Racey

Countdown producer Grant Rule couldn’t get Racey’s ‘Lay Your Love On Me’ out of his head, so he had a bet with Molly that it would go to number one. Grant was right. And the English band followed it with another chart-topper – 'Some Girls'. Racey’s 1979 album, Smash And Grab, was a monster, going to number one in Australia, which became the band’s biggest market. (The album also featured a song called ‘Kitty’, which Toni Basil reworked as Mickey, scoring the biggest hit of her career).

When Racey was first formed in 1976 by singer Richard Gower, they began their career by playing in pubs and clubs in the West of England. By the autumn of 1976 they performed their first professional shows and were booked to play a one-month residency at the night club Jomfruburet, Copenhagen, Denmark.

After returning to the UK, they were spotted by famous record producer Mickie Most whilst playing at the Three Queens Pub in Weston-Super-Mare.Despite the fact that 1977 was the height of punk rock boom and clean-cut bands were considered unfashionable, Mickie Most was impressed by the bands live performance and original songs and signed them to his RAK label.

The summer of 1978 saw the release of Racey’s first single ‘Baby it's you’ penned by Smokie members, Pete Spencer and Chris Norman. Although the single had some critical acclaim, radio stations were reluctant to programme the song and it only reached the lower end of the charts.

In November 1978, the bands second single ‘Lay your Love on me’ was released and became an enormous Christmas hit. Penned by hitmakers Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, it sold over 950,000 copies in the UK alone to make it RAK Records biggest ever hit single. It went on to become a chart hit all over Europe and a No.1 hit in Australia and New Zealand.

In March 1979, Racey released their next single ‘Some Girls’, also song written by Chinn/Chapman. They had originally written the song for Debbie Harry and Blondie but following the success of ‘Lay Your Love on me’ decided to give it to Racey to record instead. The record became Racey’s biggest hit reaching No. 1 in 12 countries, eventually selling over 5,000,000 copies worldwide. ‘Some Girls’ is still a favourite with radio Stations and club DJs and is guaranteed to fill dance floors around the world.

The band’s first album Smash and Grab was released in 1980 and sold over 1,000,000 copies reaching No. 1 in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and many other European countries. It reached the accolade of Treble Platinum status in Australia where it remains one of the best selling albums of all time. Racey eventually earned 35 Gold, Silver and Platinum sales awards.

Links:
www.raceyweb.com