Brighton Mod Weekender 2013

New Untouchables Brighton Mod Weekender is traditionally a high point of my summer. Especially since Brighton's own (once great) Mod/Psych scene went from being rubbish to being virtually non-existent in the last 2-3 years.  This will be my last ever summer in Brighton, therefore I was determined to enjoy NUTs weekender even more than usual.

As regular readers of this blog probably know, it is not the 'Mod' part that I love the most about those weekenders. Having literally no interest in scooters, I usually skip daytime events at the seafront. In  the evenings, not being a fan of soul music, I hardly ever pop in to the main room at Komedia, which is usually full of ageing blokes with Paul Weller haircuts. No, to me, the back room at the Studio Bar at Komedia is where the action is - a place where on Saturday and Sunday you can hear some of the best 60's Freakbeat, Garage and Psychedelia.

I always talk about NUTs events with a mixture of love and hate. I love dancing to my favourite obscure Psych tracks in clubs. Moustrap (Fuzz For Freaks) in London - bi-monthly clubnight organised by NUTs is the best 60's psych night in the country and I discovered some of my favourite tracks there. But, every now and then, I find some things about NUTs slightly annoying, like for example, unnecessarily strict djing rules - original 60's 7-inches only and no re-issues/compilations allowed. Ok, I understand why they wouldn't want dj's to use LP's - there is a discernible difference in sound (although I wouldn't say it sounds worse, but maybe it's just me). But why no re-issues? Does it really take away so much authenticity? DJ's are also afraid of playing too obvious or too popular tracks. They don't seem to understand that expensive and rare does not equal the best. Or even good for that matter. Also, having seen some of the dj's multiple times before, I can say that the sets of some of them have become a little too predictable - every time I see them they play the same records. Of course, if you only buy 7-inches priced £500+, how many new records per year are you gonna get? Not too many probably.... But then again maybe I am not the best person to talk about these things. You see, I belong to a very rare breed - passionate 60's music fan NOT interested in vinyl. I don't mind it, but I never saw it as a superior format. If dj's at The Mousetrap were playing the same tracks they always play, but from their Ipod's instead of vinyl, I'd still come. I love the tune, not the format (I'll probably get banned for saying this, though).

Anyway, on Brighton weekenders, Sundays are traditionally the best for psychedelia. This year, I would say it was Saturday. Sunday turned out to be a bit of an anticlimax. Still, I had a great time that weekend, and I certainly encourage anybody who's into Psych/Garage and, most of all, Soul to come and check out Brighton Mod Weekender in 2014.

I stopped taking photos on my nights out long time ago, so here, I am using some from New Untouchables website. The photos were all taken by Carlo Sesto.

 That's me on the right..

I'll end with some photos of my now ex-girlfriend in her amazing original Biba dress..

Also, I heard this great tune for the first time at this year's weekender - 'Kicks And Chicks' by The Zipps - I've been listening to it on repeat ever since..

The Herd - 1960's Peacock Style Icons

Today, The Herd are mostly known as 'Peter Frampton's first band', which is a shame, because they certainly deserve to be remembered for more than that. Not only they were one of the best British Pop-Psych acts of 1967-1968, but they also were one of the best dressed bands of that time. Psychedelic/Peacock style was not an easy look to pull off and there was a thin line between 'flamboyant cool' and plain ridiculous (If you ever saw photos of The Move circa 1967, you know what I mean). The Herd, however always looked immaculate - especially keyboard player Andy Bown, who wore Regency jackets and had a great Mod haircut.

The Herd in 1968. From left: Andrew Steele, Andy Bown, Gary Taylor and Peter Frampton

The Herd in 1967. I love Andy Bown's red, double-breasted Regency jacket and Peter Frampton's blue velvet top/silver belt buckle combo..

The Herd, early 1968. Again, great Regency jackets worn by Peter Frampton (bottom left) and Andy Bown (bottom right).

The Herd formed in 1965 from the ashes of two Kent groups The Preachers and Moon's Train.  Fifteen year-old Peter Frampton (who incidentally, was a former schoolfriend of David Bowie) was already making a name for himself as one of the most talented young guitarists in London area.  The Herd were taken under the wing of Rolling Stone Bill Wyman, who once used to be in the same band as The Herd's drummer Tony Chapman. Wyman recommended The Herd to Parlophone. They recorded Jagger/Richards composition 'So Much In Love' and covered 'He Was Really Sayin' Something' by The Velvelettes. Both singles flopped and The Herd were dropped by Parlophone and deserted by their manager Billy Gaff. Soon after Tony Chapman and singer Terry Clark also quit.  That could have been the end of The Herd, but the band was taken over by managers Alan Howard and Ken Blaikley who saw potential in Peter Frampton. They promoted him to a lead vocalist and they moved bass player Andy Bown to organ, with Gary Taylor taking over responsibilities of a bassist. That line-up was completed by new drummer Andrew Steele. The Herd signed to Fontana, and in 1967 released their first single for a new label. titled 'I Can Fly'. It is a great piece of psychedelic pop, but for some bizarre reason, it barely mustered the charts in Britain (it was a big hit in Germany, though).

The Herd performing 'I Can Fly' on TV show The Beat Club

Peter Frampton

Andy Bown (that jacket again!)

During recording The Beat Club performance

NME ad for 'I Can Fly', 1967

After 'I Can Fly' flopped, Howard and Blaikley encouraged The Herd to play more ambitious material. Their next single, 'From The Underworld' was a psychedelic adaptation of Jacques Offenbach's operetta Orpheus In The Underworld.

  

The Herd performing 'From The Underworld' on The Beat Club, 1967

'From The Underworld' was hit, reaching number six in November 1967. Their next single,'Paradise Lost'   - an adaptation of John Milton's most famous poem - was also a hit in January 1968.

 The Herd performing 'Paradise Lost' on The Beat Club, 1968

Andrew Steele

Cover of the single 'From The Underworld' 1967

The Herd performing live, 1967

Height of psychedelic cool - Peter Frampton and Gary Taylor, early 1968. 

The success of 'From The Underworld' and 'Paradise Lost' elevated The Herd to stardom. They toured with The Kinks and The Who and were photographed for hip magazines such as Rave.

 Ad for October/November 1967 package tour of The Who, Traffic, The Herd, Marmalade and The Tremeloes.

Another package tour in April 1968, this time with The Kinks and Gary Walker.

Article about The Herd in Melody Maker, early 1968 (click to enlarge)

 I love this photo from late 1967..

The Herd sporting the newest Carnaby Street fashions. I like Andrew Steele's fur coat. Not sure about that red PVC jacket, though.

I love Andy Bown's stripy blazer/black ribbon combo. Meanwhile, Andrew Steele is sticking with PVC..

Peter Frampton's good looks did not go unnoticed - Rave magazine declared him 'The Face Of 1968' giving him first taste of life as a teen idol.

Peter Frampton on the cover of Rave, January 1968.

In April 1968, The Herd released straightforward pop single 'I Don't Want Our Lovin' To Die' which turned out to be their most successful recording, reaching number 5 in charts.

Press ad for 'I Don't Want Our Lovin' To Die', April 1968.

Howard and Blaikley were forcing The Herd to record melodic pop songs, which did not sit well with Frampton and Bown, who wanted to move more into heavier sounds. Nevertheless, Frampton and Bown wrote few psych/pop songs together, including a single 'Sunshine Cottage'.

The Herd, 1968

 

1968. More great Carnaby clobber..

The Herd in Teenbeat magazine, 1968

Strangely enough, Frampton and Bown ended up giving away one of their best compositions - 'I Lied To Auntie May' - which was recorded by their mates, London group called The Neat Change. They were quite an interesting band - arguably first ever Skinhead band, The Neat Change performed soul material in Soho's Mod clubs. Apparently their sound was not dissimilar to The Action (with whom they often shared the bill at The Marquee). I say 'apparently' because no recording of The Neat Change from that era exist.

 The Neat Change as Skinheads, circa 1968

 In 1968, following the advice of their management, The Neat Change ditched Skinhead look, Soul sound and  'went psychedelic'. They recorded Frampton and Bown's 'I Lied To Auntie May' - a brilliant piece of melodic pop-psych.

The Neat Change few months later...

 

It's a great song, and I am not sure whether The Herd ever recorded it themselves. The Neat Change did a great job, but it turned out to be their only ever single as they split up soon after (find out more about that interesting band here)

After 'Sunshine Cottage' flopped, Peter Frampton grew more and more disillusioned with The Herd. He hated his new heartthrob image and wanted to be appreciated as a guitarist. In the late 1968, he briefly considered accepting an invitation to join Small Faces on guitar. Although that did not happen, Frampton and Small Faces lead singer Steve Marriott formed a friendship which soon prompted them to quit their  respective bands and start heavy blues-rock outfit Humble Pie in 1969.

The Herd, late 1968

The Herd briefly tried to continue without Frampton, with Bown on vocals. They recorded single 'The Game' in 1969. It was not a successful record (artistically or commercially), and the band split up soon after.

Frampton was still on a sleeve photo of 'The Game' even though he was no longer in the band.

We all know what happened to Frampton - few successful albums with Humble Pie, initially semi-successful solo career and finally, superstardom in America after Frampton Comes Alive unexpectedly sold fifteen million copies in 1976.

Frampton on the cover of the Rolling Stone, 1976

Frampton's former bandmate Andy Bown also tried solo career. In 1970, he released a Pop-Psych single 'Tarot' (as Andrew Bown). Although interesting, it was not successful - not until few years later at least, when it was used as a theme for TV series Ace Of Wands. Andy Bown ended up joining Status Quo in 1976 with whom he still plays today...

Andy Bown's 'Tarot'

I'll end with few more pictures of The Herd

 1968 (just ignore that PVC)

1968

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Terry Rawlings, Then, Now and Rare: British Beat 1960-1969.

Images: Magic Mac , Marmalade Skies

Rowan Bulmer - Swinging London's Forgotten Photographer

From Biba's advertising campaign, London, Kensington, 1966

Recently, I've been flicking through London fashion/culture magazine Jocks & Nerds, where I found the article about 1960's London photographer Rowan Bulmer. Unlike his contemporaries David Bailey, Terence Donovan, Brian Duffy, Robert Whittaker and many others, Rowan Bulmer and his work remain almost completely unknown today - which is unusual, considering Bulmer's high profile in the 1960's. He was friends with The Rolling Stones (reportedly, he introduced Mick Jagger to Chrissie Shrimpton), he photographed and hung out with Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart, he was an official photographer for Mod meccas - TV programme Ready Steady Go! and Marquee club. He did first ever Biba advertising campaign and countless fashion photoshoots. Normally, a photographer of such calibre would today have his work published in a Taschen coffee table book, exhibited in museums, and the prints would sell a £100+ per pop. But not Rowan Bulmer. There are various reasons for that. As Chris May wrote in Jocks & Nerds:  Driven by passion rather than careerism, Bulmer never bothered to archive his work. What's more, The Marquee club, which stored a large chunk of Bulmer's negatives, had unfortunately lost them when it moved out of Wardour Street in 1988.

Rowan Bulmer dancing the Twist, Eel Pie Island, 1962

In 2011, Bulmer's daughter Tahita (who is a lead singer in indie band New Young Pony Club) has found a large box of old prints that her father left in UK after moving to South of France year earlier. Box contained unseen photos of Stones, Hendrix , The Who and other legendary musicians as well as fashion photos and various snapshots of Swinging London scene. According to Chris May, Bulmer seemed surprised that anyone would be interested in his story (or his photos).

And what a fascinating story it is (A classic case of right place, right time - Chris May). Bulmer was born in 1943 and grew up in Chiswick. At 16, he enrolled at Chelsea College of Art. Like many of his art school pals, Bulmer was a jazz and Rn'B enthusiast and quickly became a regular on Soho's beatnik/coffee bar scene. One of his favourite hang-out at that time was Duke Of York pub in York Alley, Soho. He remembers: The Duke Of York is probably where it all started. It was very important. Rod Stewart, Long John Baldry, they they all hung out there. everyone was drinking and smoking dope non-stop. Everyone was scoring and there was Benzidrine and heroin. I never got into drugs myself. I saw it wreck too many people and made a decision early on.  Around 1962, Bulmer started hanging out in the Ealing Club, Richmond's Station Hotel, Crawdaddy Club and Eel Pie Island - a places now considered a cradle of British Rn'B scene. He witnessed early gigs of The Pretty Things, The Downliners Sect, The Artwoods, Cyril Davies All Stars, Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, Jimmy Powell and The Five Dimensions (featuring Rod Stewart), The Tridents (Jeff Beck's first band). He witnessed Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood learning their trade before they hit superstardom. I first went to Eel Pie Island when I was 15 - he remembers. I became a pot boy, collecting empty glasses from the tables. It was a traditional jazz club and then they brought in Rn'B on Wednesday nights. I loved it all.  

Keth Moon photographed by Rowan Bulmer

Around that time, Bulmer became a photographer. All these musicians I knew started to need photographs, and I thought, 'I can do that'. And because they were my friends, I took a lot of shots just for myself. Among his numerous musician friends were The Rolling Stones whom he met through Giorgio Gomelsky - owner of Crawdaddy Club and Stones' early manager, when he was shooting promotional film about The Stones in 1963. They were filming at station Hotel - Bulmer remembers - I was well known as a dancer and they were waiting for me to arrive before they started filming. The Stones were playing 'Pretty Thing' and the girl  I was dancing with happened to be Brian Jones' girlfriend Linda Lawrence. She later married Donovan, hence the song 'Linda'. Anyway, I went to a work-in-progress screening at the Intrepid Fox pub on Wardour Street and afterwards I was chatting to Giorgio and he realised that I knew everyone. He was worried that he would get troublemakers at the Crawdaddy and he asked if I would work with him and keep an eye out for these characters. So I stopped going to Eel Pie so often and I was with Giorgio. This was when I got to know the Stones well.

Mick Jagger photographed by Rowan Bulmer in 1967

Bulmer was very close to Brian Jones - at one point they even considered moving in together. Bulmer says: We went flat hunting together a lot. We looked at lots of places, but somehow it didn't happen. Some people didn't like Brian, but I did. He was generous and he was really passionate about the blues. Evidently, Bulmer was less impressed by Andrew Loog Oldham - a young manager, who snatched The Stones from Giorgio Gomelsky. He was alright. A bit arrogant. I didn't really know him before he took over the Stones. There were a lot of people trying to get the Stones at that time. I was surprised when he got them.

By 1964, Rowan Bulmer was approached by the producers of new TV programme called Ready Steady Go!. He became an official photographer for this soon-to-be-cult Mod show. His other role in RSG! was finding new hot bands for the show - perfect for somebody with his connections and position on the scene.

Roll of film Bulmer shot at RSG! around 1965 - if you clack on it you can see Cathy McGowan and some soul band - anybody knows who they are?

Around that time Bulmer also became an official photographer at the Marquee Club, where he shot pretty much anybody who was anybody in the 1960's London. Unfortunately, his decision of storing his negatives at the club proved disastrous.

Ronnie Wood, Chris Barber and Jeff Beck at the Marquee, 1967

Bulmer also took a lot of photos at The Speakeasy Club.

Jimi Hendrix Experience at The Speakeasy, 1967

Drag artist at The Speakeasy, 1967

Eric Clapton onstage with Cream, National Jazz and Blues Festival, Windsor, 1966

Mods, National Jazz and Blues Festival, Windsor, 1966

Geno Washington, 1965

From 1964 onwards, Bulmer also worked as a fashion photographer.

Fashion shots featuring model Wendy Richards, circa 1965

When Barbara Hulanicki opened Biba, she hired Rowan Bulmer to do the advertising campaign.

Photoshoot for Biba, Kensington Church Street, 1966

Fashion shoot at Yellow Submarine club, London, 1966. I don't know who the designer was but the clothes look amazing. I wish we could see a better quality version..

Same goes for this menswear ad from around 1966

London Mod/Psych band The Syn (their line-up included Chris Squire - future member of Yes) modelling newest Carnaby Clobber outside Marquee Club, 1967

Immaculately-looking Rod Stewart with female friends, 1967 ( I wonder where this photo was taken. I can see some David Bailey prints in the background...)

Rowan Bulmer continued working as a photographer in London in the 1970's. In 1980's, he moved to Ilkley,Yorkshire. He created large-scale sculptures on the Yorshire Moors. Around that time he also had his own art exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London. In 1984, Bulmer, passionate anti- Thacherite, joined a picket lines during miners' strike (I've always been on the Left - he says. My parents were Tory councillors; it's a reaction to that).

In the 1990's Bulmer returned to London. He opened his own studio on King's Road in Chelsea, where he worked until his retirement in 2010. Today, he lives in Dordogne in southwest France.

I don't know how much is left from his 1960's work, but I sure hope to see more. Rowan Bulmer doesn't seem interested in 'cashing-up', but the reasons for restoring and publishing the remains of his 1960's work do not have to be financial. Contrary to what he might think, there is a lot of interest in this, now legendary, era.

All the photos and quotations come from Chris May's article in Jocks & Nerds magazine, Volume 1 Issue 7, p 48-57.