''Ptooff!'' is the debut studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by English

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band The Deviants. It was released by mail order only in June 1968 by record label Underground Impresarios and given a more public wide release on Sire Records in 1969.

Background

Mick Farren Michael Anthony Farren (3 September 1943 – 27 July 2013) was an English rock musician, singer, journalist, and author associated with counterculture and the UK underground. Early life Farren was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and aft ...

and Russell Hunter had met 21-year-old millionaire Nigel Samuel who funded the £700 required for the recording of the album.

Release

''Ptooff!!'' was released in 1968 and 8,000 copies were sold on their own Impresario label via mail order through the UK

underground press The terms underground press or clandestine press refer to periodicals and publications that are produced without official approval, illegally or against the wishes of a dominant (governmental, religious, or institutional) group. In specific rec ...

, such as '' Oz'' and ''

International Times ''International Times'' (''it'' or ''IT'') is the name of various underground newspapers, with the original title founded in London in 1966 and running until October 1973. Editors included John "Hoppy" Hopkins, David Mair ...

'', before being picked up and released by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

. The album is self-described on the inside cover as ''the deviants underground l.p.'' The album was re-released in the mid-1980s by record label Psycho. The cover came in a six-panel fold-out with extensive notes, including a review by

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

: "There is little that is not good, much that is excellent and the occasional flash of brilliance". There are two quotations in the

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

drawing that fills three panels; one of them, "When the mode of the music changes, the walls of the city shake!!", is a quote from

Tuli Kupferberg Naphtali "Tuli" Kupferberg (September 28, 1923 – July 12, 2010) was an American counterculture poet, author, singer, cartoonist, publisher, and co-founder of the rock band The Fugs. Biography Naphtali Kupferberg was born into a Jewish, Yi ...

. ''Ptooff!'' was also re-issued on CD in 1992 by Drop Out Records.

Critical reception

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

'' called the album "a compellingly itinerant squall of squat-crashing blues-psych-with- issues; the sound of caries and foetid flares."

Track listing

Personnel

– lead vocals, piano * Sid Bishop – guitar,

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

* Cord Rees – bass guitar, Spanish guitar * Russell Hunter – drums, backing vocals * Duncan Sanderson – vocals and mumbling * Stephen Sparks – vocals and mumbling * Jennifer Ashworth – vocals and mumbling John Hammond - acoustic guitar

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1967 debut albums The Deviants (band) albums Decca Records albums