Saturday 27 November 2021

The Neglected Hudson Brothers

 



If you know these guys at all it would be thanks to their 'megahit' So you are a Star, seemingly self-referencing in a totally non-ironic way, typically enough for the seventies, in fact you could even say it's a little charmingly boastful. Discography here, and that song came out in 1974.  There are those who find that song annoyingly too Beatles-like, which is for sure a strike against them, but then again who wasn't in that period in time. Hopefully this youtube link works for that song.  Reading into their story which you can do on wikipedia in an exhaustive article, it's clear they were 'teenybopper' type artists, but I figured I should at least do the honour of listening to all their songs to see if there were more gems like their big hit in there, and sure enough, in their first album there were quite a few. Thereafter though it really tails off quickly as they seem to go through one phase after another like a pinball machine, from Beatles-influence, well earlier it seems they were influenced by America (the band), then soul and then disco of course. Each style they're able to imitate perfectly which adds to the cloyingness of course. I hate to get negative because you never know when an artist might read a review like this but for example in the second album they imitate John Lennon in solo career (e.g. Plastic Ono Band) and elsewhere Beatles circa 1965 like Drive my Car style and that really is annoying, since this is almost a decade later.

Back to that first album though, regarding which wiki has little to say:

On Decca Records they changed their name to Everyday Hudson in early 1970, releasing "Love Is the Word" (#32634). For the release in spring 1971 of "Love Nobody" on Lionel Records (L-3211), their name was shortened to Hudson. This name was also used in 1972 after switching to the newly re-activated Playboy Records, with the release of "Leavin' It's Over" (originally "Leave and It's Over", the song was mislabeled by Playboy, and it has never been corrected) (P-50001), Billboard Bubbling Under Chart #110. The group's self-titled debut album was released in 1972.[5]

Someday


Little Old Man



The other thing I found highly amusing about these guys is the way their album covers are like a photo-summary of the chapters of the seventies from start to finish as you can tell from their hairstyles, a phenomenon we've seen so many times before here on these pages with the long hippie hair giving way to short cuts, even mustaches, passing through that three-piece suit Bonnie and Clyde / Great Gatsby trend:


Check out those hippies...



Is that a kkk guy in there??? wow



They seem to have predicted the Saturday Night Fever craze.


Anybody remember 'The Sting' movie?



Oh, Mr. Kotter! Mr. Kotter!
 Welcome back, Horschach, right?



Wow it seemed like the good times would never end... but they did, right in 1980.
wait, who is the 4th guy?





6 comments:

  1. lossless limited time

    https://we.tl/t-BKwMt1Gq0V

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Julian,
    Thank you for you great work !
    I search Ulysse "The greek suite", can you post it please if you have ?
    Sosgotcha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://www.sendspace.com/file/x3td3s
      ulysses the greek suite from a-440

      Delete
  3. Hi Julian, Thank you for posting. Wish not have found this late. The 2 Hudson songs are beautifully composed. Can you re-upload the link for the album once again?

    ReplyDelete
  4. here we go:
    https://www.mediafire.com/file/7awaia5i2cm44ar/hudson+-+self+titled+(1972).rar/file
    I agree, beautifully composed

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hudson Brothers Can you re-upload?

    ReplyDelete