Recognition
Got Enough Love
Grim Reaper
Nightingale
Detective Man
Ain't None Of Your Business
Deep Down
Wild Hot Summer Nights
One More Heartache
Having enjoyed the patronage of Deep Purple while a member of Silverhead, frontman Michael Des Barres went one step better with his next combo, Detective: he gained the support of none other than Led Zeppelin.
Silverhead were signed to Deep Purple’s Purple Records; however, their brand of swaggering glam-stomp failed to break out of cult mode. Following their 1974 break-up Des Barres moved from London to Los Angeles to be with his soon-to-be wife, Pamela Miller (of I’m With The Band fame). Des Barres formed Detective, inking a deal with Zep’s Swan Song and joining the label’s UK-based roster of Bad Company, The Pretty Things and Maggie Bell.
It got better: Jimmy Page was in the frame to produce this, Detective’s 1977 debut. It didn’t happen due to his day-job commitments, plus an apparently fragile state of mind. Still, many have speculated that Jimmy Robinson – who sat at the soundboard for four of the album’s 10 tracks – is in fact a pseudonym for Page. (It isn’t.)
Detective’s sound is dense and uncompromising; guitarist Michael Monarch is the archetypal sloppy leviathan; drummer Jon Hyde is as gonzo as Bonzo. With Des Barres howling like a wounded warrior – just listen to him go ‘OH-HOOO-OOOH!’ on Got Enough Love – several of the songs are tough enough to duke it out with Kashmir or Trampled Underfoot... and emerge battered, bruised but unbowed.
Every week, Album of the Week Club listens to and discusses the album in question, votes on how good it is, and publishes our findings, with the aim of giving people reliable reviews and the wider rock community the chance to contribute.
Other albums released in April 1977
- Clear Air Turbulence - Ian Gillan Band
- Even in the Quietest Moments - Supertramp
- The Clash - The Clash
- Sin After Sin - Judas Priest
- Love You - The Beach Boys
- Rattus Norvegicus - The Stranglers
- Lace and Whiskey - Alice Cooper
- Future Games - Spirit
- Get It - Dave Edmunds
- Let it Flow - Dave Mason
- Moroccan Roll - Brand X
- Off the Record - Sweet
- Over - Peter Hammill
- A Period of Transition - Van Morrison
- Windy City Breakdown - Jonathan Cain
What they said...
"Although there's no way of avoiding the similarities between Detective's sound and that of Led Zeppelin's, their debut album evolved as the freshest of the three albums that they released. Des Barres' vocals are unmistakably Plant-like, and Michael Monarch's guitar riffs are somewhat refined, yet at times they buzz and chug just like Page's, but there's still an ample amount of enjoyable rock & roll left over to make Detective a worthy album." (AllMusic)
"When Detective get cooking on Ain’t None Of Your Business, the sixth track on their eponymous 1977 debut, drummer Jon Hyde goes to town on a rhythm like that, and with a Nice threads guys - well, it was 70s Americacavernous sound to match. And there are variations on the Bonzo theme on a few other tracks into the bargain. Hyde was probably the most un-Bonham-like dude you could come across – a total abstaining health freak before such a lifestyle became fashionable. But boy did he get that Bonham drum sound down." (Blues Enthused)
"You can hear why Page was interested from the first few bars of opener and single Recognition, a tuneful amalgamation of Steely Dan and Triumph. Monarch’s guitars are prominent, tossing a bevvy of licks throughout the song, and the vocals are fantastic – great harmonies and a throaty wail that keeps the tune and reminds me of Rik Emmitt." (Consume The Tangible)
What you said...
Greg Schwepe: Ahh, can you smell that? The sweet smell of 1977! The vibe and music of Detective totally brings me back to all the music I was hearing at that time.
While I had never heard this album before, I had somehow known who Michael Des Barres is and also the bands he had been in. I was also aware of his “musician enthusiast” ex-wife Pamela. And, as a bonus, I saw the actor side of him on an episode of WKRP In Cincinnati as a member of a punk band.
Detective for me sounds like a mix of early Whitesnake and late 70s era Babys. Bluesy rock (Recognition), some jazzy sounds (Deep Down), and a little funky workout Wild Hot Summer Nights). The album has a very middle-of-the-road tempo and something that brings about a “yeah, that was nice” vibe after listening to it. Had I heard this on my local FM station back in the day, it’s totally something I would’ve bought, recorded to cassette so I could play in my car, and play the heck out of for a month or two.
7 out 10 on this one for me. My type of late 70s rock.
John Davidson: I'd never heard Detective before today and it's not without its charm. Of course those charms are entirely borrowed from Led Zeppelin, but if you're going to borrow, borrow from the best.
The fact that Jimmy Page endorsed the band (enough to sign them to Swan Song) says something. Andy Johns (producer/engineer) also worked on Led Zeppelin so no doubt he is part of the story here too.
Lyrically it's generally poor stuff . Derivative or drivel. Sometimes both. And the singer is more Biff Byford than Robert Plant. regardless of his phrasing. Listenable, but only just.
Recognition is the stand-out song, simply because it abandons the Zepisms and embraces a soulful, funky vibe. 6/10.
Richard Cardenas: Wow! I’ve been listening to this record recently. I saw these guys open for Kiss twice and thought they out on a great show. One of those bands that too few know about.
Wesley Winegarden: Honestly, I never heard of this band until the suggestion came up. Very good rock album, but nothing on it really stands out so I can understand why it's been mostly forgotten in the passing of time.
Mitch Orcutt: Love this album. On top of my list of bands that should have been huge!
Damian Keen: I hope John Bonham got a writing credit on One More Heartache. It's a poor man's Zep, with no memorable songs and no instrumental virtuosity. 4/10
Jim Carson: This is a gritty record that comfortably fits into the landscape of the mid-to-late '70s. I hear a confident swagger, blending heavy riffs and bluesy undertones reminiscent of Bad Company and Led Zeppelin.
Tracks like Got Enough Love and Grim Reaper deliver a solid punch with thick, chugging guitar work and Des Barres' raw vocals. If you enjoy the rough-edged groove of Free or Montrose, there's a lot to like here.
Though Detective doesn't reinvent the wheel, it competently captures the essence of the era's blues-infused hard rock. It's an album for fans of gritty '70s rock who want something familiar yet robust.
It's the sound of a band that knew its influences and leaned into them unapologetically. (Michael Des Barres gets bonus points from me for his appearance on WKRP in Cincinnati!)
Chris Elliott: I have fond memories of this record - nostalgia is a funny thing. Where I grew up there was a record shop or there was Woolworths for your records. Woolworths was Top 40 singles, a few chart albums and then the largest collection of cheap albums for your Gran. As a result it not only had bargain bins - it had a really cheap bargain bin. Normally the penny bin was full of bad cover versions of pop songs or children's songs. One day they'd obviously found a dusty pile of albums in the back corner of the stockroom. I came home with a bizarre armful of 70s albums for less than the price of an ex-jukebox single and pretty much doubled my album collection at the time (just turned 16).
This was in there - bought solely on the fact Tony Kaye was on it. That and the back cover photo, flares and bad clothes beyond parody.
At the time my Zep knowledge was limited - a couple of songs taped off the radio and the truly awful The Song Remains The Same - so I didn't get the Zep references then.
I played this a lot over the next few years and have it on MP3 so it's not one of those forgotten albums of the past.
It's been a while since I played it however. The vocals now grate a tad in places - the sub Plant howl. There are a couple of Zep clones from start to finish, but whilst nostalgia plays a part there's something just a tad pleasingly odd throughout. It's not simply a Zep clone they stole from a variety of artists (like an early version of the Strokes - you can play spot the "influence" throughout). But in general it never quite follows the path you'd expect, and somehow never descends into a jam.
I suspect if I heard this fresh today I'd be more dismissive but that could be said about many things from my teens.
John Edgar: Since I suggested this, please allow me to make a few comments. A particular 1977 trip to the local record store yielded no new releases from any of my favourites, so I tried out this new release from a new band called Detective. I dug the groove of this album right from the first listen, and it proved to be one of those albums that would provide innumerable repeat listens.
Everyone I played it for loved it, but I've never met anyone else that actually bought the record. To this day, I still pull it out for a spin at least a couple of times a year. If you listen to this album, and enjoy it, then allow me to recommend their second album, It Takes One To Know One, also from 1977. Their last encore was one of those Live From The Atlantic Studios promo albums, which has been officially released on CD, but can be a bit hard to find.
Mike Canoe: Coming in cold, Detective, the album, sounds like a Led Zeppelin clone endorsed by Led Zeppelin and released on their Swan Song label.
Record companies seemed to spend a lot of time in the '70s and '80s trying to make Michael Des Barres "happen," whether with his previous band, Silverhead, Detective, or his future band, Chequered Past. While I haven't heard all those albums, nothing really seemed to catch fire with the public. His biggest career moment might be subbing in for Rober Palmer for Power Station's set during Live Aid. [Insert grimace emoji here.]
But back to this album, the only song that does not have strong Zep overtones is the instrumental Deep Down, which instead is a dead ringer for Jeff Beck in his fusion phase. Still, the album has its charms. Grim Reaper, Got Enough Love, Nightingale, and One More Heartache may be derivative but they're fun too.
Bands wouldn't copy Led Zeppelin if there wasn't an audience for it. At least this way, Zep ensured they got a cut. Lest we forget, Led Zeppelin were pioneers at making money too.
Philip Qvist: Not so long ago if you asked me to say what I knew about Michael Des Barres, then it would be for playing Murdoc in that '80s to end all 80s' TV show McGyver, and co-writing that 'so 80s of 80s' songs Obsession by Animotion. Until recently I never knew he fronted a couple of rock bands during the 70s - I just thought he was somebody who found his niche in the 80s and then vanished for good.
So needless to say, I have never heard any song from Detective until today - and yet, for some reason most of the songs seemed so familiar. Nightingale, Detective Man, One More Heartache and Ain't None of Your Business all sounded like something I have heard before - and then I realized it was the style of the songs, ie typical 70s rock that was influenced by Led Zeppelin, Bad Company and a couple of other big hitters from that era. I guess being on the Swan Song label should have been a big clue. That's not to say it's a bad album, in fact I quite enjoyed it - and it is a surprisingly good record.
For all the talk about their singer, and he did co-write a few tracks, this is basically a project of guitarist Michael Monarch and drummer Jon Hyde, who did the bulk of the songwriting. So a great introduction to a more than decent album, that should have sold a lot more copies than it did.
A very solid 7/10 from me this week.
Final score: 6.48 (33 votes cast, total score 214)
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