Tarney-Spencer Band
Encyclopedia
Tarney-Spencer Band was an Australian rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band composed of Trevor Spencer
Trevor Spencer
Trevor Spencer is an Australian songwriter, record producer and drummer. He was born in Adelaide, Australia Trevor studied drums and percussion from the age of 10...

 and Alan Tarney
Alan Tarney
Alan Tarney is an English songwriter, record producer and bass guitarist. He was born in Workington, Cumberland, England, but spent his teenage years in Adelaide, Australia where he met his songwriting and musical partner Trevor Spencer.- Career :Tarney was part of the huge influx of British...

 in the late 1970s. The band recorded three albums, and is notable for the song "No Time to Lose" which received substantial air-play in the USA on Album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock is an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock artists.-Music played:Most radio formats are based on a select, tight rotation of hit singles...

 radio stations, and charted twice on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 singles chart .

Early years

Alan Tarney met Trevor Spencer while playing in an Australian group called Johnny Broome and The Handels and then The Vectormen plus James Taylor Move - all located in Adelaide.

In 1969 Alan and Trevor emigrated to the UK along with Kevin Peek and Terry Britten
Terry Britten
Terry Britten is a prolific English singer-songwriter, who has written songs for Tina Turner and Sir Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo, Michael Jackson and many others.-Career:...

 - allegedly motivated by Australia's teen-drafting into its army in support of the USA with its then current Vietnam war
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 in north Vietnam until 1975.

They formed a band called Quartet, releasing 2 singles on the Decca label and recording a 13 track unreleased album which features both Decca singles.

In 1973 Tarney and Spencer along with John Farrar
John Farrar
John Farrar is a music producer, songwriter, music arranger, singer and guitarist who is best known for his work with Olivia Newton-John with whom he wrote and produced many hit songs....

 and Terry Britten
Terry Britten
Terry Britten is a prolific English singer-songwriter, who has written songs for Tina Turner and Sir Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo, Michael Jackson and many others.-Career:...

 backed Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

 with his Eurovision song contest entry Power To All Our Friends
Power to All Our Friends
"Power to All Our Friends" is a song by Cliff Richard. He entered it as the British entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1973. It came third....

.

The two also occasionally played on on numerous sessions for artists including Hank Marvin
Hank Marvin
Hank Brian Marvin is an English guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows. The group, which primarily performed instrumentals, was formed as a backing band for vocalist Cliff Richard...

 and John Farrar
John Farrar
John Farrar is a music producer, songwriter, music arranger, singer and guitarist who is best known for his work with Olivia Newton-John with whom he wrote and produced many hit songs....

, Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

, Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...

, Chris Squire
Chris Squire
Christopher Russell Edward "Chris" Squire , is an English musician, known as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist for the progressive rock group Yes. He is the only member of the group to appear on every album.-Before Yes:...

, Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler is a Welsh singer, most notable for her hits in the 1970s and 1980s including "It's a Heartache", "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart".-Early life:...

, Charlie Dore
Charlie Dore
Charlie Dore is an English singer-songwriter and actress.-Career:Although best known as one of the UK's most respected singer-songwriters, Dore has a multi-faceted career that includes acting in film, TV and radio, comedy-improvisation and composition for film and TV...

, New Seekers, Peter Doyle
Peter Doyle (singer)
Peter John Doyle was an Australian pop singer who had success with a number of Top 40 hits in Australia in the 1960s, then success internationally as a member of the New Seekers in the early 1970s, before resuming a solo career in 1973.-Early career:He started his career at the age of 9 appearing...

, The Real Thing
The Real Thing (group)
-Albums:Studio albums* Real Thing - UK #34* 4 from 8 * Step Into Our World , retitled Can You Feel the Force - UK #73* ....Saints Or Sinners? Live albums* The Real Thing Live Compilation albums...

 and others.

Cliff Richard and The Shadows

About the same time as Tarney and Spencer were working under the name Quartet, they were also sitting in on sessions for Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

. Alan Tarney eventually joined The Shadows
The Shadows
The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...

 on bass in 1973, staying until 1977. Alan appears on the following releases by Cliff and The Shadows:
  • About That Man - Cliff Richard
    Cliff Richard
    Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

     - 1970
  • Cliff Live in Japan 1972 - Cliff Richard
    Cliff Richard
    Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

     - 1972
  • Marvin and Farrar - Hank Marvin
    Hank Marvin
    Hank Brian Marvin is an English guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows. The group, which primarily performed instrumentals, was formed as a backing band for vocalist Cliff Richard...

     and John Farrar
    John Farrar
    John Farrar is a music producer, songwriter, music arranger, singer and guitarist who is best known for his work with Olivia Newton-John with whom he wrote and produced many hit songs....

     - 1973
  • Rockin' with Curly Leads
    Rockin' with Curly Leads
    Rockin' with Curly Leads is the ninth rock album by British instrumental group The Shadows, released in 1973 through Columbia .-Track listing:-Personnel:*Electric & acoustic guitars - Hank Marvin, John Farrar & Bruce Welch...

    - The Shadows
    The Shadows
    The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...

     - 1974
  • Help It Along - Cliff Richard
    Cliff Richard
    Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

     - 1974
  • Specs Appeal
    Specs Appeal
    Specs Appeal is the tenth rock album by British instrumental group The Shadows, released in 1975 through Columbia .-Track listing:-Personnel:*Electric & acoustic guitars - Hank Marvin, John Farrar & Bruce Welch...

    - The Shadows
    The Shadows
    The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...

     - 1975
  • Live at Paris Olympia - The Shadows
    The Shadows
    The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...

     - 1975
  • Tasty
    Tasty (The Shadows album)
    Tasty is the eleventh rock album by British instrumental group The Shadows, released in 1977 through Columbia .-Track listing:-Personnel:* Drums, Percussion & Keyboards - Brian Bennett...

    - The Shadows
    The Shadows
    The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...

     - 1977
  • Every Face Tells a Story - Cliff Richard
    Cliff Richard
    Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

     - 1977
  • Rock'n'Roll Juvenile - Cliff Richard
    Cliff Richard
    Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

     - 1979

NB all of the above available on CD format in the UK/Europe.

Tarney-Spencer Band

Alan and Trevor began working as a duo in 1975. Their first, eponymous album Tarney and Spencer was released in 1976 in the UK only, on the Bradley's Records
Bradley's Records
Bradley's Records was a UK record label in the mid 1970s. It was founded by ATV Music publishers in 1973 and run by Derek Johns. The label was active for four years with moderate success, but was discontinued in early 1977....

 on the Bradley's label, produced by Dave Mackay
David Mackay (producer)
David Mackay is an Australian record producer/arranger and musical director. He was born in Sydney, Australia and began his music career at the age of 15 in a production of Bye Bye Birdie for J.C. Williamson Theatre Company...

 and features the Shadows's (during 1977-2004) piano/keyboards player, Cliff Hall on Keyboards. Tarney played lead, rhythm and bass guitars during these sessions in London. The master tape of this album (and all other Bradleys albums were/was) was destroyed by a senior employee of Bradleys Records on the express orders of the CEO of Bradleys records in 1976. However, fortuitously for posterity, a recording engineer of this session, impressed by the quality of the music of this album, took a (reel-to-reel tape) back-up copy of the master tape which was subsequently returned to Castle Communications in 2003.

In 1976 Tarney and Spencer's first UK single I'm your man rock and roll nearly reached the bottom portion of the top 30 national UK chart thus, unusually at that time, enabling them to make a one-off appearance on BBC1's Top Of The Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...

introduced by Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn is an English disc jockey, who broadcast on the "pirate" stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s and was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1967. In 2002 he was the winner of the ITV reality TV programme I'm a Celebrity.....

. Both Tarney and Spencer successfully mimed their near-hit single with Tarney 'playing' an un-amplified Sunburst Fender Stratocaster and Spencer 'playing' a Drum-kit with pieces of cardboard covering all the drum-skins by themselves with absolutely no session musicians covering the bass guitar or keyboards to visually fill the gaps. Tony Blackburn ended this somewhat bizarre (even by TOTP standards) performance by informing the viewers that Tarney played all the other instruments on the single. This TOTP appearance was repeated on Friday April 1, 2011 courtesy of a series of 1976 TOTP re-runs on BBC4 TV.

In 1978 the Tarney / Spencer Band signed a contract with A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...

 for 10 albums but only completed 2 albums after being un-expectantly released from their contract by A&M. The remainder of these eight albums were subsequently completed by mutual agreement with A&M with other British artists e.g. Leo Sayer(one album), Barbara Dickson(two albums), Cliff Richard(two albums) and Charlie Dore(70% of one album).

In 1978 the single "Takin' me Back" reached the top 10 on the South African singles charts. What was unusual though was that exactly the same song, by a different band named Sweet Chocolate, was on the charts at exactly the same time, and climbed higher than the Tarney-Spencer version.

The band's second 1978 album (1st for A&M), recorded in London, was titled Three's a Crowd, produced by David Kershenbaum
David Kershenbaum
David Kershenbaum is an American record producer and entrepreneur, born in Springfield, Missouri. He has worked with many artists including Duran Duran, Tracy Chapman, Joe Jackson, Bryan Adams, Supertramp, Cat Stevens, Elkie Brooks, and Tori Amos. As a producer he has earned 75 international gold...

 and featured cover art with rounded corners, shaped like an American style cafe menu card. The album received modest airplay on AOR
Album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock is an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock artists.-Music played:Most radio formats are based on a select, tight rotation of hit singles...

 radio station in the US and reached #174 on Billboard Magazine's album chart. A single from the album, "It's Really You" hit #86 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

. In the UK and Europe it failed to chart and none of the singles received any airplay on Radio1 or Capital Radio. The British/European version of this album had conventional square corners. Members of the Climax Blues Band
Climax Blues Band
Climax Blues Band was formed in Stafford, England in 1968. The original members were guitarists Peter Haycock and Derek Holt; keyboardist Arthur Wood; bassist Richard Jones; drummer George Newsome; and vocalist and harmonica player, Colin Cooper.In 1970, the group shortened its name to the Climax...

 guested on this album.

The third album, Run For Your Life (2nd for A&M), recorded in the USA, again produced by David Kershenbaum
David Kershenbaum
David Kershenbaum is an American record producer and entrepreneur, born in Springfield, Missouri. He has worked with many artists including Duran Duran, Tracy Chapman, Joe Jackson, Bryan Adams, Supertramp, Cat Stevens, Elkie Brooks, and Tori Amos. As a producer he has earned 75 international gold...

 appeared in 1979. Again, with airplay at AOR
Album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock is an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock artists.-Music played:Most radio formats are based on a select, tight rotation of hit singles...

 radio, the album charted in the US reaching #181. One of the album's tracks, "No Time To Lose" was released as a single and rose to number #84 on the singles chart. The album cover sleeve was manufactured with four slightly different cover sleeves: red, green silver and gold with a library of paper-back novels as a artwork theme. The British version of this album sleeve is completely different with a female shin with stileto shoe avoiding an oncoming sports car.

After the release of a non-LP single, "Cathy's Clown" b/w "If there's anything I can do" , with picture sleeve, this time produced by Bruce Welch
Bruce Welch
Bruce Welch OBE, is an English guitarist, songwriter, producer and singer, best known as a member of The Shadows.-Biography:...

, in 1979, the band was released from their contract with A&M and discontinued their work together as Tarney-Spencer Band. The Cathy's Clown single received a substantial and solid six weeks of intensive air play on London's Capital Radio (95.8FM/194 mW) but again just missed the bottom end of the national chart.

Two years after the band broke up, the track "No Time To Lose" got the attention of MTV. In 1981, when MTV launched, the channel occasionally aired a video clip for "No Time To Lose". A&M then reissued the track as a single. The song charted a second time on Billboard's Hot 100, fairing slightly better that the first time around, reaching #74.

Their biggest achievement, "No Time To Lose" has never officially seen mainstream release on CD, either as part of the Run For Your Life album or on a various artist compilation (though a very limited import edition of Run For Your Life with questionable legitimacy was issued in the early 90s - see below).

During the 1990s all three Tarney/Spencer band (aka Tarney and Spencer) albums were 'reissued' on CD on the illegal Fertile Crescent label in Canada resulting in Police prosecutions.

Later work

Trevor Spencer left the UK in the mid-1980s and returned to Perth to help start Sh-Boom studios with Gary Taylor. Recent work with Hank Marvin
Hank Marvin
Hank Brian Marvin is an English guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows. The group, which primarily performed instrumentals, was formed as a backing band for vocalist Cliff Richard...

's 1990's solo (Hank plays.... series e.g. Buddy Holly, Cliff Richard, etc.) albums.

Alan Tarney began working as a producer in 1979 and was largely responsible for masterminding Cliff Richard's resurgent chart career in the late 1970s and again in the mid-1980s with the world-wide-hit "We Don't Talk Anymore" and the albums I'm No Hero, Wired for Sound, Stronger and Always Guaranteed.

However, Tarney's most notable commercial success was with a-ha
A-ha
A-ha were a Norwegian pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. The band was founded by Morten Harket , Magne Furuholmen , and Pål Waaktaar...

 during the 1980s. Alan produced their first three albums Hunting High and Low (including their massive world-wide-hit single "Take On Me"), Scoundrel Days and Stay on These Roads.

Additional production work included sides for Squeeze, Blackie
Blackie
Blackie is the affectionate nickname given by Eric Clapton to his favorite Fender Stratocaster.Eric Clapton switched from using Gibson guitars and began to use Stratocasters in 1970, largely due to the influence of Jimi Hendrix and of Blind Faith bandmate Steve Winwood...

 (Phil Murray), Charlie Dore
Charlie Dore
Charlie Dore is an English singer-songwriter and actress.-Career:Although best known as one of the UK's most respected singer-songwriters, Dore has a multi-faceted career that includes acting in film, TV and radio, comedy-improvisation and composition for film and TV...

, Elkie Brooks
Elkie Brooks
Elkie Brooks is an English singer, formerly a vocalist with Vinegar Joe, and later a solo artist. Elkie has been nominated twice for Brit Awards' top female singer. She is known for her powerful husky voice...

, Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow were an English 1980s New Wave band created by Malcolm McLaren to promote his and business partner Vivienne Westwood's New Romantic fashion lines.The group's music is described as having an "African-derived drum sound".-History:...

, Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer is a British singer-songwriter, musician, and entertainer whose singing career has spanned four decades. Sayer became a naturalised Australian citizen in 2009. Sayer was a top singles and album act on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1970s...

, Pulp
Pulp (band)
Pulp are an English alternative rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. Their lineup consists of Jarvis Cocker , Russell Senior , Candida Doyle , Mark Webber , Steve Mackey and Nick Banks ....

, Thomas Anders
Thomas Anders
Thomas Anders is a German singer, composer and record producer. Anders was the lead singer of Germany's popular pop-duo Modern Talking in 1984–1987 and in 1998–2003.-Early years:...

, Morten Harket
Morten Harket
Morten Harket is a Norwegian musician, best known as the lead singer of the Norwegian synthpop/rock band A-ha, which released nine studio albums and topped the charts in several countries after their breakthrough hit "Take on Me" in 1985. A-ha disbanded in 2010. Harket has also released four solo...

, The Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...

, Voice of the Beehive
Voice of the Beehive
Voice of the Beehive is an Anglo-American alternative pop rock band formed in London in 1986 by Californian sisters Tracey Bryn and Melissa Brooke Belland, daughters of The Four Preps singer, Bruce Belland.- Career :...

, The Bluebells
The Bluebells
The Bluebells were a Scottish pop group in the 1980s.-Career:The Bluebells performed jangly guitar based pop not dissimilar to their Scottish contemporaries Aztec Camera and Orange Juice. They had three Top 40 hit singles in the UK, all written by guitarist and founder member Bobby Bluebell - "I'm...

, The Dream Academy
The Dream Academy
The Dream Academy was a folk rock band from England, comprising singer/guitarist Nick Laird-Clowes; multi-instrumentalist Kate St John; plus keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel. They are most noted for their hit single, "Life in a Northern Town".-History:Laird-Clowes and Gabriel met each other in the late...

 and many others.

Discography

LP/cassette/8-track cartridge (USA)
  • Three's a Crowd A&M 4692 (1978) #174 US (menu sleeve)
  • Run For Your Life A&M 4757 (1979) #184 US (4 different colored sleeves)


LP/Cassette (UK)
  • Tarney and Spencer Bradleys (1976) LP Brad1011/TC-ZCBRA1011 No chart placing.
  • Three's a Crowd A&M AMLH68466/TC-CAM68488 (1978) No chart placing. (non-menu sleeve)
  • Run For Your Life A&M AMLH64757/TC-CAM64757 (1979) No chart placing. (UK vers sleeve)


LP+Obi (Japan)
  • Three's a Crowd A&M (1978) (possible existence)
  • Run For Your Life A&M (1979) No chart placing. (known to exist)


Singles (USA)
  • I'm your Man Rock n roll/Gunslinger Private Stock PS??? - US
  • Takin Me Back/Set The Minstrel Free A&M AMS7339 (1978)
  • Easier For You/Magic Still Runs... A&M AMS7358 (1978)
  • It's Really You/Bye Bye My Sweet Love A&M AMS7386 (1978)
  • No Time To Lose/Live Again A&M AMS7456 (1979) & (1981)
  • Cathys Clown/Anthing I Can Do A&M AMS7485 (1979) (pic sleeve)
  • Three's a Crowd flexi disc 33.3 rpm (4 tracks).


Singles (UK)
  • I'm Your Man Rock N' Roll/Guitar Slinger Bradleys BRAD7603 (1976)
  • If You Knew/It's Really You Bradleys BRAD7621 (1976)
  • I Can Hear Love (edit version)/The Real Thing Bradleys BRAD7615 (1976) (picsleeve)
  • Takin me back/Set the minstrel free A&M AMS7339
  • Easier for you/magic still runs... A&M AMS7358
  • It's really you/Bye bye my sweet love A&M AMS7386
  • No time to lose/Live again A&M AMS7456
  • Cathys clown/Anthing I can do A&M AMS7485 (pic sleeve)


Reissue CDs
  • Tarney and Spencer UK Castle Communications
    Castle Communications
    Castle Communications was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane and Jon Beecher. The company was acquired by the American music distributor Alliance Entertainment in 1994 and in 2000 it was absorbed into Sanctuary Records Group...

     2003 (Limited private edition 1,000 CD pressing).
  • Run for Your Life Germany Polydor 1993 (Limited edition 1,500 CD pressing).

External links

  • [ Tarney-Spencer Band at AllMusic]
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