Come on, we all know the song, even if we won’t admit it. And many of us secretly still like it, don’t we?
“Sugar baby love, sugar baby love, I didn’t mean to make you blue,
Sugar baby love, sugar baby love, I didn’t mean to hurt you
Bap Showaddy, Bap Showaddywaddy, Wah Wah Wah……” (The Rubettes, 1974)
And we all remember the white caps and white suits, don’t we?
So there I am, perched in my usual spot in the upstairs bar looking down on the stage. I may be by myself (because everyone I knew thought it was so… uncool… to go and see The Rubettes) drinking a pint of lager. Anyway, the Locarno, or the Mecca as we knew it, was my usual haunt on a Friday in those days (unless there was someone good playing at Newcastle Mayfair) so I wasn’t put off by going to see incredibly cheesy band. I recall little of the evening (perhaps due to too much alcohol at the time or perhaps because my memory is going) but I do remember looking down at the band and they looked exactly the same as they did on Top of the Pops; same white caps, same white suits and exactly the same crazy, cheesy vocals, harmonies and falsetto voices. And you know what, although I can’t remember the rest of the set, when they sang “Sugar Baby Love”, for those few minutes, I have to admit that they were just great. Much much better and much more fun than I expected. In those few minutes I was a Rubettes fan. Then the song finished, I returned to the bar for another pint of lager, and I look for some friends to chat to (in the hope that someone else was there). So that’s it, that is my memory of another guilty pleasure.
The Rubettes went on to have a few more hits as I recall, but there will always be remembered for “Sugar Baby Love”. As I often do in a case like this, I purchased a copy of the Rubettes album of the time Wear It’s At (isn’t eBay a wonderful thing?) The album cover includes a large picture of the trademark cap (see image) and also includes the big hit “Sugar Baby Love”. I haven’t actually played the album but did take some images for this blog post. I have, however, listened to the aforementioned “Sugar Baby Love” via another wonderful thing, Alexa and Amazon Music. Happy days are here again.
I checked the band out and found out that there are two versions of the Rubettes touring at the moment. One of these features three original members and holds the rights to the name (from their website):
“To ensure the safeguard of the brand name and continue to work as a group, Mick Clarke became the UK trademark owner of The Rubettes® / UK00003348207 in July 2019. For any band that has attained commercial success, Trademark law may not be very “Rock and Roll”, but it sure is important these days and is an essential part of legal protection. From a legal perspective, the issue of who owns a band name usually falls under trademark law… Today,… The Rubettes® now have three original founder members performing together for the first time since 1974. With this amazing alliance, The Rubettes® will be one of the only few 70s bands that has three of its original founder members performing to their audiences in the UK, Europe and Worldwide.”
The other version of the band features lead singer Alan Williams (from their website):
“In celebrating 45 years of continuing Rubettes line ups, 1974/2019/20, it’s significant that the common denominator Alan Williams having remained throughout has perpetuated and sustained the authentic sound of the Rubettes well into the 21st century and continues to do so. With Alan being the Rubettes lead vocalist and frontman from the very beginning there can be no better ambassador for Rubettes music than the latest line up of the Rubettes featuring Alan Williams. “
So take your pick!
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