The Small Faces were an English mod-psych band that placed ten singles on the UK Top 20 between 1965 and 1968, including “All or Nothing,” “Tin Soldier,” “Lazy Sunday,” and the transatlantic pop-psych evergreen “Itchycoo Park.” Despite their relative late arrival on the beat-boom timeline, their quick maturity culminated in the 1968 concept album Ogdens’ […]
The Move was an English rock band from Birmingham that achieved UK fame with the 1967–68 pop-psych singles “Night of Fear,” “I Can Hear the Grass Grow,” “Flowers In the Rain,” and “Fire Brigade,” all written by guitarist Roy Wood. After their long-awaited album Move, they charted with the non-album 1968–69 singles “Blackberry Way,” “Wild […]
The Creation was an English rock band that released the 1966 singles “Making Time” and “Painter Man” on Shel Talmy’s Planet label. Guitarist Eddie Phillips played solo passages with a violin bow. Their recorded work is now revered among devotees of “freakbeat.” Members: Bob Garner (bass, vocals, 1966-68, 1993-2000), Kenny Pickett (vocals, 1966-67, 1968, 1985, […]
Blossom Toes were an English psych-rock/pop band from London that released the album We Are Ever So Clean on Marmalade in 1967, followed by If Only for a Moment in 1969. During the band’s three-year existence, their music evolved from the toy-town style (The Move, The Idle Race) to a gruffer approach in line with […]
Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera was an English psych-rock band that released multiple singles and a 1968 self-titled album on Direction. After Gantry’s departure, singer/guitarist Paul Brett led them on the 1969 release Ride a Hustler’s Dream. The rhythm section joined the Strawbs and later recorded as Hudson–Ford. Gantry surfaced in funk-rockers Stretch. Members: Colin Forster […]
Skip Bifferty was an English pop-psych band from Newcastle that released three singles on RCA, culminating with a popular 1968 self-titled album. They moonlighted as Heavy Jelly for the 1969 Island single “I Keep Singing That Same Old Song,” a record-breaker for longest a-side. Select members also recorded with Every Which Way, ARC, and Glencoe. […]
Les Fleur de Lys were an English mod-psych band from Southampton that released a string of singles on Immediate, Polydor, and Atlantic between 1965 and 1969, including one apiece under the alternate names Shyster, Rupert’s People, and The Chocolate Frog. Bassist Gordon Haskell launched a seventies solo career amid brief memberships in King Crimson and […]
The Koobas — initially spelled “Kubas” — were an English pop-psych band that released a pair of Pye singles circa 1965/66, followed by six singles on Columbia (EMI) between 1966 and 1968. After the band’s breakup, their self-titled album appeared on Columbia in 1969. Bassist Keith Ellis played on the first album by Van Der […]
The Gods were an English psych-rock band from Hatfield, Hertfordshire. The band morphed into Head Machine for the album Orgasm on Major Minor in 1970. Frontman Ken Hensley and drummer Lee Kerslake briefly played with Toe Fat and landed lengthy memberships in Uriah Heep. John Glascock went onto stints in Chicken Shack, Carmen, and Jethro […]
The End were an English pop-psych band from Surrey that released six 1965–68 singles on Philips, Sonoplay, and Sonet, followed by the album Introspection on Decca/London in 1969. The band was produced and managed by Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman and briefly masqueraded under the names Polos Opuestos and Timothy Grass. In late 1969, The […]
The Action was an English rock band that cut five 1965–67 Parlophone singles, including the mod-soul anthem “I’ll Keep Holding On” and the psych nugget “Shadows and Reflections.” They recorded more than three full album’s worth of material that later appeared on the archival CDs Ultimate! Action and Rolled Gold. In 1969, they morphed into […]
The Attack was an English psych-rock combo that issued four singles on Decca in 1967/68. The band distinguished itself as one of the more thunderous purveyors of the freakbeat/pop-psych sounds then in vogue on the UK scene. Sadly, the band’s lineup never stabilized and no proper album materialized during their existence. Guitarist John Du Cann […]
Fire was an English pop-psych/folk trio that issued the freakbeat classic “Father’s Name Is Dad” (b/w “Treacle Toffee World”) on Decca, but only managed one further 7″ on the label despite a slew of recordings. With guitarist/songwriter Paul Brett, they released The Magic Shoemaker on Pye in 1970. In 1972, frontman Dave Lambert joined the […]
The Pretty Things were an English rock band, originally formed in 1963 by guitarist/vocalist Dick Taylor and singer/guitarist Phil May. Taylor had briefly played the prior year in an embryonic lineup of The Rolling Stones. They were arguably the most significant band of the beat boom to not have a stateside breakthrough during the British […]
The Smoke was an English rock quartet that was initially active during the late 1960s. The band distinguished itself from other beat/popsike acts with a heavy reliance on reverb. They released several singles and one album during a furtive 1967/68 streak and reemerged in the early 1970s for a further string of singles. Members: Geoff […]
Tomorrow was an English psych-rock band that released two singles on Parlophone in 1967, belatedly followed by a self-titled album in 1968. Guitarist Steve Howe attained virtuoso status in the ’70s lineup of Yes. Drummer Twink later co-founded the Pink Fairies. Members: Steve Howe (guitar), John “Junior” Wood (bass), Keith West (vocals), Twink [John Alder] […]
