WORDS BY JULIE BURNS
Had Robert Gordon been active in rock’n’roll’s golden years, this striking song stylist could easily have been up there, sharing a pedestal with the original greats. All the same, in the 1970s, he still managed to make his mark by kickstarting the second rockabilly surge.
Coming up in New York’s New Wave amongst such bands as Blondie and the Ramones as vocalist in Tuff Darts, Gordon met producer Richard Gottehrer and went on to enjoy a scintillating collaboration with Link Wray. Their two albums, Robert Gordon With Link Wray and Fresh Fish Special, dynamite-blasted the disco era with rockabilly-plus-punk-edge attitude. The untimely death of Elvis Presley in 1977 pivotally coincided with airplay for their first single Red Hot, ahead of an electrifying nationwide tour.