Arrows (British band)



The Arrows were an English American band based in London, England. The group, which formed in 1974 and disbanded in 1977, included singer/bassist Alan Merrill, guitarist Jake Hooker and drummer Paul Varley (original drummer Clive Williams was replaced by Paul Varley). They had top 30 UK chart hit singles in 1974 and 1975 with "Touch Too Much", "My Last Night With You" and "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", all produced by Mickie Most on RAK Records.

The Arrows had two 14-week television shows in the UK called Arrows in 1976 and 1977, which was broadcast on Granada Television and produced by Muriel Young. They are the only band to have two weekly TV series and no records released during the run of either series, a result of a conflict between the band's manager Ian Wright of the M.A.M. Agency and the group's mentor/producer Mickie Most. Each series consisted of 14 shows, 30 minutes in length. There were 28 shows broadcast in total. Their final single, "Once Upon a Time", was released one month before the first show of their first series in 1976. Joan Jett became aware of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" while on tour with her band the Runaways in England in 1976 and saw the group perform the song on their weekly show.

The band's only US TV appearance was on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert in February 1975. They played their British chart hits "Touch Too Much" and "Toughen Up".

The first manager of The Arrows was Peter Meaden, who had also managed The Who in the early 1960s. He came up with the band's name, which originates from The Who's logo, with the arrow pointing up.

One of Liverpool's most renowned Beatles biographers and editor of 60s British invasion bible Mersey Beat, Bill Harry wrote his first published book about the Arrows, Arrows : The Official Story, published on Everest books in 1976.

The Arrows founding band members Paul Varley (1952-2008) and Jake Hooker (1953-2014) have both died, leaving Alan Merrill the only surviving member of the original trio.

Terry Taylor who joined the band in the fall of 1976 for the band's second weekly TV series is currently with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings band.

The band's second single "Toughen Up" made # 51 in the UK charts in 1974. That year Arrows won the Golden Lion award (Belgium) in the "best new band" category and performed at the ceremonies on Belgian television.

The Arrows highest reaching chart hit was "Touch Too Much" in 1974 which went to #2 in the South African charts and was in the top 20 there for 15 weeks.

Arrows are the only band in the history of the music industry to have hit records before their weekly TV series and no records released at all during the run of their two television series. The band's last single was released a month before their first TV show was broadcast.

The Arrows song "Moving Next Door to You" (composed by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker) was used on the BBC1 TV show Homes Under The Hammer series 18 episode 70 in England, first air date 5 February 2015. The song was the B-side of their RAK records top 30 hit single "My Last Night with You" produced by Mickie Most in 1975.

The Arrows album First Hit has been reissued in Japan on March 11, 2015 with bonus tracks on Warner Brothers Japan.

The album

 * First Hit - LP - (1976)

Singles

 * "Touch Too Much" (N.Chinn/M.Chapman) b/w "We Can Make It Together" (A.Merrill/J.Hooker) (1974) UK No. 8
 * "Toughen Up" (N.Chinn/M.Chapman) b/w "Diesel Locomotive Dancer" (A.Merrill/J.Hooker) (1974) (UK # 51)
 * "My Last Night with You" (R.Ferris) b/w "Movin' Next Door To You" (A.Merrill/J.Hooker) (1975) UK No. 25
 * "Hard Hearted" (R.Ferris) b/w "My World Is Turning On Love" (A.Merrill/J.Hooker) (1975)
 * "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (A.Merrill/J.Hooker) b/w "Broken Down Heart" (R.Ferris) (1975)
 * "Once Upon A Time" (B.Martin/P.Coulter) b/w "Boogiest Band In Town" (B.Martin/P.Coulter) (1976)

Archival releases

 * First Hit (reissue with bonus tracks) - CD - (1998)
 * Singles Collection Plus (2001)
 * Tawny Tracks (2002)
 * A's B's and Rarities (2004)