From the booklet accompanying the Big Gold Dreams box set:-
mp3: The Valves – Robot Love
Science-fiction and pub rock combined for this deadpan lurch through the pains of a moon-dwelling mannequin. Forming one side of the debut single by Portobello’s premiere r’n’b no-wavers, it was the first release in 1977, on Bruce Findlay‘s Zoom label.
Guitarist Ronnie McKinnon, vocalist Dave Robertson (aka Dee Robot), Gordon Scott on bass and drummer Gordon Dair were the band’s mainstays, with more wordplay to be had with the follow-up single, Tarzan Of The King’s Road/Ain’t No Surf In Portobello. It took two years before a third, Don’t Mean Nothin’ At All, appeared before the band spilt up.
The Valves reformed for a one-off Edinburgh show in 2013, and with Robertson now living in Antwerp, Cheetahs vocalist Joe Donkin has been drafted in for sporadic live shows since then.
JC adds….
Portobello is a district of Edinburgh, located on the Firth of Forth but boasting a fabulously and expansive sandy beach. It was, in its Victorian heyday, a town in its own right and a popular holiday destination.
Bruce Findlay owned Bruce’s Record Shop in Edinburgh. He established Zoom Records in 197 and in so doing created one of the first independent labels of the new wave era in Scotland. The biggest signing to Zoom would be Simple Minds, via a licensing deal to Arista.
The Cheetahs were another short-live act who signed to Zoom Records.
Gordon Dair, bass player with The Valves, sadly passed away in November 2022 after a three-year battle with battle with cancer. RIP, Gordon.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 