Of the numerous light-pop vocal duos to come out of Britain in the early 70s, Shimmer & Sparkle were among the very lightest. Their driving force, Rick Milk, had worked the 60s cabaret circuit with the vocal trio Milk And Two Sugars whose only album was universally panned; most critics opting for the five-word review, ‘not my cup of tea.’ When it came to light that Milk was ‘helping himself’ to both the Two Sugars without the other one knowing, the group broke up acrimoniously and he launched a solo career as Milk No Sugars.

This proved unpopular and, after a short-lived foray into flower-power folk with the quartet Milk Of Human Kindness, he made an ill-judged bid for credibility with the serious rock outfit, Spilt Milk (who quickly became Split Milk when the band folded in’73). Having run out of dairy-related ideas, Milk changed direction again after a chance encounter in a betting shop with 23-year-old Bev Stent. Stent had enjoyed some success as a corporate glamour model, most notably in the pest-control business community, having been crowned ‘Miss Glue-Trap’ (North Essex region) for three years running.

Milk saw in Stent a kindred spirit, hungry for the limelight, and the pair teamed up and secured a deal with production-line thrift specialists Balsawood Records. Between 1973 and 1975 Shimmer & Sparkle released fifteen albums, all of which were critically derided. Characterised by poor material, the indifferent playing of jaded session musicians and Balsawood’s famous ‘paper-thin’ production style, there were many flaws in the recordings. So many, in fact, that it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why the albums were so poorly received. Despite this, they toured extensively, most notably as support to Mike and Bernie Winters and, as the public took them to their hearts, they quickly became the darlings of the summer-season circuit. Their crowning glory came in ’74 when they chalked up an appearance as last-minute replacement guests on ‘The Two Ronnies’, after Barbara Dickson was held up in traffic.

By 1976 the phlegm-clouds of Punk were gathering and threatening to rain a green deluge upon the white sugared meringue of light-vocal cheesecake-pop.
Unable to withstand such an onslaught, Shimmer & Sparkle’s popularity waned and they went their separate ways, leaving in their wake numerous copycat acts who had formed under their influence; Peters And Lee being the only one that comes to mind. Bev Stent left music behind and went on to run her own pest control business, specializing in (according to their brochure) ‘rapid and total pigeon extermination’.

Having also retired from the business, Rick Milk re-launched himself as an entrepreneur in the early 80’s. Among his more notable failures were Infinitum, a one application everlasting aftershave, and a range of wicker dinnerware. In a curious twist, he later became an account manager for ‘Ofmilk’, the watchdog of the dairy industry.

The hostess trolley’s warming
Scampi sure smells nice
Sit on the sofa and I’ll pour
A dubonnet and ice
And then we can engage
Upon my sea of beige
We’ll paint the town
Orange and brown
Play Twister ‘til the sun goes down

(Chorus)
Velour d’amour
Settee of love
On Cupid’s couch
We’re hand in glove
Velour d’amour
I’m yours
I’m yours
Velour d’amour

From ‘Velour d’Amour’ by Shimmer & Sparkle