LOST TREASURES

FRINGE BENEFIT

“Fringe Benefit”

By Peter Marston

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The story sounds familiar. A band that writes and records anglophilic power pop, awash in acoustic guitars, is signed to a label known almost exclusively for soulful Southern rock and R&B. Their debut album, though accomplished, struggles to find an audience on its initial release and becomes a cult favorite. But the band isn’t Big Star. It’s Fringe Benefit, a British four-piece whose self-titled (and only) LP is a real find.

Before we go too much further, it is only fair to say that Fringe Benefit is by no means as transcendent and timeless as #1 Record, but to be honest there are very few records in my collection that are. Still, the album is full of great songs, strong arrangements and offers a solid set of 70s British pop.

The story of Fringe Benefit begins with John Jones, a singer for a number of British rock and pop bands, the first of which was the Cavaliers, a very typical 60s Beat group playing the standard repertoire on the Youth Club and ballroom circuit. Jones departed in the early 70s and went on to sing for the Hotshots, a British folk-rock band that charted with a cover of “Snoopy and the Red Baron.” After that, he sang for Albatross, a very typical 70s British pop band who released four singles, including the gravely titled “Rock ’n’ Roll Boogieman.”

Stardom proved elusive for Jones, but producer Clive Crawley was convinced he could make it, if only he had different personnel behind him. Together, Jones and Crawley assembled Fringe Benefit with Dave Gray on lead guitar, Chris Haines on bass and Steve Laurie on drums. Promptly signed by Polydor, the band went in the studio to record their debut single “All in Vain,” a song very similar in harmonic structure and tone to Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May.” The record had minor chart success in the UK and broke the top 200 for Warner Brother in the US. Based upon the potential of the “All in Vain” single and its follow-up, “Darling.” Frank Fenter signed Fringe Benefit to Capricorn and their sole LP was released in the US in 1977. It was never given a proper release in the band’s home country.

Fringe Benefit opens with the aforementioned “All in Vain,” and despite the similarity to Stewart’s “Maggie May,” it’s a catchy, heartfelt love song, supported by an active yet still lush string arrangement. The next song of the album is “Darling,” the other single recorded before the Capricorn deal. It’s also a solid love song, this time based upon the sort of straight-four rhythm popularized by Motown. Again, a string arrangement is prominent. One of the highlights is the curious “Was God an Astronaut?” which alternates between  ponderous prog and glammy boogie, and was likely inspired by Erich Von Daniken’s popular book Chariots of the Gods?, published in 1969. Another highlight is “Wanna Be with You,” which returns to the formula of the earlier singles and is a soulful ballad with prominent strings and horns. The album also features two covers: a swirling, soaring take on Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne” which is excellent and a somewhat awkward walk-through of the Elvis classic “All Shook Up.”

As noted above, “All in Vain” was released as a single on Polydor (UK) and Warner Brothers (US) prior to the Capricorn LP release, and it was also pulled from the LP for rerelease on Capricorn backed with “Wanna Be with You,” which was in turn rereleased as an A-side backed with “Darling.” Neither Capricorn single hit. After Fringe Benefit, John Jones went on to form QED in the late 70s (they’re still playing today) and has released solo efforts under the name Joe Jones. He also performs as Jonny Angel, recreating 50s English rock hits.

Fringe Benefit has never been reissued on CD or as digital downloads, but the LP is readily available on second-market sites. Mp3 rips of the album are also frequently posted on collector’s blogs. Check it out for yourself!

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Pop Pioneer and “Lost Treasures” writer, Peter Marston is the leader of long-running power pop band, Shplang, whose most recent album, “My Big Three Wheeler” has been described as “the Beatles meet Zappa in pop-psych Sumo match.”  You check it out at this link:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/shplang

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LINKS:

Cool Article on Band:  http://devildick.blogspot.com/2010/08/fringe-benefit-fringe-benefit.html

Capricorn Records discography:  http://www.bsnpubs.com/atlantic/capricorn.html

John Jones website:  http://homepage.ntlworld.com/j.bonjonesy183/page5.html

“Suzanne”

“ALL IN VAIN”

Stream of full album on YouTube