"Toast and Marmalade for Tea" is a song by the Australian rock group Tin Tin, and was written by Steve Groves and produced by Maurice Gibb. It was a Top 20 U.S. hit in 1971.

Writing and recording

"Toast and Marmalade for Tea" was an unfinished song by Steve Groves, who had written only verses; Steve Kipner explained, "We had been thinking that we would write a chorus for it together". The resulting demo was recorded on 27 June 1969 and Maurice Gibb called them into the studio at short notice the following month and re-recorded it for the album. "We modulated the verses", Kipner continued, "since it was all that we had". Kipner and Groves had originally recorded the track on only guitar and piano. They would usually experiment with whatever was in the studio until Kipner concluded, "There was a drum kit, but the pedal was broken, so I pushed it by hand to make us a drum track, then Maurice put bass on it, playing with his broken arm". The song's distinct "wobbled" piano melody was discovered accidentally when an engineer leaned on a tape machine creating the sound. "Manhattan Woman" was chosen as the B-side. Tin Tin obtained their recording deal with the help of Gibb, who also produced their debut self-titled album. The single later received some radio airplay in the UK. In Australia, the song was a Top 10 single.

Personnel

* Steve Groves —

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

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 ...

, sound effects * Steve Kipner — lead vocals,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Maurice Gibb —

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 ...

* Gerry Shury — orchestral arrangement

Chart performance

References

{{reflist, 2 1970 debut singles Songs written by Steve Kipner Song recordings produced by Maurice Gibb 1970 songs Polydor Records singles