CCS (band)
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CCS, sometimes written as C.C.S., was a British musical group, led by blues guitarist
Alexis Korner Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner (19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984), known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major in ...
. The name was derived as an abbreviation of ''Collective Consciousness Society''. Formed in 1970 by musical director John Cameron and record producer Mickie Most, CCS consisted largely of session musicians, and was created primarily as a recording outfit. The personnel also included Peter Thorup, vocals;
Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts ...
, guitar;
Harold McNair Harold McNair (5 November 1931 – 7 March 1971) was a Jamaican-born saxophonist and flautist. Early life McNair was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He attended the Alpha Boys School under the tutelage of Vincent Tulloch, while playing with Jo ...
, flute;
Herbie Flowers Brian Keith "Herbie" Flowers (born 19 May 1938) is an English musician specialising in electric bass, double bass and tuba. He is noted as a member of Blue Mink, T. Rex and Sky. Flowers has contributed to recordings by Elton John (''Tumblewe ...
, bass;
Roger Coulam Roger Keith Coulam, (born 21 August 1940, Blackburn, Lancashire, England, died October 2005), was a British keyboard session musician, who formed Blue Mink in the autumn of 1969, with Madeline Bell (vocalist), Roger Cook (vocalist), Alan Parker ( ...
, keyboards; Barry Morgan, drums; plus
Don Lusher Don Lusher OBE (6 November 1923 – 5 July 2006) was an English jazz and big band trombonist best known for his association with the Ted Heath Big Band. In a career spanning more than 60 years, he played trombone with a number of jazz orchestras ...
and Bill Geldard, trombone. Some of the musicians were also members of
Blue Mink Blue Mink were a British six-piece pop group that existed from 1969 to 1977. Over that period they had six Top 20 hit singles in the UK Singles Chart, and released five studio based albums. According to AllMusic: "they have been immortalised on ...
. CCS are best known for their instrumental
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of
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
's 1969 track "
Whole Lotta Love "Whole Lotta Love" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is the opening track on the band's second album, '' Led Zeppelin II'', and was released as a single in 1969 in several countries; as with other Led Zeppelin songs, no single was ...
", which entered the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in 1970, and was used as the theme music for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
pop programme ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...
'' ("TOTP") for most of the 1970s, and, in a remixed version, between 1998 and 2003. Technically, the TOTP theme was not by CCS, but was recorded by the TOTP orchestra one morning before the day's rehearsals. Nevertheless, the band was conducted by John Cameron on that occasion and many of the musicians were CCS regulars. This enabled the production to tailor the tune to the correct duration and avoided the weekly payment of royalties to the record label. Their highest-charting singles were the Donovan song "Walking", and " Tap Turns on the Water". They also recorded three albums, including cover versions of the old blues standard " Boom Boom", " Living in the Past", and " (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" as well as original material. Their single, "Brother", was used as the theme to Tom Browne's and
Simon Bates Simon Philip Bates (born 17 December 1946) is an English disc jockey and radio presenter. Between 1976 and 1993 he worked at BBC Radio 1, presenting the station's weekday mid-morning show for most of this period. He later became a regular pres ...
' Sunday Top 40/20 Chart Rundown on
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
in the 1970s. Not widely known is that the band were also responsible for the first set of jingles for Manchester's
Piccadilly Radio Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West is an Independent Local Radio station based in Manchester, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio Network. It broadcasts to Greater Manchester and North West Eng ...
when the station launched in April 1974 – examples can be found on ex-Piccadilly presenter Jeff Cooper's website. The short-lived CCS broke up in 1973, while Alexis Korner moved on to form the group Snape.


Discography


Albums

* '' CCS'', also known as ''Whole Lotta Love'' (RAK SRKA 6751) (October 1970) * '' CCS'', also known as ''C.C.S. 2'' (RAK SRAK 503) (March 1972) – UK No. 23 * '' The Best Band in the Land'' (RAK SRAK 504) (September 1973)


Compilation albums

* ''The Best of C.C.S.'' (RAK SRAK 527) (1977) * ''Whole Lotta Love'' (EMI CDP 7 97553 2) (1991) * ''A's, B's & Rarities'' (EMI Gold 560 2532) (2004)


Singles


References


External links

* * * *
Biography at www.mystrands.com





Jeff Cooper's tribute site featuring a number of jingles recorded by CCS for the station
{{Authority control English rock music groups English blues rock musical groups Musical groups established in 1970 Musical groups disestablished in 1973 1970 establishments in the United Kingdom 1973 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Rak Records artists * *