The Wheels

The mid-'60s Irish rock scene produced no bands that achieved international acclaim, with the major exception of <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a>. In fact, very few Irish bands from the time are internationally known whatsoever, even to avid collectors, in part because few got to record more than one or two singles. Aside from <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a> spinoff band <a href="spotify:artist:7ISEgPbN8s0h159gWOGuDi">the Belfast Gypsies</a>, the biggest exception to this would be <a href="spotify:artist:4d22O5s2UK1KzIoZRR8NZk">the Wheels</a>. Like <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a>, they were from Belfast, and they had the good and bad fortune to bear a considerable sonic resemblance to <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a>. Good, because their first three singles sound so much like early <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a> sides that they can be confidently recommended to <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a> fans. Bad, because the similarity was so close, that <a href="spotify:artist:4d22O5s2UK1KzIoZRR8NZk">the Wheels</a> could not be said to have developed their own persona. Although they were a good band, they were not so good that they could out-<a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a> <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a>, and they lacked <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a>'s originality, particularly as found in <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a>'s singer/songwriter genius <a href="spotify:artist:44NX2ffIYHr6D4n7RaZF7A">Van Morrison</a>.

The Wheels were part of the same Belfast scene that gave birth to <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a>, and in fact, <a href="spotify:artist:44NX2ffIYHr6D4n7RaZF7A">Van Morrison</a> sometimes sat in with <a href="spotify:artist:4d22O5s2UK1KzIoZRR8NZk">the Wheels</a> on sax. In 1964, they began making trips to the north of England to build up a following there, and in 1965, they were signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Columbia%22">Columbia</a> in the U.K. The Wheels had a raw R&B-rock attack quite similar to that heard on <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a>'s first records, down to the jagged guitar and sinister organ. Brian Rossi's vocals were also akin to <a href="spotify:artist:44NX2ffIYHr6D4n7RaZF7A">Van Morrison</a>'s most aggressive ones, though <a href="spotify:artist:43wp8UNZlKGueRUXKf9Nmb">Rossi</a> was not as subtle or strong. It could not have helped dodge <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a> comparisons, however, to make their first single a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a>'s "Gloria," backed by "Don't You Know," a Tommy Scott composition that <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a> also recorded.

The Wheels' second single, "Bad Little Woman"/"Road Block" (released in February 1966), featured original material from the quintet, though even then it was only a little less <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a>-like than their debut. "Bad Little Woman" was a minor-key takeoff on the "Gloria" rhythm, while "Road Block" was similar in mood and construction to <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a>'s "Mystic Eyes." For what they were, though, they were good, raving tracks. Oddly, an alternate -- and better -- version of "Bad Little Woman" was issued in the U.S. on Aurora Records, with the band's name changed to the Wheel-A-Ways to avoid confusion with <a href="spotify:artist:7tdO7d7r0vhwov7RIZWH6V">Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels</a>. This American version, with its creepy descending guitar slides and frenzied rave-up, in which the tempo nearly speeds off the highway as <a href="spotify:artist:43wp8UNZlKGueRUXKf9Nmb">Rossi</a>'s vocals turn into screams, is one of the peak obscure treasures of mid-'60s British R&B. "Bad Little Woman" was covered for a small hit in the U.S. by <a href="spotify:artist:0NRN3tnDVDspHMCfyu2ZwT">the Shadows of Knight</a> (who, of course, had also had a big hit with "Gloria," although they probably learned it from the <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a> version).

Brian Rossi left <a href="spotify:artist:4d22O5s2UK1KzIoZRR8NZk">the Wheels</a> after the second single, and keyboardist Eric Wrixon, who had been in <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a> for a while, joined. Their third and final single was a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:7sdACJuitGO70fExV5Pn6j">Paul Revere</a>'s "Kicks," backed by yet another song <a href="spotify:artist:5BaHqGtf6UAZnHfqdPaTDA">Them</a> had done, "Call My Name." Brian Rossi did rejoin for a while before <a href="spotify:artist:4d22O5s2UK1KzIoZRR8NZk">the Wheels</a> split in 1967; Wheels <a href="spotify:artist:0DKO1EioF3Moh7RG7fapJS">Herbie Armstrong</a> and Rod Demick made a duo album in the '70s, and <a href="spotify:artist:04kWWhnACFsQZlReaxSqsc">Armstrong</a> would later play guitar with <a href="spotify:artist:44NX2ffIYHr6D4n7RaZF7A">Van Morrison</a> on albums in the late '70s and early '80s. The Wheels got some belated international exposure when several of their sides were included on reissues of obscure British R&B. All seven tracks from their singles (including the alternate version of "Bad Little Woman" done as the Wheel-A-Ways), and five previously unreleased outtakes, appear on Belfast Beat Maritime Blues, a compilation of mid-'60s tracks by Belfast bands. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi