Eugene , Sydney and Eddy

Eugene, Sydney and Eddy ; `Wheel and Jig` Revisited

In my last post we looked at the song `Wheel and Jig`. How it had appeared twice in 1974, once on a single credited to The Viceroys, and again on an LP, credited this time to Winston Groovy and The Pioneers.

But there was to be one more appearance for this tune, albeit in altered form.

The same year, Attack Records, a subsidiary of Trojan, released a single credited to Boy Wonder - All on the House/Cold Blood. Once again, Sydney Crooks of The Pioneers was credited as producer. 

The `A` side is an agreeable enough slice of `70s pop/reggae, written and performed by Eugene Paul, an Antiguan-born singer who is still active in music today.

The flipside is a track called Cold Blood, with the songwriting credit going to S Crooks/E Grant - obviously Sydney and Eddy respectively.   

Singles produced by Sydney during this period often played host to pretty nifty instrumentals on the `b` side, and this is no exception. The surprise is that Cold Blood, despite it`s sinister title, is actually a chirpy little tune based on `Wheel and Jig`. 

Featuring some attractive saxophone playing, it`s upbeat, quirky and jazzy. All in all it`s pretty nifty, but don`t take my word for it - it`s on You Tube, posted by reggaeukseventies.   

That does really end the story of Wheel and Jig  - or does it ? If I hear of any other versions, I`ll post the details here. 

Where Are They Now ?

Eugene Paul lives in London and has a Facebook page and You Tube page. `All on the House` appears on his `The Early Years Vol 1`. I would doubt if he had any involvement with `Cold Blood`.

 Sydney Crooks, sometimes known by the nickname `Luddy` lives in Brazil where he uses  the stage name Norris Cole. He has two Facebook pages - one as `Sydney Crooks, Luddy Pioneer, Norris Cole`, the other as `Luddy Pioneer Crooks` .

Eddy Grant has his own website and Winston Groovy has his own You Tube page.

The other Pioneers, Jackie Robinson and George Agard aka George Dekker, are also still involved in music.