Ace - Five-A-Side LP

Label: Anchor Records; Year: 1974; Format: Vinyl LP

So, here a bit of a peculiar one in the sense that I probably would never have gotten this LP unless I stumbled upon it somewhere. The reason I have a copy now is thanks to a friend of mine in Switzerland (Thanks Pat!) who was kind enough to think of me when he spotted a copy at a record shop in Europe knowing that as a Liverpool FC supporter I would appreciate the gesture, which I absolutely do and even more so since he's an Arsenal FC supporter. He kindly told me that with that front cover he couldn't help himself but that most likely the music sucks to which I replied that we shall see and I'll post about it. So this week I familiarized myself not just with Ace's music, but a little bit with their history as well. The band formed in late 1972 in Sheffield, UK and had somewhat of a successful stint during the '70s, mainly thanks to their hit single "How Long", which I must have heard a million times on the radio not knowing who it was. I must say that as skeptical as I was sitting down to listen to the LP I came away thinking that it's not a bad LP at all. As a matter of fact in my opinion there is a real hidden gem to be found on the record with "24 Hours", a really strong heavy Funk number of which I wish the record had more of. Also quite enjoyable are the first two tracks "Sniffin' About" and "Rock & Roll Runaway", both decent Pub Rock songs leaning on the tame side but never the less still rockin' and rollin'. The rest of the LP is listenable but let's be honest somewhat forgettable. Interestingly enough two of Ace's members used to be in the '60s Mod band The Action, a band whose catalogue I might explore at some point. Ace relocated to the United States in the '70s and released their third and final LP on this side of the pond disbanding in 1977. Paul Carrack who was the main singer and pianist in Ace went on to have a successful solo career as well as joining Mike & The Mechanics during the '80s. His re-recording of "How Long" in 1996 landed the song in the charts again and must be bankrolling him up to this day. Since I became a Liverpool FC supporter around 1983 as far as I remember I looked up the team of 1974 recognizing players like Ray Clemence, Emlyn Hughes and of course Kevin Keegan amongst others. Judging by the five white and blue scarfs waving Ace members plugged into the sea of Liverpool supporters on the front cover I would assume the band were Sheffield Wednesday FC fans and with that I just say "You'll Never Walk Alone".