Matchbox - Riders In The Sky '2015

Tracks list

Tracklist

01. Matchbox
02. All The Boys (Love My Baby)
03. Washmachine Boogie
04. Only Wanna Rock
05. In The Mood
06. Cryin Heart
07. Lets Go Crazy
08. Race With The Devil
09. Three Alley Cats
10. Please Dont Touch
11. Undeclared
12. Baby Lets Play House
13. Teenage Boogie
14. Its Only Make Believe
15. Make Like A Rock And Roll
16. Steelabilly
17. It Dont Care But A Few Minutes
18. (Ghost) Riders In The Sky


Named after a Carl Perkins’ classic, Matchbox were one of several 70s
rock ‘n’ roll revivalist bands from the UK to make the jump from
club favourites to chart stars. The band was formed in 1971 by two former
members of Contraband - bass player Fred Poke and his brother-in-law Jimmy
Redhead. They were joined by an old schoolfriend of Poke’s called Steve
Bloomfield. Capable of playing almost any stringed instrument, Bloomfield had
made a living as a session player for Pye Records and was on several Mungo Jerry
hits. Matchbox’s debut single came out on Dawn in 1973, after which
Redhead’s departure left a line-up of Wiffle Smith (vocals), Rusty Lipton
(piano), Bob Burgos (drums), Bloomfield (guitars), and Poke (bass). They
subsequently recorded Riders In The Sky for Charly (they had previously recorded
a Dutch-only album on Rockhouse). Smith and Lipton then departed, and former
Cruisers vocalist Gordon Waters joined. The band was signed to a minor label and
completed Setting The Woods On Fire in just over two days in October 1977, but
as the record company were virtually bankrupt Chiswick took over its
distribution. By this time, however, Matchbox had signed up with Raw Records -
which issued a single - and this led to complications. Chiswick did not promote
the band because Matchbox were not signed to the label, and Raw declined to
promote them because they did not own the album. In desperation the group bought
themselves out of their contract and signed a new agreement with Magnet. At this
point they had been joined by vocalist Graham Fenton, previously with the Wild
Bunch, the Houseshakers and the Hellraisers, and now Redhead returned, along
with another guitarist, Gordon Scott. The first Magnet single, ‘Black
Slacks’, missed out, but the second - a Steve Bloomfield original called
‘Rockabilly Rebel’ - made the charts. A string of hit singles
followed. One further line-up change came about when Bloomfield decided he did
not want to tour anymore, and Dick Callan was brought in as a replacement for
live appearances. Apart from Matchbox recordings, the group also put out a
version of Freddie Cannon’s ‘Palisades Park’ under the
pseudonym Cyclone. Steve Bloomfield released a solo album entitled Rockabilly
Originals. The group is known as Major Matchbox outside the UK.

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