Representative Albums: "Strange Man, Changed Man," "The Russians Are Coming," "Pressure"
Representative Songs: "Girl of My Dreams," "Shall We Dance?," "Lady from the U.S.A."
Biography
Bram Tchaikovsky (born Peter Bramall) began playing in local pub rock bands in Lincolnshire, England, in the late '60s. He joined the Motors in 1977 and was relegated to mere sideman status by the nucleus of the band, songwriters Andy McMaster and Nick Garvey. While waiting on pre-production work for the second Motors album, Tchaikovsky took the opportunity to do some recording of his own. The resulting single, "Sarah Smiles," drew enough interest for him to leave the Motors and form his own band. In addition to its leader, the band Bram Tchaikovsky consisted of Mike Broadbent (bass, keyboards) and Keith Boyce (drums). They signed to the new Radar label in 1978 along with Stiff expatriates Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello. The band showed a great deal of promise with their first album, Strange Man Changed Man, fitting in nicely with the growing power pop movement. The unforgettable "Girl of My Dreams," a true high point of the time, became a minor hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Tchaikovsky continued on through rapid personnel changes for two more albums, The Russians Are Coming (released in the U.S. as Pressure) in 1980 and Funland in 1981. A considerable drop in sales prompted Tchaikovsky to dissolve the band and retire from the music business. ~ Chris Woodstra, All Music Guide
In 1998 as part of a "British Rock" reissue series, WEA Japan re-released both Strange Man Changed Man and The Russians Are Comingalbums on CD, using original master tapes and artwork. In addition to the original artwork and liner notes, each CD contained extensive historical information, songlyrics and musical commentary (albeit in Japanese). These CDs were only available in Japan and are now out of production.
Strange Man Changed Man - has been expanded to 21 tracks and includes rare b-sides and live cuts and is only available on the web by clicking Strange Man Changed Man here. The album Strange Man Changed Man - included newly remastered tracks, featuring the hit single "Girl Of My Dreams" and the track "Lonely Dancer" ( which were both written by Heavy Metal Kid, Ronnie Thomas), and also ten bonus tracks making a total of 21 cuts. The bonus tracks included hard to find singles, b-sides and live tracks.
Tchaikovsky is also credited with writing "Solid Ball Of Rock" from the 1990 Saxon album of the same name.
Album discography
1979: Strange Man Changed Man
1980: The Russians are Coming (UK title) / Pressure (U.S. title)
1981: Funland
1998: Strange Man Changed Man - WEA Japanese re-release on CD - Japan only
1998: The Russians Are Coming - WEA Japanese re-release on CD - Japan only
