"I'd Sell Records by the Ton" – THE RELUCTANT SINGLES OF SCOTT WALKER

Scott Walker hated singles. Between 1967 and the 1990s, he only released a handful of them, in most cases reluctantly, or under record company pressure. They run from soapy ballads and Brel chansons to country covers and the avant garde. 

I thought it would be fun to go through Scott's UK single releases and take a look at how successful each one was and how easy they are to find today.

Deadlier Than The Male / Archangel

(Philips UK BF 1537, December 1966)

Scott's disaffection with singles probably began with the Walker Brothers' eighth 45 - Deadlier Than The Male, backed with Archangel. These two Scott compositions, issued together in December 1966, were never intended by Scott or the group to be an official Walker Brothers release, merely a tie-in with the movie to which Deadlier Than The Male was the theme. "They promised me that 'Deadlier Than The Male' would not be promoted as a single," Scott told Disc at the time. "It was just put out to keep the film company happy." But Philips had other ideas and pushed the record into the charts - just - where it peaked a little outside the Top 30. "It really is upsetting," said Scott.

He was presumably a little happier with the Solo John, Solo Scott EP that appeared the same month. This was the official release, as far as the Walkers were concerned, and included two Scott tracks - notably the self-penned "bedsit ballad" Mrs Murphy. Both the EP and the single are easy enough to find and are still reasonably inexpensive these days.

Jackie / The Plague

(Philips UK BF 1628, December 1967)

Scott's first proper solo single was this extraordinary pairing - the boisterous Jacques Brel number Jackie, backed with Scott's own composition The Plague. Scott was no doubt delighted when Philips agreed to release this as his first post-Walkers single, to help promote his debut solo LP. The single charted in the UK, aided by performances on TV programmes like The Frankie Howerd Show and It Must Be Dusty. These days this single is easy enough to find for a few pounds, on the blue Philips label (like all the early releases).

Joanna / Always Coming Back to You

(Philips UK BF 1662, April 1968)

Five months after Jackie came Joanna. This single was Scott's biggest solo hit and put him back in the Top 10, where he hadn't been since the heady days of The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore, a couple of years earlier. The B-side was taken from the first Scott album. As this single sold in pretty large quantities, and these days is perhaps one of the less desirable of Scott's releases for collectors, it's easy to find for not very much money. I've grown to love the A-side though. From the pen of Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent and originally recorded by them.

The Lights of Cincinnati / Two Weeks Since You've Gone

(Philips UK BF 1793, June 1969)

In the days when popular chart acts put out at least three singles a year, Scott waited fourteen months for the follow up to his most successful hit. He apparently really hated this one and tried to avoid singing it live, often by combining it in a medley with Joanna. Despite this it was a respectable hit in the summer of 1969, again helped by a few TV appearances, making number 13 in the UK charts. The A-side is by hitmakers Tony Macaulay and Geoff Stephens and the B-side a self-penned number from Scott 3. Not a hard record to find, but like all the Sixties singles perhaps not so easy to find in VG+ condition now.

In 1968-70 Philips pressed up a number of acetates of Scott Walker 45s, presumably intended as UK or export singles, but never issued. Black Sheep Boy / Best of Both Worlds (from the debut album Scott); Gotta Travel On / Why Did I Choose You (showcased in his 1969 TV series, but never officially on vinyl); 'Til the Band Comes In / The War is Over (from the album 'Til the Band Comes In); and Prologue-Little Things (from the same album) all exist as Philips white labels. There may well be others. 

I Think I'm Getting Over You

(Philips nn, November 1970)

Another single that never was. At least this one almost made it. In November 1970, Record World announced Scott's first single in eighteen months, the Cook & Greenaway song "I Think I'm Getting Over You" (later recorded by Matt Monro). I expect Scott blocked its release, as the record never materialised (although acetates may well exist) and the song remains unavailable in any official physical format. I quite like it though: it's a shame it was never released.

I Still See You / My Way Home

(Philips UK 6006 168, October 1971)

So, three singles, three hits, several missteps. But enough was enough. There would be no follow-up to The Lights of Cincinnati. It was another two years before Scott Walker appeared again on 45, with a vocal version of the theme to the movie The Go-Between. "He's been gone a long time missing, has Scott," said Record Mirror in their review of this single, commenting that the Michel Legrand composition "suits his emotive ballad style very well indeed". The newspaper was hopeful it would chart. It didn't. Back in the days of glam and glitter, Scott Walker fans had moved on and record buyers couldn't summon enough enthusiasm to get it anywhere near the charts. These days, it and the B-Side, a Scott original, get a bit more love than they did back in 1971. Copies are not too hard to find, if you persist.

The Me I Never Knew / This Way Mary

(Philips UK 6006 311, May 1973)

In July 1972, Scott appeared on the teatime TV show 

2Gs and the Pop People, singing two songs, The Loss of Love, from the Moviegoer album, and We Could Be Flying, which would be included on the next album, Any Day Now. 

Neither was released as a single, but the following year Philips, knowing I expect that they were about to lose Scott to CBS, paired two different tracks from the same two LPs as a 45: The Me I Never Knew and This Way Mary. Record Mirror was impressed: "The best actual vocal performance of the week... Scott purrs and phrases and punctuates with intuitive skill. Some of that tortured aura of self-doubt that held up his career shows through." The reviewer hoped it would be a big seller. It wasn't. This single was no more successful than the previous one and promptly sank without trace. These days it is a hard to find and often expensive record. I have never seen a copy without a large centre.

A Woman Left Lonely / Where Love Has Died

(CBS UK 1795, October 1973)

Less than six months later, now on CBS, Scott released a cover of Oldham & Penn's A Woman Left Lonely, backed with a Jim Owen number, Where Love Has Died. This was a new direction towards a softer, country-tinged pop. "Mediocre," said the Birmingham Mail in its review of the single. "If he doesn't produce something special soon it's going to be Scott who?" The Melody Maker disagreed and reckoned it was "his best chance of a hit in a long time". Unfortunately it too failed to chart. It is pretty hard to find now and not cheap.

Delta Dawn / We Had It All

(CBS UK 2521, July 1974)

Undeterred, CBS released a single from their second album with Scott, We Had It All. The A-side was penned by Alex Harvey (no, not that one) and had already been a hit on the label for Tanya Tucker and was a US number 1 for Helen Reddy. Needless to say, Scott did zero promotion for it and, like it predecessor, it was a resounding flop. And, similarly, copies are very hard to come by these days, although A-label promo copies seem to be more common.

The Electrician / Den Haag

(GTO GT 230, July 1978)

Scott was soon shown the door at CBS and in 1975 teamed up with his old friends John and Gary to revive the Walker Brothers. They released three albums and four singles for GTO, a label that had more success with the likes of Donna Summer and Billy Ocean (who, improbably, appeared on Scott's 1984 album Climate of Hunter). The final single was The Electrician, effectively a Scott Walker solo outing. And an extraordinary one too. The Electrician was never going to be a hit and as the label was in the process of selling up around the time it was released, it received no publicity or airplay. Did Scott or the other two Walkers approve its release? It's hard to know. Either way, this was the beacon that lit the way for Walker, signalling a new direction for the former Sixties poster boy. Copies of the record are now very hard to find - and very expensive when they do turn up in a picture sleeve.

Track Three / Blanket Roll Blues

(Virgin VS 666, March 1984)

This was the final Scott Walker single (at least on vinyl), taken from the album Climate of Hunter. Scott even undertook some publicity for this one, appearing on The Tube TV show and putting together a video. It wasn't a hit, although with Scott now a cult favourite, thanks to the Fire Escape in the Sky compilation, it could well have been. It's easy enough to find at the moment but it could become scarcer as it is going up in price.

Man From Reno / Indecent Sacrifice

(Fontana France CD 862 382-2, 1993)

From now on Walker totally abandoned the seven-inch format (as did the record industry as a whole) and, apart from this French CD-only from 1993, written and recorded by Scott with musician and composer Goran Bregović, there were no more singles. This theme to a little-seen French motion picture called Toxic Affair is about as obscure as it gets with Scott Walker. Copies are extremely hard to come by and most people only know of these two songs from the Five Easy Pieces box set released in the early 2000s. The A-side was reworked for the opening track to the album Tilt in 1995.

?

(Fontana, 1995)

In December 1994, Music Week announced that a new Scott Walker single was forthcoming in February 1995. No title was given and nothing materialised. Fontana did send out two promotional CDs (confusingly titled Scott 1 and Scott 2) to journalists, showcasing tracks from the upcoming album Tilt. One track, Patriot (A Single), could have been misconstrued by Music Week as a forthcoming single. I've written about these CDs elsewhere - they contain otherwise unavailable edited versions of album tracks and so are of great interest to the collector.

I Threw It All Away / Only Myself to Blame

(1993/99)

Few recordings Scott Walker made in the last decades of his life could have really been considered for single release. With two exceptions. I'd have liked to have seen his cover of Bob Dylan's I Threw It All Away, recorded for the soundtrack of the 1996 John Hillcoat film To Have And To Hold, perhaps coupled with the David Arnold song Only Myself to Blame, rejected as a 1999 Bond movie theme. It wouldn't have been a hit of course, but it would have made a nice vinyl release. Perhaps it still will for Record Store Day...?