Tear Gas Piggy Go Getter

Glaswegian boogie rockers Tear Gas grew out of a band called Mustard, featuring former Poets vocalist Andy Mulvey and future Squeeze drummer Gilson Lavis, with guitarist Zal Cleminson, bassist Chris Glen and keyboardist Eddie Campbell; Mulvey was replaced by David Batchelor and Lavis by Wullie Munro, who had played in Mandrake Root with Ritchie Blackmore. Debut album Piggy Go Getter, released on Paramount’s Famous subsidiary, was a blend of hard boogie rock with psychedelic prog-rock leanings, the spaced-out hippie aspects heard most plainly on tracks like “Night Girl” and “Nothing Can Change Your Mind,” a direct contrast to the blues underpinning of “Lost Awakening” and “Witches Come Today.” The album made little impact on release, leading to further line-up changes and an eventual shift to the core members taking their places in The Incredible Alex Harvey Band, with Batchelor taking on the role of producer and arranger; he would also work with Nazareth, Skidz, Dr Feelgood and many others, including Oasis in later years, while Cleminson joined Nazareth and later played with Elkie Brooks and Midge Ure.