Category Archives: Loot

Loot

STEVE ELLIS Loot

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…never less than interesting

Music Week (May 2011)


These orchestrated pop compositions have that ultra stylish sound that was very popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Steve’s voice lends itself incredibly well to this style of music…which is probably why these recordings have had such staying power. In addition to Steve, the album also features the talents of Clem Cattini, Herbie Flowers, Big Jim Sullivan, Madelline Bell, and Doris Troy. If you like the sound and vibe of music from the Austin Powers films you owe it to yourself to check this one out. This is not an imitation or a rehash…it’s the real thing…

www.babysue.com (June 2011)


…some powerful tracks masterminded by Keith Mansfield whose creative arranging had been so crucial to the Love Affair sound…the soundtrack carries many…pleasures.

The Beat (June 2011)


Clem Cattini’s drum rolls and Big Jim Sullivan’s guitar interjections keep it all sharp…there’s many a nice moment to this short curio ripe for rediscovery

www.dmme.net (June 2011)


Long forgotten by most everyone – bar a handful of nouveau mods and Acid Jazz evangelists – the soundtrack to the 1970 film of Joe Orton’s Loot turns out to have been quite the little repository of Hammond-hauled cool grooves. Brownie points to Angel Air for retrieving it from the attic and blowing the dust off with a full digital remaster.

While erstwhile Love Affair vocalist Steve Ellis takes centre-stage and bags the credit, the songs were actually written by arranger Keith Mansfield (with lyrics by Richard Willing Denton) and performed by a crack squad of sessioneers including Herbie Flowers, Big Jim Sullivan, Clem Cattini and Alan Hawkshaw, not forgetting Madeline Bell and Doris Troy on bacKing vocals.

What ensues is a miniature masterclass of the kind of jazz-tinged, brass-heavy popsoul which was simply all over the UK’s film and TV output in 197O – even if, oddly, very little of it ever troubled the charts. Admittedly, excursions into knockabout silent movie mugging (Oh Fay!), mockney vaudeville (Mother’s Waltz) and supper club sleaze (We Nearly Were Lovers) are resistible to varying degrees, but Loot’s The Root, Stealth In The Night and More, More, More redress the balance with grooves you could frost a cocktail glass on.

Record Collector (July 2011)


…an interesting…period piece…aided by top-notch session-musicians.

Kevin Bryan, various UK regional press (July 2011)


Yes it may sound decidedly dated and yes there’s no denying that this is ‘film’ music, but I just can’t stop playing these excellent songs and on top of that everyone that I’ve played them to can’t stop singing them either. Unlike most sought after releases ‘Loot’ lives up to its reputation and really is an excellent album that anyone who has even a passing interest in this style of music will cherish.

Fireworks (Sept/Oct 2011)


A playground of bongos, beats and swinging style, ‘The Undertaker’, ‘Eyeball Serenade’ and the utter dance floor nirvana that is ‘Loot’s The Root’ leads me to the conclusion that all music should be this good.

Shindig magazine (August 2011)


Originally the vocalist in The Love Affair, in 1970 Steve Ellis was approach to record the soundtrack to ‘Loot’- with a screenplay by Galton and Simpson and having been on the stage prior to that it was an offer he couldn’t refuse. With music and lyrics by Keith Mansfield and backing singers including Madelline Bell and Doris Troy the album yielded a couple of singles before Ellis felt that this was not really him and moved on to a new solo band.

Unfortunately ‘Loot’ does sound like a late ’60′s soundtrack, but then again, why wouldn’t it? Tracks like ‘Loots The Root’, ‘We Nearly Were Lovers’ and ‘Eyeball Serenade’ are worth a listen but do sound a bit dated.

Nikk Gunns, www.getreadytorock.com (August 2011)


This collection catches up with the Grimes brothers during their mid-70s hard rock wilderness and is made up of half a dozen studio recordings and a blistering live set

Shindig magazine (August 2011)


The album is very bluesy in feel…Sounds a bit dated but worth a listen

Classic Rock Society (Mar/April 2011)

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