The popularity of their debut single took Thunderclap Newman by surprise. The Who never had a number 1 single, so it must have been a proud moment for Townshend. And only a fool could not be moved by the way the song moves up a gear as it reaches the rousing finale, returning to Keen singing ‘Hand out the arms and ammo, we’re going to blast our way through here’ and the appearance of stirring strings.īecoming the last act to knock The Beatles from number 1, and topping the charts while Neil Armstrong made one giant leap for humankind… what a time to be alive. Nothing wrong with a taste of the unexpected in pop music. Although this section breaks the mood, I consider it a good thing. Only fair, when the band is named after him, really. In a very Beatlesque move, the mood changes completely, and we’re treated to a long heavy-handed piano solo from Newman. Then after another attempt to rouse the troops, things get weird. ‘The revolution’s here’, but they’re not ready yet (‘We’ve got to get together, sooner or later’)… is everyone too stoned to sort their shit out? Sounds likely, especially when he sings ‘We have got to get it together’ in the refrain. Close inspection reveals its actually quite critical of the hippy movement. He isn’t blessed with the best voice, but its the perfect fit for his reticent lyrics. Keen’s lyrics, and vocal performance signal a very British type of revolution. Even when it was on practically every advert break when used by TalkTalk, sponsors of Big Brother on Channel 4 one summer, I still loved it. Yet despite its lazy use as the soundtrack to vintage footage of hippies and protests, and particularly its appearances in several advertising campaigns, I have never once tired of it. You could argue that the power of Something in the Air has been reduced over the years due to its overuse in TV and films. Among the material they worked on was Keen’s song of revolution, now renamed to avoid confusion. They became Thunderclap Newman, with Keen on vocals and drums, McCulloch on guitar, Newman on piano and Townshend producing and performing bass under the pseudonym Bijou Drains. Newman was still working for the General Post Office as a telephone engineer when the trio met at Townshend’s home studio for the first time around Christmas 1968. He contacted a teenage guitarist called Jimmy McCulloch, whose band One in a Million supported The Who in 1967 (he was only 14 at the time), and an eccentric keyboard player called Andy ‘Thunderclap’ Newman, who had earned his nickname due to his idiosyncratic playing style. Townshend had been branching out from The Who at the time (he had already helped The Crazy World of Arthur Brown with their debut LP and number 1 single, Fire), and was looking for a way to showcase Keen’s songs. He also had a pretty big nose, like him, so they were kindred spirits. This was the only song written for The Who by a non-member, so the band, particularly Townshend, clearly thought he had potential. He had been in a few bands before then, was adept at several instruments, and dabbled in songwriting, most famously at that point by writing one of my favourite songs by The Who, the psychedelic rocker Armenia City in the Sky, which became the opening track of their classic LP, The Who Sell Out (1967). Keen shared a flat with The Who guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend, and he worked as their chauffeur. John Lennon, before going solo and becoming a full-blown ‘working class hero’, had written of his indecision over these matters in the 1968 B-side to Hey Jude, Revolution.Īt around the same time, a man named John ‘Speedy’ Keen had been turning his thoughts into a call-to-arms, also called Revolution. Groups such as Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin’s Yippies in the US would talk of revolution, and in the UK, left-wingers wanted reforms on drugs, abortion, gender roles… they wanted change. 1968 had seen protests taking place in the UK, the US, and France, among other countries. The peace and love espoused by hippies in the mid-60s had mutated into frustration over Vietnam and the old world order. There was indeed something in the air in July 1969, but it wasn’t just Apollo 11. The reason I mention news from another planet? Because it seems very appropriate that the number 1 at the time was Something in the Air, by one-hit wonders Thunderclap Newman. While I only usually mention UK events within this blog, 50 years ago to the day I am typing this, man first set foot on the moon.
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