Foot Tapping’s
rockin’ rising star
Dylan KirkTapping now enjoys a close bond with UK
rockabilly’s star gunner, who helps run
Embassy Studios, does a fair share of talent
spotting and producing for the label, as well
as partnering with Duffi n on subsidiary
label Ambassador.
With Higham as honorary advisor,
Duffi n is now the sole boss, but rewind
the clock and the label gently sputtered
to life thanks to a nice motor, a rock’n’roll
club and a group called Robb Storm & The
Persuaders. Clive explains: “We met them
at a club in Farnham called Jive Shack.
I was outside talking to the band
when Colin pulled up in his 50s
Oldsmobile and they said:
‘Wow, that’s a nice
car!’ I told them
that if they ever
wanted to use it
on a front cover,
that wouldn’t be
a problem. They said they’d love to
but couldn’t aff ord to record. This got
me thinking...”
The two parties left that night with
plans to reconvene a week later to discuss
possibilities. “They came to my house and
told me the price they felt it would cost to
record. I had written down what I thought
it would cost and it turned out we’d come up
with the same amount! Call it fate, but that
was really the beginnings of the label.”
All that was needed was a name that
meant something to both brothers...
“The name came from Colin always
tapping his feet on the way to a gig,”
Duffi n continues. “It also has a link to my
professional job as a farrier... I am foot-
tapping horses’ hooves all day!”
While intended to be the label’s fi rst
release, The Persuaders’ album, in fact,
arrived fourth. That honour fell to Norfolk-
based rockabillies Porky’s Hot Rockin’
(“fi ve old boys playing some shit-kicking
tunes with a twist and a gallon of
beer!” as they describe
themselves). Their set of
rockabilly cruisers, One More
Star, set out a handsome stall
and they’ve gone on to off er
four more killer LPs for the
label. Higham’s Foot Tapping
debut, The Sweet Georgia Brown
Sessions, quickly followed
(playing all of the instruments
himself ) and introduced an initial run
of releases from The Heartbeats, The
Persuaders and Pete Hutton (with both
the Heartbreakers and the Beyonders)
and another new Higham album with the
Enforcers, Urban Jamboree.
Beyond the quality that Higham brought
to the party, with his involvement came an
introduction to his then-spouse Imelda May
(who guested on his debut), with the Jive
Shack providing yet another crucial spark in
the timeline, this time introducing a classy
debut and an artist that would boost the
small indie label onto the world stage.
“Colin and my family had taken overrunning the club and Imelda had performed
for us,” remembers Clive. “It was suggested
that she should do a solo album for us,
which she did, and it was released under her
maiden name of Imelda Clabby.”
The unassuming 2003 release of No
Turning Back has long since sold out, but
in 2007 the label re-recorded it with all
new arrangements and vocals – and with
souped-up artwork announcing the newly-
monikered Imelda May. The updated album
is still one of the label’s big sellers, while
that humble fi rst pressing has become one
of its most sought-after releases – “Mistakes
and all on the artwork, and there wereCool cats: Darrel Higham and
Slim Jim Phantom, aka
the Kat MenLabel Story: Foot Tapping Records