Soulful sunshine pop from Coventry bunch
Label: Polydor
Year of Release: 1969
Peppermint Circus were a persistent band throughout the late sixties, chalking up five singles across three different labels, none of which really hit home in the UK. A cover of Barry Gibb's "All The Kings Horses" was the first, slipping out on the British imprint of the Swedish Olga label (for some reason) in 1968, after which a move to Polydor saw them releasing "I Won't Be There" and this disc, then they finished their careers on A&M in 1969 with two more records, "One Thing Can Lead To Another" and the appropriately titled "Let Me Go" (which A&M duly did) in 1970.
They were also nothing if not versatile. Their debut was orchestral beat, the follow-up ska influenced, "Please Be Patient" (as you'll see below) has a distinct plastic soul feel, and the final two 45s ended on the sunshine pop side of the street. Perhaps their lack of a distinct identity did them harm in a marketplace which might have preferred a sound it could easily peg to the band, but it certainly wasn't all bad for them - "One Thing" got to number 9 in the Dutch charts, even if it didn't get very far in the UK.
The band consisted of bass guitarist Alan Tallis, vocalist Paul Thomas, James Curtis on other vocals, Clive Hartley on keyboards and drummer Paul Langer. Of this bunch, Paul Thomas went on to issue another single, "Let It Ride" on D'Art in 1971 which we've already covered on this blog.
They were also a resourceful bunch - while most bands could barely be bothered to kit their tour buses out with basic amenities, this lot purchased an airport double decker and fitted it with beds, lights, cooking facilities and heating, predating all modern mega-coach touring trends. I can only hope they cooked up a mean candle-lit roast dinner while on the road.
If the previews below aren't working properly, please go right to the source.
3 comments:
Dr Pedantic says maybe 29 in the Dutch chart, certainly no higher
Hmm, obviously a typo (or plain inaccuracy) in the source I used! Thanks for flagging it.
It's always been a source of amusement too how artists themselves 'upgrade' their success oversees during interviews. Maybe not so much now in the land of google, but you know the kind of thing "we were 8 weeks number one in Laos with this song" or "we spent a whole year in the Ecuador hit parade you know"
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