Jigsaw (British band)

Jigsaw is a long standing British pop music group, fronted by the singer-songwriter duo of Clive Scott and Des Dyer. In Australia the group was called "British Jigsaw" due to the existence of a local band of the same name.

Overview

Originally a six piece band, formed in Coventry by Tony Campbell in 1966, they went on to score a number of hit singles around the world. They also released thirteen albums. The group was partly influenced by fellow British musicians The Beatles, at times sounding Beatle-esque, especially their ballads, which show leanings towards Paul McCartney's musical and vocal arrangements.

The early days

The original line-up consisted of Dave "Biffo" Beech (vocals and drums), Clive Scott (keyboards and vocals), Barrie Bernard (bass guitar), Tony Campbell (guitar), Tony Britnell (saxophone) and Kevin "Beppy" Mahon (saxophone). Biffo left in the first year, and was replaced by Des Dyer drums), who took over lead vocals.

Scott was previously in "Scott and The Antarctics", Dyer had played in both "The Surfsiders" and "Clockwork Shoppe", Campbell, Mahon & Beech had worked together previously in "The Mighty Avengers", Bernard had been a member of "Pinkerton's Assorted Colours", whilst Britnel had worked with "The Fortunes".

Change in musical direction and commercial success

On stage Jigsaw were a wild rock band who had a high energy live show (drum kits were set on fire, explosions were set off as an effect, Tony Britnel performed fire eating and Clive Scott would make his Marshall stack explode and disintegrate), however, as the 1970s began to roll around, they began writing and recording more mainstream pop. The melodic tunes on record contrasted with their zany and sometimes humourous stage act.

The group gives credit to their producer and manager, Chas Peate, for inspiration to get songs completed. As Jigsaw toured a lot, Scott and Dyer would only write snippets of songs separately in their spare time, but, as Dyer said in an interview in the 1990s, “it was Chas who would say ‘we’re recording an album soon, you’ll need 10 songs by then’ ”. The two would then combine their work together for the planned recording sessions.

As songwriters the duo had a hit song with “Who Do You Think You Are?”, which was covered by the UK band 'Candlewick Green' in 1974. The song was also on Jigsaw's own album “I’ve Seen The Film, I’ve Read The Book” and the song was also further covered in the USA by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods. This version made the US charts. The band's own single from the album “You’re Not The Only Girl” was not a chart success and they were soon dropped by their recording label, BASF.

Wanting to carry on, the group continued to make music and signed a new deal with independent UK label “Splash”, which was founded by Chas Peate himself. Their first single for their new label, entitled “Sky High”, was recorded for the film The Man From Hong Kong, a 1975 martial-arts action movie starring George Lazenby. Splash pressed a couple of hundred promotional copies and reaction to the song was good, especially from Radio Luxembourg which began playing the song with high rotation during its nightly English pop music broadcasts to the UK. Sky High subsequently made the UK Top 10 in November 1975. Chelsea Records released it in the USA (where Splash had no pressing plant) and it was a huge hit there, going to #3. It charted all over the world and was #1 in Japan.

Their album also entitled “Sky High” sold very well too, especially in Japan, and the next single “Love Fire” was another hit, although not in the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, 'Love Fire' was followed by two new albums, one for the British market called “Pieces of Magic” and another for the American market, the eponymous “Jigsaw”.

In 1977, the band recorded their album “Journey Into Space” in Los Angeles. Years later, Clive Scott revealed in an interview that the record label (Twentieth Century Fox) paid for the band to fly out to make the album, paid for their accommodation, and gave them cash advances (or, as Scott called it, “pocket money”) to live off for three months while making the record. The album was produced by Rick Jerrard who was the producer of Jose Feliciano and the person responsible for putting together Elvis Presley's Las Vegas band. However, the album was never released, much to the frustration of the group.

Jigsaw returned to Britain and scored another hit with the single “If I Have To Go Away”, after which they recorded ten original songs for the motion picture “Home Before Midnight”.

Break-up

A little-known fact is that Bernard left the band in 1978 and was replaced by Jon Fox. Campbell & Fox left the band in 1979 and were replaced by Tim Stone and Pete Dennis. This new group lineup recorded one album for Elektra. However, the group disbanded in 1981, at which time the record was still in pre-production. The album, a disco influenced set (that was never released in the United Kingdom) was issued in the United States the following year. A final single under the Jigsaw name was released by Splash in early 1983 called 'Love Isn't At Home'.

Since the group split, Scott and Dyer have continued to be successful songwriters, having their work recorded by Nicki French, Bad Boys Inc., Boyzone, John Otis and many others. After leaving his music career behind when he quit Jigsaw in 1979, Tony Campbell went back to his first occupation, ophthalmic engineering. Barrie Bernard continued to work in the entertainment business, running night clubs as well as being an active magician. The group have reformed several times since they split for revivals, playing concerts and though no new studio albums have been issued, eight newly recorded songs were included on a 1995 compilation CD, entitled “The Best Of Jigsaw”, just one of the collections of their music released.

Despite the longevity they had, many consider the group to be highly underrated. Much has also been made about their lack of success in the UK charts, where only two of their singles made the Top 40. It has been suggested this was because BBC Radio 1, the most popular station in the UK at the time, gave little or no airplay to their singles after "Sky High" in 1975. However, the group lasted a long time and were big stars in Japan, as well as having four Billboard Hot 100 hit singles in the USA. Their music is also still in print on compact disc, enjoying healthy sales. The sleeve notes to their 1998 Greatest Hits collection, “The Very Best Of Jigsaw” stated “A look at Jigsaw’s songs reveals the innovative work of its creators: the advanced song structure, the clever use of classical techniques like counterpoint and a novel approach to using sound effects – leaving the listener with a sadly-overlooked-but-very-impressive catalogue of melodic pop songs”.

Selected discography

• "One Way Street" (1968, single)
• "Letherslade Farm" (1970, Album)
• "Keeping My Head Above Water" (1971, single)
• "I've Seen The Film, I've Read The Book" (1974, single)
• I've Seen The Film, I've Read The Book (1974, album)
• Sky High (1975, album)

Track listing on the above album differs from country to country

• "Sky High" (1975, single)
• "Love Fire" (1976, single)
• "Cry 'Til The Tears Run Dry" (1976, single)
• "If I Have To Go Away" (1977, single)
• "You Bring Out The Best In Me" (1980, single)
• "Prizefighter" (1980, single)
• "Love Isn't At Home" (1983, single)