Shortly after ‘Summer Jam’ [see separate review] and ‘Rock Your Arse Off’, and with a different and definitive lineup – Ian Millar having replaced Fordham on second guitar – the band released a slew of singles, including the excellent and ferocious b-side ‘Devil’s Disciple’ (backing ‘Mess of the Blues’). Then came their proper debut album, the classic ‘Ball Power’ [EMI, 1973], the subject of this review. A month previously, they’d supported Marc Bolan and T. Rex on their Australian tour. Bolan’s narcissistic glam approach must have been in stark contrast to the streetwise, unpretentious and amiable hardcases that were the Balls, who’d usually perform in t-shirts and denim jeans or something similarly low-key and didn’t go in for posing or rock star ambitions. At one Balls gig pissed lead man Lobby Loyde was seen to walk over to the side of the stage to puke behind an amp before returning to front and center, without stopping playing or missing a beat. You wouldn’t see Bolan doing that... that sort of thing is why Steve Peregrine Took got the shove, after all, and it just wouldn’t do to have chunder on the glittery gear now, would it? Anyway, not to say that Balls fans weren’t likely to get into glam rock, just that their taste lay more towards Slade and Suzi Quatro.
‘Ball Power’ is full of raw, hard guitar rock and proto-punk with some boogie and rock’n’roll influences, and some slightly ‘progressive’ lengthier rockers. The songs and riffs are primitive and the band seem a little short on ideas, but they go at it with great gusto, and for me their direct and raw rocking charm outweighs any concerns about their limitations. People who don’t get into this sort of thing might not agree, but I think the Coloured Balls didn’t sound quite like anyone else, though arguably some slight comparisons can be made to some aspects of the Pink Fairies, the MC5, the Up, the Groundhogs (on a caveman trip), Taste, Stack Waddy, Third World War, Hammersmith Gorillas, Hard Stuff, Agnes Strange and early AC/DC.
‘Flash’ [3:21] opens the album as a concise, anthemic, up-tempo punky hard rocker that is actually a love song, but without being sappy. Ripe for singing along with beer in hand (and joint in the other) and head in banging mode, it chugs along in a simple but oh-so-catchy drive of riffage, both dumb and obvious, but who cares when it’s fun and rocks so well?
‘Mama Don’t You Get Me Wrong’ [1:53] is basically one inverted roughneck boogie riff, repeated over and over, with the main lyrics backed up by a repeated group-chant of the title of the track, chugging along like they could play this all day. It finishes on a wandering, squiggling oscillator tone that sounds like it’s being operated by a curious monkey, and a closing cheesy “wroooong...” in harmony.
‘Won’t You Make Up Your Mind’ [1:35] is a roughshod, snotty rock’n’roll boogie, sounding a bit like early Motörhead, or even some of the Chiswick label punk bands that shared the ‘Long Shots, Dead Certs and Odds On Favourites’ sampler with Motörhead, such as The Radiators From Space, but not quite as hard. Lobby sounds like he’s just gargled Drano as the lyrics splatter out of his mouth. Unhygienic!
‘Something New’ [5:05] is a plodding, evil death-dirge driven by low-down bass from hell digging in on a simple but effective prowling tyrannosaur riff like Man’s Martin Ace in a bad mood, as guitars grind and wind over the top, reinforcing and embellishing on the sole groove. “Just when you think you seen it all, there’s somethin’ new... Just when you think you seen it all, there’s somethin’ wrong...” sings Lobby as it stalks on and on, seething with restrained malevolence.
‘B.P.R.’ [2:25] is a brief slow blues guitar instrumental interlude that segues suddenly and unexpectedly straight into ‘Human Being’ [6:08], the song the Balls would be best known for in the long run, alongside ‘G.O.D.’ ‘Human Being’ has a skanky off-kilter rocksteady rhythm fuelled by rung-climbing jungle bass and chunky thrashing guitar chords, that surely must mark the birth of Jamaican-informed Oi! rock or something... (though no-one’s shouting “oi!” or anything like that). The lyrics are an exploration of what the hell a human being is supposed to be, what are we all about? It’s all questions and no answers really, but you get the feeling Lobby’s angry as he spits out the questions, because he knows he isn’t going to be getting any good answers any time soon. This first section then retreats into a softer and different one, as they slow things down and space out to a minimal extent, but still questing... “Mama, what is a human being?”... as it builds again in intensity slowly but surely, though not reaching the riff-stomp heaviness of earlier (unfortunately – every time I hear this track, I keep expecting it to go back into a refrain of the first riff, which is so cool...). The guitars are still distorted, but they’re not so much in-yer-face, and the song dwindles to a beautiful close.
‘Whole Lotta Shakin’’ [5:52],opening side two, is a high-octane cover version that sounds more or less like it would performed by the Pink Fairies circa ‘What a Bunch of Sweeties’ – no explanation really necessary here.
‘Hey! What’s Your Name’ [3:55] begins with a simple two-chord thrash and a demented howl from Lobby, settling into a mid-tempo plodding boogieish hard rocker, kinda like Free played by the Pistols in a loose mood, leading into a chorus with back-up vocals in harmony (though not in a pretty way, more like blokes singing along in a manly way at the pub), and finishing on a run of almost country-tinged fuzz jamming, before returning to the original riff and ending suddenly with the lyrics “Hey! This is it... (eh?)”.
‘That’s What Mama Said’ [10:58] begins with a slow sequence of descending distorted guitar chords with an oscillator or primitive synth wailing and wandering over the top, before the guitar starts digging out a chunky granite groove that sounds very much like a simpler variation on the ‘Human Being’ riff. Oh well, waste not want not, and it was good the first time (and every time I listen to it). It’s less skankin’ this time though, and feeling more relaxed with the straighter rhythm they jam away with greater ease as Lobby greases it out over the top on lead guitar. This is kind of like an extended Hawkwind groove as played by an Aussie pub-rock band without any spacey ideas (or competence with electronic instruments!). Again, the oscillator/tone generator/whatever returns and leaps all over the place in a rudimentary way, still sounding like that same monkey from earlier has still not given up. Backwards guitars fade in and out, wailing in the background, and fuzzed rhythm guitar grinds away carving out more structure and eventually settling for a while into some approximation of a song, which involves the guitars and bass and electronics dropping away for a bit as the boys chant the title catchily over a steady drum groove, then guitars thrash back into the mix, held up by that plodding reliable bass, and now it’s a bit more of a rough boogie again, building slowly and chugging along like solid machinery, before fading to some more oscillator and building again to a trashy glorious climax with guitars going nuts and feeding back all over the place, thudding to a close like the end of Ash Ra Tempel’s ‘Amboss’.
The original LP is now very rare, especially in good condition, presumably being clung to by all the old Balls fans, and it’s rare to come across a copy that isn’t pretty scratched and well-played. The CD ‘Best of Ball Power’ is a compilation which also includes a few other Lobby Loyde-related tracks which are not actually played by the Coloured Balls. If you stick to just playing the Balls tracks it’s an ok introduction, and you get the great single-only track 'Devil's Disciple' – but nothing can compete with hearing both studio albums in their entirety (or maybe just a filler-less selection from ‘Heavy Metal Kid’, their second album) plus side two of ‘Summer Jam’. Oddly, some of the tracks on this compilation disc are slightly shorter than the versions on the original albums, even taking into account the occasional editing-out of the last bit of a long fade-out. I can’t figure out where the missing seconds have gone – perhaps the tracks for this compilation were mastered with the tape player set slightly too fast? The Balls albums might yet see the light of day as proper CD reissues from Aztec Music, possibly in a year or two from now if we’re lucky.
For the next chapter in the Lobby Loyde/Coloured Balls story, please see my review for ‘Heavy Metal Kid’, the Balls’ patchy but worthy second and last ‘proper’ album.
Reviews Index
‘Ball Power’ is full of raw, hard guitar rock and proto-punk with some boogie and rock’n’roll influences, and some slightly ‘progressive’ lengthier rockers. The songs and riffs are primitive and the band seem a little short on ideas, but they go at it with great gusto, and for me their direct and raw rocking charm outweighs any concerns about their limitations. People who don’t get into this sort of thing might not agree, but I think the Coloured Balls didn’t sound quite like anyone else, though arguably some slight comparisons can be made to some aspects of the Pink Fairies, the MC5, the Up, the Groundhogs (on a caveman trip), Taste, Stack Waddy, Third World War, Hammersmith Gorillas, Hard Stuff, Agnes Strange and early AC/DC.
‘Flash’ [3:21] opens the album as a concise, anthemic, up-tempo punky hard rocker that is actually a love song, but without being sappy. Ripe for singing along with beer in hand (and joint in the other) and head in banging mode, it chugs along in a simple but oh-so-catchy drive of riffage, both dumb and obvious, but who cares when it’s fun and rocks so well?
‘Mama Don’t You Get Me Wrong’ [1:53] is basically one inverted roughneck boogie riff, repeated over and over, with the main lyrics backed up by a repeated group-chant of the title of the track, chugging along like they could play this all day. It finishes on a wandering, squiggling oscillator tone that sounds like it’s being operated by a curious monkey, and a closing cheesy “wroooong...” in harmony.
‘Won’t You Make Up Your Mind’ [1:35] is a roughshod, snotty rock’n’roll boogie, sounding a bit like early Motörhead, or even some of the Chiswick label punk bands that shared the ‘Long Shots, Dead Certs and Odds On Favourites’ sampler with Motörhead, such as The Radiators From Space, but not quite as hard. Lobby sounds like he’s just gargled Drano as the lyrics splatter out of his mouth. Unhygienic!
‘Something New’ [5:05] is a plodding, evil death-dirge driven by low-down bass from hell digging in on a simple but effective prowling tyrannosaur riff like Man’s Martin Ace in a bad mood, as guitars grind and wind over the top, reinforcing and embellishing on the sole groove. “Just when you think you seen it all, there’s somethin’ new... Just when you think you seen it all, there’s somethin’ wrong...” sings Lobby as it stalks on and on, seething with restrained malevolence.
‘B.P.R.’ [2:25] is a brief slow blues guitar instrumental interlude that segues suddenly and unexpectedly straight into ‘Human Being’ [6:08], the song the Balls would be best known for in the long run, alongside ‘G.O.D.’ ‘Human Being’ has a skanky off-kilter rocksteady rhythm fuelled by rung-climbing jungle bass and chunky thrashing guitar chords, that surely must mark the birth of Jamaican-informed Oi! rock or something... (though no-one’s shouting “oi!” or anything like that). The lyrics are an exploration of what the hell a human being is supposed to be, what are we all about? It’s all questions and no answers really, but you get the feeling Lobby’s angry as he spits out the questions, because he knows he isn’t going to be getting any good answers any time soon. This first section then retreats into a softer and different one, as they slow things down and space out to a minimal extent, but still questing... “Mama, what is a human being?”... as it builds again in intensity slowly but surely, though not reaching the riff-stomp heaviness of earlier (unfortunately – every time I hear this track, I keep expecting it to go back into a refrain of the first riff, which is so cool...). The guitars are still distorted, but they’re not so much in-yer-face, and the song dwindles to a beautiful close.
‘Whole Lotta Shakin’’ [5:52],opening side two, is a high-octane cover version that sounds more or less like it would performed by the Pink Fairies circa ‘What a Bunch of Sweeties’ – no explanation really necessary here.
‘Hey! What’s Your Name’ [3:55] begins with a simple two-chord thrash and a demented howl from Lobby, settling into a mid-tempo plodding boogieish hard rocker, kinda like Free played by the Pistols in a loose mood, leading into a chorus with back-up vocals in harmony (though not in a pretty way, more like blokes singing along in a manly way at the pub), and finishing on a run of almost country-tinged fuzz jamming, before returning to the original riff and ending suddenly with the lyrics “Hey! This is it... (eh?)”.
‘That’s What Mama Said’ [10:58] begins with a slow sequence of descending distorted guitar chords with an oscillator or primitive synth wailing and wandering over the top, before the guitar starts digging out a chunky granite groove that sounds very much like a simpler variation on the ‘Human Being’ riff. Oh well, waste not want not, and it was good the first time (and every time I listen to it). It’s less skankin’ this time though, and feeling more relaxed with the straighter rhythm they jam away with greater ease as Lobby greases it out over the top on lead guitar. This is kind of like an extended Hawkwind groove as played by an Aussie pub-rock band without any spacey ideas (or competence with electronic instruments!). Again, the oscillator/tone generator/whatever returns and leaps all over the place in a rudimentary way, still sounding like that same monkey from earlier has still not given up. Backwards guitars fade in and out, wailing in the background, and fuzzed rhythm guitar grinds away carving out more structure and eventually settling for a while into some approximation of a song, which involves the guitars and bass and electronics dropping away for a bit as the boys chant the title catchily over a steady drum groove, then guitars thrash back into the mix, held up by that plodding reliable bass, and now it’s a bit more of a rough boogie again, building slowly and chugging along like solid machinery, before fading to some more oscillator and building again to a trashy glorious climax with guitars going nuts and feeding back all over the place, thudding to a close like the end of Ash Ra Tempel’s ‘Amboss’.
The original LP is now very rare, especially in good condition, presumably being clung to by all the old Balls fans, and it’s rare to come across a copy that isn’t pretty scratched and well-played. The CD ‘Best of Ball Power’ is a compilation which also includes a few other Lobby Loyde-related tracks which are not actually played by the Coloured Balls. If you stick to just playing the Balls tracks it’s an ok introduction, and you get the great single-only track 'Devil's Disciple' – but nothing can compete with hearing both studio albums in their entirety (or maybe just a filler-less selection from ‘Heavy Metal Kid’, their second album) plus side two of ‘Summer Jam’. Oddly, some of the tracks on this compilation disc are slightly shorter than the versions on the original albums, even taking into account the occasional editing-out of the last bit of a long fade-out. I can’t figure out where the missing seconds have gone – perhaps the tracks for this compilation were mastered with the tape player set slightly too fast? The Balls albums might yet see the light of day as proper CD reissues from Aztec Music, possibly in a year or two from now if we’re lucky.
For the next chapter in the Lobby Loyde/Coloured Balls story, please see my review for ‘Heavy Metal Kid’, the Balls’ patchy but worthy second and last ‘proper’ album.
DETROITROCK SAMPLER
HARDROCK SAMPLER
Early Soft Machine (1966-68)
5-Track
Li Jianhong
The Routes
OMD
XTC
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Van Morrison
Vsevelodon the Bigot Nest (Vsevelod and the Big Nest)