(Classic Rock) John Du Cann - The World's Not Big Enough - 1979, MP3 (tracks), 320 kbps

The World's Not Big Enough

John Du Cann
1979
Angel Air
SJPCD 043

Reissue of the former Atomic Rooster singer/ guitarist's solo album with 12 bonus tracks added. Guests on the record include Status Quo members Francis Rossi & Andy Brown, plus big, bad, bald bassist John McCoy of Gillan. Bonus tracks are 'Exodus (Johnny And His Epic Guitars)', 'Moody Child', 'Truck Stop', 'Well Let's Go', 'Paradise', 'I Want To Be Alone', 'Ode To Mae West', 'Wise Man', 'Ooh Be Doo', 'Thanx For Nothing', 'Who Cares?' and 'The Door'. 27 tracks total, also including the U.K. top 40 hit 'Don't Be A Dummy'. 1999 release.

Review

Du Cann recorded a solo album in 1977, with some members of Status Quo, only to discover that the record company had absolutely no intention of releasing it. This has subsequently been released, many years later, on CD as The World's Not Big Enough (Angel Air Records) or alternatively on Repertoire as Nothing Better. In this case, the Angel Air release is the better deal, as there are twice as many songs. Beware, however - though the track listing appears different, they are the same songs - almost as if someone was listening to the tracks and guessing what the names might be.

In 1979, he scored a solo hit with Don't Be A Dummy which was the jingle for a jeans ad. Like most jingles expanded out to single length, it became somewhat tedious at three minutes, but it attracted enough sales to enter the Top 30 and earn Du Cann an appearance on Top Of The Pops.

Although John Du Cann had several singles in the late 1970s with a strange power pop/new wave/hard rock melange, his most successful group by far was Atomic Rooster, for which he played guitar in the early 1970s. Du Cann had a long and varied career before beginning his brief attempt to become a solo star, without ever becoming a name widely recognized by the international public. In the late 1960s he had been in the obscure British psychedelic groups the Attack and Andromeda, both of whom have had material released on the sort of special-interest psychedelic reissues that only fanatical collectors of the style are aware of. In 1970, still known simply as John Cann, he joined Atomic Rooster, whose main man, organist Vincent Crane, decided to alter the organ-bass-drums lineup of their first album into an organ-guitar-bass trio.
Du Cann was also the singer in Atomic Rooster, and played in a lineup with Crane and drummer Carl Palmer for nine months before Palmer left to join Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Atomic Rooster entered the British Top Ten with the album Death Walks Behind You, and a single, "Tomorrow Night," also went Top Ten in the UK; Du Cann claims he wrote this, although Vincent Crane got the songwriting credit. The third Atomic Rooster album, Hearing of Atomic Rooster, was even more successful, as was the single "Devil's Answer," which made #2 in Britain. At this point, however, Crane fired Du Cann.
Du Cann then formed Bullet with drummer Paul Hammond (who left Atomic Rooster at the same time as Du Cann), who after their first single had to change their name to Hard Stuff since there was an American band also using the Bullet name. Du Cann subsequently worked as a songwriter, and replaced Gary Moore in Thin Lizzy. Then his manager changed his name from John Cann to John Du Cann. He got signed as a solo artist and started recording with Status Quo producer Francis Rossi, using a journeyman band including bassist John McCoy (later of Gillan), drummer Pete Kircher (ex-Honeybus and Cliff Bennett), and keyboardist Andy Bown (the Herd, Status Quo).
Considering Du Cann's background, his solo outings were far more pop-based than could have been reasonably expected. Du Cann's rough, throaty voice was not natural frontman material, nor were his songs that great, but there wasn't much lingering aftertaste of his metal-hard rock background. He sounded, frankly, caught between new wave, power pop, and the mainstream, without heading wholeheartedly in any of those directions. Imagine a very mainstream Wreckless Eric, if that's possible, and you have an idea of how Du Cann could sound at times. "Throw Him in Jail" and "Where's the Show" were put out as singles, and an album was ready for release in 1977, but canceled.
Still, in 1979 Du Cann did manage a British Top Forty hit with "Don't Be a Dummy," which was originally recorded for an advertisement. Rather than pursue a solo career, however, at this time Du Cann reunited the Crane-Hammond-Du Cann version of Atomic Rooster for touring and recording. The unreleased 1977 John Du Cann album was de-mothballed and issued on CD in 1999, with numerous bonus demos and outtakes. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide