Released under the unforgettable nom de disque of Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs, Sea Side Shuffle earned its mysterious performers a runaway summertime hit in August 1972, when it peaked at No 2 in the UK charts. The enigmatic Terry Dactyl and friends were to prove classic one hit wonders, however, when both their follow-up singles and their sole album failed to achieve anything like the same degree of chart success.
Behind the jokey fa�ade, Terry and co were established rock’n’roll/blues attraction Brett Marvin & The Thunderbolts. Unlike their more conventional alter egos, they specialised in a uniquely down home hybrid of jug band blues and revivalist shuffle typified by their use of a ramshackle assembly of unconventional instruments, including anything from washboards, tin cans and kazoos, to zobsticks, whistles and a rubber duck. Now reissued in the countdown to the 35th anniversary of Sea Side Shuffle’s near chart-topping exploits, this first time on CD release of their self-titled debut, plus the non-LP singles, shows the versatile group equally at home whether masquerading as a jug band, skiffle group, transplanted Appalachian hillbillies or exiled Cajuns.
