Heatwave were an English pop band from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, active from 1969–1972. Known as The Moving Targets, featuring John Fellows (bass & vocals), Terry Shea (rhythm guitar & vocals); Richard Steen (lead guitar & vocals), they auditioned for a drummer in 1969 and Martin Samuel (drums & pyrotechnics) was signed on and they became Heatwave. They were a progressive pop harmony group, doing local gigs, playing cover versions of the popular artists of the day with lead vocals shared between Terry and John with a few songs from Richard. In the winter of 1969,

Johnny Edward John Edward Flux, (31 October 1945 – 23 October 2021) professionally known as Johnny Edward, was a British musician, writer and record producer, also known as the creator of the children's television character Metal Mickey. Career Musician ...

Entertainment Agency was looking for pop groups, Heatwave auditioned and the band was asked to sign that same night. Touring the country as a four-piece, playing four sets a night, they became a tight vocal harmony band with a solid dance beat, often 'opening' for 'name' acts while earning a large fan following. John Edward believed the band needed a stronger voice to be a successful recording group and set up auditions with an advert in the ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

''. Peter Allatt (lead vocals & percussion) then completed the group as a five-piece. Playing one night stands around the country, The Pheasantry (London), California Ballroom (

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the ...

) and the

Cavern Club The Cavern Club is a nightclub on Mathew Street, Liverpool, England. The Cavern Club opened in 1957 as a jazz club, later becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the late 50s and early 1960s. The club became closely assoc ...

(

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

), where they have a brick in the Wall of Fame, were but three of many favourite venues played. The band's stage gear was made by The Carnaby Cavern in Ganton Street, just off

Carnaby Street Carnaby Street is a pedestrianised shopping street in Soho in the City of Westminster, Central London. Close to Oxford Street and Regent Street, it is home to fashion and lifestyle retailers, including many independent fashion boutiques. Stre ...

. A stage act was later suggested whereupon, Martin incorporated a pyrotechnic display of

fire eating Fire eating is the act of putting a flaming object into the mouth and extinguishing it. A fire eater can be an entertainer, a street performer, part of a sideshow or a circus act but has also been part of spiritual tradition in India. Physi ...

. Heatwave was invited to appear on the

Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekd ...

radio show without having the usual audition and, from that, were given the opportunity to record for the Dave Cash,

Kenny Everett Kenny Everett (born Maurice James Christopher Cole; 25 December 1944 – 4 April 1995) was an English comedian, radio disc jockey and television presenter. After spells on pirate radio and Radio Luxembourg in the mid-1960s, he was one of the fi ...

Dave Lee Travis David Patrick Griffin (born 25 May 1945), known professionally as Dave Lee Travis, is an English disc jockey, radio presenter and television presenter. Travis began his broadcasting career on the pirate radio station Radio Caroline in 1965. He ...

, Jimmy Young and Radio One Club shows – Heatwave became one of the most-oft heard 'live' professional bands on

BBC Radio One BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

between 1969 and 1970. On 16 October 1970, Heatwave released "Sister Simon (Funny Man)" b/w "Rastus Ravel (Is a Mean Old Man)" (PEN 738) on the

Larry Page Lawrence Edward Page (born March 26, 1973) is an American business magnate, computer scientist and internet entrepreneur. He is best known for co-founding Google with Sergey Brin. Page was the chief executive officer of Google from 1997 unt ...

Penny Farthing Records Penny Farthing Records was a British independent record label, established in 1969 by the British record producer Larry Page as a progression from his mildly successful 1960s record label, Page One Records. The label signed some artists of note. I ...

label. Both songs were written and produced by John Edward for Instant Sound Productions. The single featured

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s. Born and raised ...

on keyboards and

Doris Troy Doris Troy (born Doris Elaine Higginsen; January 6, 1937 – February 16, 2004) was an American R&B singer and songwriter, known to her many fans as "Mama Soul". Her biggest hit was " Just One Look", a top 10 hit in 1963. Life and career She ...

with Maggie Stredder, Gloria George and Marian Davis,

The Ladybirds The Ladybirds were a British female vocal harmony trio, most famous for their appearances on ''The Benny Hill Show''. They participated in over 60 episodes between 1968 and 1991. In addition, they were long-standing backing singers to many est ...

, as back-up singers. On 2 April 2013, "Rastus Ravel (Is A Mean Old Man)", was re-released as track 4 on ''Piccadilly Sunshine, Part Twelve – British Pop Psych and Other Flavours 1967-1971'', on the bootleg Particles label. On 11 April 2013, Paul Martin reviewed ''Piccadilly Sunshine, Part Twelve'' in ''Shindig'' magazine, and wrote, "So here's another hamper of low calorie sooth-sayers with pictures to paint. The indulgence food in this particular feast comes from Heatwave's "phat" mod-soul funker, "Rastus Ravel"". On 24 April 2013, Newtracks (

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) selected "Rastus Ravel (Is Mean Old Man)" for the

music game A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs. Music video games may take a ...

, ''Bands'', for

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and

mobile devices A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...

References

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