Andy O. of Blue Zoo Interview

[Frank_Chickens]

A couple of months ago I conducted an interview with Andy about his
time in the band and other things:

1. How did the band form?

In 1979 I had a band in Braintree, Essex, called 'The Rave' we won a Battle of the bands type contest in Bishops Stortford, another band at the contest was 'The Crooks' Tim Parry & Micky Sparrow wre in this band which was also managed by Jazz Summers, The Blue Zoo manager. I joined forces with Tim Parry, Mickey Sparrow and Jazz Summers to form Modern Jazz


2. How was the name of the band chosen?

I don't remember how the name Blue Zoo came into my head, all I know is, we needed to change the name from Modern Jazz. Blue was an emotional framework within which I wrote my songs and the Zoo (out there) is where the ideas came from, if that makes any sense?


3. Why did you choose the style of music?

Didn't really chooses any particualr style of music, it was the blend of the 4 people in the band more than anything, obviously the sound was of the time.


4. Where did you perform your first gig?

Most likely the Greyhound in Fulham Palace road or something similar, difficult one to remember that.


5. What was the reaction?

We tended to get good reactions to our shows form the very beginning


6. What song went down well when gigging?

Early on, songs like 'falling' 'Ivory Towers' and I Shoot Sheep were very popular, then it was 'Cry Boy Cry' & 'Love Moves'.


7. What songs were unpopular when gigging?

I Don't remember any that were 'unpopular'. I do recall songs that I didn't like singing, such as ' Forgive & Forget' too sweet.



What was your favourite place to play in:-

8a. The UK?

The Uni's and Poly's, some clubs like the Zig-Zag and The Moonlight Club in West Hampstead


8b. Europe? Tel-Aviv

8c. And why? Well, we gigged mostly in the UK, so we had little experience abroad, the odd trip to Israel and France


What were your least favourite places to play in:-

9a. The UK?

Trendy nightclubs, such as Heaven and others like it.



9b. And why?

People, way to into themselves.



10. How did you get your record deal?

By doing a lot of hard work, gigging and recording.



11. Why did you choose that particular label?

They were among the most serious who wre interested



12. What was the royalty rate and advance for the band?

Don't recall



13. How did the idea of recording an album version of 'Cry Boy Cry' come about?

This song always had an extra verse to the single version so we just put that in for a longer album version. Singles were best at 3mins or so.



14. How were the tracks chosen for the album?

We all got our heads together, along with Tim Friese Green, to choose the songs for the album, yet they often pick themselves.



15. Which tracks were left out and why?

I can't recall.



16. How were the singles chosen?

Following the success of 'Cry Boy Cry' songs that fitted into that vein were chosen as singles.



17. Did you have to fit the recording of the tracks around anything?

Oh, sometimes we would be gigging, but other than that, not really



18. Were any tracks left out? If so, why? Don't recall


19. Which were your favourite/least favourite tracks?

I didn't like the sweet over poppy tracks, like 'Forgive & Forget' with crap lyrics and sentiment.



20. What promotional work was done for the singles and album?

The usual, radio, gigs & mags.



21. What did you think of the reviews (TV, mag, etc.) for the singles and album?

Some singles got great reviews, Cry Boy Cry was well reviewed as was Love Moves, which was single of the week in NME.


22. How well did the singles and album do in Europe/America/Rest of the World and what was the reaction to them?

We got to number 1 in the then Yugoslavia, we didn't visit though, did well in Israel hence the visit, America very slow on picking up, only just doing it I believe.


23. Which other tracks should of been bigger hits as well (my choice would of been 'Love Moves in Strange Ways')?

Yes, I think you're right, 'Love Moves' should of been a monster, Vienna was out around that time, so may not of been such a big impact.


24. Were there any tracks that were hits outside of the UK but not here?

Not that I am aware of.


25. What was the public and other musicians' reaction to the
band's releases?

Very good I believe, Phil Oakey thought we would be massive.


26. How did the 'second album' come into existence?

We did do 2 albums but the 1st was shelved by magnet as being non-commercial, never released proper. I think the album you have is a concoction of singles and b-sides.



27. There are new songs on the album; where these from the archives or if not, from where did they come?

I think they are b-sides.



28. Who published it?

They would be officialy with Warners Music. I must point out that these are not official releases.



29. Why was it only released in Yugoslavia and Japan?

A market for the Blue Zoo material exists in these places and some people have decided to exploit it, not me by the way. I have been contacted by a small American label, but I didn't go with it.



30. Was there any promotional work done for the album? No.



31. What was public's reaction to the album?

I have no Idea, I doubt whether the public are aware that these records are out there.


32. What was your reaction to it?

I was quite surprised to find out that this was being done, but not upset by it, I'd rather it was heard than not.



33. Did you see any money from it? Not a cent.


34. About the videos:

34a. Who was the director/s?

Tim Pope did 'Cry Boy Cry' Can't recall who did F & F.



34b. Who decided on the themes of the videos?

The directors mainly.


34c. Where they available on any compilations?

No, not that I am aware of. Most of the Blue Zoo stuff, even the singles. did not appear on compilations for quite some time, decades even.



34d. Which TV channels, both terrestrial and global, were they viewed?

I really don't know this, 'Cry Boy Cry' was never aired as it was deemed to harrowing for kids, ha ha ha ha.



35. What was the process of the break up of the band?

From the very beginning, Tim parry & Jazz Summers had a different agenda to me. They saw me as vehicle to their goal and it worked for them. I'm not bitter about this, just should seen it from the off. When I say a different agenda, I was interested in producing good interesting material, things changed when Tim Friese Green cam on the scence. Ok, Cry Boy Cry was hit but it was the beginning of the end. Tim and Jazz just wanted to make money and lots of it, money was just a by-product for me at that point.



36. Did you have a day job during the band? No

37. What did you do after the break-up?

I started another band, first Sky West & Crooked, followed by The Motherhive, the songs of which (in my estimation) are way better than those of Blue Zoo, different though.



38. How did you become interested in fungi?

I grew up in the countryside and as a lad collected bird eggs and I became very interested in the birds themselves. There came a point with the music when I said to myself "I need to do something else, what else am I good at" mushrooms had been appearing on the lawn of my flat, I took an interest and it grew form there, 'fungi to be with' was born.


39. (saved to the end) What are you now doing?

'fungi to be with' and I am a ranger on Hampstead Heath. I am also still writing and recording from time to time and in fact have a track being released this September in France on Rock Machine Records



--

"As chairman of the Cradle of Filth fanclub I'm the most insensitive man in Britain, but even I can see there's tension there"