Who Did It Better? Roxy Roller

Who Did It Better? 

Roxy Roller

A little change of pace. I thought we'd take a break from the usual divas, MTV faves and 1970's singer/songwriters and check out this tiny slice of glam rock.

And what a confusing little saga it comes with! 

Roxy Roller is a song written by Nick Gilder and Jim McCuloch. It was originally recorded by glam rock band Sweeney Todd in 1975 with Gilder on lead vocals and McCuloch on lead guitar. In the spring of 1975, the band was signed to London Records, for whom this incarnation of the band recorded one album. The song, Roxy Roller, released in Canada only, served as the group's first single. 

It was a huge success on the Canadian charts, hitting #1 in June of 1976 and staying there for three solid weeks.

This runaway success immediately caught the attention of Chrysalis Records, who signed Gilder to a solo contract, resulting in Gilder and McCuloch leaving the band.

But London Records still had faith in Sweeny Todd. 

The band, determined to soldier on and break into the American market, recruited lead singer Perry Clark, along with a new guitarist. This new line-up re-recorded Roxy Roller for release in America. At the same time, Gilder, now on Chrysalis, decided to record a solo version of the song to be released in the US. His solo version ended up sharing the exact same release date as Sweeney Todd's newly recorded version with Clark Perry singing lead.

This turn of events did not sit well with Clark. His relationship with the other members of Sweeny Todd quickly soured and he was out of the band in a matter of weeks.

That's when a fifteen year old singer by the name of Bryan 'Guy' Adams, who'd been pestering members of the band for a chance to audition, was brought on board. Yes, that Bryan Adams! A third version of the song was recorded with Adams and subsequently unleashed on the American market.   

All these competing versions created a great deal of confusion and greatly hindered the songs potential impact in the market. Adding to the drama, copies of the original recording - the one that had gone to #1 in Canada, were also being imported into the states. 

That's when Chrysalis Records began taking legal action, demanding that, since Gilder and McCuloch were the song's writers, all  imported copies of the original Sweeney Todd version (with Gilder on lead vocals), along with the other two newly recorded versions, be withdrawn from the US market. Record stores, fearing litigation and wanting to maintain good relations with Chrysalis, immediately removed all singles released by the various incarnations of Sweeney Todd from the shelves. 

But not before they'd had a chance to chart!

Two of them ended up charting in the US on Billboard's Hot 100. The version with vocals by Clark Perry singing lead peaked at #90 in late August of 1976. It also managed to hit #97 on the Cash Box Top 100, while the version featuring vocals by Bryan Adams peaked at #99 on Billboard's Hot 100 in mid-September 1976.

But don't feel too badly for Sweeney Todd. 

The song ended up ranked as the fifth biggest Canadian hit of 1976 and won a Juno Award - an award  accepted by the band and, then, lead singer Bryan Adams!

In 1977, Roxy Roller was covered by Suzi Quatro and featured on her album Live And Kickin'. Released as a single in the UK, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and Spain, it failed to chart, despite Quatro performing it on various television programs. 

And that's the whole story.

Now, on to the competition!

The Song: Roxy Roller

The Competitors: Sweeney Todd w/ Gilder vs. Sweeney Todd w/ Perry vs. Gilder vs. Quatro

Roxy Roller - Sweeney Todd w/ Nick Gilder

Roxy Roller - Sweeney Todd w/ Clark Perry

Roxy Roller - Nick Gilder

Roxy Roller - Suzi Quatro

Sweeney Todd w/ Nick Gilder

I love vintage glam rock. In the tradition of T-Rex, Mott The Hoople, and Bowie.  This? This is more on the Sweet side of things, as in the band Sweet, who have a very interesting history. 

This is glam pop, and as such; it is a lot of fun. It's got that bounce. It's got loud, bratty, simplistic guitars, futuristic sounding synth beds and a spacey, alien-sounding singer. There's a swagger which the comic book style lyrics backup by being trashy and sexy.

Gilder, whose voice certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea, is an incredible popsmith. Solo, he would enjoy a couple of minor hits (Here Comes The Night, You Really Rock Me) and a #1 smash (Hot Child In The City,) all driven by the same cheeky sense of rock 'n roll. 

Here, he's in fine form. Those helium-filled vocals contain just enough rasp that they don't come across as too fay. And the fat jangle of those boss guitars, along with that interstellar synth bed, create enough space between themselves and the singer to affect the kind of other-worldly atmosphere where such a voice would be right at home.

Second verse, love the harmony, but could maybe do without the warped Jew harp synth effect.

Throughout, I think Gilder walks a fine line; a sly showman who pulls his punches so he doesn't come off as too precocious. 

That Chuck Berry inspired guitar bridge, while typical for the genre, comes across as a bit ligneous. Something slamming in at angles would have been much more interesting.  As is, this is a very droll take on rock 'n roll boogie woogie.   

And the second guitar bridge is even more Berry-esque. Not bad - certainly within the formula - but nothing to write home about.

So, while the band is functional and supportive and spot-on with their sound, it's Gilder's stage-crafted vocals which keep this slight bit of glam so enticing. 

By the way, this is the album version. The single version winds itself up at just under three minutes... which I would have much preferred.

Oh, and how can you not adore that ending? 

 

Sweeney Todd w/ Clark Perry

So, as the backing track is exactly the same, the real question here is: who sings it better.

Perry has that same helium-filled quality that Gilder possesses, so I can see why the band thought he was a great fit. But where Gilder's grittiness grounds him firmly to the sleazy beat, Perry is all head voice pops; it's like bubbles floating upward into the atmosphere. 

He fares a bit better on "ooooo, Roxy Roller," but then blows it with that weirdly shrieked "Roxy!" which follows.

Perry's vocals sound multi-tracked and heavily-treated, rendering them bloated and unfocused. 

So, this is indeed a different guitarist (former Jet member, Skip Prest), but this is also not a very glam guitar solo. It sounds fluffed up and lazy, actually. 

And I do not like that ending. Wow. Limp noodle. 

But the length? Perfect.

Nick Gilder

This is also the single version, clocking in at just under three minutes.

So things sound amped up, which could be good, except, all the spacey fun of the original version seems to have gone missing. That's because of how it's mixed, I think. Very treble-heavy, so it feels more pointed and flattened. I miss all the space between the vocalist and the guitars. Also, this mix seems to downplay the contributions made by the drummer.  And where's the bass?

Gilder's performance is note-for-note the same. 

And this is the original guitarist, I believe, McCloch, but why the different solo? It's very similar to what Prest brought to the table and, know what? I know I wasn't all that impressed with the Chuck Berry inspired guitar solos in the first version, but I much prefer that to this. This sounds slightly cheesy when it should be slashing and burning.

Oh, that ending, though, even better than the original. 

And this is where I get to lament that I could not find a version featuring Bryan 'Guy' Adams on vocals. Which is a damn shame, as his version would have really served as the proverbial cherry on the top of this post. If anyone happens to know where a version is posted, let me know by leaving the info in the comments section. I would really like to hear it and include it in this article.

Suzi Quatro

So, Quatro was bubble gum glam from day one, with the bulk of her early output produced by pop wizard Mickey Most. A lot of it sounds very similar, and this song is a good fit.

Those guitars slash. But where's the bottom? Also, that tempo? It removes the sleekness and slink of the original. 

Quatro's vocals are treated with way too much reverb. She doesn't sound spacey, she sounds fuzzy.  I kind of like the male vocals backing her up. She always wanted to come across as one of the boys in the band.

That tempo. This feels so rushed. Are those strings moving in underneath like car traffic? 

That first bit of guitar work, similar to the original version, but then they add the angular sounds I thought would work. They slash and dash, but it feels too rushed to have the correct effect. Haunting, this is not. They've removed all the gothic outer space feel of the piece. This barely qualifies as glam. 

I like Quatro's voice; all it's little breaks and cracks. Mix-wise, I wish it were more grounded in reality. I also think the tempo is undermining her ability to stretch out and play with the song. 

The guitar solo. Meh. It's simply the melody repeated twice, with a second guitar line added on top the second time. But those 'ahhh's' that follow? Electric. 

This might as well have ended at the 2:30 mark. 

An incredibly uninspired reworking. It's as if very little thought went into approaching this at all, which is a shame, as this song is a perfect fit for Quatro. 

The Verdict

The original is the best one. Listen to the video below to hear the single edit.

The original is the one I want to hear again. This is catchy stuff and now I sort of want to dig into it again.

I don't like Perry's vocals as much as Gilder's. Gilder brings a slyness and a knowing  which brings out the sexy slink of the song.  

Gilder's solo version lacks bottom and the guitar solo is terrible.

Quatro is undermined by that quickened tempo time and again. I also didn't think much of the guitar or production work. It all feels dialed in. 

So it's the original Sweeney Todd with Gilder on vocals and McCuloch on guitar that gets my vote. The mix is right, the energy is right, and Gilder's interp is spot on. 

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And that's enough of me.

Okay, your turn. Leave your choice and thoughts in the comments section. I love to hear what you're thinking!

That's all for now. Until next time...

Thanks for reading... and listening!

Roxy Roller - Sweeney Todd (w/ Nick Gilder)

Roxy Roller - Suzi Quatro