SO WHERE IS THIS OTHER EDEN (KANE)?

My near Lynyrd Skynyrd conversion (see Monday) set me thinking about the whole tribute phenomenon. It obviously began in earnest with Elvis, followed by the Bootleg Beatles and Bjorn Again. Queen, the Bee Gees, et al soon followed.

So why not Cupid’s Re-Inspiration, or Hedgehoppers Anonymous Again?

Who? I hear you say.

Both were bands local to my boyhood home, and both were one-hit wonders. But what one-off hits they were. Yesterday Has Gone by Cupid's Inspiration, and Good News Week by Hedgehoppers Anonymous. Two cracking tunes.

And where is the Eden Kane kopykat? Yes, Eden bloody Kane. Peter Sarstedt’s older brother. Well I Ask You, Get Lost, Forget Me Not, all pop classics of the 1960s. And while we’re at it, what about Clarence ‘Frogman‘ Henry, Emile Ford And The Checkmates, The Marcels, Thunderclap Newman.

Incidentally, the lead singer of Cupid’s Inspiration lived two doors down from me when I was a teenager – and I didn’t even know he could sing, let alone was in a band, until they made the charts.

Terry had a terrific voice. But his manager/record label weren’t overkeen on his surname. They changed it to the poncey Terry Rice Milton. Criminal. But then again, I suppose almost any name for a pop singer is better than Terry Bull ….

* Incidentally, my Dad was an Elvis impersonator. But there wasn’t a lot of call for it in 1938.