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Kursaal Flyers

Named after a seaside amusement arcade at Southend in Essex (UK)
and fronted by Paul Shuttleworth (who could out-spiv Arthur Daley on
a charabanc trip), The Kursaal Flyers brought all the fun of the
fair to Pub Rock. With a banjo-playing
bass player and a pedal-steel guitarist, they wore their country
rock hearts on their brightly coloured sleeves, but they hit the
stage like comic book heroes.
Their songs (mostly written by drummer Will Birch and guitarist
Graeme Douglas) tapped into a rich seam of postcard humour which set
them apart from their contemporaries.
Signed to Jonathan King's UK label
as successors to 10cc, they were soon a big
draw nationally and the subject of a BBC fly-on-the-wall TV
documentary (So You Wanna Be a Rock'n'Roll Star?). But
nothing on either of their two UK albums matched the sparkle of
their live performances.
It was only after moving to CBS to record The Golden Mile
with Head-Womble Mike Batt that they got the production (and the
hit) they deserved when Little Does She Know reached Number
14 in November 1976.
Douglas left soon after to join Eddie
& The Hot Rods (for whom he wrote Do Anything You Wanna
Do) and after several line-up changes the band folded late in
1977, leaving Birch to form Powerpop
pioneers The Records, before undertaking a
successful career as a record producer and rock writer.
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Paul Shuttleworth
Vocals
Graeme Douglas
Guitar
Ritchie Bull
Bass, banjo
Vic Collins
Pedal-steel guitar
Will Birch
Drums
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