Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

The Scaffold

 
Artist: The Scaffold
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists

Group Members:

Roger McGough, Adrian Henri, John Gorman, Mike McGear

Similar Artists:

The Bonzo Dog Band

Formal Connection With:

Mike McGear
  • Genres: Rock
  • Representative Albums: "Thank U Very Much: The Very Best of Scaffold," "The Abbey Road Decade, 1966-1971," "Singles A's & B's"

Biography

The result of the meeting of Michael McCartney (brother of Beatle Paul), who would work as Mike McGear to avoid accusations of coat-tailing, and Post Office engineer John Gorman, the Scaffold took a blend of absurd humor and catchy songs to chart-topping glory throughout the 1960s. Their lineup filled out with Roger McGough and Adrian Henri, the group was briefly known as the Liverpool One Fat Lady All Electric Show, to the horror of everyone around them. Henri soon departed. A change of name later, they were gaining a reputation as one of the most amusing outfits on the scene, with a residency at Peter Cook's Establishment Club (where the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band also held court).

The Scaffold's biggest successes were their cheerfully silly singles, starting with "Thank U Very Much" and continuing with "Lily the Pink" (a sterilized adaptation of an old rugby song, featuring Jack Bruce on bass) and the somewhat incomprehensible "Gin Gan Goolie," all of which had a knack for sticking in the mind on endless repeat without causing undue annoyance. These three songs, in particular, are well remembered even as the 1990s draw to a close.

In 1973, the Scaffold officially ceased to exist, being blended into the immense stage antics of Grimms alongside a couple of former Bonzos and a great many other people. Three Grimms albums followed. The Scaffold made occasional reappearances for various purposes. During the 1970s, Michael McCartney would begin using his real name again, although his infrequent recordings would still use the McGear pseudonym. Post-music, he has pursued careers as a photographer and children's author. ~ Steven McDonald, All Music Guide
Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Wikipedia: The Scaffold
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009)
The Scaffold

The cover of The Scaffold's 1974 hit single, "Liverpool Lou"
Background information
Origin Liverpool, England
Genre(s) Pop music
Years active 1964-1977
Label(s) Parlophone
Island
Warner Bros.
Bronze
Associated acts Grimms
Liverpool poets
Wings
Former members
Mike McGear
Roger McGough
John Gorman

The Scaffold were a comedy, poetry and music trio from Liverpool, England, consisting of Mike McGear (real name Peter Michael McCartney - brother of Paul McCartney), Roger McGough and John Gorman.

Contents

Career

The Scaffold performed a mixture of comic songs, comedy sketches and the poetry of McGough, as evidenced on their 1968 live album, and released a number of singles and albums on Parlophone and EMI between 1966 and 1971, with several more on Island, Warner Bros. and Bronze thereafter.

The Scaffold achieved Top 10 success in the UK with:[1]

In addition to the hit singles, The Scaffold's output included four albums: The Scaffold on Parlophone in 1968, L. the P. on Parlophone in 1969, Fresh Liver on Island in 1973, and Sold Out on WB in 1975. The Scaffold's first greatest hits album, entitled Singles As & Bs, was released on See For Miles Records in 1982. This was followed by a second greatest hits collection, the first on Compact Disc, The Scaffold: The Songs, in 1992. Three additional compilations of the band's Parlophone tracks have since been released (two of which also include the Warner Bros. “Liverpool Lou” track).

Jack Bruce, Elton John, Graham Nash and Jimi Hendrix were among the session musicians who performed on The Scaffold's early records (since none of the trio were musicians).[2] Tim Rice, who was at that time an assistant to their producer Norrie Paramor, contributed backing vocals to some of their material.

In 1970, The Scaffold appeared in a children's television series, Score With The Scaffold.

In early 1971, they provided some catchy tunes for inclusion in a television publicity campaign heralding the introduction of decimal currency to the UK. In this series of five-minute programmes, titled Decimal Five and shown on BBC1, they sang such inspired lyrics as "Give more, get change" and "Use your old coppers in sixpenny lots".

In 1972, they made a ½ hour musical movie called "Plod" based on an earlier stage production. The film was made on location in Liverpool, and included boys from the Liverpool Institute High School, earlier attended by the McCartney brothers and Beatle George Harrison.

In 1973, The Scaffold transferred to Island Records and released one album, Fresh Liver, from which no singles were released. The group then merged into the expanded line-up of Grimms with the likes of Neil Innes, Andy Roberts, Adrian Henri and Brian Patten.

After the 1974 success of "Liverpool Lou," recorded with Paul McCartney and Wings, The Scaffold reunited for their final album, Sold Out, on Warner Bros. Records. The B-side of "Liverpool Lou", "Ten Years After on Strawberry Jam", was an instrumental composed by Paul and Linda McCartney and performed by Wings. The Scaffold moved to the Bronze Records label in 1976, and continued touring through 1977. After that the group disbanded, although there have been occasional reunion performances. The group also reunited to record a new track for a special album, commemorating Liverpool’s 2008 "European Capital of Culture” event.

Discography

Singles

UK Releases

  • "2 Days Monday" / "3 Blind Jellyfish" (Parlophone R 5443) May, 1966
  • "Goodbat Nightman" / "Long Strong Black Pudding" (Parlophone R 5548) Dec., 1966
  • "Thank U Very Much" / "Ide B The First" (Parlophone R 5643) Nov, 1967
  • "Do You Remember?" / "Carry On Krow" (Parlophone R 5679) Mar., 1968
  • "1-2-3" / "Today" (Parlophone R 5703) June, 1968
  • "Lily the Pink" / "Buttons Of Your Mind" (Parlophone R 5734) Oct., 1968
  • "Charity Bubbles" / "Goose" (Parlophone R 5784) June, 1969
  • "Gin Gan Goolie" / "Liver Birds" (Parlophone R 5812) Oct, 1969
  • "All The Way Up" / "Please Sorry" (Parlophone R 5847) June, 1970
  • "Bus Dreams" / "If I Could Start All Over Again" (Parlophone R 5866) Oct, 1970
  • "Do The Albert" / "Commercial Break" (Parlophone R 5922) Oct., 1971
  • "Lily the Pink" / "Thank U Very Much" / "Do You Remember?" (EMI 2085) Nov., 1973
  • "Liverpool Lou" / "Ten Years After on Strawberry Jam" (Warner Bros K 16400) May, 1974
  • "Mummy Won't Be Home For Christmas" / "The Wind Is Blowing" (Warner Bros K 16488) Dec., 1974
  • "Leaving of Liverpool" / "Pack Of Cards" (Warner Bros K 16521) Mar., 1975
  • "Wouldn't It Be Funny If You Didn't Have A Nose" / "Mr. Noselighter" (Bronze BRO 33) Oct., 1976
  • "How D'You Do" / "Paper Underpants" (Bronze BRO 39) Apr., 1977
  • "Lily the Pink" / "Thank U Very Much" / "Do You Remember?" / "Gin Gan Goolie" (EMI 2690) Oct., 1977

US Releases

  • "Thank U Very Much" / "Ide B The First" (Bell 701) Jan, 1968
  • "Do You Remember?" / "Carry On Krow" (Bell 724) May, 1968
  • "Lily the Pink" / "Buttons Of Your Mind" (Bell 747) Dec., 1968
  • "Charity Bubbles" / "Goose" (Bell B-821) Aug., 1969
  • "Jelly Covered Cloud" / "Liver Birds" (Bell B-849) 1969
  • "Liverpool Lou" / "Ten Years After on Strawberry Jam" (Warner Bros WBS 8001) July, 1974

Canadian Releases

  • "Thank U Very Much" / "Ide B The First" (Capitol 72524) Feb., 1968
  • "Lily the Pink" / "Buttons Of Your Mind" (Capitol 72562) 1968
  • "Liverpool Lou" / "Ten Years After on Strawberry Jam" (Warner Bros WBS 8001) July, 1974

Albums

UK Releases

  • MCGOUGH AND MCGEAR (Parlophone PMC 7047 [mono], PCS 7047 [stereo]) [LP] May, 1968
  • THE SCAFFOLD (Parlophone PMC 7051 [mono], PCS 7051 [stereo]) [LP] July, 1968
  • L. THE P. (Parlophone PMC 7077 [mono], PCS 7077 [stereo]) [LP] May, 1969
  • FRESH LIVER (Island ILPS 9234) [LP] May, 1973
  • SOLD OUT (Warner Bros. K 56067) [LP] Feb., 1975
  • THE SCAFFOLD SINGLES A'S AND B'S (See For Miles CM 114) [LP] Oct., 1982 [Compilation, containing 22 EMI and Warner Bros tracks]
  • MCGOUGH AND MCGEAR (Parlophone PCS 7332) [LP] Apr., 1989 [Reissue of the 1968 album]
  • MCGOUGH AND MCGEAR (EMI CDP 7 91877 2) [CD] Apr., 1989 [Reissue of the 1968 album]
  • THE BEST OF THE EMI YEARS: THE SCAFFOLD, THE SONGS (EMI CDP 7 985022) [CD] Feb., 1992 [Compilation, containing 20 EMI tracks]
  • THE VERY BEST OF THE SCAFFOLD (Wise Buy WB 885572) [CD] Feb., 1998 [Compilation, containing 12 EMI and Warner Bros tracks]
  • THE SCAFFOLD AT ABBEY ROAD, 1966-1971 (EMI 7243 496435 2 9) [CD] Aug., 1998 [Compilation containing 27 EMI tracks, including 7 previously unreleased]
  • THE VERY BEST OF THE SCAFFOLD (EMI Gold 7243 5 38474 2 5) [CD] Mar., 2002 [Compilation, containing 26 EMI and Warner Bros tracks]
  • LIVE AT THE QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 1968 (Él ACMEM63CD) [CD] Jan., 2006 [Reissue of the 1968 album, The Scaffold]
  • LIVERPOOL-THE NUMBER ONES ALBUM (EMI 50999 5 19522 2 8) [CD] Feb., 2008 [Multi-artist commemorative album, including one newly-recorded track by Scaffold]

US Release

  • THANK U VERY MUCH (Bell 6018) [LP] Sept., 1968

Japanese Releases

  • SOLD OUT (Muskrat RATCD 4228) [CD] Aug, 2004 [Reissue of the 1975 album]
  • FRESH LIVER (Island UICY 94110) [CD] May, 2009 [Reissue of the 1973 album]

Discography Notes

  • The album, MCGOUGH AND MCGEAR, is by Roger McGough and Mike McGear. All other releases by The Scaffold.
  • Tracks which were first released from 1973 onward show the artist as Scaffold (rather than The Scaffold).
  • See also Mike McGear Discography.
  • See also Grimms Discography.
  • There were probably other albums released in Japan. The two above are included because they have not been released on Compact Disc in the UK.

See also

References

  1. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 483. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
  2. ^ In his 1981 book "Thank U Very Much - Mike McCartney's Family Album", Mike McGear describes a later meeting with Elton John during which John advises him he used to sing background vocals for the group when he was still using his real name, Reg Dwight.

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Shopping: The Scaffold
Top
Scaffold
 
 

 

Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Scaffold".  Read more