The Big Sound Authority’s success came about after two individual members responded to an advert Paul Weller had posted in Smash Hits magazine in September 1982. If the lead singer had followed in his father’s footsteps, it’s unlikely we’ll had ever heard of them. They came along at a time when they believed the charts needed a shake up and they were the band to do it, they also liked to get close to their fans by offering them a chance to help the band out rather than employing outsiders. Big Sound Authority’s career was short-lived but leave us with two quality singles, the first of which is this week’s suggestion from blodwyn buttercup.
Independently, in 1983, guitarist Tony Burke and singer Julie Hadwen both responded to Weller’s ad in Smash Hits, as did Tracie Young whom Weller did sign as a solo artist and she had four UK hits under her first name, the biggest was the number nine hit The House That Jack Built. Hadwen submitted a demo of Lulu’s To Sir With love, but Weller introduced Burke and Hadwen to each other and then they recruited Mace Carnochan on keyboards and Steve Martinez on drums and recorded the song History of the World for a compilation album called Love the Reason which Weller had out on his own label. They also toured as part of Weller’s package which included his other signing, The Questions, but they decided to turned down the offer of being signed and instead signed with Source records which was owned by MCA the following year probably presuming they had a bigger budget for promotion.
Big Sound Authority were not short of exposure, they had appeared on The Tube, Top of the Pops, a little remembered children’s TV show called No 73 which featured a young Sandi Toksvig, the Old Grey Whistle Test and a slot on Wogan. They even secured an appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, but a lack of radio play eluded them. Peter Powell, Janice Long and Mike Read did champion them but clearly, it wasn’t enough.
Their debut hit was produced by the respected producer Robin Millar who had worked with Sade, Everything But the Girl, Tom Robinson and later the Fine Young Cannibals and Big Country, but even that couldn’t push them into the top 20. Burke told Richard Walmsley why his choice of producer, “The reason we first went with Robin was because he was a very inspiring character. After meeting him in his office everyone was saying, Christ, I can’t wait to get in the studio with him, he’s brilliant. We wouldn’t work with someone we didn’t think was up to scratch technically, but once you’ve got that out the way it’s just a matter of personality — whether you can work with him, and whether he can bring out the best in you as a performer.”
I mentioned Tony not following in his father’s footsteps, but he did briefly. Growing up he explained, “my mum was just a housewife and my dad was a rogue, a criminal, when I was 14, my dad went to prison for seven years.” He later said of his dad, “I didn’t admire him for being a criminal, or for getting caught, but I did admire the way he went for it, he always did very well for himself. My dad did encourage me to be bad and once we were very short of money, it seemed to me that a lot of people had lots of money and I wanted some, so I robbed a petrol station. The lady had left the till open and I lifted it. Trouble was, I got caught, but that was all in the past.”
Their first single was a white label pressing of (Call Me) Soulman (Live) but their first hit was This House (Is Where Your Love Stands) which was written by Burke who said, “It’s a love song but at the same time it’s about people motivating themselves. Mace told Robin Smith at the time, “A lot of people write to us and I think if people are motivated to write a letter then they are motivated to do other things as well. Those are the sort of people we’re appealing to.”
The single reached number 21 in the UK and they recorded one album called An Inward Revolution of which This House (Is Where Your Love Stands) was the closing track. The follow-up single, A Bad Town, was also on the album but that stalled at number 54. Their next single, which failed to chart, was called Moving Heaven and Earth and was produced by former T. Rex and David Bowie producer Tony Visconti. One further single, Don’t Let Our Love Start A War, also failed to chart and the band called it a day.
Post Big Sound Authority, Julie Hadwen developed and interest in psychology and obtained a foundation degree in counselling skills. She still records music and has a recent album of acoustic folk and blues music, called Sanctuary, which is released through East Action records. There is also a 40th anniversary re-issue of Big Sound Authority’s only album An Inward Revolution.