where the relationship between the phone and the person becomes more personal. Here, the lyrics talk about exchanging numbers with strangers, which keeps them talking, and how the phone is a tool to connect with people at any time of day or night.
Overall, The Record's song, "The Phone," is a celebration of how technology has transformed how we communicate. It's a lighthearted and fun song that reminds us of the joy and excitement we feel whenever our phone rings.
Line by Line Meaning
(Operator, what number are you
Calling from...area code...I'm
Sorry but that number doesn't answer...will you please try your number again, again again)
Asking for number, the operator reports no answer, and suggests calling again.
Away in the corner
I always know it's there
If ever I'm lonely
I can call up anywhere
The singer relies on a phone in the corner as a source of comfort and connection.
If I got a problem
There's a number
That I can ring
Whenever I'm hungry
It can get me anything
The phone offers a solution to the singer's problems and can fulfill their needs.
It brings me luck and
It brings me permanent danger
Pick it up and
I hear the voice of a stranger
(Stranger)
The phone can bring both good and bad things, and sometimes leads to conversations with unknown people.
Who's calling, who's calling
Who's calling, who's calling
(Calling)
The artist wonders who could be calling them.
You know you're never there
So don't bother givin' your number
I'll see you anyway
And we'll talk about it
And talk about it and talk
The singer doesn't expect the person they're speaking to to pick up the phone, but is willing to talk to them whenever they can.
How are you?
I feel fine
Find your number
I've got to try
Some strangers exchange lines
Keeps us talking
Through the night
The singer wants to reconnect with someone, and believes the phone can facilitate conversations with strangers.
It brings us luck and
It brings us permanent danger
(Danger)
Pick it up and hear
Your voice or a stranger's
Who's calling 8x
The phone's unpredictable nature continues, as it can provide connection or unpredictably dangerous situations.
Contributed by Connor Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Master Cypher
This is off the top! 👍👍👍👍
Da Cun
Thank you. Cool Page!
Scorpionsblackout 82
Thanks. Enjoy.