No Time To Lose
Tarney/Spencer Band
I suspect unless you were a member of this band, one of the A&M reps, or one of the five radio program directors who programmed it (back when they did that sort of thing), you’ve never heard “No Time To Lose” by Tarney/Spencer Band.
The late 70s were a time when record labels were tripping over themselves, looking for a hit from talented artists that somehow married the weed/quaalude-driven seventies Laurel Canyon sound with a little bit of pop and rock.
Tarney/Spencer Band’s “No Time To Lose” hit the mark, but didn’t score the hit.
After kicking around in various band’s in the London scene and working as session musicians for Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, and Bonnie Tyler, among others, Trevor Spencer (drums) and Alan Tarney (guitar, vocals) joined forces.
The Tarney/Spencer Band took shape in 1975 as the two men decided to take a run at commercial success.
By 1976, their first single, “I’m Your Man Rock and Roll,” was released in the UK but failed to reach the top 30. Yet it still garnered an appearance on BBC’s Top of the Pops. The same year, Tarney/Spencer Band released their self-titled debut album in the UK to an ear-shattering shrug.
In 1976, “I’m Your Man Rock and Roll” was released in the US. It charted on Cashbox, then a music industry trade magazine, peaking at #71 on Cashbox. That was high enough to land the duo a deal with A&M Records.
For their second album in 1978, Three’s a Crowd; they brought in American record executive and producer David Kershenbaum (Cat Stevens, Duran Duran, Joe Jackson, etc.). That record picked up modest airplay in the US and peaked at #174 n the Billboard Album Chart, and the lone single, “It’s Really You,” peaked at #86 on the Billboard Hot 100.
At the time, the Tarney/Spencer Band’s sequestered, almost “carpeted,” but not muted, sound was finding success. The budding FM radio format AOR (Album Orientated Rock) that helped break artists like Gerry Rafferty, with “Baker Street,” and the Alan Parsons Project, with “I Wouldn’t Want to Be Like You,” find commercial success was a large part of the building momentum lining up behind the Tarney/Spencer Band.
It seemed, and sounded, like the Tarney/Spencer Band was poised to break through.
Their third album, Run for Your Life, was again produced by Kershenbaum. And despite the best efforts of all involved, Run for Your Life found almost the identical success as its predecessor; Three’s a Crowd. It reached #181 on the Billboard Album Chart, and the single “No Time To Lose” peaked at #84 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Now, I’m not sure what I find so captivating about “No Time To Lose.” The song sounds like a lot of music from that period. It wasn’t necessarily better, and it certainly wasn’t worse.
For me, as a young kid, “No Time To Lose” straddled that fence between rock and stuff your hip older neighbors would smoke weed to… at least in the Midwest.
FM-Radio, specifically AOR, ruled back then. And if it wasn’t on the radio station you listened to, it didn’t exist. Lucky for me, I not only listened to radio, but I also read, so I knew of punk, disco, et al. and I knew enough to know that “No Time To Lose” wasn’t either of those.
For music to work for me, I must first be drawn in by one of two things. I need to have a visceral reaction to the music, OR I need to be intrigued by the lyrics — preferably both.
That was then.
Just as it is now.
What struck me about “No Time To Lose” was the wording. It’s not unique wordplay, but it’s interesting. Especially to a young lad such as I was then. The music is good, but for some reason, how the lyrics are assembled and sung is unique. It’s not groundbreaking; it’s just… interesting.
No Time To Lose
Every day I walk in shadows
I know not what it is
Heading for
And as the evening lies dying
A gentle heart dies near me sighing
It’s still the same
You’ll never change
You can never understand
We can now be like water
Don’t need more to find our way
Just get on where we came
It’s a game
What a game
No time to lose
No time to lose
Go with the flow
Never let go
No time to lose
There ain’t no way to see forever
It’s only day to day
I’m living for
Like a wheel you keep me turning
Put your love inside me burning
Questions plain
When you’re lovin’ me
You can never understand
We can now be like water
Don’t need more to find our way
Just get on where we came
It’s a game
What a game
No time to lose
No time to lose
I had no idea about love back then - some may argue that I still don’t - but I knew enogh to know this was a love song.
Like love, the nebulous nature in which you stumble into it or find it is akin to how you discover a song and how it resonates with you. Which is to say, it’s a mystery.
Some songs resonate because they’re jammed down our throats, and we’re told it’s good.
Other songs are so ubiquitous listeners simply acquiesce.
Others naturally find their way into your psychological and emotional ecosystem.
“No Time To Lose” found its way into my psychological and emotional ecosystem; and it’s remained there.
Video as a promotional tool wasn’t a big thing in 1979. It existed and labels recognized its potential importance, but used it sparingly. That being said, the videos of this era are few and VERY light on creativity.
The video for “No Time To Lose” is no exception. It may, in fact, be the perfect example.
It’s a bit ridiculous, but it did capture the craze of the moment.
But the song? Oh, the song is still great.
Indeed, “No Time To Lose” is a little dated (like the craze of the moment in the video) but no more dated than the saxophone opening of Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street” or anything by the Alan Parson’s Project.
After the lack of success of “No Time To Lose” and Run For Your Life, A&M dropped the band, and Trevor Spencer and Alan Tarney threw in the towel and parted ways.
Spencer left the UK, moved back to his native Australia. There he built a recording studio, Sh-Boom Studios, and began working with many Australian artists. Trevor Spencer has been involved in the performing, production, and composing with various artists resulting in sales of over 20 million records worldwide.
Alan Tarney settled into a life as a songwriter and producer. In addition to helping resurrect Cliff Richard’s career in the late 70s and 80s, Tarney became notable for working with another band — a Norwegian synth-pop band.
Alan Tarney was behind the boards who produced a-ha’s massive hit “Take on Me.”
To have a record that big and impactful on your CV is not too shabby. Alan Tarney would also produce acts as varied as The Hollies, Bow Wow Wow, the Dream Academy, Squeeze, and Mathew Sweet - also, not shabby.
All in all, both Tarney and Spencer had the kind of resiliance and fortitude necessary to achieve success in music… truthfully, in any field or endeavor.
The overlap of music and love is not only found in the nebulous nature behind the rules of attraction but it’s also in its longevity.
A good song, like a good love affair, is timeless.
And “No Time To Lose” is like a good love affair.
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