MUSIC WEEK APRIL 5, 1980 Otimmiml-Iimljilffi' Barclay James

MUSIC WEEK APRIL 5, 1980 OTiMmiML-iiMljilffi' Country music rids Barclay James Harvest itself of Western find 13 is a lucky number cliche image BARCLAY JAMES Harvest part of their working Pink Floyd in 1977 and Supertramp schedule. last year. UP TO five years ago, country music in Germany was something for a are now in their 13th year of Their first German date on the very small minority of fans. For a long time it was associated with successful existence with 13 All 24 German dates of their present schedule, the Frankfurt romantic Western cliches and the hardcore enthusiasts had trouble in extensive 1980 European lour Festhalle on February 3, drew strong-selling albums to their comprising 44 appearances in seven obtaining records or finding any country music on the air. credit and a veritable harvest 14,000 people and many more Then, early in the Seventies, Johnny Cash opened up the door with countries, were sold out before the were unable to obtain tickets, so his hit A Boy Named Sue, and Cash was the first country star to tour of German disc awards and tour began, and the band has been another concert at the same venue Germany. In the middle of the last decade, the American Forces sell-out concerts as a regular breaking box office records set by was set for April 9. Network radio's example was followed, and country became part of -7 Following their concert in German radio programming, even if only a very small one. rs Dusseldorf on February 13, BJH The commercial breakthrough happened with the Hamburg-based received a platinum album award for group, Truck Slop, and their hit I'd Like To Listen To Dave Dudley in BARt LAY JAMES HARVES sales exceeding 500,000 in Germany the early summer of 1978. Truck Stop, who had been singing original for their Gone To Earth LP. This country songs for years, were emulated by groups like Emsland was the first platinum album award Hillbillies, Drifters Caravan and Greyhounds, but using their own presented by Deutsche material with German lyrics and finding widespread public response. Grammophon, which hitherto has Now country elements are to be heard in the repertoire of MOR given double gold album trophies singers such as Daliah Lavi. for sales of this magnitude. Freddy Quinn, a long-established singing star in Germany, started BJH also received a gold disc for his own country show on TV two years ago, and there is now a regular their new LP, Eyes Of The Universe, German TV show called Country Music in which international stars which has attained 300,000 German are introduced by Guntcr Gabriel, successful himself since 1974 in 310 sales in the first three months of its presenting everyday topics in the form of country songs. release. The band's sales in Germany Last year promoter Mcrvyn Conn experimented with a one-day now total over 1 Vi million units, one country festival in Frankfurt with great success and is presenting a million of which have been sold in replica of his Wembley International Festival of Country Music at the the past 12 months. end of March, Conn and his German partner, Karstcn Jahnke, were BJH member Lcs Holroyd told confident of full houses for a two-day programme presenting 30 Music Week that he and his artists with tickets priced between 75 and 110 Deutschemarks (£18.52 companions John Lees and Mel and £27.16) for the two days. Pritchard value the awards highly. German record companies confirm the findings of a survey % "It's a very nice award," he said. conducted by the trade magazine Musik-Informaiionen that country "This is something you can see, a music's market share fluctuates between one and two per cent of the plausible thing. total. Music Week elicited the following opinions on the topic: ■# "People tell you that you're Deutsche Grammophon: "Slowly growing tendency"; EMI: Y3 selling so and so much records per "Better chances within the market by fusing with pop music"; week, but it's just a figure and you Intercord: "Very good chances for development"; RCA: "With help can't actually see people walking from the media, the number of fans will grow"; WEA: "Extremely into the shops and buying. The gold promising development"; CBS: "In spite of the current euphoria, and platinum awards prove that they only country rock will grow". THREE MORE sales trophies for Barclay James Harvest. do." D or'* D, s O ^MjT ■ 3 i B. _ S1*J 1 VlM CLOUT • POLLY POTS OTTAW AND MANY MORE DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON GESELLSCHAFT MBH I lOualitat hatdnen Namen I 1 D.cutschc Grummophon Gcscllschuft mbl I soil 1898 PAGE 30 .

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