Forgotten Rock Bands: Marmalade

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Bill Price, and in this Rock and Roll Flashback series we will take a look back at the stories behind those bands that Rock history seems to have been forgotten. In this episode of Forgotten Rock Bands, I will feature the band known as Marmalade.

All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott. The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John. It was initially recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004 with several revisions since then.
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Transcript

In this Rock and Roll Flashback series we will take a look back at the stories behind
those bands that Rock history seems to have been forgotten. In this episode of Forgotten Rock Bands, I will feature the band known as Marmalade.

Marmalade was a pop Rock band from Glasgow, Scotland that was formed in 1961.
Initially they were called The Gaylords with the initial lineup consisting of Pat Fairly,
Billy Johnson. Tommy Frew, Pat McGovern and Wattie Rodgers. Like many other bands they went through several changes in personnel. William Junior Campbell joined the band replacing Pat McGovern. After the band gained attention in 1963, Thomas McAleese joined the group as the lead singer. Thomas adopted the stage name of Dean Ford. The band’s name was then changed to Dean Ford and The Gaylords. By 1964 the band had begun to generate popularity in Scotland and was signed to EMI’S Columbia label. They recorded four songs, which included a cover of Chubby Checker’s US hit titled “Twenty Miles” that was a big seller locally in Scotland but failed to chart nationally. As their popularity in Scotland grew as on of the top bands, they performed in Cologne and Duisburg, Germany. In early1965 they returned to London, where they decided to try for success in the UK. During their time in Germany, they performed with The Tremeloes, so they recommended the band to join the London agency Starlite Artistes.

The band then began to gain recognition and by 1966 they updated their image and instrumentation. The band’s new manager suggested that they change the band’s name to Marmalade. The inspiration for the name happened when the manager was having breakfast and on the table was a jar of marmalade. When the contract with EMI Columbia ended, they were signed to CBS Records.  Unfortunately the first singles, did not chart in the UK. However, the third release titled “I See the Rain” did manage to chart in the Netherlands but not in the UK in spite of being praised as “the best cut of 1967” by Jimi Hendrix. However, Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles would later cover the song.

In January 19, 1967 Marmalade performed at the Marquee Club in London as a
supporting act for Pink Floyd. On February 3rd they also supported the band called The Action. From then on, they did not support any other bands. By March they started a long residency at the Marquee that lasted until the autumn of 1968 which was instrumental in helping increase the band’s popularity. They also toured with The Who, Joe Cocker, Traffic, Gene Pitney and The Tremeloes. The band also performed at the Windsor Jazz and Rock Festival and at the Festival of the Flower Children.

Even though the band enjoyed popularity in touring, CBS threatened to drop the band if they failed to have a hit. The band was offered a song titled “Everlasting Love”, however the band rejected it. Interestingly the song was given to the band Love Affair, who went on to have a number one hit. Marmalade then recorded ”Lovin’ Things” which reached the number six position in the summer of 1968. The follow up release was titled “Wait For Me Mary-Anne” which managed to reach the number 30. A cover of The Beatles‘ “ Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”, managed to top the UK chart in January 1969, making them the first Scottish band to top the UK chart. The single sold half a million copies in the UK and a million copies worldwide. The next release was titled “Baby Make It Soon”, which climbed to number nine.

Here is Marmalade’s cover of The Beatles’ “ Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”.

By November 1969, the band then signed with Decca Records, and was allowed to write and produce their own material. In the first recording session, a song titled “Reflections of My Life” written by Campbell and Ford, was recorded and became the band’s biggest hit worldwide, topping the European charts. In the US it was a top ten hit and in most of South America it reached number one. The single sold over two million copies and was also awarded a Special Citation of Achievement in 1998 by BMI for gaining over one million plays on the radio.

Other releases included “Rainbow” which reached number three in the UK and number 51 in the US followed with the number 15 UK hit “My Little One” and “Cousin Norman” and “Radancer”, both reached number six in the UK. Their first album release was titled “Reflections Of The Marmalade”. The band was offered the opportunity to tour in the US, opening for Three Dog Night, however their manager turned down the offer. Had the offer been accepted, Marmalade would have gained further exposure in the US.

In the following years, more personnel changes took place. In 1971, Marmalade released song singles, which only garnered limited success. By 1975, Ford and the remaining members left Marmalade. However, the band was resurrected by Knight and Whitehead then signed with Target Records. In 1976 the last Top 10 hit titled “Falling Apart at the Seams” was released reaching the Top 50 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later releases failed to chart. In 2010 the raining original members left the band and by 2011 a new members were added as well as more replacements in 2015. On December 31st, 2018 Dean Ford passed away at the age of 73.

Marmalade’s discography encompasses 10 studio, albums 8 compilation albums and 37 singles.

We’ll conclude with Marmalade’s Top Ten hit, “Reflections of My Life”.

This has been a look back at one of Rock’s Forgotten Bands, Marmalade.
And until next time I’m your host Bill Price.