Mabel Greer's Toyshop are an English psychedelic and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band formed in London in 1966 by guitarist/vocalist Clive Bayley, drummer Robert Hagger, and bassist Paul Rutledge. The band has two distinct phases in its history; the first period is characterised by a combination of psychedelic, American blues, and classically-influenced arrangements with poetic lyrics. It lasted until June 1968, when Bayley and Hagger left and the remaining members formed

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

. In 2013, Bayley and Hagger reconnected for the first time in 45 years following the death of former member

Peter Banks Peter William Brockbanks (15 July 1947 – 7 March 2013), known professionally as Peter Banks, was an English guitarist. He was the original guitarist in the rock bands Yes (band), Yes, Flash (band), Flash, and Empire; he was also a guitarist f ...

. They revived Mabel Greer's Toyshop in the following year with Hugo Barré and Yes alumni Tony Kaye and Billy Sherwood, and released two studio albums and one compilation.

History

1966–1968: First incarnation

Mabel Greer's Toyshop was formed in London in 1966 by guitarist and vocalist Clive Bayley, drummer Robert Hagger, and bassist Paul Rutledge. Bayley and Hagger first met in a pub on

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

after one of them placed an ad looking for band work in the ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

''. They brought in Rutledge, who was also a student at art school. Hagger came up with their name, and took inspiration from themes presented in ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'' combined with the band wanting to pursue adventurous music. He has since apologised to Bayley "many times" over it. The band played mostly original material composed by Bayley with covers of various contemporary musicians. Bayley described the group's sound during this period as a crossover between

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

and

the Byrds The Byrds () were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) being the so ...

, with strong melody lines and harmonies and extended improvised sections. Hagger considered the band at the forefront of psychedelic music at the time with use of fuzzboxes, wah-wah pedals, and feedback. At the end of 1967, Rutledge left the group to pursue art full time and was replaced by Chris Squire of The Syn, who had once invited Hagger to an audition. Not long after Squire brought guitarist and former Syn bandmate

into the fold, becoming a four-piece. Squire's arrival was key in the group's development, as his connections at The Marquee club helped the band secure gigs at more famous venues, such as Happening 44 and UFO, and support

The Nice The Nice were an English progressive rock band active in the late 1960s. They blended rock, jazz and classical music. Keyboardist Keith Emerson, bassist Lee Jackson (bassist), Lee Jackson, guitarist David O'List, and drummer Ian Hague ori ...

and

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

. After meeting influential radio DJ

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

at the

Middle Earth Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

club, they recorded some tracks for Peel's BBC radio shows ''Top Gear'' and ''Night Ride'' which were released on Banks's compilation ''The Roots of Yes''. The band also produced demos with producer Mike Leander for

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

. In May 1968, Squire met former

Warriors A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been p ...

vocalist

Jon Anderson Jon Anderson (born John Roy Anderson, 25 October 1944) is a British, and latterly American, singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the former lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes (band), Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassis ...

, who began to co-write songs and perform as lead vocalist. Later that month, Hagger left the band to join Heaven and was replaced by

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording and tou ...

, who on 7 June, played his first gig with the band just hours after meeting them. In July, following a period of rehearsals in Soho, Tony Kaye joined on keyboards and Banks, who had left Mabel Greer for a month, came back to replace a departing Bailey. The now five-piece line-up named themselves

, at Banks's suggestion.

2013–present: Reformation

In March 2013, Hagger learned of Banks's death on a flight from Dubai to Johannesburg, which prompted him to contact Bayley for the first time in 45 years. The pair met at a restaurant in Nice, France that July, where they agreed to revive Mabel Greer's Toyshop and book studio time to work on songs. The band reformed in 2014 with bassist Hugo Barré and former Yes albumni Kaye and Billy Sherwood, and Squire gave his blessing on the project before he died in 2015. The first studio album ''New Way of Life'' was released in 2015 and contains songs by Bayley and Squire originally written in 1967 and 1968, plus new original material. This was followed by ''The Secret'' in 2017, of which the title track was written and recorded to honour Banks, whose guitar work is featured.

Discography

Studio albums *''New Way of Life'' (2015) *''The Secret'' (2017) Compilations *''Images'' (2016, remaster of recordings from 1967–1968)

Personnel

Current members *Clive Bayley – vocals, guitar (1966–1968, 2014–present) *Robert Hagger – drums (1966–1968, 2014–present) *Hugo Barré – bass guitar (2014–present) *Max Hunt – keyboards (2014–present) Former members *Paul Rutledge – bass guitar (1966–1967) * Chris Squire – bass guitar (1967–1968) *

– guitar (1967–1968, 1968) * Tony Kaye – keyboards (1968, 2014) *

– lead vocals (1968) *

– drums (1968) * Billy Sherwood – bass guitar (2014)

References

External links

*Official website a
MabelGreersToyShop.com
{{Authority control Yes (band) English art rock groups English progressive rock groups English psychedelic rock music groups Musical groups established in 1966 1966 establishments in England