The Motors – Approved By The Motors(1978)

Biography
The Motors were a British pub rock band, formed in London in 1977 by former Ducks Deluxe members Nick Garvey and Andy McMaster together with guitarist Rob Hendry (who was replaced in May 1977 by Bram Tchaikovsky) and drummer Ricky Slaughter. Their biggest success was with the McMaster penned song “Airport”, a number 4 UK hit single in 1978. The album was produced by Peter Ker and the two main songwriters in the group, Nick Garvey and Andy McMaster. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Motors

Album & Cover
Approved by the Motors is the second studio album by English rock band The Motors, originally released in May 1978.The album only spent 1 week in the UK Albums Charts reaching number 60. Four singles came from the album, “Airport”, “Forget About You”, “Today” and “Sensation”. Record Collector magazine’s Joe Geesin said of the album: “The music was a contrast to the debut album, featuring McMaster on keyboards, mainly on tracks he’d largely written, with Garvey switching between bass and guitar. More polished, melodic, and in some cases poppier too, but it still has its powerpop rock’n’roll moments. The roots hadn’t been lost completely…the album came with an inner sleeve and initially with an ‘Approved By’ sticker. In many territories the band picture on the front was mirrored on the back, making it hard to tell which way round it should be. With confidence growing, McMaster and Garvey produced the set themselves, with the help of Peter Ker, who’d engineered the November 1976 demos.” Wishing to retain interest, Virgin re-released Approved By The Motors with this sleeve. Were they considered too ugly on the original sleeve? Virgin couldn’t understand how an album with two hits on it didn’t sell well. Allegedly, audience research said the picture put people off; it’s a fickle world! Some were pressed on red vinyl too. A sticker ‘including the hits Airport, Forget About You and Today’ was perhaps a little hasty, but you can see where they were coming from. Sadly this was all too little too late.http://www.joegeesin.com/motors.htm

Cover Location: London City Airport, London, UK
Who Did What: Photography: A. Powell. Graphics: G. Hardie. Sleeve – Cooke Key, Hardie, Hipgnosis
Label: Virgin JZ 35348(US), Virgin V2101(UK)
Source: Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art, The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue: Aubrey Powell

Tracklist

Credits
Engineer – Peter Ker
Management – Richard Ogden
Mastered By – Ped
Producer – Andy McMaster, Nick Garvey, Peter Ker
Vocals, Bass, Keyboards – Andy McMaster
Vocals, Drums – Rick Slaughter
Vocals, Guitar – Bram Tchaikovsky
Vocals, Guitar, Bass – Nick Garvey