The Arrows were a band based in London, England. The group, which formed in 1974 and disbanded in 1977, included American singer/bassist

Alan Merrill Alan Merrill (born Allan Preston Sachs; February 19, 1951 – March 29, 2020) was an American vocalist, guitarist and songwriter. In the early 1970s, he was one of the few resident foreigners in Japan to achieve pop star status there. He wrote t ...

, American guitarist Jake Hooker and English drummer Paul Varley (who had replaced Clive Williams relatively early in the band's history). They had UK chart hit

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

in 1974 and 1975 with " Touch Too Much" and " My Last Night with You", produced by

Mickie Most Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003), known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Chocolate, Arrows, Racey and t ...

on RAK Records. They recorded the original version of Merrill's song "

I Love Rock 'n' Roll "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is a rock song written by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker (musician), Jake Hooker and first recorded by the Arrows (British band), Arrows, a British rock band, in 1975. A 1981 cover version by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, ...

", later covered by

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts Joan Jett and the Blackhearts is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1979 as a conjunction of lead musician, singer and songwriter Joan Jett and the backup band. It has undergone many lineup changes since its inception, w ...

Career

The first manager of The Arrows was Peter Meaden, who had also managed

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

in the early 1960s. He came up with the band's name, which originates from The Who's logo, with the arrow pointing up.

Early recordings

The Arrows highest reaching chart hit was "Touch Too Much" in 1974 which went to number 2 in the South African charts and was in the top 20 there for 15 weeks. The band's second single "Toughen Up" made number 51 in the UK chart in 1974. That year Arrows won the Golden Lion award (Belgium) in the "best new band" category and performed at the ceremonies on Belgian television. Eamonn Carr of later Freddie + The Dreamers/St Cecilia fame toured as piano/keys player for The Arrows live performances.

Broadcasting

The Arrows had two 14-week television shows in the UK called '' Arrows'' in 1976 and 1977, which were broadcast on

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

and produced by Muriel Young. They are the only band to have two weekly TV series and no records released during the run of either series; a result of a conflict between the band's manager Ian Wright of the M.A.M. Agency, and the group's mentor/producer Mickie Most. Each series consisted of 14 shows, 30 minutes in length. There were 28 shows broadcast in total. Their final single, "Once Upon a Time", was released one month before the first show of their first series in 1976.

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin; September 22, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music#J, Godmother of Punk", she is regarded as a Pop icon, rock icon and ...

became aware of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" while on tour with her band the Runaways in England in 1976 and saw the group perform the song on their weekly show."Ten hits you may not know were cover versions"
BBC News. Retrieved 14 October 2014 The band's only US TV appearance was on ''

Don Kirshner Donald Kirshner (April 17, 1934 – January 17, 2011) was an American music publisher, music consultant, rock music producer, talent manager, and songwriter. Dubbed "the Man with the Golden Ear" by ''Time'', he was best known for managin ...

's Rock Concert'' in February 1975. They played their UK hits, "Touch Too Much" and "Toughen Up".

Post activity

Beatles' biographers and editor of 1960s British invasion bible ''

Mersey Beat ''Mersey Beat'' was a music publication in Liverpool, England in the early 1960s. It was founded by Bill Harry, who was one of John Lennon's classmates at Liverpool Art College. The paper carried news about all the local Liverpool bands, and ...

'',

Bill Harry William Harry (born 17 September 1938) is the creator of ''Mersey Beat'', a newspaper of the early 1960s which focused on the Liverpool music scene. Harry had previously started various magazines and newspapers, such as ''Biped'' and ''Premier ...

wrote his first published book about the Arrows, ''Arrows : The Official Story'', published on Everest books in 1976.

Terry Taylor Paul Worden Taylor III (born August 12, 1955) is an American retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Terry Taylor and for his time as an in-ring performer in National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and Wo ...

who joined the band in the autumn of 1976 for the band's second weekly TV series, is currently with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings band. The Arrows song "Moving Next Door to You" (composed by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker) was used on the BBC1 TV show ''

Homes Under the Hammer ''Homes Under the Hammer'' is a British factual renovation and auction television series that is screened on BBC One as part of the daytime schedule. The series has been running since 17 November 2003, and is currently presented by Martin Rober ...

'' series 18, episode 70. The song was the B-side of "My Last Night with You", produced by Mickie Most in 1975. After that, the BBC TV show used the Arrows song "We Can Make It Together" in series 19, episode 53, the b-side of the band's single "Touch Too Much". The Arrows album ''First Hit'' was reissued in Japan on 11 March 2015, with bonus tracks on Warner Brothers Japan. The Arrows founding band members Paul Varley (1952–2008), Jake Hooker (1953–2014) and Alan Merrill (1951–2020) are all deceased.

Discography

Album

* ''First Hit'' (1976), Rak Records

Archival releases

* 1998 ''First Hit'' (reissue with bonus tracks) – CD * 2001 ''Singles Collection Plus'' * 2002 ''Tawny Tracks'' * 2004 ''A's B's and Rarities'' * 2015 ''First Hit'' (Japanese reissue with bonus tracks)

Singles

List of songs

The following is a sortable table of all songs by Arrows:

Cover versions

Arrow songs covered by others

References

External links

* *
Arrows fan site

Arrows in the UK charts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arrows 1974 establishments in England 1977 disestablishments in England English pop music groups English glam rock groups Pop music groups from London Glam rock groups from London Musical groups established in 1974 Musical groups disestablished in 1977 Rak Records artists