Albie Donnelly’s Supercharge – Big Blow (2011)

Liverpool- born singer/saxophonist and bandleader began his career in London as a session musician playing on recordings by Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats, Graham Parker and many others.

In 1973 he formed the now legendary band SUPERCHARGE. The band’s blend of R.‘n’B. and Funk plus their wild on- (and off!) stage-show made them a sensation on the British 70’s live- club scene.

In the 80’s the band signed with Virgin Records and toured extensively in GB and all over Europe with such names as Ray Charles, Fats Domino, B. B. King, Chuck Berry and Queen – culminating in the Hyde Park concert in front of more than 100,000 people.

From then on ALBIE has led successful tours all over Europe (Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, France, Poland, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland) and recently back home again in GB, confirming the bandleaders consistent popularity. His soulful voice and unique horn-sound attest to his R’n’B roots and his being steeped in the music of the all-time greats. (Press release)

More about Supercharge here.

And here´s a real fine compolaion album:

A “best of” of Supercharge’s swing, R&B and funk numbers from the 90s is offered by Big Blow. The album is supplemented with nine live recordings of Albie Donnelly’s current band line-up.

When people talk about Supercharge, they are actually referring to the rhythm & blues band that was founded in the 70s and disbanded at that time. But since the end of the 90s at the latest – almost unnoticed by the media public – Supercharge has been extremely successful on the stages of Europe and especially Germany. With musicians like guitarist Roy Herrington and bassist Diekmann, Albie Donnelly has gathered a band that more than worthily administers the legacy of the rhythm & blues troupe.

Unfortunately, it is rather difficult to find studio recordings of this line-up. Therefore, the eleven titles of Big Blow are a good introduction. In addition to a lot of Donnelly’s own compositions, there are also classics like “Swing Brother Swing”, King Curtis’ “Memphis Soul Stew” or Cole Porter’s “Every Time We Say Goodbye”. The stylistic spectrum here ranges from big band swing in the style of the 90s revival to classic rhythm & blues and funk. An extremely danceable and rousing collection in finest sound quality. Highlights are “Eat that Chicken” and “I’m a Boogie Man”. Only “Every Time We Say Goodbye” is just boring.

The second half of the disc – which are clearly more than just bonus tracks – are live recordings of blues and soul classics like “Rainy Night In Georgia”, “I Ain’t Got Nothing But The Blues” or Breakin Up Someones Home” and “Unchain My Heart”. Here you can hear why Donnelly and his comrades-in-arms are still one of Europe’s most popular live acts: they play forward regardless of losses. Anyone who is not carried away is either deaf or already dead.

Unfortunately the booklet is very unkind; I would have liked more information about the songs and the musicians involved … and the songs “Mickingbird” and “Crazy Fries” mentioned on the cover are not on the CD !

Personnel:

Tracklist:
01. Pink Champagne (Donnelly) 3.21
02. Swing Brother Swing (Holiday/Raymond/Bishop/Williams) 2.27
03. Mellow Saxophone (Montrell) 2.55
04. Eat That Chicken (Donnelly) 4.04
05. Memphis Soul Stew (Ousley) 4.52
06. Sir La Dude (Donnelly) 4.40
07. I’m A Boogie Man (Donnelly) 3,23
08. Goodbye Uwe (Donnelly/Stone) 0.35
09. Fool For You (Donnelly) 3.23
10. Eve (Donnelly) 1.32
11. Every Time We Say Goodbye (Porter) 3.45
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Live tracks:
12. Rainy Night In Georgia (Donnelly) 5.55
13. Circles (Preston) 3.47
14. I Ain’t Got Nothing But The Blues (Ellington/George) 5.13
15. Love And Happiness (Green) 4.24
16. Unchain My Heart (Sharp) 6.33
17. Breakin Up Someones Home (Jackson Jr./Matthews) 5.38
18. Gangster Of Love (Watson) 3.33

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More from Albie Donnely´s Supecharge:

The official website:

Supercharge – Local Lads Make Good (1976)

Supercharge were a 1970s English rock band from Liverpool, founded by singer/saxophonist Albie Donnelly and drummer Dave Irving. They had a number three hit single in Australia with “You’ve Gotta Get Up and Dance” in 1977.

Founded in early 1974, by Liverpool tenor-saxophonist, Albie Donnelly (born Albert Edward Donnelly, 12 August 1947, Huyton, Liverpool), and drummer Dave Irving (born David Geddes Irving, 18 November 1946, Crosby, Liverpool) after they had both left the ‘In Crowd’ cabaret band, Supercharge soon built up quite a cult following in Liverpool at ‘The Sportsman’, a popular city-centre pub on Sunday and later Monday nights and also at the ‘Dove and Olive’ at Speke.
Original members included Donnelly (bandleader, vocalist, and tenor saxophonist), Ozzie Yue (guitar/vocals) (born Austin J Yue, 12 August 1947, Liverpool), Allen ‘Gaz’ Gaskell (tenor sax, guitar, harmonica, and vocals), Alan Peters (trumpet), Bob Robertson (baritone sax), Pete Newton (bass guitar), Tony Dunmore (bass) and Dave Irving (drums).
Supercharge also quickly established themselves as a major player on the UK college / university circuit. Their first album Between Music and Madness, which was locally produced, soon followed.

Around 1975, in an attempt to attract a major record label offer, Supercharge began to gig regularly on the London live circuit at venues such as the Hope and Anchor, Islington, the Nashville Rooms, and the Marquee Club. As a result, Supercharge were soon signed by Virgin Records, and with the company’s new record producer, Robert “Mutt” Lange, they had a number three hit in Australia with their 1976 single “You’ve Gotta Get Up and Dance”. Personnel on these recordings also included organist Iain Bradshaw. It was also in Australia that their first album, Local Lads Make Good went gold – resulting in a number of successful major tours with a version of the band that included Les Karski on guitar.

And here´s is their beautiful album called “Local Lads Make Good” and it´s a real crazy mixture between Rhythm & Blues and the Disco Sound from this period … you can´t believe it?

Listen and enjoy this total crazy stuff  … between music and madness …

Personnel:
Iain Bradshaw (keyboards)
Albie Donnelly (saxophone, flute, vocals)
Tony Dunmore (bass, vocals)
Dave Irving (drums)
Les Karski (guitar, vocals)
Ozzie Yue (guitar, vocals)

Tracklist:
01. Lonely And In Love (Lange) 3.35
02. Hole Town (Karski) 5.33
03. Everyone! Everywhere! (Lange) 5.29
04. I Believe In You (Robertson/Bradshaw) 4.13
05. Get Down Boogie (Lange) 3.16
06. Only You (Karski) 4.02
07. Gimme Your Love (Lange) 3.43
08. You’ve Gotta Get Up And Dance (Lange) 2.57
09. She Moved The Dishes First (Donnelly) 7.01

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Supercharge – Between Music And Madness (1974)

Supercharge were a 1970s English rock band from Liverpool, founded by singer/saxophonist Albie Donnelly and drummer Dave Irving. They had a number three hit single in Australia with “You’ve Gotta Get Up and Dance” in 1977.

Founded in early 1974, by Liverpool tenor-saxophonist, Albie Donnelly (born Albert Edward Donnelly, 12 August 1947, Huyton, Liverpool), and drummer Dave Irving (born David Geddes Irving, 18 November 1946, Crosby, Liverpool) after they had both left the ‘In Crowd’ cabaret band, Supercharge soon built up quite a cult following in Liverpool at ‘The Sportsman’, a popular city-centre pub on Sunday and later Monday nights and also at the ‘Dove and Olive’ at Speke.

Original members included Donnelly (bandleader, vocalist, and tenor saxophonist), Ozzie Yue (guitar/vocals) (born Austin J Yue, 12 August 1947, Liverpool), Allen ‘Gaz’ Gaskell (tenor sax, guitar, harmonica, and vocals), Alan Peters (trumpet), Bob Robertson (baritone sax), Pete Newton (bass guitar), Tony Dunmore (bass) and Dave Irving (drums).

Supercharge also quickly established themselves as a major player on the UK college / university circuit. Their first album Between Music and Madness, which was locally produced, soon followed.

Around 1975, in an attempt to attract a major record label offer, Supercharge began to gig regularly on the London live circuit at venues such as the Hope and Anchor, Islington, the Nashville Rooms, and the Marquee Club. As a result, Supercharge were soon signed by Supercharge02Virgin Records, and with the company’s new record producer, Robert “Mutt” Lange, they had a number three hit in Australia with their 1976 single “You’ve Gotta Get Up and Dance”. Personnel on these recordings also included organist Iain Bradshaw. It was also in Australia that their first album, Local Lads Make Good went gold – resulting in a number of successful major tours with a version of the band that included Les Karski on guitar.

These live UK gigs often featured celebrated live sound engineer Chrys Lindop, and included the infamous comedy track ‘She Moved The Dishes First’, which Donnelly claims they wrote so they could mess about a bit while the band were replacing broken guitar strings. This track also achieved notoriety when it was picked up and played regularly by Radio Caroline.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, although their record sales were disappointing, Supercharge still managed to achieve a reputation as one of the UK’s best live bands. This included Supercharge’s opening set for Queen at the 1976 Hyde Park Festival. However, it was becoming clear to Donnelly that Virgin did not really know what to do with them, and they eventually parted company sometime during the punk era.

Despite their reputation as a killer band live, Richard Branson decided that after two albums without major success that he would only offer Donnelly / Karski a continuous deal. The rest of the band became redundant, and ironically months later the ‘Local lads’ album went gold in Australia. However, the deed had been done, and Donnelly resorted to taking a scratch band to do the hit tour in Australia much to the chagrin of the original guys who had put all the hard studio and roadwork in to get the band where it was.
Success in Europe.(by Wikipedia)

And this is their phenomenal debut Album … a timeless classic ! Feel the power and the energy of Supercharge !

Personnel:
Albie Donnelly (Saxophone, vocals)
Tony Dunmore (bass)
Dave Irving (drums)
Alan Peters (trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals)
Bob Robertson Saxophone, guitar, vocals)
Ozzie Yue (guitar, vocals)
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Vinnie Parker (piano on 06. + 11.)

Tracklist:

01. Tune, Gap, Clap, Fig (Donnelly) 1.15
02. Still Alive And Well (Derringer) 3.21
03. Doggone (Tarplin/Robinson/Moore) 4.29
04. Give It Up (Kool And The Gang) 4.54
05. Midnight (Donnelly/Irving/Yue) 5.02
06. Lazy Lady (Peters) 4.46
07. Superstition (Wonder) 4.32
08. New York (Dreams) 5.59
09. Blessed Relief (Zappa) 5.08
10. Troubled Soul (Peters) 5.20
11. Wine, Wine, Wine (Donnelly/Yue) 4.06
12  Fig, Chat, Feet, Slam, Bang (Donnelly) 1.13

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Supercharge – Full Power (1990)

Supercharge were a 1970s English rock band from Liverpool, founded by singer/saxophonist Albie Donnelly and drummer Dave Irving. They had a number three hit single in Australia with “You’ve Gotta Get Up and Dance” in 1977.

Founded in early 1974, by Liverpool tenor-saxophonist, Albie Donnelly (born Albert Edward Donnelly, 12 August 1947, Huyton, Liverpool), and drummer Dave Irving (born David Geddes Irving, 18 November 1946, Crosby, Liverpool) after they had both left the ‘In Crowd’ cabaret band, Supercharge soon built up quite a cult following in Liverpool at ‘The Sportsman’, a popular city-centre pub on Sunday and later Monday nights and also at the ‘Dove and Olive’ at Speke.

Original members included Donnelly (bandleader, vocalist, and tenor saxophonist), Ozzie Yue (guitar/vocals) (born Austin J Yue, 12 August 1947, Liverpool), Allen ‘Gaz’ Gaskell (tenor sax, guitar, harmonica, and vocals), Alan Peters (trumpet), Bob Robertson (baritone sax), Pete Newton (bass guitar), Tony Dunmore (bass) and Dave Irving (drums).

Supercharge also quickly established themselves as a major player on the UK college / university circuit. Their first album Between Music and Madness, which was locally produced, soon followed.

Around 1975, in an attempt to attract a major record label offer, Supercharge began to gig regularly on the London live circuit at venues such as the Hope and Anchor, Islington, the Nashville Rooms, and the Marquee Club. As a result, Supercharge were soon signed by Virgin Records, and with the company’s new record producer, Robert “Mutt” Lange, they had a number three hit in Australia with their 1976 single “You’ve Gotta Get Up and Dance”. Personnel on these recordings also included organist Iain Bradshaw. It was also in Australia that their first album, Local Lads Make Good went gold – resulting in a number of successful major tours with a version of the band that included Les Karski on guitar.

These live UK gigs often featured celebrated live sound engineer Chrys Lindop, and included the infamous comedy track ‘She Moved The Dishes First’, which Donnelly claims they wrote so they could mess about a bit while the band were replacing broken guitar strings. This track also achieved notoriety when it was picked up and played regularly by Radio Caroline.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, although their record sales were disappointing, Supercharge still managed to achieve a reputation as one of the UK’s best live bands. This included Supercharge’s opening set for Queen at the 1976 Hyde Park Festival. However, it was becoming clear to Donnelly that Virgin did not really know what to do with them, and they eventually parted company sometime during the punk era.

Despite their reputation as a killer band live, Richard Branson decided that after two albums without major success that he would only offer Donnelly / Karski a continuous deal. The rest of the band became redundant, and ironically months later the ‘Local lads’ album went gold in Australia. However, the deed had been done, and Donnelly resorted to taking a scratch band to do the hit tour in Australia much to the chagrin of the original guys who had put all the hard studio and roadwork in to get the band where it was.
Success in Europe.

The next chapter in Supercharge’s history was the invasion of Europe, which began at the end of the 1970s-early 1980s. By now the band also featured Andy Parker on vocals and saxophone. Other members (at one time or another) included Mike Snow – trumpet; Dick Hansen – trumpet; John Burke – trumpet Tony Winders – guitar; Phil Loughran – guitar; Tony Judge – piano; Steve Snow – trombone; Paul Ambrosius – bass/vocals; Dave Dover – bass; Kenny Shearer – bass; Dave ‘The Frug’ Hormbrey – drums; Tony Lunney – drums. Albums during this early period included, Now Jump, and Kingsize.

In late 1983, the Liverpool band Juke (Allen ‘Gaz’ Gaskell – tenor saxophone, guitar, harmonica, bass, vocals; Mickey Kearns – baritone sax; guitar; vocals; Bob Hardy – bandleader, keyboards, guitar, vocals; Dave Sheppley – guitar, bass, vocals; Paddy Chambers – guitar, vocals; Steve Grant – drums, vocal) struck a deal with Donnelly and his then manager, “Memo” Rhein, to work together for the next twelve months as Supercharge ’84. This version of the band was so successful that at the end of 1984, Donnelly and Rhein persuaded them to stay on for a further five months.

During the time that Juke and Donnelly were together they managed to clock up well over 200 gigs. Many of these were for Europe’s ‘Jet-Set’, and included the wedding of Tina Onassis (which resulted in the 1984 album Groovers In Paris – which is still Supercharge’s top selling rhythm and blues album). Gigs also included parties for Gunter Sachs at the Dracula’ Club in St. Moritz; and a New Year’s Eve party in Marbella for Adnan Khashoggi.
Mid 1980s

The next version of Supercharge began performing live in mid-1985, and moved away from the successful horn driven ‘Rhythm and Blues-Maximum Show’ format of Supercharge ’84, and instead featured material written mainly by guitarist/vocalist Colin Frost and pianist Tony Judge. This version of the band also included bassist Brendan O’Connor.

In 1986/7, guitarist Dave Shepley (who had been a member of Juke and had switched to bass in Supercharge ’84) and guitarist/vocalist John “Fat Ted” Lewis, helped Donnelly to once again convert Supercharge into a major player on the late 1980s and early 1990s European Jazz and Rhythm and Blues live-scene.

This powerhouse rhythm and blues version of Supercharge (which at various times included: Andy Parker – vocal and tenor saxophone; Steve Snow – trombone; Dick Hansen – trumpet Tony Peers – trumpet; Paul Latham – trombone; Graham Price – bass; John “Fat Ted” Lewis – guitar and vocal; Roy “The Boy” Herrington – guitar; Dave Sheppley- guitar; Lenni Zaksen – tenor saxophone; Terry Kennaugh – guitar; Mal Bowers – keyboards; Paul Hetherington – bass; Tony Lunney – drums) quickly began to pick up a number of major tours with artists such as Chuck Berry and B.B. King, and this soon took the band back to stadiums and bigger concert hall gigs, where they still perform.

Nashville keyboard-player and vocalist Greg Barrett joined in the late 1980s and demonstrated a more soulful side of Supercharge. This version of the band usually included Greg Barrett – keyboards, vocal; Albie Donnelly – tenor saxophone; Paul Owens – baritone saxophone; Dick Hansen – trumpet; Roy “The Boy” Herrington – guitar; Wolfgang “Bolle” Diekmann – bass; Tony Lunney – drums.

Donnelly also began experimenting with smaller outfits around this time, the most popular being Albie Donnelly’s Big Three which included Gregory Gaynair on piano and Wolfgang Diekmann on bass.

From 2000 to date, Donnelly is still fronting a R&B band – with a version of Supercharge that now consists mainly of a number of top German R&B musicians, including Juergen Wieching on saxophone, and Mike Rafalczyk on trombone and Wolfgang Diekmann on bass..

Donnelly also featured on a CD, Return Cargo. In addition to Supercharge regulars, the recording also features the original Supercharge drummer, Dave Irving.

Over the years Donnelly has been an official endorser for a number of saxophone companies, including Keilwerth and Yamaha; he has also provided a great deal of regular work for a number of Liverpool’s top musicians.

Since 2010 the band line-up has been Albie Donnelly – alto and tenor saxophones, lead vocals; Roy Herrington – guitar, vocals; Jürgen Wieching – baritone and alto saxophones; Mike Rafalcyk – trombone, harmonica; Sascha Kühn – keyboards; Wolfgang Diekmann – bass; Uwe Petersen – drums.

Allen ‘Gaz’ Gaskell has since gone on to form Merseyside-based sextet “Jazz Junction”.(by wikipedia)

And this is one of these great R & B albumy by Suoercharge including a very strong hornsection … hot, hot hot … but with some sentimentals songs (like “That Says A Lot About You”), too …

Listen …. and you will hear some hot and dirty stuff !

Personnel:
Steve Crane (trombone)
Albie ‘Elvis’ Donnelly (saxophone, vocals)
john ‘Fat Ted’ Lewis (guitar, vocals)
Tony Lunney (drums)
Mal Melling (trumpet, flugelhorn)
Paul Owens (saxophone, background vocals. strings on 06.)
Graham Prince (bass)
Dave B. Shepley (guitar, vocals)
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Mal ‘Big Boy’ Bowers (accordion)
Dave ‘The Dwarf In My Dungerees’ Dover (harmonica on 05. + 06.)
‘Count’ John McCormack (bass on 06. + 13.)

Tracklist:
01. Come On (Donnelly/Lewis/Shepley) 3.00
02. Going Too Fast (Donnelly/Lewis/Shepley) 3.00
03. Natural Ball (King) 2.36
04. Can’t Get Next To You (Whitfield/Strong) 3.59
05. We Like It That Way (Donnelly/Lewis/Shepley) 3.15
06. Fools Paradise (Brown) 3.02
07. Party Party Party (Donnelly/Lewis/Shepley) 2.57
08. Full Time Man (Donnelly/Lewis/Shepley) 3.12
09. Nothing But You (Donnelly/Lewis/Shepley) 3.21
10. That Says A Lot About You (Donnelly/Lewis/Shepley) 3.35
11. Motivate Yourself (Donnelly/Lewis/Shepley) 4.20
12. Dream Angel (Donnelly/Lewis/Shepley) 2.32
13. Blues For Jack (Lewis/Owens) 1.19

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