Despite being stabled with Showaddywaddy, Bay City Rollers and Barry Blue as part of Cherry Red’s glam imprint, the idea of the harder-rocking Geordie being of the same ilk is tenuous. The way their Northumbrian pub-rock grit got them labelled as “Newcastle’s answer to Slade” is certainly closer to the mark, and B-sides such as Geordie Stomp put them in Glitter Band territory.
In the glam stakes they were a bit second division – Brian Johnson’s post-Geordie success as Bon Scott’s replacement probably awards them a little more retrospective kudos than they’d have otherwise received – but they had a very decent brace of singles culled from this, their first album. Though ensuing 45s had only modest chart impact, Geordie continued to fire out some exciting singles, if clichéd in a 70s booze-and-birds manner, in Can You Do It and Electric Lady, tacked-on here with their respective B-sides.
They didn’t quite have the knowing sense of fun that other glam acts exhibited, though the dialect-heavy Geordie’s Lost His Liggie that played out this record is a right good Northern knees-up. They did, however, have a great feel for blues-rock, some bawdy showmanship and, in Johnson, the perfect Strepsils-promoting delivery.
