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Following on from the apparent end of their chart dreams the group returned to what they did best, playing live. For the next three years they concentrated on gigs and built a strong fan base around the country. In 1975 they were number seven in the NME Best New Band readers’ poll and returned to the recording studio once more. This time they covered an early 60’s hit, “Tell Him” by the Exciters, but in a Glam Rock style. This however wasn’t the first Glam version of the song as Mike Leander had produced a version for the Glitter Band on their “Hey” album. Fortunately this time their chart success wasn’t foiled by a producer and “Tell Him” reached number six in the charts.
In an attempt to consolidate their chart success the group followed this with a cover of the Glitter Band’s “Game’s Up”. Again they hit the charts but not in the UK; they made the top thirty in Germany while back home they failed to chart. Trying another cover, Amen Corner’s “Bend Me, Shape Me”, they missed the charts again and it looked as if the group’s time in the limelight was already at an end.
Their place in Glam history was however to arrive in the form of a reunion with songwriter Ballard. He had a song he was playing around with called “New York Groove” and offered it to the group. This is the song that they are famously remembered for as it rocketed them up the charts (in the UK and Germany), onto TV screens and into music papers. The infectious rhythm of the song was perfect for radio play and the group were ready for the air of publicity. They hit the big screen when Barry Humphries brought them onboard for his movie “Side by Side” where they played alongside other groups such as the Rubettes and Mud. Their debut album was also released and was a masterpiece of marketing, with a faux-denim cover it stood out from other LPs on the rack, and they took on a sell-out tour with Smokie. It seemed as if, after years of trying, Hello had hit their groove and were here to stay.
The follow up to “New York Groove”, “Star Studded Sham”, hit the charts but once more this was only the German charts. Despite all the publicity and success the group had attained, the UK charts had once again closed its doors on the group. In fact the UK was so closed to Hello as a chart act that they eventually only released singles in Germany and Japan where they continued to have success. The UK’s disregard for the group was so total that as a teenager I thought that they were a German group who had a ‘lucky’ UK hit, rather than a UK group who were recognised in Germany.
Ignored in their homeland the group virtually relocated to Germany where they continued to have hits for a number of years before they broke up in 1979.
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