RACING CARS - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Most poeple's introduction to the music of racing cars would have come in the spring of 1977 when their single they shoot horses dont they? hit the top 20 of the uk singles chart, the song was inspired by the movie of the same name and nearly 30 years on remains a much loved record, although not by the man who wrote it....more on that later!Two years before racing cars slipped into top gear morty was singing with a band called good habit who performed many of his songs, it was around this time that morty was reunited with his life long friend graham williams who had returned from london after playing with some of the biggest names in the industry at that time, and who in later years would go on to play with bo diddley, the sensational alex harvey band among others, morty was looking for a guitarist and graham was the obvious choice and good habit became racing cars.In early '76morty and graham together with bassist david land, guitarist ray"alice" ennis and drummer robert james wilding moved to london and racing cars had begun a journey that was soon to take them to height's they'd previously only dreamt of, london was very much the place to be for a band of their calibre, the pub- rock movement was at its peak and in those days it was the music and not the image that was attracting the interest of the record companys a&r men, and racing cars were soon signed to chrysalis records.The debut album downtown tonight comprised of eight songs all co written by morty and graham, exept one song written by morty alone which was they shoot horses dont they? morty was never that fussed on the song but was persuaded to put it on the album, ironically it was this song that brought the band their first chart sucsess, the hit record saw racing cars appear twice on top of the pops as well as on the old grey whistle test and sight and sound.Before the decade was out racing cars had released two further albums on chrysalis, the first was weekend rendezvous and the last on the label was bring on the night, it was on this album that the band recruited the help of timothy b. Schmit on vocals, but as punk rock was becoming more and more the music of the moment, bands like racing cars found it increasingly difficult to carry on, and the band split in 1980.The band reformed in 1988 and started touring the country and europe again, since the turn of the century the band have enjoyed a new lease of life, a couple of changes in personnel saw former van morrison side man colin griffin join on drums, and simon davies on keyboards who had worked with squeeze, the saw dotors and midge ure among others, they released a new studio album in 2000 called bolt from the blue which was well recieved and played a sell-out show at st, davids hall cardiff to promote it.In 2006 they were signed to AngelAir Records, and to celebrate their 30th Anniversary they released 76-06, 30th Anniversary Concert DVD which was well received by fans and critics alike,The live album 76-06: 30th anniversary concert wil be out on CD on 6 April 2007, And now they end 2007 with the release of Second Wind, their first studio album in 28 years, it will be launched with a very special show at the Point in Cardiff on February 23rd 2008, where the band will be joined by their old friends Sassafrass and very special guests Blackheart.Next year also sees the re-issue of Weekend Rendezvous, Bring On The Night and Bolt From The Blue, all on AngelAir Records, so it would seem some model's of Car never run out of gas, long may they continue. made with the Cosmoedit Myspace Editor

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 8/16/2006
Band Website: racing-cars.uk.com
Band Members: Morty- lead vocals(Morty likes Liverpool and Tonic Water Graham Williams- guitar and vocals(Graham likes food, especially a bit of fish!! liverpool, and cooked dinners) Simon Davies-keyboards and vocals(Simon likes strongbow, gardening and more strongbow!!!) Chris Thomas- bass and vocals(Chris likes Cardiff city, the Baglan, and is big chums with Captain Smutt and Lord Charles)Colin Griffin -drums(Colin, the bargoed basher likes everyone and everybody likes col. !!!) THIS IS WHAT THE FAN'S FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD SAY Jeff Meade from The U.S. I remember hearing Racing Cars in 1978, on Radio 1-In Concert. I have since wore out cassettes of downtown tonight & weekend rendezvous,and have exhausted all efforts to replace them. Sadly missed,I never got to see them.mogzz from pontardawe Lifted the arts centre from its foundations, FANTASTIC!!John Bennett Racing Cars have just celebrated their 30th anniversary with a gig at the Arts Centre, Pontardawe (7th July 2006) The gig was recorded and they plan to release a DVD of the occasion.Glyn Griffiths Hi, Only just spotted this site. Why not add something about Good Habit and Alllan Collier.Anyone that is really interested in Racing Cars may want to know how they started. The college ciruit around the Uk was a great starter for lots of english groups, even The Who did a live album in Leeds poly. Just to add, a great talent that never really got the acclaim they deserved. GlynDavid Llanelli Stereophonics? hmm? Forget the 'phonics because THIS is the band which realy says "yes, we are from wales and music is in our blood". They are such great entertainers, they should get out of the small time and do some sort of 5 year massive promotion of all their work or something, because it's frustating to have such awesome tallent and songs, yet have welsh bands like stereophonics take all the limelight :( Easily one of the best guitarists to come out of wales.. oh and that voice! Morty's voice literally becomes an instrument of it's own. They truely are an amazing band to see live, you constantly wonder "how do they do it?" and just get entertained. If it's not mortys awesome voice, is all the rest of them just being awesome aswell. I saw the eagles recently, and even though they are always great... when live, these guys rock the house. It's a dying shame though that the venues they do.. aren't really doing them justice. However, they are welsh, and proud to be ;)Phil Evans from Tylorstown/Swansea Being a Tyly boy I know Morty. I've seen Racing Cars a few times and got the album Bolt From The Blue. Morty's vocals are second to none and Graham the guitarist has got to be seen to be believed! Cracking band. Over the hill? I'm only 25, so if I like your music does that make me over the hill too?! When is the next album out?Andy Mackay - Pontypridd Saw them backing Bad Company in 1976 in Earls Court. Saw them again 19/05/06. 30 years and still giving great entertainment. Voices get better and Fantastic guitar & performed with fun.Julian from Newport The 'cars' were a big influence on my, (and lots of other budding musicians in the south wales area)early career as a bass player and i now have the pleasure of playing in a reggae band with Robert Wilding.Paul from Massachusetts Can still hum They Shoot Horses and Rhondda Reggae after seeing them 3 or more times during student days in Sheffield in late '70's. But the star of the group was the roadie who was reputed to be Morty's brother. He handled crowd control in a firm yet humorous way.paul rogers tonypandy i know morty quite well hes a great guyJon - York Saw the at the Theatre Royal in York sometime in the mid 70's. An unsual venue for a rock gig but a great concert...seem to recall a Morty double or perhaps his twin brother appearing on stage. Downtown Tonight is agreat and sadly overlooked album.Celfyn Barker - Swindon liked them in the 70s proud to have been a childhood friend of Grahams, please give more gig information on the band. who was on the frost programme said about graham being in his opinion the best guitarist?Dave from Sheffield Racing Cars were doing a combination of bluesey country music long before I understood what it was. I just knew I liked it. They were brilliant live. I saw them seven times in my "youth" in Sheffield and they were always a great night out. A wonderful band sorely under appreciated at the time
Influences: every second of music wev'e ever heard, THIS A REVIEW FROM THE SOUTH WALES EVENING POST, WRITTEN BY KATE LAY, PUBLISHED ON SEPTEMBER 15TH 2006, Its a terrible modern disease to blame you parents for all of your woes in adulthood. And I don't succumb to that level of self pity. But I do have to take issue with the folks for their utterly terrible timing. I was born in 1972. I bought my first album when I was seven. It was crammed full of Hank Williams, Cash, Waylon, Ray Charles and Marty Robbins. But aside from that early sign of discerning musical taste my young palette wasn't awakened to the best of 1970s music until it was long gone. I never saw Stevie Marriott live (not even in Humble Pie) and Jimi Hendrix is an historic figure to me. Thankfully though, in this barren musical landscape that is 2006, there is the occasional chance to see awesome musicians in action. The Racing Cars played to a packed Tawe Delta Blues Club on Tuesday night, illustrating why they are one of the cornerstones upon which the reputation of South Wales rock is based. Taking the stage first as Blind Lemsip and The Sicknotes, they stoked up a short, barnstorming blues set including Sam Cooke's Bring It On Home To Me - with chunky electric slide, scorching vocals and the kind of authenticity that would bring the house down in Austin's Antones on a Saturday night. Then they shifted up a gear for full set of Racing Cars numbers. Frontman Morty fools around like an ADHD toddler who has downed a six pack of Red Bull but his buffoonery can't obscure the fact that he has the parched, attacking vocal talents of the aforementioned Marriott, with a range that seems infinite. Guitarist Graham Williams also seems limitless in his skills. With mesmerising technique he finds intricate internal melodies in every song, popping sweet harmonics and all the while looking modest and sheepish at his own dexterity. A high point was hearing Stevie Ray Vaughn's Lennie giving way to Bob Dylan's All Along the Watchtower.What with that great white R'nB voice, Nils Lofgren-come-Dave Gilmour on guitar and a driving force that the E-Street Band would tip their hats to the Racing Cars are impossible to pin down stylistically. But as Louis Armstrong said, there are two kinds of music, the good and bad. The Racing Cars are a deluxe model.Kathryn Lay Features Writer South Wales Evening Post 01792 514 634 [email protected]
Sounds Like: Its been said over the years we sound like little Feat and the Eagles which is high praise indeed! but know wer'e in our 30th year we think we sound like RACING CARS.
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Record Label: AngelAir
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

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