| The Arrows | |
| Origin: | London, England |
| Genre: | Pop, glam rock |
| Years Active: | 1974–1977 |
| Label: | RAK |
| Associated Acts: | Little Free Rock Darling Vodka Collins Mickie Most Runner |
| Past Members: | Alan Merrill Jake Hooker Paul Varley Terry Taylor |
The Arrows were a band based in London, England. The group, which formed in 1974 and disbanded in 1977, included American singer/bassist Alan Merrill, American guitarist Jake Hooker and English drummer Paul Varley (who had replaced Clive Williams relatively early in the band's history). They had UK chart hit singles in 1974 and 1975 with "Touch Too Much" and "My Last Night with You", produced by Mickie Most on RAK Records.[1] They recorded the original version of Merrill's[2] song "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", later covered by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.
The Arrows had two 14-week television shows in the UK called Arrows in 1976 and 1977, which were broadcast on Granada Television and produced by Muriel Young. They are the only band to have two weekly TV series and no records released during the run of either series; a result of a conflict between the band's manager Ian Wright of the M.A.M. Agency, and the group's mentor/producer Mickie Most. Each series consisted of 14 shows, 30 minutes in length. There were 28 shows broadcast in total. Their final single, "Once Upon a Time", was released one month before the first show of their first series in 1976. Joan Jett became aware of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" while on tour with her band the Runaways in England in 1976 and saw the group perform the song on their weekly show.[3]
The band's only US TV appearance was on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert in February 1975.[4] They played their UK hits, "Touch Too Much" and "Toughen Up".
The first manager of The Arrows was Peter Meaden, who had also managed The Who in the early 1960s.[5] He came up with the band's name, which originates from The Who's logo, with the arrow pointing up.
One of Liverpool's most renowned Beatles biographers and editor of 1960s British invasion bible Mersey Beat, Bill Harry wrote his first published book about the Arrows, Arrows : The Official Story, published on Everest books in 1976.
Terry Taylor who joined the band in the autumn of 1976 for the band's second weekly TV series,[6] is currently with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings band.[7]
The band's second single "Toughen Up" made number 51 in the UK chart in 1974.[8] That year Arrows won the Golden Lion award (Belgium) in the "best new band" category[9] and performed at the ceremonies on Belgian television.
The Arrows highest reaching chart hit was "Touch Too Much" in 1974 which went to number 2 in the South African charts and was in the top 20 there for 15 weeks.[10]
Arrows are the only band in the history to have hit records before their weekly TV series, and no records released during the run of their two television series. The band's last single was released a month before their first TV show was broadcast.[11]
The Arrows song "Moving Next Door to You" (composed by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker) was used on the BBC1 TV show Homes Under The Hammer series 18, episode 70.[12] The song was the B-side of "My Last Night with You", produced by Mickie Most in 1975. After that, the BBC TV show used the Arrows song "We Can Make It Together" in series 19, episode 53,[13] the b-side of the band's single "Touch Too Much".
The Arrows album First Hit was reissued in Japan on 11 March 2015, with bonus tracks on Warner Brothers Japan.[14]
The Arrows founding band members Paul Varley (1952 – 2008),[15] Jake Hooker (1953 – 2014)[16] and Alan Merrill (1951 – 2020)[17] are all deceased.Eamonn Carr of later Freddie + The Dreamers/St Cecilia fame toured as piano/keys player for The Arrows live performances.
| Year | A-side | B-side | Label | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | "Touch Too Much" (Nicky Chinn / Mike Chapman) | "We Can Make It Together" (Alan Merrill / Jake Hooker) | RAK 171 | (UK number 8)[18] | |
| 1974 | "Toughen Up" (Nicky Chinn / Mike Chapman) | "Diesel Locomotive Dancer" (Alan Merrill / Jake Hooker) | RAK 182 | (UK number 54) | |
| 1975 | "My Last Night with You" (Roger Ferris) | "Movin' Next Door To You" (Alan Merrill / Jake Hooker) | RAK 189 | (UK number 25) | |
| 1975 | "Broken Down Heart" (Roger Ferris) | "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Alan Merrill / Jake Hooker) | RAK 205 | [19] | |
| 1975 | "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Alan Merrill / Jake Hooker) | "Broken Down Heart" (Roger Ferris) | RAK 205 | [20] | |
| 1975 | "Hard Hearted" (Roger Ferris) | "My World Is Turning On Love" (Alan Merrill / Jake Hooker) | RAK 218 | ||
| 1976 | "Once Upon A Time" (Bill Martin / Phil Coulter) | "Boogiest Band In Town" (Bill Martin / Phil Coulter) | RAK 231 |
The following is a sortable table of all songs by Arrows:
| Song | Writer(s) | Time | Producer | Album | Year | Other | |||||||
| "A Love Like Ours" | 4:13 | unknown | Tawny Tracks | 2002 | |||||||||
| "Always Another Train" | 5:12 | Tawny Tracks | 1977 | unpublished | |||||||||
| "At The Candy Shop" | 4:13 | unknown | Tawny Tracks | 2002 | |||||||||
| "Baby Doll" | 3:06 | unknown | Tawny Tracks | 2002 | |||||||||
| "Bam Bam Battering Ram" | A's, B's, and Rarites | 1974 | published in 2004 | ||||||||||
| "Basing Street Leslie" | 2:06 | Tawny Tracks | 1977 | ||||||||||
| "Boogiest Band In Town" | 3:22 | First Hit (LP) | 1976 | B-side of "Once Upon A Time" | |||||||||
| "Bring Back The Fire" | unknown | 'A's B's & Rarities | 1976 | ||||||||||
| "Broken Down Heart" | 1975 | B-side of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" | |||||||||||
| "Cheating Woman" | Alan Merrill, A.B. David | 3:12 | unknown | Tawny Tracks | 2002 | ||||||||
| "Come On, Come On, Baby" | 3:29 | unknown | Tawny Tracks | 2002 | |||||||||
| "Dare You Not To Dance" | 3:08 | Tawny Tracks | 1977 | ||||||||||
| "Diesel Locomotive Dancer" | 2:42 | First Hit (CD) | 1974 | B-side of "Toughen Up" | |||||||||
| "Don't Worry 'Bout Love" | 3:00 | First Hit (LP) | 1976 | ||||||||||
| "Dreamin'" | 2:33 | A's, B's, and Rarites | 1974 | published in 2004 | |||||||||
| "Faith In You" | unknown | A's B's & Rarities | 1976-77 | published in 2004 | |||||||||
| "Feel So Good" | 2:55 | First Hit (LP) | 1976 | ||||||||||
| "Feelin' this Way" | 3:20 | First Hit (LP) | 1976 | ||||||||||
| "First Hit" | 4:22 | First Hit (LP) | 1976 | ||||||||||
| "French Cheating Woman" | Alan Merrill, A.B. David | 4:35 | unknown | Tawny Tracks | 2002 | ||||||||
| "Goodbyes Don't Bother Me" | Tawny Tracks | 1977 | unpublished | ||||||||||
| "Gotta Be Near You" | 3:30 | First Hit (LP) | 1976 | ||||||||||
| "Hard Hearted" | 3:18 | 1975 | A-side of "My World Is Turning On Love" | ||||||||||
| "Horny Lips" | 2:42 | unknown | Tawny Tracks | 2002 | |||||||||
| "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" | 2:47 | Tawny Tracks | 1975 | A-side of "Broken Down Heart" | |||||||||
| "International Gypsy Lovers" | 3:08 | unknown | Tawny Tracks | 2002 | |||||||||
| "Let Me Love You" | 3:22 | First Hit (LP) | 1976 | ||||||||||
| "Love Child" | Craig McLearie, John Laurenson | 3:09 | First Hit (LP) | 1976 | |||||||||
| "Love Is Easy" | 3:25 | First Hit (LP) | 1976 | ||||||||||
| "Love Rider" | unknown | A's B's & Rarities | 1976 | ||||||||||
| "Motor Running" | 3:05 | unknown | Tawny Tracks | 2002 | |||||||||
| "Movin' Next Door To You" | 2:57 | 1975 | B-side of "My Last Night with You" | ||||||||||
| "Movin' Next Door To You" (New Version) | A's B's & Rarities | 2004 | |||||||||||
| "My Last Night with You" | 2:31 | 1975 | A-side of "Movin' Next Door To You" | ||||||||||
| "My World Is Turning On Love" | 4:23 | First Hit (CD) | 1975 | B-side of "Hard Hearted" | |||||||||
| "Once Upon A Time" | 4:28 | First Hit (LP) | 1976 | A-side of "Boogiest Band In Town" | |||||||||
| "Rock N' Roll Hotel" | 3:30 | unknown | Tawny Tracks | 2002 | |||||||||
| "Silver Stallion" | 3:07 | unknown | Walk Away Renee | 1976 | |||||||||
| "Somebody To Love" | 4:04 | unknown | Tawny Tracks | 1977 | |||||||||
| "Thanks" | 4:14 | First Hit (LP) | 1976 | ||||||||||
| "The Stranger" | 2:55 | unknown | Walk Away Renee | 1976 | |||||||||
| "Touch Too Much" | 3:00 | 1974 | A-side of "We Can Make It Together" | ||||||||||
| "Toughen Up" | 2:51 | First Hit (CD) | 1974 | A-side of "Diesel Locomotive Dancer" | |||||||||
| "Wake Up" | A's, B's, and Rarites | 1974 | published in 2004 | ||||||||||
| "Walk Away Renee" | Michael Brown, Bob Calilli, Tony Sansone | 2:43 | 1974 | ||||||||||
| "We Can Make It Together" | 2:57 | First Hit (CD) | 1974 | B-side of "Touch Too Much" | |||||||||
| "What's Come Between Us" | 3:33 | First Hit (LP) | 1976 | ||||||||||
| "Who Done It?" | 3:07 | unknown | Tawny Tracks | 2002 |
| Song | Writer(s) | Original artist | Album | Year | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Martin, Phil Coulter | Slik (CD) | 1975 | ||||
| Johnny Burnette | Dreamin' | 1960 | ||||
| Thanks | Thanks | 1969 | ||||
| Michael Brown, Bob Calilli, Tony Sansone | Walk Away Renée/Pretty Ballerina | 1966 |
| Song | Writer(s) | First artist | Name | Album | Year | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Merrill, Jake Hooker | I Love Rock 'n' Roll | I Love Rock 'n Roll | 1981 | ||||
| Love Child | Craig McLearie, John Laurenson | Craig McLearie | Love Child | Warp Factor | 1979 | ||
| Nicky Chinn, Mike Chapman | Touch Too Much | Fire Me Up Glam Rockers | 1984 1996 |
