The Idiots - Hi Ho Silver Lining

By Request! Rework by the South African act of the original composed by American songwriters Scott English and Larry Weiss and first released as a single in March 1967 by English band The Attack, shortly thereafter by Jeff Beck. The Attack's version failed to chart, while Beck's recording reached the Top 20 of the singles charts in his native Britain in both 1967 and 1972, becoming his biggest solo hit. In the States, Beck's single failed to crack Billboard's Hot 100.

The Idiots - “Hi Ho Silver Lining”.
Flip side: “Long Inspired One And Twenty” – composed by Bryan Miller & Keith Lentin. Released on the Parlophone label, SPD457, 1968.

Line-up:
Jimmy Retief - Lead Vocals
Peter Hunt - Keyboards
Jock De Coito - Lead Guitar
Reggie Edwards - Bass
Mike Amman - Drums

Produced by Bryan Miller
Supervised by Selwyn Miller

Publisher: Belinda Jhb.
Band pic, courtesy of Bridget De Coito

[dennysmith]

Always remember Greenpoint Scout Hall... Jimmy Retief and the Idiots were just the absolute berries...

I once requested Jock de Coito to please play Purple Haze and lo and behold, everytime my friend and I walked into the Hall, he'd begin the opening riffs of Purple Haze...

What an ego boost for a little 14 year old...!!!

[markymarc]

You posted the A-side a couple of years ago and was always wondering when you'd get to the B-side. The guitar solo is absolutely unhinged! The disk is impossibly rare like their Parlophone label mates the Crescendoes. I was lucky to score the only copy that has ever come up for sale on eBay back in '18. How do you explain the extreme rarity of many of these SA major label releases? I'm guessing the original pressings were limited to only a few hundred copies and if it didn't make the charts, no additional copies were pressed. Is that an accurate assumption?