Plastic Penny were a British 1960s pop band, formed in November 1967 before splitting up in August 1969. The group had one hit single early in 1968: the song "Everything I Am". Most of the members went on to greater fame with other bands or in session work.

Career

Most of their material was

psychedelic pop Psychedelic pop (or acid pop) is pop music that contains musical characteristics associated with psychedelic music. Developing in the late 1960s, elements included " trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, backwards recording, ...

, with leanings towards a

prog rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initi ...

sound on some of the band's album tracks. The majority of the material was written by three of the band members: Brian Keith, Paul Raymond, and Tony Murray. Keith later left the band, leaving it a quartet, and Raymond took over lead vocals. Plastic Penny's output was released on the

Page One Records Page One Records, established in 1966, was the UK independent record label, owned by the producer/manager, Larry Page. They were involved in a court case in July 1967 with The Troggs.9681 WLR 157; 9673 All ER 822; (1967) 111 SJ 944 The label, ...

. The band appeared at the first

Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. The 1970 event was by far the largest of these early ...

, held on 31 August 1968. "Everything I Am" reached a high of number six in 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 ...

. The song, enhanced with a string arrangement, was a slow

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

version of a song originally recorded by the

Box Tops The Box Tops is an American rock band formed in Memphis in 1967. They are best known for the hits " The Letter", " Cry Like a Baby", "Choo Choo Train," and " Soul Deep" and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period. They perfo ...

. It was written by

Spooner Oldham Dewey Lindon "Spooner" Oldham (born June 14, 1943) is an American songwriter and session musician. An organist, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, at FAME Studios as part of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on such hit R&B songs as Percy ...

and

Dan Penn Dan Penn (born Wallace Daniel Pennington, November 16, 1941) is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and record producer, who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s, including "The Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" wi ...

. Their follow-up singles, such as the Bill Martin/

Phil Coulter Philip Coulter (born 19 February 1942) is an Irish musician, songwriter and record producer from Derry, Northern Ireland. He was awarded the Gold Badge from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in October 2009. Coulter ha ...

penned song "Nobody Knows It", were flops.

Mick Grabham Procol Harum () were an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have sold over 10 million copies. Although noted for th ...

(then billed as Mick Graham) moved on to play with

Cochise Cochise (; Apache: ''Shi-ka-She'' or ''A-da-tli-chi'', lit.: ''having the quality or strength of an oak''; later ''K'uu-ch'ish'' or ''Cheis'', lit. ''oak''; June 8, 1874) was leader of the Chihuicahui local group of the Chokonen and principa ...

and then

Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have List of best-selling singles, sold over ...

. Keith later became the lead vocalist with The Congregation, who share the "

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

" tag with Plastic Penny. Raymond replaced

Christine Perfect Christine Anne McVie (; née Perfect; 12 July 1943 – 30 November 2022) was an English musician and songwriter. She was best known as keyboardist and one of the vocalists of the band Fleetwood Mac. McVie was a member of several bands, nota ...

Chicken Shack Chicken Shack are a British blues band, founded in the mid-1960s by Stan Webb (guitar and vocals), Andy Silvester (bass guitar), and Alan Morley (drums), who were later joined by Christine Perfect (later McVie) (vocals and keyboards) in 1967. ...

, then joined

Savoy Brown Savoy Brown (originally Savoy Brown Blues Band) were an English blues rock band formed in Battersea, south west London, in 1965. Part of the late 1960s blues rock movement, Savoy Brown primarily achieved success in the United States, where they ...

and later played several spells with the rock band

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

Nigel Olsson Nigel Olsson (born 10 February 1949) is an English rock drummer and singer best known for his long-time affiliation with Elton John. A dynamic drummer and backing vocalist, Olsson helped establish the Elton John sound as a member of the Elton J ...

became an in-demand session musician, most notably drumming on much of

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

's early work and back with him from 2001. He also worked with the

Spencer Davis Group The Spencer Davis Group were a British band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (keyboards, guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). Their best known songs include the UK numbe ...

, Uriah Heep,

Kiki Dee Pauline Matthews (born 6 March 1947), better known by her stage name Kiki Dee, is an English singer. Known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown's Tamla Records. Dee is best known for h ...

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

and

Leo Sayer Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter whose singing career has spanned five decades. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom ...

. Tony Murray played on Elton John’s ''

Empty Sky ''Empty Sky'' is the debut studio album by British singer-songwriter Elton John, released on 6 June 1969. It was not issued in the United States until January 1975 (on MCA), with different cover art, well after John's fame had been established ...

'' with Olsson, and then joined

The Troggs The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes) are an English garage rock band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper " Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" and "Love Is All Around", all o ...

. The group's third and final album ''Heads I Win, Tails You Lose'' was a compilation of the band's more obscure recordings, issued in 1970 after the group had disbanded.

Band members

*Brian Keith (born Brian O'Shea, 22 September 1942,

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow ( gd, Port Ghlaschu, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recen ...

, West Renfrewshire, Scotland) - Vocalist * Paul Raymond (born Paul Martin Raymond, 16 November 1945,

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

, Hertfordshire – 13 April 2019) - Keyboardist/guitarist * Mick Graham (born Michael Grabham, 22 January 1948,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, County Durham) - Guitarist *

(born 10 February 1949,

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England; until 1974, it was part of the historic county of Cheshire. It is situated at the mouth of the River Mersey, at the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Pe ...

, Cheshire) - Drummer *Tony Murray (born Anthony Murray, 26 April 1943,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, County Dublin, Ireland) - Bassist

Discography

Singles

*1967 - "Everything I Am" / "No Pleasure Without Pain My Love" (Page One POF 051, UK, 1 December 1967) *1968 - "Nobody Knows It" / "Happy Just to Be with You" (Page One POF 062, UK, 29 March 1968) *1968 - "Your Way to Tell Me Go" / "Baby You're Not to Blame" (Page One POF 079, UK, 26 July 1968) *1968 - "Hound Dog" / "Currency" (Page One POF 107, UK, 22 November 1968) *1969 - "She Does" / "Genevieve" (Page One POF 146, UK, 11 July 1969) *1975 - "Everything I Am" / "No Pleasure Without Pain" (DJM DJS 353, UK, 21 February 1975)

Albums

*1968 - ''Two Sides of a Penny'' (Page One POL 005 (mono)/POLS 005 (stereo), UK, April 1968) Side One (Heads): "Everything I Am"/"Wake Me Up"/"Never My Love"/"Genevieve"/"No Pleasure Without Pain My Love"/"So Much Older Now" Side Two (Tails): "Mrs. Grundy"/"Take Me Back"/"I Want You"/"It's a Good Thing"/"Strawberry Fields Forever" *1969 - ''Currency'' (Page One POLS 014 (stereo), UK, February 1969) Side One: "Your Way to Tell Me Go"/"Hound Dog"/"Currency"/"Caledonian Mission"/"MacArthur Park" Side Two: "Turn to Me"/"Baby You're Not to Blame"/"Give Me Money"/"Sour Suite" *1970 - ''Heads I Win, Tails You Lose'' (Compilation, Page One POS 611 (stereo), UK, April 1970) Side One: "Hound Dog"/"She Does"/"Turn to Me"/"Caledonian Mission"/"Currency"/"Your Way to Tell Me Go" Side Two: "Celebrity Ball"/"Baby You're Not to Blame"/"I Want You"/"Take Me Back"/"Genevieve"/"Give Me Money"

References

External links

Plastic Penny page by Alex Gitlin
* Plastic Penny biography at Allmusicbr> Mick Grabham biography at The Musicians’ Olympus websiteNigel Olsson official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plastic Penny Musical groups established in 1967 Musical groups disestablished in 1969 English rock music groups English pop music groups