One Hit Wonders # 5 - Thunderclap Newman

The latest entry into this blog's series of one hit wonders comes to us from the band Thunderclap Newman, a group organized and produced by The Who's Pete Townshend to showcase the singing and songwriting abilities of one Thomas "Speedy" Keene, at the time The Who's chauffeur and composer of the song "Armenia In The Sky" , which appeared on the Who Sell Out  album.   The recording featured Keene on drums,guitar and lead vocals, Andy "Thunderclap" Newman ,an engineer and college buddy of Townshend's, and 15-year-old prodigy Jimmy McCullough on lead guitar. Townshend himself played bass guitar on the recording credited as "Bijou Drains". The band's line-up was augmented for touring by bassist James Pitman-Avery and drummer Jack  McCullough (no relation) in 1969 and by bassist Ronnie Peel and drummer Roger Felice in 1971. The band folded in April of 1971 and was resurected for a short time in 2007. As with many one-hit wonders, the song is quite an achievement. A sweeping, majestic mid-tempo anthem driven by Keene's rhythm guitar and falsetto vocals and the surprising highlight of Newman's delightfully eccentric piano solo. Wunderkind Jimmy McCullough's lead guitar licks are perfectly placed and executed. The young guitarist would go on to grace the line-ups of John Mayall's Blues Breakers, Stone The Crows and Paul McCartney's Wings before tragically succumbing to a heroin-induced fatal heart attack September 27, 1979 at the all-too-early age of 26 .                  

The Foundations

Having the distinction of being the first multi-racial group to have a hit in the U.K., The Foundations were also diverse in their ages. Saxophonist Mike Elliot was 38 years old, while drummer Tim Harris was barely out of school at 18 years of age. Formed in London in 1967, the band was rounded out by Pat Burke also on saxophone, Eric Allendale on trombone, Peter Macbeth on bass guitar, Allen Warner on guitar, keyboardist Tony Gomez and vocalist Clem Burke. The band practiced in a basement club called The Butterfly Club, which interestingly enough, they owned and operated while playing nightly. They eventually signed on to Pye Records and released their first single "Baby Now That I Found You" which went to #1 in the U.K. and to #11 in the U.S.

The success of the single was well-timed, given that the U.K. was undergoing a huge interest in American soul music with American soul acts visiting the country often. This gave The Foundations the opportunity to tour with acts such as Edwin Starr and The Toys, thus increasing the band's visibility. Their second single "Back On My Feet Again", while not as successful as their previous outing , did reach #18  in the U.K.


After the band's third single "Any Old Time (you're Lonely And Sad)" was released getting only to #48 U.K., vocalist Clem Curtis and sax man Mike Elliott left the group due to those pesky "creative differences". Elliott was never replaced. Curtis hung around until his replacement was found, a gentleman by the name of Colin Young. It was 1968.
Young's debut single with the group "Build Me Up Buttercup" went to #2 in the U.K. and to #3 in the U.S., the band's second biggest release. The follow-up "In The Bad Bad Old Days (Before You Loved Me)" climbed to #8 on the U.K. charts.

(my apologies for the poor synchronization,but this vid had the best sound quality.)

These hits came in 1969. when 1970 rolled around the bassist Peter MacBeth left the band to be replaced by Steve Bingham. Management changes ensued and a Bill Graham-sponsored tour supporting The Temptations followed. The band broke up later that year.
Their last single, "My Little Chickadee" barely touched the top 100.


Since the break-up many different permutations of the band with old and new members came and went. Clem Curtis still performs as Clem Curtis And The Foundations at various oldies revues as does Colin Young using the name The Foundations performing new material along with the group's old hits.

Ten Years After

Ah, Ten Years After...a band after my own heart. Despite the occasional foray into folk-influenced message songs, it was always foot stompin' no frills, missionary position blues 'n' boogie that lay at the core of these lads.
They began as The Jaybirds in 1962 with guitarist Alvin Lee, the magnificently-named bassist Leo Lyons, vocalist Ivan Jay and drummer Dave Quickmire. After several years of local success in the Nottingham-Mansfield area of England, Quickmire was replaced on drums by Ric Lee in August of 1965. The band moved to London in 1966 where they were joined by keyboardist Chick Churchill. Ivan Jay subsequently left the band leaving Alvin Lee as default lead singer. The band changed their name to Blues Trip, then Blues Yard before finally settling on Ten Years After. The group became the first act to be handled by the fledgling Chrysalis Agency, which secured them a residency at  The Marquee Club. They were later invited to play at The Windsor Jazz Festival in 1967, and their perfomance there led to them being signed to  the Deram Label, a subsidiary of Decca,the first band the company ever signed without a hit single to it's credit . In October of 1967 the band's self-titled debut album was released. In 1968, following a tour of the  U.S. and Scandinavia, the band's second album, Undead was released. The album was recorded live, and featured what was to become Ten Years After's signature song and  one of the most if not THE most lasting impression of the subsequent Woodstock feature film and soundtrack, "I'm Going Home".


The Woodstock performance raised the band's profile profoundly, making them true superstars. During 1970, the band's fifth album Cricklewood Green was released. The album's name came from a friend living in Cricklewood, London who grew plants at his home that caused hallucinogenic effects. The plant was nicknamed Cricklewood Green. It was also the first record to contain two different playing speeds, 33 and 1/3 on one side and 45 rpm on the other. It also featured the group's only U.K. singles chart hit , "Love Like A Man".


1970 also saw the band appearing at The Strawberry Fields and Isle of Wight Festivals. They switched labels in 1971 to Columbia Records upon which their most commercially successful album A Space In Time was released, featuring the group's biggest hit, "I'd Love To Change The World". This album was followed on Columbia by the releases of
1972's  Rock And Roll Music To The World, 1973's double live collection Ten Years After Recorded Live, and their final album for the label 1974's Positive Vibrations. The band broke up soon after.


The band reunited in 1983 to play The Reading Festival and again in 1988 for a few shows and to record the album About Time. In 1994, they performed at The Eurowoodstock Festival in Budapest.
Alvin Lee recorded as a solo artist for many years while the band still continues as Ten Years After with Joe Gooch doing a repectable job in Lee's place on guitar and vocals.

Sadly, on March 6, 2013 Alvin Lee died as a result of complications during a surgical procedure. He was 68.

Don Cornelius...R.I.P.

"...and you can bet your last money, it's all gonna be a stone gas, honey! I'm Don Cornelius, and as always in parting, we wish you love...peace...and soul !"

Don Cornelius...  .September 26,1936 - February 1, 2012

Santana

In San Francisco, 1967 a band was formed that would be truly one of a kind. The Carlos Santana Blues Band was and is a group that combines a very strong Latin influence and style with blues-based rock. What makes this band, and by extension its leader and namesake Carlos Santana so unique is that that without sacrificing one iota of their Afro-Cuban based sound, they have become, of all things, classic rock icons. Your average classic rock playlist may include several heavy rock bands, a good number of classically influenced bands, quite a few country-rock bands and even a handful of horn-driven bands, But in all of the classic rock canon, no one sounds even remotely like the band that would eventually shorten its name to simply Santana.  At the group's first audition at San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom weeks after their formation, they were told by promoter Chet Helms that they would never get anywhere playing such heavily Latin-based rock and that Carlos should keep his day job as a dishwasher at Tick Tock's Drive-In on 3rd Street. Then came Woodstock.

The band was announced as one of the performers at The Woodstock Music And Art Fair as they were recording their self-titled debut album in May of 1969 which they finished in a month. After a career- making Woodstock performance the album was released. It peaked at #4 on the Billboard charts and a song from that collection,"Evil Ways", became a top ten single. Chet? Anything? I suppose not.

The band went on tour to promote the album with a line-up of Santana on guitar, keyboardist Gregg Rollie, Jose "Chepito" Areas on timbales and trumpet, bassist Dave Brown, drummer Michael Shrieve and Dave Carabello on congas. At this time they also started work on their sophomore album. The album, titled Abraxas was released in May of 1970 and went to #1. The single release from that album was a remake of Fleetwood Mac legend Peter Green's "Black Magic Woman" which peaked at #4 U.S.


The third album, brilliantly titled Santana III, was released in July of 1971. It followed it's predecessor to the #1 spot on the charts and would feature the addition of guitarist Neal Schon.



In the time between the third album and their fourth, Caravanserai, The band would see the beginning of  a long line of personnel changes, so many that in the course of the band's existence, the name Santana would come to identify the man, Carlos Santana as opposed to the band, ultimately leaving for all intents and purposes, Carlos Santana as a solo act. Among the first to go were Dave Brown, Michael Carrabello , Gregg  Rollie and Neal Schon, Rollie and Schon would later form another classic rock giant, the band Journey. Caravaserai was released in October of 1972, peaking at #8 with no single release.  The next hit single would come from the 1981 album Zebop , the Russ Ballard composition,"Winning" with lead vocals from British journeyman Alex Ligertwood.


I would feel negligent not to include a mention of Carlos Santana's brother, guitarist Jorge Santana. Jorge worked with salsa band The Fania All Stars, as well as recording two solo albums. His best known work, however was with the band Malo, which he led along with fellow Mexican Arcello Garcia. Malo had a top 20 hit entitled "Suavecito".
The two brothers have appeared together onstage numerous times.


Firmly established as one of pop music's most respected artists, highly regarded by critics and fans alike, Carlos Santana's career continued to flourish. In the realms of rock, pop, and jazz he came to be held in high regard due to his singular talent, unique style, genre flexability and pleasant, self-effacing personality.            
After his 1981 hit "Winning", it wasn't until 1991 that he scored a comparable success with the album Supernatural, which featured Santana performing with an impressive array of the period's top vocalists from different musical genres. This collecton reached #1 in several countries and went 15X platinum, selling nearly 27 million units worldwide.It included the hit single "Smooth" , featuring lead vocals from Rob Thomas of the group Matchbox Twenty. The song became a winner of three Grammy Awards.

The band Santana was inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1988. The inductees were Dave Brown, Michael Shrieve, Jose Areas, David Carabello, Gregg Rollie and Santana himself. As a band,Santana won eight Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards all in 2000, while Carlos Santana won two Grammy Awards as a solo artist in 1989 and 2003. All told, Santana has sold over 100 million units worldwide as of 2010. Carlos Santana is still active in the industry to this day.