Hidden connections

I think it’s time for another tenuous connection post.

Shel Talmy, who produced The Kinks’ ‘You Really Got Me’ (1964) and The Who’s ‘My Generation’ (1965), has died in Los Angeles, aged 87.

Talmy was American but spent 17 years in the UK after coming here in 1962.

Although he largely stopped producing pop music in the Seventies, if he heard something he liked he might offer a helping hand, which is how he came to produce ten tracks by Hidden Charms, a young London band, several of which were released as singles in 2014/15.

The first track I heard was ‘Sunnyside’ and I was thrilled when we were able to book the band for Forest’s 35th anniversary party at Boisdale of Belgravia in November 2014.

The person who recommended them was Boisdale MD Ranald Macdonald, and the reason he recommended them was because on vocals, bass, keyboards, and guitar was his son, also called Ranald Macdonald.

Sadly, Hidden Charms split up a year or two later following the death of their manager, a development Shel Talmy commented upon in a Facebook post only a few months ago:

In 2014, my good friend Chris Carter, who has presented the “Breakfast With The Beatles” show on SiriusXM for what seems like forever, turned me on to Hidden Charms, an English band that he said had some good songs-- and he was correct!

I brought them to L.A. and we recorded an LP’s worth of songs. Those that got released received a very good critique, as did their live performances.

Hidden Charms were a quartet from London: Vincent Davies on vocals and guitar, Ranald Macdonald on keyboards and vocals, Josh Lewis on bass, and Oscar Robertson on drums.

All really nice guys and good musicians who were then, I can only say, “snake bit”!

Starting with something that appears to almost be ubiquitous with many of the artists that I have worked with over the years, the Hidden Charms manager proved extremely “difficult”, not being liked by either the band or myself, was dispensed with.

Their second manager, who was a very nice guy that we did all like, was personally “snake-bit”.

He also managed another band, and was on tour with them in Sweden when on a very bad winters day, the van they were in ran off a frozen bridge, and all inside perished. The tragedy affected Hidden Charms to such a degree that they broke up.

Today Ranald (Ranny) Macdonald is an artist as well as a musician, with his paintings exhibited both home and abroad.

See also: Shel Talmy, producer for the Who, the Kinks and David Bowie, dies aged 87 (Guardian)

Below: ‘Sunnyside’ by Hidden Charms, produced by Shel Talmy