The Scaffold's Singles

From the cover of the 1982 album The Scaffold Singles As & Bs, lightly edited.

Way back in 1963 we started out as a theatrical humour group originally called The Liverpool One Fat Lady All Electric Show but as no-one could remember our name (or even pronounce it) we quickly changed it to Scaffold and toured theatres and universities up and down the country.

Joining Brlan Epstein's NEMS a few years later we declded to cut our first record (rather like a tooth but not as painful) and for this purpose chose gentleman George Martin not for his Beatle productions but because of his Peter Sellers Goon connections.

2 Days Monday. Pronounced to dies Mondie In Cockney, this was our first classic comedy dirge and was a monster! hit (well not in the charts perhaps, but definitely with Spike Milligan, the Yardbirds, and Mrs Rose Barnet from Peckham Rye, London).

George Martin quote "I have fond memories of Scaffold as their recordings came not only in the middle of the Beatles but also just after my long association wlth those extreme forms of British humour such as Peter Sellers and the Goons, Beyond the Fringe with Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, etc... right through to the Establishment and Scaffold came pretty high on that list."

A change of producer to John Burgess gave us Goodbat Nightman. Brian (God rest him) Epstein rush released this brilliant Batman spoof just after! Batmania.

Another change of producer (Tony Palmer) produced our first chart top ten disc Thank U Very Much.

With a little help from our kid on the day of recording and with cheeky refs to Napalm bombs! and our gracious team, "Tar very much" became Sir Tommy Sopwith and Prime Minister of England Harold Wilson's favourite pop ditty.

Yet another! change of producer to Norrie Paramor who stayed for the next four singles. The fact that his wife Joan came from Liverpool could have had something to do with it but definitely not the rumour in Tin Pan Alley that several thousand melted down gold discs exchanged hands etc. This led us to Do You Remember.

Written by McGough with a McGear tune laid on top as soon as lyrics received and containing Twiggy's favourite soft shoe shuffle solo by Gorman (a first on record I believe) "Do Do Do Do Do You" was a big hit in every other way but the pop charts as Peter Asher said at the time. 1,2,3 was Scaffold's answer to A Day in the Life but not quite as popular (except for John's subtle operatic solo, that is). This track sums up the hopeful Carnaby Street meditation flower power, fun era of the much maligned Swingin' 60s.

Lily The Pink. Our biggest no. 1 record which they couldn't knock off the top of the pops over the entire Christmas period of '68 was produced by Norrie with Tim Superstar Rice on tea bags. We had Jack (ace Cream) Bruce on bass, Graham (Crosby, Still and) Nash on Jennifer Eccles verse (the Hollies had just had a monster hit of the same name), my Auntle Mill on receding legs and Ringo's bass drum on the floor of Abbey Road's number 3 studio because we'd lost the thud, thud, thud (imperative for no. 1 records) during the mix down. Tiny Rice Tim Quote: "I helped produce Lily the Pink, I even sang on it but there again so did nearly everyone else in the music business of '68, my uncredited contribution was perhaps not a major one but if I'd been given even a small royalty I could have become rich over night and would never have needed to write Jesus Christ Superstar the following year, but enough of history.. I cannot recommend this album too highly. P.S. I am not even receiving a fee for this tribute."

Tim Rice gravitated up to joint producer on Scaffold's next resounding... miss! Charity Bubbles.

Charity was Liverpool's answer to Diana Ross and the Supremes wlth Mike McGear and the Toxteth Tamla Toy Town Rioters. For Norrie's last `A' side we chose the Boy Scout National Anthem Gin Gan Goolie.

One of the many Abbey Road tracks that Elton John helped out on... as a Scaffold backing singer in his day as an EMI session singer. Elt had a chance to relax on Scaffold sing-a-longs and as disclosed in my recent Thank-U Very Much book, in later years at the Wings launch he even offered to be our pianerist.

Liver Birds (pronouneed Liever not Liver) was the updated version of the highly popular BBC TV Liver Birds series which sadly doesn't feature Pauline Collins with John Gorman in the middle re speech:

John: "Are You Dancin'?"

Pauline: "Are you askin' ?"

John: "I'm askin'"

Pauline: "Well I'm dancin'"

(Sheer Liverpool poetry)