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Bram Tchaikovsky

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Bram Tchaikovsky
Birth namePeter Bramall
Born (1950-11-10) 10 November 1950 (age 73)
Lincolnshire, England
GenresPower pop
Years active1978–1981[1]
LabelsRadar Records (UK)
Polydor Records (US)
Arista Records
Tiger Eye

Peter Bramall[2][3] (born 10 November 1950 in Lincolnshire, England),[4] better known by his stage name Bram Tchaikovsky, is a British vocalist and guitarist.

He first came to prominence as a member of UK punk/pub rock band The Motors, whom he joined in 1977.[2] After he left them, he led an eponymous power pop band, with Micky Broadbent (bass, keyboards) and Keith Boyce (drums).[2] He scored a US Top 40 hit single on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979, with "Girl of My Dreams" (released February in the UK, June in the US). In the Netherlands, "Sarah Smiles" was a minor hit, reaching number 32 in April 1979.[5] Nick Garvey, Keith Line and Denis Forbes were also involved in later band lineups.[2] In 1979 he played guitar for the Skids hit 'Into The Valley' on the BBC. After disappointing sales, the band split up in 1981 and Tchaikovsky later owned and ran a recording studio near Louth, Lincolnshire, called the Chappel.

Tchaikovsky was also credited with co writing "Solid Ball of Rock", from the 1991 Saxon album of the same name.[6]

Re-releases

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In 1998, as part of a "British Rock" reissue series, WEA Japan rereleased both Strange Man, Changed Man and The Russians Are Coming albums on CD, using original master tapes and artwork. In addition to the original artwork and liner notes, each CD contained extensive historical information, song lyrics and musical commentary (albeit in Japanese). These CDs were only available in Japan and are now out of production.[7][8][9]

Strange Man, Changed Man had been expanded to 21 tracks and included rare B-sides and live cuts. It is only available on the web. Strange Man, Changed Man included newly remastered tracks, featuring the hit single "Girl of My Dreams", the track "Lonely Dancer" (which were both written by Heavy Metal Kid Ronnie Thomas), and ten bonus tracks. The bonus tracks included hard-to-find singles, B-sides, and live tracks. All tracks are taken from vinyl LPs and some tracks have considerable needle noise - very low-fi sound quality. [10]

In December 2007, Strange Man, Changed Man was issued in the US on the Hip-O Select label (ASIN: B000ZIZ0ZC) in digital sound and with full artwork. This CD release used the original master tapes sequenced for the original US release; the track running order is therefore different from the original UK album, and different from the 1998 Japanese CD version.[7]

In February 2012, a live recording, Live at the Lochem Festival, 1979, appeared on Tiger Eye with the songs "Sarah Smiles", "Robber", "Nobody Knows", "Turn on the Lights" and "Girl of My Dreams".[11]

In April 2018, Cherry Red Records released Bram Tchaikovsky: Strange Men, Changed Men: The Complete Recordings 1978 – 1981, a 3-CD box set fully endorsed by Bram Tchaikovsky.[12]

Album discography

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Year Album USA
Billboard Top 200 		AUS
KMR[13]
1979 Strange Man, Changed Man 36 92
1980 The Russians are Coming/Pressure (US title) 108 -
1981 Funland 158 -
2012 Live at the Lochem Festival, 1979 -
2018 Strange Men, Changed Men: The Complete Recordings 1978–1981 -

[2]

Singles

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Year Name Billboard Hot 100
1978 "Sarah Smiles" -
1979 "Lullaby of Broadway" -
1979 "Girl of My Dreams" 37
1979 "I'm The One That's Leaving" -
1980 "Let's Dance" -
1981 "Stand & Deliver" -
1981 "Shall We Dance?" 109

References

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  1. ^ "Albums by Bram Tchaikovsky". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e Woodstra, Chris (10 November 1950). "Bram Tchaikovsky - Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  3. ^ "Bram Tchaikovsky". Unterzuber.com. 10 November 1950. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  4. ^ "Bram Tchaikovsky". Unterzuber.com. 10 November 1950. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  5. ^ "Bram Tchaikovsky - Sarah Smiles". Top40.nl. Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  6. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Solid Ball of Rock - Saxon : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Bram Tchaikovsky's Strange Man Changed Man". Unterzuber.com. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  8. ^ "Bram Tchaikovsky – The Russians Are Coming". Discogs. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  9. ^ "Bram Tchaikovsky 'Strange Man, Changed Man'". Coolalbumreview.com. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  10. ^ "The Official Heavy Metal Kids Website". Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  11. ^ "Bram Tchaikovsky - Official Store - Live At the Lochem Festival, 1979". Facebook. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  12. ^ "Cherry Red Records - Bram Tchaikovsky: Strange Men, Changed Men: The Complete Recordings 1978 – 1981". Cherry Red Records. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  13. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 306. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
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