Charlie

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Charlie was a British rock band that was formed in 1971 by Terry Thomas.

Members

Original members included:

• John Anderson, Backing Vocals & Bass
• Steve Gadd, Drums (Not the American session drummer of the same name)
• Martin Smith, Backing Vocals & Guitar
• Terry Thomas, Lead Vocals & Guitar

History

Briefly called "Charlie Cuckoo" (after a racehorse), it soon began work as "Charlie".

After a couple of early singles, including the well-played "Johnny Hold Back," and several albums, the band finally had a hit in 1978 with "She Loves to Be In Love," which reached the Top 60 in the United States.

Julian Colbeck, who had replaced Martin Smith after the first album, departed four albums later in 1980 amid some turmoil. He writes, "Finally, the touring band line-up of Terry Thomas, John Anderson, Eugene Organ, Steve Gadd, and myself ceased operations once Arista refused to release Here Comes Trouble, and our caring, sharing management company immediately cut off all our money in 1980. That's a whole other story but, for the record, our final gig was in 1979 at the Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island on Monday 29 October, alongside Foreigner." Thomas commented "Arista our new label in the U.S. wanted more songs - our company in the UK - Trident Audio Productions - refused to put us in the studio or spend any more money. The UK record company - Polydor - wouldn't release it until it had a U.S. release. Effectively Charlie had no record label and no money to live on. Eugene and Julian decided to leave."

In 1982, Terry Slesser joined the group as new lead singer, while Thomas, still a member of the band, began concentrating more on the instrumentation. In 1983, the group had their most successful hit single, "It's Inevitable." The MTV music video featured a rousing pie fight. The album was a flop, however, and the band folded.

In 1986, Thomas resurrected the band with a new crew and released In Pursuit of Romance. Thomas writes, "This was basically a contractual album - Steve had gone off to work with Iron Maiden as a drum tech and John had a job in the telecommunications industry. I ended up making the whole album by myself - it put me in the hospital!"

Other than a "best of" retrospective in 2000, and the re-mastered Anthology in 2007, Charlie has been dormant.

Timeline

• Fantasy Girls (1976)
• No Second Chance (1977)
  • Martin Smith was replaced by Julian Colbeck on keyboards
• Lines (1978)
  • Eugene Organ was added on guitar
  • Shep Lonsdale was added as a second drummer
• Fight Dirty (1979)
  • Julian Colbeck, Eugene Organ, and Shep Lonsdale departed
• Good Morning America (1981)
• Here Comes Trouble (1982)
• Charlie (1983)
  • Terry Slesser joined as vocalist
• In Pursuit of Romance (1986)
  • A completely different band under Terry Thomas's vocal leadership:
    • Graham Broad, drums
    • Richard Cottle, keyboards & saxophone
    • Felix Krish, bass, keyboards, & backing vocals
    • Linda Thomas, backing vocals
• The Best of Charlie (2000)
• Charlie Anthology (2007)

External links

• Charlie's Home Page