Vince Taylor – Jet Black Leather Machine

Retrospectively honoured (and barely remembered by contemporaneous Bowie stans) as a mere sidenote in the David Bowie story - his rise and fall is widely noted as the inspiration for Bowie's iconic Ziggy Stardust phase - Vince Taylor is privileged, considering he was one of many inferior UK acts ripping off the Gene Vincent and Elvis Presley look and sound during the 60s. Others of his ilk cannot boast of attending Hollywood High just as a new sensation driven by teenagers began to sweep the nation, being admired by future leading figures in the music industry or having composed a landmark in British rock 'n' roll - "Brand New Cadillac", an oft-covered (The Clash's frenetic and utterly fantastic interpretation being the best of the bunch) classic rock 'n' roll record in its own right, up there with the evergreen American hip-shakers that inspired it. In his formative years as an artist, Vince Taylor signed to Parlophone (and later Palette) whilst performing with a variable band - The Playboys - and despite playing up to and forging his own rebel rocker image, credentials and material from a composite of his idols, he was dropped after failing to realize another hit on the same level as the aforementioned single. Alas, apart from several by proxy revivals and intermittent shows, Vince Taylor all but faded into obscurity in the intervening years, with his personal problems, erratic behaviour and general wackiness examined far more in-depth than his musical legacy. In fact, until Ace Records propitiously set about assembling the first compilation of Vince Taylor's material, there had been little or no attempt to move away from reporting on his chaotic decline and actually demonstrate his important musical moments. "Jet Black Leather Machine" - aptly named, besides being relevant to the title track, apropos Taylor's trademark stage gear - includes the cream of Taylor's British hit singles and also his popular French-made recordings in all their fierce and propulsive glory. For anyone interested in the development of British rock and roll, this is a must-own disc.

RATING: 4/5