His one hit (if you can call mainly known by obsessive record collectors a hit) is Clock On the Wall. The song is built on a metronomic ticking that slowly cracks away at your skull like a twitching ball peen hammer tapping an egg. Wire thin guitars begin pricking and burning away at your nerves as Alva spins his own brand of psychedelic surgery.You've just had your mind blown by a man with an estate agent moustache.
I have seen several postings about Alva Snelling (Alva Starr) formerly of The Luvrakers (leader, lead singer, and bass player) but I have seen no mention of the fact that Alva had a birth defect that caused his left hand to have no thumb. I can't remember whether he had four fingers or three on that left hand, but Alva learned to play bass with his left (fretting) hand positioned OVER the neck instead of under it fretting with (I believe) three fingers from the topside and doing a pretty damned good job of it . . . all while performing outstanding lead vocals at the same time. Let me use that word again: OUTSTANDING. Here's to you, Alva. (John Herring, bass - The Lost Generation, Isosceles Popsicle, The Joint Effort, Luziana Band).
ReplyDeleteHe was a doll .....he died next to me...in a car accident ... they didn't tell me immediately...I'm still in shock ...God bless this angel ...a great friend 🙏❤️🙏
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