PEDDLERS
Suite London
Eclipse
· A moody snapshot of "Swinging London's" twilight.
London sparkles as it steps into the 1970s on Suite London, a song cycle by this nearly-forgotten trio, revived by Saint Etienne's Pete Wiggs and Bob Stanley on their Eclipse imprint. The Peddlers shared British R&B DNA with the organ, drum, and bass trios led by Georgie Fame and Brian Auger, or early Deep Purple – and played trendsetting venues like the Scotch of Saint James – but vocalist Roy Phillips sounded less like his contemporaries than Nina Simone or James Bond chanteuse Shirley Bassey.
Suite London followed four single chart failures for the group. Remarkably, their label greenlit the record composed by Phillips and arranger Peter Robinson and featuring the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Like all great concept albums, Suite London is only vaguely narrative. Character sketches "Did She" and "River Lives" correspond to Ray Davies's, sundry Beatles' and Rolling Stones' accounts of a London that couldn't last.
Robinson leads a cinematic orchestra to where "A Day in the Life" meets John Barry. "This Strange Affair" could be an existential Bond theme. Songs are reprised, transformed and linked by instrumental segues. "I Have Seen" sounds strangely timeless, and Zero 7 reproduced the song wholesale on their 2001 debut. Phillips encapsulates all of Suite London on "A Year and a Day – Metamorphosis" with his "This is it, this is where I stand." Suite London could have sounded like Michael Buble attempting American Idiot with the Calgary Philharmonic, but thankfully the results are far greater.
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