Album: Flash Fearless Versus The Zorg Women, Parts 5 & 6
Artist: various artists
1975, Chrysalis Records
LP: CHR 1072
Album recorded at the Chrysalis Studio, London, October-December 1974.
Band Members:
Elkie Brooks - lead vocals (on 1/6)
John Entwistle - bass (on all tracks except for 10), synth bass (on 1), lead vocals (on 7)
Mick Grabham - lead guitar (on 1), guitar ( on 8)
Carmine Appice - drums (on 1/8)
Nicky Hopkins - clavinet (on 1), piano (on 3/4/5/7/9)
Mike Deacon - piano (on 1/8)
Graham Deakin - percussion (on 1/4/6)
Thunderthighs - back up vocals (on 1/6)
Alice Cooper - lead vocals (on 2/5)
Robert A. Johnson - lead guitar (on 2/6), guitar (on 4/7/9)
Johnny Weider - guitar (on 2/6)
Bill Bruford - drums (on 2/4/6)
Jim Dandy - lead vocals (on 3/9)
James Dewar - lead vocals (on 4)
Kenny Jones - drums (on 3/5/7/9)
Justin Hayward - guitar (on 3), acoustic guitar (on 5)
Jim Frank - mouth harp (on 3)
Eddie Jobson - strings (on 4), synthesizer (on 10)
Keith Moon - Long John Silver (on 5), tympani (on 8)
Steve Pettican - slide guitar (on 5)
Chick Churchill - organ (on 6)
Howie Casey - saxophone (on 7)
Leslie Duncan - background vocals (on 7/9)
Doreen Chanter - background vocals (on 7/9)
Jill Mackintosh - background vocals (on 7/9)
Frankie Miller - lead vocals (on 8)
Kay Garner - background vocals (on 9)
Produced by John Alcock.
Comments:
Yes, this album really does exist. The back cover states, "...based on the stage musical to be produced by Weston Gavin." Part 5 is Side A (tracks 1 through 4), and the rest is Part 6. Of course, it's easy to miss Bruford's name up there on a list that includes the likes of John Entwistle, Alice Cooper, and Justin Hayward, to name just a few. For an album with so many big names, however, it sure does fall flat. They all
basically sound pretty drunk. Purely for the interest of hard-core collectors, but certainly unique and unusual. There are no parts 1 - 4. The whole idea of the title was a take off of old radio serials / comic books. in fact there was a comic book based around the 'concept' of the album included in the 'NME' somewhere around the time of the original release as a marketing plug / tie-in. Almost everyone has heard of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, but it's likely that few people are aware of Flash Fearless. Despite ridding the solar system of "every renegade from Jupiter to Mars," this "full-blasting, protoplasting hero of the sky" is relatively unknown here on Earth,
largely because he never turned up in a single book or film. In fact, though the folks who concocted him are familiar names to most longtime rock-music fans, the sole appearance of this relatively unheralded champion took place in 1975 on an obscure concept album titled Flash Fearless vs. The Zorg Women: Parts 5 and 6.
Reissued for the first time on CD, the recording unites more than a dozen renowned musicians in an electrifying escapade. The loose storyline, told entirely through song, chronicles how Fearless (voiced by Alice Cooper) and his able-bodied assistant, Dulla (portrayed, depending upon the tune, by Elkie Brooks or Maddy Prior), foil an attempted invasion by sexy aliens from the planet Zorg. Trapped," a slithery number sung by Brooks, details the crew's plight when captured by the sinister Snakemen of X-14, while the bluesy "Supersnatch"—recited by Frankie Miller—outlines the life story of Zorg's nefarious ruler.
Jim Dandy, from Black Oak Arkansas, heads the chorus on both "Blast Off" and "Country Cooking," with James Dewar—primary vocalist, at the time, for the Robin Trower Band—lending a contemplative feel to "What's Happening."
In addition to the celebrity soloists, the various backup players
include two members of The Who—Keith Moon and John
Entwistle, who also sings lead on the 1950s-inspired "Let's Go to
the Chop"—as well as Justin Hayward (Moody Blues), Bill
Bruford (Yes) and Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge). The liner
notes contain a complete history of the project, along with a
miniature reproduction of the comic book that accompanied the
original LP.
A campy off-the-wall oddity
Clearly prompted by the success of The Rocky Horror Show,
which had debuted at a small London theater just a couple of
years earlier, Flash Fearless vs. The Zorg Women: Parts 5
and 6 is a sweeping outer-space spectacle that's simultaneously
enigmatic and entertaining. Brimming with silly situations,
science-fiction-infused lyrics and not-so-subtle sexual allusions, the
adventure, even if unquestionably preposterous, on the whole
remains quite dynamic.
"Space Pirates," a rollicking composition that hints at the tale's
cliffhanger ending—wherein Fearless and his companions are
wildly plunging down toward the surface of the black planet
Morbo—is a high-spirited tune, with Cooper vigorously enlivening
lines like "out of the blue came this mind-blowing zoo, a collection
of mutated crud." The tumultuous track is rife with gritty guitar
riffs, sparkling keyboards and a faint yet fun vocal cameo from
drummer Moon. Dandy adds a rough-and-tumble edge to "Blast
Off," declaring "all systems are go for Venus and Mars, 'cause the
hope for our future lies in the stars," just as the honky-tonk
harmonies of "Georgia Syncopator" showcase Prior's silky,
seductive pipes.
The plot is wonderfully wacky though, without guidance from the
supplemental comic, almost impossible to follow. At the same
time, the music, which stylistically ranges from hard rock and
blues to country and doo-wop, is somewhat hit and miss, with the
disc's 11-song sequence significantly different from that put
forward within the comic book and lyrical sentiments that, now
and again, are exceedingly lascivious. Still, Flash Fearless vs.
The Zorg Women: Parts 5 and 6 possesses an unmistakably
classic air, energetically emulating not only the campy atmosphere
of vintage SF serials but also the off-the-wall—and occasionally
out-of-control—rock 'n' roll way of life
1.Elkie Brooks: Trapped (4:10)
2.Alice Cooper: I'm Flash (3:10)
3.Jim Dandy: Country Cooking (5:03)
4.James Dewar: What's Happening (6:52)
5.Alice Cooper: Space Pirates (3:13)
6.Elkie Brooks: Sacrifice (3:56)
7.John Entwistle: To the Chop (2:41)
8.Frankie Miller: Supersnatch (3:20)
(US/German LP, CD only] /
Maddy Prior: Georgia Syncopator (3:02)
[UK LP, CD only
9.Jim Dandy: Blast Off (4:34)
10.Eddie Jobson: Trapped (reprise) (1:24)
