Think of the name McCoy and you will summon either a ridged crisp or the seventh Dr. Who (Sylvester), but if your musical roots stem from the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal then the work of bass player, producer and all-round entertainer John McCoy will be very familiar to you. Not only was he the charismatic bass player in then ex-Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan’s breakthrough solo band, Gillan, featuring on such albums as Mr. Universe, Glory Road, Double Trouble and Magic, but he also played an important role in the career of London rockers Samson (who would go on to feature not only future Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce “Bruce” Dickinson but also future Mammoth vocalist Nicky Moore), Atomic Rooster, Mammoth and later G.M.T alongside his previous Gillan guitar-slinging partner Bernie Torme. This latest HNE set concentrates on his less well documented solo releases from between the demise of Gillan in 1982 and the belated release of Live 1977.

Disc One contains the tracks which were compiled on the re-released Think Hard Again album in 1997 (albeit in a different order) and opens with 1983’s McCoy EP and a pounding rendition of Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Oh Well’ featuring a line-up of McCoy on bass, his Gillan colleague Colin Towns on keyboards, Paul Samson on guitar, Ron Rebel on drums, and T. Bone on vocals. Alongside the opener are four original slices of driving hard rock. There is no mistaking the DNA of these tracks which supply classic rock with an upfront rhythmic force and are very much in the Gillan mould not surprising considering the fact that ‘Night Lights’, ‘The Sound Of Thunder’ and the autobiographic ‘Temporary Threshold Shift’ were all written with a view to appearing on a future release from the purple screamer. ‘Because You Lied’ wraps up the EP with the lyrics laying out the story of McCoy’s confusion following the demise of the (Gillan) band when despite “vocal issues” Gillan went on to front Black Sabbath for their Born Again album and tour. Also included on disc one is McCoy’s first full album ‘Think Hard’ which was released in 1984 and continued the driving heavy themes on ‘Freemind’, ‘Ride The Night’, ‘Heads Will Roll’, and the galloping Samson guitar and very Maidenesque, ‘Hell To Play’. As well as the “crash and burn” this album also shows McCoy’s talent as a writer, producer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist, on more subtle tracks like the charmingly Celtic ‘The Demon Rose’, which would have made a wonderful Thin Lizzy anthem, power ballads ‘Loving Lies’ and ‘Fear Of The Morning’, and the choral ‘Jerusalem’. Add to this an alternative take on ‘Night Lights’ and the single edit of ‘Oh Well!’ and it isn’t at all difficult to see what a huge part in Gillan’s between Purple patches John McCoy really played.

Despite keeping very busy in the interim, including releasing two albums with Mammoth, it wasn’t until Brainstorm in 1998 that a McCoy band follow up would see the light of day. Everything starts off on a much more ethereal plain with the sitar opening of ‘Dreaming Of The Dead’ but ‘Heavy Metal Cowboy’ (a possible moniker for this new trio featuring Al Romano on vocals/guitar and Michael Sciotto on drums) soon takes things back to more common ground. It’s hardly surprising to read in the liner notes after listening to ‘Outrageous’, ‘The Prophets Of Doom’, and ‘I Know A Place’ featuring Arthur Guitar from The Split Knee Loons on orchestral guitar, that Joey Belladonna (Anthrax) was inline to lay down vocals for Brainstorm. ‘On And On’, ‘Don’t Walk Away’, ‘Josephine’, and the power pop rock pairing of ‘Tarot Cards’ and ‘Save Me’ which in-spite of Romano’s best efforts would have benefited from an incendiary Torme guitar solo, supply a wide contrast to the weight of a good portion of the music on display throughout. As well as its overall next level polish and denseness compared to its predecessor the album also has its moments of “For Gillan Fans Only” eccentric humour on ‘The List/Zoomusic/The List Continues’ which features guest drummer Bobby Rondinelli of Rainbow and Sabbath fame predominantly and ‘Hawaiians 2 – Electrolux 1’, as well as on the introductions to ‘Steamtrain’ and ‘Bad Luck’. Although they feel a little out of place these sections certainly add a hint of “McCoy” to the album.

We travel back in time for the final disc, Live 1977 which wasn’t released until 2000. Recorded by their roadie and sound engineer, (Chris Aylmer, who would also go on to join Samson) this show from the Target in Reading was never meant for commercial release but it does the job of documenting the original McCoy band line-up of McCoy alongside Paul Samson and Roger Hunt on drums, as well as featuring no less than five songs (‘Big Brother’, ‘Wrong Side of Time’, ‘Six Foot Under’, ‘I Wish I Was’ and the boogie-woogie of ‘The Shuffle – check out Paul Samson’s harmonica playing on the later) which would go on to appear on the band Samson’s debut LP, Survivors which would be released two years later, along with ‘Telephone’ which would be Samson’s first single in 1978. These facts alone mean that for many Live 1977 will stand as an important point in the development of the NWOBHM, for most however it will probably not warrant repeated plays due to the less than ideal sound quality. What it does supply alongside the Samson tunes are half a dozen bulging slabs of original blues rock which go to prove what a powerhouse the McCoy/Samson duo were, plus two pretty mighty covers, ‘Nasty Dogs and Funk Kings’ by ZZ Top and ‘Big Boss Man’ by Jimmy Reed. Certainly the most enlightening CD included in this set.

John McCoy remains musically active and seems pleased to see his music getting a fresh airing, stating “it’s a nice little set, isn’t it?”, and he also insists that he is far from finished and is “just waiting for the right phone call”. Please someone, pick up the phone.

• Reviewed By Peter Brockwell.
• The Sound Of Thunder! Is released via HNE Recordings/Cherry Red Records on 31st May 2024.

Track List:

Disc One – McCoy/Think Hard

1. Oh Well!

2. Night Lights

3. The Sound Of Thunder

4. Temporary Threshold Shift

5. Because You Lied

6. Freemind

7. The Demon Rose

8. Loving Lies

9. Hell To Play

10. Heads Will Roll

11. Ride The Night

12. Fear Of The Morning

13. Jerusalem

Bonus Tracks:

14. Night Lights (Alternate Version)

15. Oh Well! (Single Version)

Disc Two – Brainstorm

1. Dreaming Of The Dead

2. Heavy Metal Cowboy

3. On And On

4. Outrageous

5. I Know A Place

6. Don’t Walk Away

7. Save Me

8. Steamtrain

9. Bad Luck

10. Josephine

11. Tarot Cards

12. The Prophets Of Doom

13 . The List/Zoomusic/The List Continues

14. Disillusioned

15. Hawaiians 2 – Electrolux 1

Disc Two – Live 1977*

1. Are You Sitting Comfortably?

2. I’ll Be Round (Part One)

3. Will You Want Me?

4. I’ll Be Round (Part Two)

5. Big Brother

6. Telephone

7. Wrong Side of Time

8. Loser

9. Six Foot Under

10. Cathedral

11. Love Lace Lady

12. The Shuffle

13. Nasty Dogs and Funk Kings

14. Big Boss Man

15. So Low

16. I Wish I Was