Pretty Things were an English rock band formed in September 1963 in Sidcup, Kent, taking their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing", and active in their first incarnation until 1971. They released five studio albums, including the debut The Pretty Things and S. F. Sorrow, four EPs and 15 UK singles, including the Top 20 UK Singles Chart "Don't Bring Me Down" and "Honey I Need". They reformed later in 1971 and continued through to 1976 issuing three more studio albums, and reformed once again from 1979 to 2020 releasing another five studio albums finalising with Bare as Bone, Bright as Blood.
The British counter-culture or underground scene developed during the mid-1960s, and was linked to the hippie subculture of the United States. Its primary focus was around Ladbroke Grove and Notting Hill in London. It generated its own magazines and newspapers, bands, clubs and alternative lifestyle, associated with cannabis and LSD use and a strong socio-political revolutionary agenda to create an alternative society.
John Charles Edward Alder, also known as Twink, is an English drummer, actor, singer, and songwriter who was a central figure in the English psychedelic and proto-punk movement.
Spooky Tooth was a rock band originally formed in Carlisle, England in 1967. The band was principally active between 1967 and 1974, and re-formed several times in later years.
Luther James Grosvenor is an English rock musician, who played guitar in Spooky Tooth, briefly in Stealers Wheel and, under the pseudonym Ariel Bender, in Mott the Hoople and Widowmaker.
Guy Stevens was a British music industry figure whose roles included DJ, record producer and band manager. He was influential in promoting R&B music in Britain in the 1960s, gave the rock bands Procol Harum and Mott the Hoople their distinctive names and co-produced The Clash's album London Calling.
Hapshash and the Coloured Coat was an influential British graphic design and avant-garde musical partnership in the late 1960s, consisting of Michael English and Nigel Waymouth. It produced popular psychedelic posters, and two albums of underground music.
Alfred Gregory Ridley was an English bassist who was the bassist and a founding member of the rock band Humble Pie and Spooky Tooth.
Michael Alexander Kellie was an English musician, composer and record producer.
Supernatural Fairy Tales is the only album by Art, who were formerly known as The V.I.P.'s. The album contains mostly band compositions plus a cover of The Young Rascals' "Come on Up" and Buffalo Springfield's "What's That Sound". Unusual for 1967, the album was issued in mono only.
Mike Harrison was an English musician, most notable as a principal lead singer of Spooky Tooth and as a solo artist. He was also the lead singer in The V.I.P.'s, Art and the Hamburg Blues Band, among others.
Granny Takes a Trip was a boutique opened in February 1966 at 488 Kings Road, Chelsea, London, by Nigel Waymouth, his girlfriend Sheila Cohen and John Pearse. The shop, which was acquired by Freddie Hornik in 1969, remained open until the mid-1970s and has been called the "first psychedelic boutique in Groovy London of the 1960s".
It's All About is the 1968 debut album by British band Spooky Tooth, released in the United Kingdom by Island Records on 26 July 1968.
"Better by You, Better than Me" is a 1969 song by the English rock band Spooky Tooth. The song appeared on the album Spooky Two and was composed by American keyboardist Gary Wright.
The Last Puff is an album by British rock band Spooky Tooth, released in 1970.
Mike Harrison is the first solo album by Spooky Tooth principal lead singer Mike Harrison, released on Island Records in 1971.
Spooky Two is the second studio album by the English rock band Spooky Tooth. It was originally released in March 1969, on the label Island Records.
Cross Purpose is the seventh and final studio album by Spooky Tooth, released on Ruf Records in 1999. It was the band's first album in 25 years, following The Mirror, released in 1974.
The Fool is a 1964 Gibson SG guitar, painted for Eric Clapton by the Dutch design collective The Fool, from which the guitar takes its name. One of the world's best-known guitars, it epitomizes the psychedelic era. Clapton used the guitar extensively while playing with Cream and it was an essential element of his famed "woman tone". From the 1970s to early 1980s, the guitar was owned by Todd Rundgren, who was often seen playing the instrument in his live performances. He nicknamed the guitar "Sunny", after the Cream song "Sunshine of Your Love".
Michael English was a British artist known for poster designs he created in the 1960s for musicians such as Jimi Hendrix in collaboration with Nigel Waymouth and the design company they established, Hapshash and the Coloured Coat, and for several series of hyper realist paintings in the 1970s and 1980s.
