Uk/1979
The Continentals are Bill Holliday, Tom Doherty, Alan Harris. The sleeve comes from their 1979 CBS recording of Fizz Pop Modern Rock together with B side 'I lost my love on a 747'. The single was produced by Tommy Erdelyi of the Ramones. The group came from London and were managed by Doug Smith, then manager of Motorhead. They were included as part of the unique but short lived NuDisk releases in the USA - 10" EP's . Elvis Costello was also one of the artists released in this format in the USA. Music was largely New Wave high energy although other tracks reflected a wider and different style. Fizz Pop Modern Rock received good air play but the follow up single 'Housewives Delight' was less well received by radio stations. Probably due to the lyrics which were about DJs at the time! Bill Holliday and Tom Doherty also co-produced and wrote tracks for the highly rated Rockabilly group 'Whirlwind' .
The title of the Single 'Fizz Pop Modern Rock' was used for two compilation albums released in the USA by Epic featuring a range of hi energy music.
Their brand of gutsy power pop is on the Plimsouls/Last side of the equation, with noisier guitars and rougher vocals than you'd find on a Rubinoos or Raspberries album, but while ex-Ramone Tommy Erdelyi's production sounds great, Thomas Doherty and William John Holliday's songwriting is frustratingly inconsistent. The two songs on side one, the anthemic title track and the similarly passionate "Walking Tall," are terrific. On the flip, the anti-radio rant "Housewives' Delight" and the puerile "Two Lips From Amsterdam" (note the seventh-grade-level pun) sound like second-rate Knack rejects, complete with obnoxious Doug Fieger-style smug vocals. Perhaps this is why CBS NuDisk failed (although the 12" mini-album stayed popular throughout vinyl's commercial lifetime); even at four measly songs, Fizz Pop (Modern Rock) is two songs too long.