The first time I heard Scott Walker’s distinctive baritone was when No Regrets came out early in 1976.

To my teenage ears he sounded like a middle-of-the-road crooner, his voice enrobed in lavish orchestration – at least until the surprise guitar solo that pops up out of nowhere at the end.

For a long time I thought they were real brothers. And I had no idea it the song was a cover version until now, when I find out it’s by someone called Tom Rush from 1968.

Later – much later – I learned they were a trio of unrelated Americans, none of them called Walker: bass guitarist Scott Engel, guitarist John Maus – the original singer – and drummer Gary Leeds, and that they had been huge pop stars.

A generation earlier they enjoyed chart-topping hits like Make It Easy On Yourself and The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Any More and apparently their fan club had more members than The Beatles’ at their peak.

I didn’t know any of that. I didn’t know they had broken up in 1967 either.
After reuniting in 1975 (and no, I was unaware of that), this cover tune gave The Walker Brothers their last hit before Scott became a recluse, emerging occasionally with unlistenable avant-garde solo albums that were wildly acclaimed by critics and bought by no one.

They are a long way from this, featuring orchestral arrangements by British composer Ivor Raymonde who, if I’m not mistaken, was the father of Cocteau Twin turned Bella Union boss Simon.