Kenny was one of the myriad bands thrust onto the British glam scene as it approached its end in the mid-70's, and they were generally regarded, alongside the Bay City Rollers and Slik, as simply another in a long line of acts created by master songwriters Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. In fact, although the five-piece group's best-known material was indeed the work of that pair, Kenny's Rick Driscoll and Yan Stile were also very competent songwriters in their own right, as the group's final few releases proved. Kenny had actually already existed for some three years before Martin and Coulter first encountered them, as under the name Chufff the quartet were regulars on the free festival progressive rock circuit, playing alongside such stalwarts as Hawkwind and the Edgar Broughton Band. They were discovered by Martin and Coulter in late 1974, apparently rehearsing in a banana warehouse in the north London suburb of Enfield, and their initial response to the songwriters' overtures were disdainful. Martin and Coulter would not take no for an answer, and as they had recently recorded a new version of a song previously cut with the Bay City Rollers, a dance number called 'The Bump', they were anxious to find a ready-made band to promote it on television. Indeed, the record had already been released and seemed destined for a chart entry, and so as they seemed assured of stardom, Chufff agreed to become Kenny.
In the event, that stardom was to prove extremely fleeting, as while the group certainly garnered some publicity from the Kellogg's cereal company's objections to the band's "K" logo, and 'The Bump' made number three in early 1975, the group enjoyed just three further British hits, all penned by Martin-Coulter, including the number four smash 'Fancy Pants', plus 'Baby I Love You OK', and 'Julie Ann'. Driscoll and Stile only managed to get a couple their own songs onto vinyl, with 'Dancin' Feet' on the flip of 'Julie Anne', and 'Happiness Melissa' appearing on the b-side to the late-1975 flop 'Nice To Have You Home'. The under-performance of Kenny's debut album furthered the band's desire to extricate themselves from their predicament and, in late 1976, they went to court to free themselves from Martin-Coulter, after which they signed to Polydor and recorded a new, all original, album, 'Ricochet', and released the single 'Hot Lips'. Neither drew any attention whatsoever and when a serious road accident put Stile out of action, Kenny folded. For a manufactured pop band of the period they managed to get quite a few non-album songs on the b-sides of their singles, and so if you have fond memories of 'The Bump' then check out this collection of their harder to find tracks.
Track listing
01 Forget The Janes, The Jeans And The Might Have Beens (b-side of 'The Bump' 1974)
02 Bring Back The Good Old Melodies (b-side of 'The Bump' 1974)
03 I'm A Winner (b-side of 'Fancy Pants' 1975)
04 The Sound Of Super K (b-side of 'Baby I Love You, OK!' 1975)
05 Dancin' Feet (b-side of 'Julie Anne' 1975)
06 Happiness Melissa (b-side of 'Nice To Have You Home' 1975)
07 Bangin' My Head Against A Brick Wall (b-side of 'Hot Lips' 1976)
08 Crying (out-take 1976)
09 Abe's Lament (out-take 1976)
10 Old Songs Never Die (single 1977)
11 Don't Hold On (b-side of 'Old Songs Never Die')
12 Reach Out (I'll Be There) (single 1979)
13 Time Is The Healer (b-side of 'Reach Out (I'll Be There')
