The Sensational Alex Harvey Band were a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1972. Fronted by Alex Harvey accompanied by Zal Cleminson on guitar, bassist Chris Glen, keyboard player Hugh McKenna (28 November 1949 – 18 December 2019) and drummer Ted McKenna, their music was a blend of blues rock and hard rock, with cabaret elements. Their stage performances incorporated theatrical elements. The band were popular in continental Europe, and influential in Australia, most notably to AC/DC (particularly their singer Bon Scott) and to the young Nick Cave and his first band the Boys Next Door.
History
In August 1972, Alex Harvey formed the Sensational Alex Harvey Band (often shortened to SAHB, and pronounced "saab") with Zal Cleminson (guitar), Chris Glen (bass), and cousins Hugh (keyboards) and Ted McKenna (drums), all members of the progressive rock act Tear Gas except Hugh.
They adopted distinctive stage costumes: Harvey wore vaudeville-like clothes and his trademark hooped shirt, while Cleminson assumed the identity of a harlequin in full make-up and green-yellow jumpsuit and Glen wore a dark blue jumpsuit reminiscent of a superhero costume incorporating a lighter blue codpiece. SAHB produced a succession of highly regarded albums and tours throughout the 1970s. The band did not enjoy large-scale success in the United States as it had in the UK, though they did acquire a cult following in certain US cities, notably Cleveland, where the group first played at the Agora Ballroom in December 1974. Thanks to airplay from Cleveland radio station WMMS, songs like "Next" and "The Faith Healer" became popular.
In January 1974, the band went into Advision Studios in London with the American producer Shel Talmy to record a third album. By April, the sessions were finished and the album was mixed. However, the band and management had some reservations about the overall sound and decided to scrap the entire album. Talmy returned to Los Angeles with his tapes. Most of the song titles appeared on the official album The Impossible Dream later that year with a different producer, though the songs were dramatically changed. The original recordings formed an album called Hot City, released in 2009 by Major League Productions.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band had top 40 hits in Britain with the single "Delilah", a cover version of the Tom Jones hit from their Live album that reached number seven in 1975, and with "The Boston Tea Party" in June 1976.
Harvey left the group late in 1976; the other members continued with the name "SAHB (without Alex)". They recorded a new album, Fourplay, in February 1977.
Earlier, while the Sensational Alex Harvey Band was still active, Bob Seger included "Gang Bang" in his set, as documented on his July 8, 1974 show at Ebbets Field in Denver. Seger jokingly introduces it as a love song "ballad".
Robert Smith of the Cure said, "People talk about Iggy Pop as the original punk, but certainly in Britain the forerunner of the punk movement was Alex Harvey. His whole stage show with the graffiti-covered brick walls – it was like very aggressive Glaswegian street theatre."
Discography
Studio albums
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!rowspan="2"|Release date
!rowspan="2" style="width:300px;"|Album details
!colspan="3"|Peak chart position
!rowspan="2" style="width:150px;"|Certifications<br />
|-
!style="width:1em;font-size:85%"|UK<br />
!style="width:1em;font-size:85%"| AUS<br />
!style="width:1em;font-size:85%"| SWE<br />
|- style="text-align:center;"
|December 1972
|Framed
|—
|—
|—
|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|November 16, 1973
|Next...
|37
|—
|—
|
- UK: Silver
|- style="text-align:center;"
|October 4, 1974
|The Impossible Dream
|16
|78
|—
|
- UK: Silver
|- style="text-align:center;"
|September 1975
|Live
|14
|100
|
- UK: Silver
- Vambo Rools: 'Big Hits and Close Shaves (Vertigo 1977)
- The Sensational Alex Harvey Band Collection (Castle Communications 1986)
- All Sensations (Vertigo 1992)
- Faith Healer – An Introduction to (Mercury Records 2001)
- ...Delilah (Spectrum 1998)
- Considering the Situation (Universal 2003)
- The Best of the Sensational Alex Harvey - #148 UK
- Last of the Teenage Idols (2016) – a 14-CD/217-track box set including 21 previously unreleased songs, 59 songs on CD for the first time and a number of rare recordings plus a hardback book of photographs.
- Shout: The Essential Alex Harvey (Spectrum Audio 2018)
Singles
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Year
! Title
! UK<br />
! AU<br />
|-
| 1972
| style="text-align:left;" | "There's No Lights on the Christmas Tree..."
| -
| -
| -
|-
| 1973
| style="text-align:left;" | "Jungle Jenny"
| -
| -
| -
|-
| 1973
| style="text-align:left;" | "Next..."
| -
| -
| -
|-
| 1974
| style="text-align:left;" | "Anthem"
| -
| 47
| -
|-
| 1974
| style="text-align:left;" | "Sergeant Fury"
| -
| -
|
|-
| 1975
| style="text-align:left;" | "Delilah"
| 7
| -
| 49
|-
| 1975
| style="text-align:left;" | "Gamblin' Bar Room Blues"
| 38
| -
| -
|-
| 1976
| style="text-align:left;" | "Boston Tea Party"
| 13
| -
| -
|-
| 1976
| style="text-align:left;" | "Amos Moses"
| -
| -
| -
|-
| 1977
| style="text-align:left;" | "Mrs. Blackhouse"
| -
| -
| -
|}