Tinkerbells Fairydust were a British
pop group
A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together.
Groups of people
* Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity
* Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...
in the late 1960s, who hailed from east
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. They recorded three singles and one album for the
Decca Decca may refer to:
Music
* Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label
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* Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...
label
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.
Personnel
Signed to manager
Don Arden
Don Arden (born Harry Levy; 4 January 1926 – 21 July 2007) was an English music manager, agent, and businessman. He managed the careers of rock acts such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Air Supply, Small Faces, The Move, Black Sabbath ...
, the band members were:
*Stuart Attride (
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
,
keyboards
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* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
,
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
)
*Gerry Wade (
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
, vocals)
*Steve Maher (guitar, vocals)
*Barry Creasy (
drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...
s, vocals)
*Chas Wade (drums, vocals)
*Eileen Woodman (
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...
, vocals)
*Dave Church (vocals)
*Pete Hole (guitar, vocals)
History
Previously, billed as the Rush, they had
recorded two
singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
with Decca: "Happy" / "Once Again", and "Enjoy It" / "Make Mine Music". Prior to that, various personnel had played in Tommy Bishop's Ricochets (for one single on Decca) and Easy Come Easy Go (previously known as Dave & The Strollers).
In 1968, members of the band worked with
Jeff Lynne
Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock music, rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, h ...
. Lynne's song "Follow Me Follow" was recorded as a
demo
Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to:
Music and film
*Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release
* ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes
* ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...
. Lynne's first proper band
The Idle Race
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
released their version on their debut album in 1968. Tinkerbell's Fairydust recorded a proper version as the
b-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
to their third and final single, "Sheila's Back In Town".
Singles
After the name change to Tinkerbells Fairydust, it recorded the single "Lazy Day",
produced by
Vic Smith
Victor R. "Vic" Smith is a former football (soccer) player who represented New Zealand at international level.
Smith made his full All Whites debut in a 0–6 loss to South Africa on 5 July 1947 and ended his international playing career wit ...
, who went on to produce
The Jam
The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 198 ...
and
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
.
It never had any
chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
success in the
UK. It did, however, make the charts in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
where "Lazy Day" reached number two (held off the top spot by
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' "
Hey Jude
"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in August 1968. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The single was the Beatles' first release o ...
").
Its second single, "Twenty Ten", was a
Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
-inspired minor key piece of harmony psychedelia, with wah-wah vox organ,
mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...
flutes, Spanish style guitar, and choir-like vocals.
The
lyrics
Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...
alluded to the year 2010 which was still 43 years away in 1967. Despite finding favour with the
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...
DJ 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 ...
, it was a commercial flop.
Its third single, "Sheila's Back In Town", was released in January 1969 in the UK. It made the
Top 10 in Japan.
Other recording sessions
The band also backed Gene Latter at a recording session at the Lansdowne Studios,
Holland Park
Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that contains a street and public park of the same name. It has no official boundaries but is roughly bounded by Kensington High Street to the south, Holland Road ...
, resulting in his "Mother's Little Helper" single. They also acted as
session backing vocalist
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...
s at the Decca
West Hampstead
West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. Mainly defined by the railway stations of the same name, it is situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to ...
studios for the "Tommy Bishop Rock and Roll Revival Show" recordings.
The album
An eponymous Tinkerbells Fairydust album was prepared, using four of the tracks from their previous singles and a number of
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s.
It was due for release in December 1969 on the Decca record label, and was allocated the Catalogue Number Decca SKL/LK 5028. However it was withdrawn prior to release. Some test pressings were made (and 4 or 5 'finished' copies), but it was withdrawn prior to the release date with only a tiny handful of copies left in existence.
The extreme rarity of this album has pushed up its collectability rating to where, in 2007, a shabby scratched copy was sold on eBay for £1,200 and since then (in 2009 & 2010) two other copies have sold in excess of £2000. It is regarded by collectors as one of the most valuable pop/psych albums of all time.
In 1998, a
CD and LP reissue circulated with alternative artwork. In 2009, it was reissued again on vinyl LP (with the identical artwork to the original) on Acme Records while an expanded CD was released on
Cherry Red's psychedelic imprint, Grapefruit, with various bonus tracks and the band's approval.
Discography
Album
*''Tinkerbells Fairydust'' (1969), Decca (unreleased, apart from a handful of 'pre-release' copies that escaped destruction by the factory)
(issued on Carnaby Boutique X-0443276CD, 1998)
Singles
*"Lazy Day" / "In My Magic Garden" (1967), Decca
*"2010" / "Walking My Baby" (1968), Decca
*"Sheila's Back in Town" / "Follow Me Follow" (1969), Decca
Compilation appearances
*"Twenty Ten" on ''Rubble Vol. 6'', ''The Clouds Have Groovy Faces'' (LP) and ''Rubble Vol. 4'' (CD)
*"Marjorine" and "You Keep Me Hanging On" on ''Syde Trips, Vol. 4'' (LP)
*"In My Magic Garden" on ''British Psychedelic Trip, Vol. 3'' (LP) and ''Great British Psychedelic Trip, Vol. 2: 1965-1970'' (CD)
Allmusic.com
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
/ref>
*"Lazy Day" on ''British Psychedelic Trip, Vol. 4'' (LP) and ''Great British Psychedelic Trip, Vol. 2'' (CD)
* "Twenty Ten" on ''Beatniks & Hipsters '71'' (LP)
References
{{Authority control
English pop music groups
Musical groups established in 1967
Musical groups disestablished in 1969
Musical groups from London
Decca Records artists