The Raiders – S/T
Lost Moment Records – LM12 038 [1986]
Two Cold Potatoes And A Bottle Of Wine / Coffee Colored Cadillac – Barking Up The Wrong Tree
The Raiders were a British Rockabilly quartet. Despite my research, I couldn’t find detailed information, including the line-up, about the band. Their musical legacy is relatively small, with only one EP in 1986 and one song on a compilation album (Please Don’t Leave Me on “Rockin’ It Up! vol. 2”). Surprisingly, their EP was produced by Andy Partridge (XTC), which is not a name that you would commonly associate with Rockabilly.
Despite that, or thanks to Partridge’s experience, the result is a solid Rockabilly EP, halfway between traditional and Neo-Rockabilly. There is nothing earth-shattering or revolutionary, but the Raiders know how to play and compose, and their singer is more than competent. Between the lively and bouncy Rockabilly of Two Cold Potatoes And A Bottle Of Wine, the excellent stroller Coffee Colored Cadillac and their good cover of Don Woody’s Barking Up the Wrong Tree, this record is highly recommendable.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis