Why are the Hudson Brothers so unloved?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by robroyfingerhead, Aug 14, 2013.

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  1. robroyfingerhead

    robroyfingerhead New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    N. Canton, OH USA
    Hello - Longtime member of the forum, this is my first post.

    After recently taking a flyer on "Totally Out of Control" by the Hudson Brothers, I was instantly hooked on their tackle box full of hooks and tracked down "Hollywood Situation" and "Ba-Fa" as well. My question is: Why aren't these guys seen as power pop deities on par with Badfinger, Todd, the Rubinoos, etc.? Huge choruses, hand claps, harmonies galore, all three albums are endlessly listenable each featuring song after song after song.

    Is it the ridiculous TV show, the waves of feathered hair, the overabundance of white slacks and primary colored and spangly shirts? The choreographed mugging? Because I can easily overlook all that when I hear the "Abbey Road" pastiche/tribute that closes "Totally Out of Control". Is there something about this band I'm missing that answers why these guys are ignored, unknown and unloved?
     
  2. babyblue

    babyblue Patches Pal!

    Location:
    Pacific NW
    I think it's mostly their TV show, which presented them as more of a comedy/children's act. I agree, they made some great power pop. You've heard more than I have since all I've got is the long OOP Best of CD.
     
  3. kevinsponge

    kevinsponge Senior Member

    Location:
    Portland, OR USA
    I like the skit about the house that wasn't level.
     
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  4. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    For those that have any memory of them at all--they had a plastic-y image due to the TV show.

    For most of the world: No hits, no memory. They aren't so much unloved as unknown.

    Ba Fa is their high water mark, IMHO, and side two, in particular, is great.
     
  5. Agent57

    Agent57 Marshall will buoy, but Fender control

    Location:
    PA
    Welcome to the forum, I lurked for many years myself.

    Regarding your query, I know they have some good songs, but I (still) can't get past that damn TV show. My grandparents (RIP), of all people, just loved that show. They never missed Soul Train either...

    But yeah, I'd agree - these guys should have got least some recognition but if I remember correctly, they barely registered on the radar, at least where I grew up.
     
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  6. NotebookWriter

    NotebookWriter Forum Resident

    I agree that they barely register for most people. They only had two hits (So You Are a Star, #21 and Rendezvous, #26), but I remember both of them, probably because I watched their "Razzle Dazzle" show on Saturday mornings as a kid.

    So You Are a Star is VERY Lennonesque and a well-deserved hit IMO. Quite a few years back, I picked up the Hollywood Situation record at a thrift store. I found it to be surprisingly good. The other two albums (both of them on Elton John's Rocket label) are good as well. I can't say I still feel the same about the TV show, which I just sampled on YouTube.

    They are, however, given a chapter in the book Power Pop! Conversations with the Power Pop Elite.
     
  7. misterdecibel

    misterdecibel Bulbous Also Tapered

    Smacks of pastiche
     
  8. apple-richard

    apple-richard *Overnight Sensation*

    So You Are A Star is such a great song. The album version just slays the single edit of the 45. Hollywood Situation is 3/4 a great LP. It also boast one of the absolute worst album covers IMO. The best of CD on Varese Sarabande Records is a must own. Lonely School Year was a middling hit (57) as well that I also liked.

    Here's the full length version.



    The edited version lip sync from the show

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXmc7dk73PA
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2013
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  9. m5comp

    m5comp Classic Rock Lover

    Location:
    Hamilton, AL
    When I was in junior high, all of us girls were "in love" with the Hudson Brothers. Their records were hard to find, though--I got several albums through Columbia House. I remember being so heartbroken when Bill Hudson married Goldie Hawn that I gave away all my Hudson Brothers records.
     
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  10. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
  11. vjf1968

    vjf1968 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Philadelphia, Pa
    I think the Brothers Hudson really wanted to be all around entertainers and not just musicians. They did three television series IIRC. So there music career was basically just part of their thing.

    The skit with the house was The Walnuts. The house was built on the side of Walnut's mountain.
     
  12. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    I loved the Hudson Brothers then. I still love their best work. "So You Are A Star" is one of my all time favorite 45 singles ever. There are 45 pressings with the long version on the LP. I own one. And pressed on vinyl.
     
  13. music4life

    music4life Senior Member

    Location:
    South Elgin, IL
    Today Mark Hudson is primaraly known as Ringo's (former) producer. Shame they couldnt parlay thier career into something bigger, because I loved "So You are a Star" and "Rendezvous" (which was produced by Bernie Taupin, btw)
    But like others have already said, I think it was the cheesy TV show that hindered them from becoming bigger.
     
  14. dlokazip

    dlokazip Forum Transient

    Location:
    Austin, TX, USA
    I would, also, have to agree that the cheeseball TV image is the main reason that they are dismissed. Much like The Osmonds.

    I have to give credit to Mark, who has seemed to develop a certain amount of street cred behind the scenes.
     
  15. keef00

    keef00 Senior Member

    The Hudson Brothers suffer from the same malaise as Paul Revere and the Raiders: wear silly outfits and host a TV show, and you'll never be taken seriously. The Raiders were nowhere near as cheesy as the Hudsons, and their music was great, but they still got no respect.
     
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  16. Hokeyboy

    Hokeyboy Nudnik of Dinobots

    I think I was 3 or 4 when their TV show was on, I remember it in reruns. It was so cheeseball, between those fruity outfits and goofy mustaches and what-not. If people in general had a hard time taking The Monkees seriously, the Hudson Bros. were pretty much doomed for obscurity.
     
  17. vjf1968

    vjf1968 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Philadelphia, Pa
    Actually when they id the TV show "Bonkers" for ITV, they were pretty funny. Kind of like a cross between Carol Burnett and SCTV.
     
  18. Hokeyboy

    Hokeyboy Nudnik of Dinobots

    True, but once you're hosting a Saturday morning syndicated show for kids? It's really hard to shake that image. I've never seen Bonkers though.
     
  19. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    They recorded for a zillion different labels, sometimes with different names.

    In terms of albums, you have one on Playboy, one on Casablanca, two on Rocket, one on Arista and one on Elektra. Plus one of First American that compiles a bunch of their early singles on Jerden.

    Not to mention singles on Scepter, Warner Brothers, Decca and Columbia.

    Would be a good candidate for a box set, if there was actually any demand. Most of their discography has never been issued on CD. The only CD release I know of was a 1CD best of that is now long out of print and expensive.
     
  20. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Bingo. They're simply an act who had moderate success four decades ago and are now essentially forgotten...
     
  21. Col Kepper

    Col Kepper Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Texas, Where else?
    The Hudson Brothers are about as unloved as the Banana Splits were.... I can't remember songs from either one.
     
  22. markbrow

    markbrow Forum President

    Location:
    Denver
    I find Mark Hudson quite appalling, because of the oh-so-hip rainbow hair and the sexual harassment charges.
     
  23. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    I don't care about the hair. But the sexual harassment stuff is creepy. And people I've talked to who were in a position to know indicate the charges aren't unfounded.
     
  24. dlokazip

    dlokazip Forum Transient

    Location:
    Austin, TX, USA
    Hate the rainbow beard. Didn't know about the harassment. Ugh! Maybe he's best forgotten.
     
  25. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    I know of a female musician who tried to work with Hudson maybe 15 years ago, a major Beatles fan who was very excited to be working with someone in the "family". She got a bit of a rude awakening.

    That said, "Hollywood Situation" is a fine album, dumb skit and all!
     
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