Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Buried Treasure:Thunderclap Newman

Here's the first in a series of Films, Records, Books or anything else that has for one reason or another never garnered the popular and critical attention that it deserved. Public reaction to art is fickle and mysterious, and when you factor in commercial concerns such as marketing and promotion, the vagaries of fashion and trends, appreciation let alone success for an artists' work becomes the exception rather than the norm. 








Thunderclap Newman never really was a band in the traditional sense. Pete Townshend formed them as a vehicle for the songwriting and singing talents of John "Speedy" Keene, who was a one-time roadie for The Who, and also wrote "Armenia City in the Sky" from the album "The Who Sell Out".  The success of "Tommy" afforded Townshend to indulge in side projects in which he could serve as producer, and in this case he recruited the unlikely pair of 15 year old guitarist Jimmy McCullough and Andy Newman, a portly jazz piano player wearing horn-rimmed glasses whose day job was at the post office. Rounding out the band was Townshend himself on bass under the pseudonym "Bijou Drains".

Recorded in 1969, the first single from the album Hollywood Dream was the anthemic "Something in the Air" which stayed at number one for three weeks and captured the flower-power zeitgeist. It's lovely melody, soaring string arrangement and Newman's barrel-house piano break make it a slice of pure pop heaven. Subsequent singles from the album, however failed to chart and the band dissolved, never to record or perform again.

Here's a promo clip of "Something in the Air"...








If the rest of the album turned out to be sub-standard filler, Thunderclap Newman would have deserved to be relegated to the one-hit wonder category which has since been their legacy . However, the rest of the songs are just as strong, and the record as a whole is excellent. Keene's songwriting is melodic, and his reedy voice has a gentleness that counters nicely even with McCullough's more burning solos. "Hollywood#1", a paean to silent film-era L.A. has an easy shuffle with a Honky-Tonk piano. "Look Around" and "The Old Cornmill" really rock, and "Accidents" is a strange 9 minute song about trainspotters (I think) punctuated by shattering glass sounds.

A few B-sides and alternate mixes added to the CD re-issue make Hollywood Dream one of the best, overlooked records of the late 60's. Anyone with a taste for British Power-Pop should pick this up. Now.




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