Alan Merrill -
- The New York, Bronx born lead singer of The Arrows is currently involved in numerous recording projects. In 2004, Alan Merrill released a new solo album, featuring his own compositions exclusively. It's out now, for sale as of September 7th, 2004. On the new album, which is titled "Aleecat", the recording's rhythm section features the mighty Pete Phipps on drums (Gary Glitter Band / XTC / Eurythmics), and Dave Glover (Brian Connolly's Sweet / Slade) on bass. This is the same core band that played on Merrill's 2002 album "Cupid Deranged", with Alan on guitar and lead vocals. Basic tracks were recorded in London, and overdubs and mixing done in New York City.
He also released a 23 song solo album dedicated to songwriters Arthur Alexander and Otis Blackwell, titled "Double Shot Rocks". It received rave reviews. The album is available, released in April of 2003. Of course in 2002 Alan Merrill issued a career retrospective abum titled "Cupid Deranged", which was a musical look over the shoulder, re-recording songs spanning his long and interesting career. These albums are easy to obtain on the internet, stocked in most of the well known internet stores, or on order at your local shops.
More recent news, Alan Merrill's debut album as a singer songwriter, "Merrill 1" has been reissued in June 2006. A new solo album titled "At The Candy Shop is released in September 2006. Also, his Japan based band Vodka Collins have released a compilation re-issue album titled "Boys In The Band", on Polystar records. It was released August 25th '05. Vodka Collins' debut album "Tokyo-New York" was re-issued on EMI Japan on April 20th, 2005. Lots of current activity for Alan since the Millennium, including the recent 2008 reissues "Alien In Tokyo" and "The Aleecat, Live In Japan".
In the late 1990's Alan Merrill released four albums with his Tokyo based band Vodka Collins, and also recorded two albums with the New York based Jon Tiven Group as lead vocalist. On these albums Merrill also had duets with music legend Arthur Alexander, and rock poet Jim "Basketball Diaries" Carroll. As a songwriter Alan has written the title tracks of albums by such diverse artists as Lou Rawls, Joan Jett, Freddie Scott, The Arrows, Vodka Collins, Chuck Jackson, The Jon Tiven Group, and Felix Cavaliere. Alan has recently co-written and recorded songs with R&B greats Don Covay and Teenie Hodges. The most recent news is that the Arrows Merrill and Hooker classic rock composition "I Love Rock 'n Roll" has been recorded by megastar Britney Spears, and is on her new 2001, #1 album release "Britney". The Joan Jett multi platinum 1982 version of the song is an enduring international rock n roll anthem. Merrill has had over 200 of his compositions recorded on many commercially released albums over the years.
Some little known facts about Alan Merrill- He was elected a New York Chapter Governor for NARAS, the Grammy Awards organization, for two terms in the 1980's.
Alan Merrill's composition "When The Night Comes", as recorded by R&B great Lou Rawls on Epic records in 1983, was taken into space by the first black astronaut in history, Guion "Guy" Bluford. It was the first LP ever in outer space, and Alan Merrill wrote the title track! The album "When The Night Comes" by Rawls also won two Beach Awards for best album, and the recording has a five star rating (full marks) in Rolling Stone Magazine's album guide.
Alan Merrill is featured prominently in the harmonies on the Nemperor label album "Paxton" featring neo-glam rocker Jann Paxton. The album which won the GLAMA (Gay and Lesbian Music Awards) prizes for best new album, and best single in 1997. Joining Merrill on harmonies on that album was his friend and fellow 70s pop star John Waite of the Babys.
Alan was featured in a Nissan car commercial as a model in 1970, for the Nissan Sunny Excellent 1200 campaign. It was the biggest ad campaign ever by Nissan at the time, and the ad ran 200 times a day on Japanese TV on all channels!
Merrill has nearly finished writing, and is currently putting the finishing touches on a 350 page autobiography to be released in the near future. Since the Arrows he has been in the bands Meat Loaf, Runner, Derringer, Vodka Collins, the Jon Tiven Group. He has also acted in a starring role as the character Casey Sparks in the HBO TV series "Encyclopedia Brown", writing and performing the show's theme song "Who Done It?" in the production. In 1985 Merrill released a critically acclaimed solo album on Polydor, which included cameo guest appearances by Steve Winwood, Dallas Taylor, and Mick Taylor. This album has been re-issued as "Never Pet a Burning Dog" and can be purchased by inquiring at arrowmaniax@yahoo.com along with several other Merrill recordings including the newest album "Cupid Deranged", and a holiday album "A Merrilly Christmas".
Alan Merrill has been married twice, and has three children. Two from his first marriage to international supermodel Cathee Dahmen, who died some years ago of emphysema. He has since remarried, and has had one child with his second wife. Alan's has three places of residence, one on the upper east side of Manhattan in New York City, one in the Hiroo section of Tokyo, and a small pied a terre right off of the Boulevard Saint Germain, on the left bank in Paris. He spends lots of time on planes! When in France, most evenings he can be spotted holding court at Paris's lively Bar Du Marche, or later at the Caves Saint Germain until the wee hours. When in Japan when not working Alan is usually in the Roppongi section of Tokyo, at Bernd's bar or Charleston's Cafe. Lately however, Alan has been working on recording projects in his home town New York City, where he spends most of his time. A hopelessly romantic soul, and the dreamer of the Arrows, Alan Merrill will surely be making great music for us for many years to come, in fact, he has released three new recent albums, one out in January 2010 titled "The Face Of 69" - The Collections Vol. 1, and another out in February 2011 titled "Numbers - The Collections Vol.2. The most recent release being "Snakes and Ladders" - The Collections Vol.3, released in January 2012-Terry N. Taylor -
- British born Terry is the former guitarist and leader of the group Tuckey Buzzard, produced by Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones. He was the last member to join The Arrows and contributed significantly to the song writing and arrangements of the band. These songs were never recorded, unfortunately, due to a contractual legal problem which prevented The Arrows from recording at all after 1976. The songs were heard however, as they were showcased on the Arrows TV series, and Terry's positive contributions were obvious, full and significant.
Terry Taylor's first post-Arrows recording project was the band "Sons of Heroes". Terry is currently working as musical director and guitarist with Bill Wyman's all star group The Rhythm Kings, and they are touring this summer of 2004. Bill and Terry are affectionately known as the "Dirt Brothers" in the band, for their love of the funky groove. They have been touring this year, and have a live band including stars Georgie Fame and Albert Lee. The Rhythm Kings have CD's available, and you can find out more about the band and their available recordings at former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman's website, which is easily found on the internet on any search engine. Simply look up www.billwyman.com A little known fact about Terry Taylor is that he was considered as replacement guitarist with the Rolling Stones after Mick Taylor left the band. Ron Wood got the job, but Terry was on the "short list" and was very nearly a Rolling Stone. He has been married once, to a Swedish beauty named Eva, and they had a son named Daniel. A gifted player, Terry Taylor's also an accomplished luthier, and a lute and classical guitar player. He has made a number of classical recordings as well as many of popular rock and blues music.Jake Hooker -
-The guitarist of the Arrows was a full fledged rock manager, with his companies Hookent and Edge Management, he has guided the careers of such acts as: Edgar Winter, Al Jardine, Rick Derringer, Hilly Michaels, Eddie Money, Missing Persons, Orleans, Player, Uriah Heep, and The Knack. Jake has also been involved as an executive producer and creative director in many Hollywood film and TV productions. Israeli born, New York raised from infancy, Hooker was formerly married to the daughter of the late Judy Garland, Lorna Luft. Luft has written a book titled "Me and My Shadows" documenting their stormy relationship. They had two children during the marriage, Jesse, and Vanessa. This makes Jake the father of Judy Garland's grandchildren. The Arrows legacy extends far and wide indeed! His last project as a musician was a group called Gigolo, with singer Paul Vigrass. They recorded an album in 1979 which was never released, and Jake then retired as a muscian.
Some little known facts about Jake Hooker- As a manager, in 1979 Jake got Hilly Michaels a million dollar deal with Warner Brothers records, and he orchestrated the deal for the first big budget MTV style video to promote Hilly's single "Calling All Girls". It was a landmark, breakthrough video in the industry.
Jake had a band called Streak before The Arrows. Jake was at that time known by another name, Jake Falsworth, a name he used in that band. The band Streak was originally started in New York by Jake Hooker-Falsworth, Alan Merrill, and drummer John Siomos in 1971. The trio recorded a demo. Merrill and Siomos had other commitments, and both soon dropped out of the band. Jake moved to the UK, and kept Streak going with other musicians. Streak then recorded singles for A&M records, and Deram records, in England, with two different drummers on each single. Drummer David Wesley played on the A&M single, and was later replaced by soon to be Arrow member Paul Varley for the Deram recording . The bassist / vocalist on both of these singles was Ben Brierley, with additional guitars on the Deram single by band member Rick Steele. Eventually Alan Merrill flew in to the UK from Tokyo, leaving his band there (Vodka Collins) and The Arrows were formed out of the ashes of the disbanded groups Vodka Collins and Streak with Paul, Alan, and Jake joining forces .
His children now grown, Jake is now remarried happily, and lives in Los Angeles with his wife. Jake still contributes the occasional song co-writes to recordings and films on various projects, including the song "Shake Me !" recorded by Rick Derringer (which was co-written with Arrow Alan Merrill) in the film "Where The Boys Are ('84)", a song which also appeared on the album "Good Dirty Fun" by Derringer. Most recently Jake's most famous co-write with fellow Arrow, singer Alan Merrill, 1975's "I Love Rock N Roll" has been recorded by Britney Spears and is on her #1 platinum album titled Britney. Hooker has also had songs, written with stellar keyboardist Dwayne Hitchings, in the films "Iron Eagle", "Top Gun", and "Rocky 4". He also has compositions appearing on recordings by acts that he also has managed, Edgar Winter and Eddie Money. Always the most business minded Arrow, wheeler-dealer, Jake even had his own record label, Dirty Feet Records, and signed several acts. There were three bands signed to the label that we know of, including the all girl band The Buttons and boy band rockers Ace's Down. Little is known about Jake in the past few years. He has been keeping a low public profile. He has recently changed his name to James H. Richards, presumably to avoid being confused with the young country and western star (of Jake Hooker & The Outsiders fame) of the same name.
Paul Varley -
- The hard hitting drummer of The Arrows' last known released recordings were playing in a London based group called "Darling", his post-Arrows project in the late 1970's, on Tony Stratton Smith's Charisma record label. He was also known to be playing drums in a band with Terry "Iron Lungs" Reid, and UFO's Paul Raymond, in early 1982 in Los Angeles. No recordings were made of that project that we know of, but they did at least one confirmed live show in LA. Before he played with Terry Reid, in early 1982, Paul had a band called the Ruffians with guitarist Frank Dimino, bassist John Brandt (ex-Cheap Trick) and keyboard/guitarist Paul Raymond (of bands UFO, and Waysted) as the line up. These were Paul's last musical projects, according to close friends we have interviewed recently. Not much is known about Preston Lancashire born Paul today, but it is rumoured that he has been a set designer for films in Hollywood, and a consultant-coach for the US actors' British accents, and rock 'n roll attitude, for the film film "Spinal Tap". Before his involvement with The Arrows, Paul was drummer for underground UK blues-rock groups Little Free Rock, Ginger Johnson's African Drums, and Purple Haze.
He moved back to London England for the first time in many years in 2005, and was being treated there for rehabilitation following bad bouts with pneumonia that he picked up in Los Angeles at the turn of the new millennium. After bravely fightly the illness with his staunch sense of life and humour, Paul sadly passed away on July 2nd, 2008. His funeral was held on July 18th in his hometown of Preston Lancashire. We send his friends and family our deep condolensces.
THE ARROWS news
The Japanese band L'Arc En Ciel" record "I Love Rock N Roll" for a Pepsi commercial in Japan and release the song as a single world wide in 2011.
March 19th, 2010 - A feature film about the band the Runaways was released in theaters worldwide in 2011 and the film sound track will include Joan Jett's version of the Arrows song, but the Arrows are not mentioned in the film or in reference to their creating the song "I love rock n roll" but are included in the end credits as songwriters of the classic tune.
December 1st, 2009 - Miley Cyrus features the Arrows classic song "I Love Rock N Roll" performing the song nightly on her Wonderworld tour.
July 2nd, 2008 - Arrows drummer Paul Varley passes away, ending any chance of an Arrows reunion. Rest In Peace, Paul Varley.
Sept 21, 2006 - At last. Some Arrows (type in "Arrows pop uk" for the search) videos are appearing on www.youtube.com
August 27th, 2006 - CJ jr releases the single "I Love Reggaeton," and also the band Showaddywaddy release their 2006 album "I Love Rock N Roll," featuring the Arrows classic song as the title track.
Oct. 17th, 2005 - Reverend Run (Run/DMC), the godfather of rap, has recorded a song called "Mind On The Road" which employs the riff and chords from from the Arrows song "I Love Rock N Roll." It is being used on his MTV television series "Run's House".
March 16th, 2006 - Arrows first demos are released as "Walk Away Renee", "Dreamin'" - these tracks were reviously unavailable. May 27th, 2005 - Swiss singer Salome Clausen has scored a current hit with "I love rock 'n roll" on Universal records. The song is also on two of her albums, one live version, and also a studio album which is currently in the Swiss and Austrian charts.
December 6th, 2004 - The Arrows latest album is released today on EMI Records, a re-issue titled "A's B's and Rarites". The 20 song album contains 8 previously unavailable and unreleased Arrows recordings. Songs include three Mickie Most productions, and also the band's TV tracks. These are unique recordings, and have never been on a commercially released until now !
September 15th, 2004, Last week Alan Merrill released a new solo album titled "Aleecat", and by coincidence a compilation re-issue of his Tokyo based band Vodka Collins titled "Boys In The band" was also released the week before.
April 14th, 2004, the Berlin based band Kathy X has released a version of "I love rock n roll" psychobilly style, on Cosmic records !
March 7th, 2004, The Arrows song "I love rock n roll", as recorded by the French group Forever Young reached #4 in the charts in France ! December 18th, 2003, A little known trivia fact about The Arrows TV show. The dance group on the Arrows Show, Him and Us, were choreographed by Teri Scoble, who with her sister Lesley, acted in the 1960s British cult classic horror film "Village Of The Damned", as the children ! Some 15 years later Teri and Lesley were principal dancers on The Arrows Show in 1976-77. November 10, 2003, we have just discovered that the popular band called Hello included two of their own versions of Arrows hit songs on their 1996 CD titled "Glam Rockers". They recorded "Touch Too Much" and "I Love Rock 'N Roll". August 12th, 2003, The Arrows classic song "I Love Rock 'N Roll" has been recorded by the super trendy band Queen Of Japan, and it is on their new hit album titled Head Rush. This version of the song is popular on the runways of Paris and Milan at high fashion shows, and may soon be included in a major commercial campaign. July 25th, 2003, The Arrows have recently been acknowledged by the music press to be the only band in the history of pop music to have their own weekly TV series ( two series in '76-'77) and no records released during both series. This is unprecedented in the history of televised pop music. The reason for this was a disagreement between the band's mangement MAM, and their record company RAK. A dubious distinction, but The Arrows were always a little bit different than other bands. May30th, 2003, Producer of The Arrows hit singles Mickie Most passed away today. He was 65. A music business legend, Mickie had a stellar career producing hits by The Animals, Herman's Hermits, The Jeff Beck group, Donovan, Lulu and more. May 1st, 2003, Arrows guitarist Jake Hooker has taken over as the offical manager of the band Orleans ("Dance With Me") as of this week. April 21st, 2003, The Faces website is featuring 20 Questions with Alan Merrill. Ian MacLagan and Tetsu Yamauchi of the Faces have worked together with Arrows Alan Merrill and Paul Varley. There are many Faces and Arrows fans interested in this connection between the two bands and the sessions in 1975, when the four musicians went into the studio and recorded together. To see, go to >>-----> http://www.the-faces.com -April 7th, 2003, Alan Merrill's new solo album "Double Shot Rocks" is released this week. It will be available on most of the internet shops, and of course information about this album is available on his website- http://www.alanmerrill.com. -April 2nd 2003, King of all media Howard Stern played The Arrows version of "I love rock n roll" on his morning radio show today. He was surprised and happy to learn about the true origins of the song, and spoke about it for some time. It is one of his favorite songs. -March 3rd, 2003, top teen model superstar Brittany English is using Alan Merrill's solo version of "I love rock n roll" on her website. She is filming her video today. We wish her much success and good luck in her career. ~Jan 1st 2003 marks the passing away of Carl Peachman, the drummer of Alan and Jake's pre-Arrows band the Watertower West in the mid 1960s. He will be missed.~Flashback~ In 1974 The Arrows won the Dutch "Golden Lion" award for best new band. They performed on TV live in Amsterdam Holland in an outdoor concert, and accepted the prize.
~Flashback 2~ Talk about a mismatch ! In 1975 The Arrows toured for two months as opening act with teddy boys Showaddywaddy, a British Sha Na Na style rock n roll band, who seemed to release new records every other month. This was a 1975 60 day tour the band did to promote their (The Arrows) "Hard Hearted" single. Unlike the band Showaddywaddy, who churned out hit records with alarming frequency, the band Arrows only released 6 singles in their 4 years as a band. The high price The Arrows paid for having musical integrity, and fighting their label to record their own songs. The Arrows had their own TV series and no records released during the run of both weekly series, as a result of their determination to do it their own way, not the label's way.
In November 2002 The Arrows song "I love rock n roll", as recorded by Britney Spears, went straight into the UK singles charts at #13 first week of release. The single reached its highest position at # 2 in the UK singles charts. The album "Britney" was # 1. -The Arrows, in the winter of the year 2002, are in the unusual position of having more recorded product out now than ever, in the entire history of the band. Although the group broke up 25 years ago, there are two current albums on sale in 2002. "Arrows, the Singles Collection Plus" on Cherry Red Records, and "Tawny Tracks" on Geltoob records. This may seem strange, but then, with The Arrows you can count on one thing! Always expect the unexpected, and never, ever count them out!