Tin Tin (band)

Last updated

Tin Tin
Mia Martini, Little Tony, Vena Veroutis and Tin-Tin.jpg
Mia Martini, Little Tony, Vena Veroutis and Tin-Tin
Background information
Also known asThe Kinetics, Steve and Stevie, Rombo's World
OriginMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genres Pop rock, blues rock, psychedelic rock, psychedelic pop, art rock
Years active1966 (1966)–1973 (1973)
Labels Polydor, Atco
Past members Steve Kipner
Steve Groves
John Vallins
Geoff Bridgford

Tin Tin was a pop rock band, which first formed in Australia as the Kinetics in 1966. They relocated to the United Kingdom in 1969 and were renamed as Tin Tin, which comprised Steve Kipner (vocals, keyboards, percussion), Steve Groves (vocals, guitar, percussion), John Vallins (bass, guitar, vocals) and Geoff Bridgford (drums). In 1970 they issued a single, "Toast and Marmalade for Tea", which was a No. 10 hit on the Go-Set National Singles Chart in June the following year. It also reached No. 20 in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100. Their next single, "Is That the Way?" (1971), peaked at No. 59 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Contents

The group disbanded in 1973 and Kipner continued as a songwriter for various acts including Chicago, George Benson and Olivia Newton-John. Groves returned to Australia and worked as a singer-songwriter. Vallins teamed up with Kipner's father, Nat, to co-write "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" for Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams, which was a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1978.

History

Formation and early years

Tin Tin was formed in 1966 in Melbourne as a beat pop group, the Kinetics, with a line-up of Steve Groves on vocals, guitar and harmonica, Ken Leroy on bass guitar, Ian Manzie on drums, piano and banjo, and John Vallins on guitar, drums and clarinet. [1] In September they released their debut single, "Excuses", which reached #19 on the local charts, and followed up with two further singles which were unsuccessful. [1] At the end of 1967 the group broke up and Groves joined with Steve Kipner (ex-Steve & the Board) to form Steve and Stevie as a vocal harmony duo. [1] The duo released a single, "Remains to Be Seen", in 1968 and were then joined by Vallins to form Rombo's World. [1]

In 1969, Groves and Kipner travelled to the United Kingdom and formed a British-influenced pop group, Tin Tin, [1] which was named after the main character of the popular Belgian cartoon strip The Adventures of Tintin . [2] Bee Gees member Maurice Gibb introduced the duo to Robert Stigwood and they signed a one-album contract with Polydor Records. [1] By that time they had been joined by Geoff Bridgford on drums, and Kipner was playing bass guitar, harpsichord, mellotron, percussion, piano, electric piano, tambourine, as well as singing. [3] Gibb produced their debut self-titled album (February 1970) and played various instruments (bass guitar, drums, harpsichord, mellotron, organ) on about half the tracks, [3] which bore a marked resemblance to the tight harmonies of the Bee Gees. The lead single, "Only Ladies Play Croquet", was issued in May 1969 but did not chart. [1]

Mainstream success

Tin Tin's debut album initially sold poorly, and in 1970 they issued a second single "Toast and Marmalade for Tea", written by Groves. [1] [4] In May 1971 Vallins joined the line-up. [1] In June "Toast and Marmalade for Tea" became a #10 hit on the Go-Set National Top 40, and it remained on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart for 15 weeks. [5] [6] The dreamy ballad, with lead vocals by Kipner, was belatedly released as a single in mid-1971 in the US, and reached #20 on the Billboard Hot 100. [7] The song featured just eight lines of nursery rhyme-like lyrics [8] repeated over a distinctive "vibrato" piano (achieved by manipulating the recorded tape reel) and electric guitar backing. The song gradually builds in intensity adding acoustic guitar, bass guitar, drums, a string orchestra, and finally brass instruments, and is Tin Tin's best-remembered song. The album appeared on the Billboard 200. [7] While seldom played on oldies radio today, "Toast and Marmalade for Tea" is regarded by some critics as one of the finest and most ambitious singles by a one hit wonder, and a late psychedelic classic.

Tin Tin's next single, "Come on Over Again", (1970) did not chart. [1] It was followed by "Is That the Way?" in 1971, which peaked at #59 on the Billboard Hot 100, [7] ahead of their second album, Astral Taxi (December 1971). For the album they were joined by Carl Keats (aka Carl Groszmann) on rhythm guitar, a former bandmate from Steve & the Board. [9] After their unexpected success, Tin Tin toured with The Bee Gees on their 1972 American tour. Non-album singles, "Talking Turkey" (1972), "I'm Afraid" and "It's a Long Way to Georgia" (both 1973) followed but did not chart. [1] Another single, "Strange One", was released under the name Quire, also on the Polydor label, but had very little success.

Separate ways

After Tin Tin disbanded in 1973, Kipner went on to write and produce songs for Chicago ("Hard Habit to Break"), Olivia Newton-John ("Physical" and "Twist of Fate"), [9] Christina Aguilera, 98 Degrees and Dream. In 1975, Groves returned to Australia and worked as a singer-songwriter, co-writing (with Brian Dawe) "On the Loose", [10] which was performed by Marty Rhone to win the Australian Popular Song Contest. [1] [11] Groves formed his own group, Steve Groves Band, and released his version of "On the Loose (Again)" in November 1976. [1] Vallins teamed up with Kipner's father, Nat, to co-write "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" for Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams, which was a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1978. [1] [12] [13]

Discography

Albums

Singles

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'The Kinetics'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop . St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN   1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 19 April 2004. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  2. ↑ "'Toast and Marmalade for Tea' – Tin Tin". AllMusic . Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Tin Tin – Tin Tin: Credits". AllMusic . Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "'Toast and Marmalade for Tea' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Nimmervoll, Ed (11 September 1971). "National Top 40". Go-Set . Waverley Press. Retrieved 9 June 2013. Note: Single is listed as "Toast and Marmelade[ sic ] for Tea".
  6. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 . St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN   0-646-11917-6. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
  7. 1 2 3 "Tin Tin – Tin Tin: Awards". AllMusic . Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  8. ↑ "Toast and Marmalade for Tea" lyrics Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  9. 1 2 McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Steve and the Board'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop . St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN   1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 1 September 2004. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  10. ↑ "'On the Loose (Again)' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  11. ↑ McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Marty Rhone'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop . St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN   1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 28 August 2004. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  12. ↑ Lwin, Nanda (2000). Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide.
  13. ↑ "Top Album Picks". Billboard . Prometheus Global Media. 22 July 1978. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  14. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Singles – May 29, 1971" (PDF).

Related Research Articles

The Dingoes are an Australian country rock band. They were initially active from 1973 to 1979, and reformed in 2009. Initially based in Melbourne, the band relocated to the United States from 1976. The most stable line-up comprised John Bois on bass guitar, John Lee on drums, Broderick Smith on vocals and harmonica, Chris Stockley on guitar, and Kerryn Tolhurst on guitar. Mal Logan on keyboards joined after Stockley was hospitalised when shot in the stomach by Melbourne drug-dealer, Dennis Allen, who was attempting to gate crash a party. The Dingoes' debut single, "Way Out West", was released in November 1973, and peaked in the top 40 of the Australian Kent Music Report singles chart. Subsequent singles were "Boy on the Run", "Smooth Sailing", and "Into the Night", which did not reach the top 50. They had three top 40 albums, The Dingoes in 1974, Five Times the Sun in 1977, and Orphans of the Storm in 1979.

Stephen Alan Kipner is an American-born Australian songwriter and record producer, with hits spanning a 40-year period, including chart-topping songs such as Olivia Newton-John's "Physical", Natasha Bedingfield's "These Words", and Christina Aguilera's "Genie in a Bottle", for which he won an Ivor Novello Award for International Hit of the Year. Other hits he has writing credits on include Chicago's "Hard Habit to Break", 98 Degrees' "The Hardest Thing", Dream's "He Loves U Not", Kelly Rowland's "Stole", The Script's "Breakeven" and "The Man Who Can't Be Moved", American Idol Kris Allen's top 5 debut "Live Like We're Dying", Cheryl Cole's "Fight for This Love", Camila Cabello's "Crying in the Club" and James Arthur's "Say You Won't Let Go".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Under the Milky Way</span> 1988 single by the Church

"Under the Milky Way" is a single by Australian alternative rock band the Church, released on 15 February 1988, and appears on their fifth studio album Starfish. The song was written by bass guitarist and lead vocalist Steve Kilbey and his then-girlfriend Karin Jansson of Curious (Yellow). It peaked at No. 22 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart, No. 24 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 and No. 25 on the New Zealand Singles Chart; it also appeared in the Dutch Single Top 100. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1989, the song won 'Single of the Year'. It was issued simultaneously in both 7" vinyl and 12" vinyl formats by Arista Records (internationally) and Mushroom Records.

<i>Scented Gardens for the Blind</i> 1975 studio album by Dragon

Scented Gardens for the Blind is the second album by New Zealand group Dragon released in February 1975 on Vertigo Records before they relocated to Australia in May. Scented Gardens for the Blind, along with their first album Universal Radio, is in the progressive rock genre—all subsequent albums are hard rock/pop rock. "Vermillion [sic] Cellars" was released as a single in March and was followed by non-album singles, "Education" in May and "Star Kissed" in August but neither albums nor singles had any local chart success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toast and Marmalade for Tea</span> 1970 single by Tin Tin

"Toast and Marmalade for Tea" is a song by the Australian rock group Tin Tin, and was written by Steve Groves and produced by Maurice Gibb. It was a top 20 U.S. hit in 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reflections of My Life</span> 1969 single by Marmalade

"Reflections of My Life" was a 1969/1970 hit single for the Scottish band, Marmalade. It was written by their lead guitarist Junior Campbell and singer Dean Ford. Released in late 1969, it was the band's first release on Decca following an earlier spell at CBS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Wire (song)</span> 1983 single by Men at Work

"High Wire" is a song by the Australian group Men at Work. The song was written by Men at Work singer/guitarist Colin Hay and the recording was produced by Peter McIan. It was released in November 1983 as the fourth and final single from their album Cargo.

<i>Pink Suit Blue Day</i> 1982 studio album by Eurogliders

Pink Suit Blue Day is the debut album by Australian rock band Eurogliders, released in 1982. Their debut single, "Without You", was released in June and entered the top 40 of the Australian Kent Music Report singles chart. A follow-up single, "Laughing Matter" in September did not chart.

<i>This Island</i> (Eurogliders album) 1984 studio album by Eurogliders

This Island is the second studio album by Australian pop band Eurogliders, released on 7 May 1984 by CBS Records.

<i>Groove</i> (Eurogliders album) 1988 studio album by Eurogliders

Groove is the fourth studio album by Australian Indie pop, rock band Eurogliders, released in March 1988.

Carl Arnold Groszmann was an Australian songwriter and musician.

Geeza are an Australian rock band formed in late 1973 in Sydney by Tony Cini, Gabriel Vendetti, Martin Adamson, Allan Fraiel and Ian Webb. Early in their career they performed as The Geeza Rock'n'Roll Show. The current lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Terry Halliday, led the band through several incarnations since 1975 with founding members Cini, Watts, Marshall and Webb departing. The remaining four members released Geeza's only album to date, Streetlife, in late 1977. The album spawned a top 100 single, "Run 'n' Hide" on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. The group disbanded in 1979, before being reformed by Halliday in 2010, as the sole member from their 1970s line-up.

<i>Tin Tin</i> (album) 1970 studio album by Tin Tin

"Tin Tin" is the first studio album by the Australian group Tin Tin, produced by Maurice Gibb.

<i>Astral Taxi</i> 1971 studio album by Tin Tin

Astral Taxi is the second and final album released by the Australian rock band Tin Tin, released in December 1971. It was produced by Billy Lawrie, and Maurice Gibb was the executive producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heart Attack (Olivia Newton-John song)</span> 1982 single by Olivia Newton-John

"Heart Attack" is a song recorded by English-born Australian singer Olivia Newton-John for her second greatest hits album Olivia's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (1982). Written by Paul Bliss and Steve Kipner, and produced by John Farrar, the song was the first single released from the album and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1983.

John Vallins is an Australian songwriter and musician best known for his 1970s song "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late".

Cotton, Lloyd and Christian were a soft rock trio comprising singer-songwriters Darryl Cotton from Australia, and Michael Lloyd and Chris Christian from the United States. They achieved some success in the mid-1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Happy Man (Sunnyboys song)</span> 1981 single by Sunnyboys

"Happy Man" is a song by Australian power pop band, Sunnyboys. It was written by lead singer-guitarist, Jeremy Oxley, and was the first single released in June 1981, on Mushroom Records, from their self-titled debut album, which followed in September. The studio tracks were produced by Lobby Loyde and engineered by Colin Freeman at Alberts Studios, Sydney. "Happy Man" reached No. 26 on the Kent Music Report singles chart. The live tracks were recorded at the Bombay Rock, Brunswick.

"Shadow Boxer" is a song by Australian hard rock group The Angels, released in June 1979 as the lead and only single from the group's third studio album, No Exit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flake (band)</span> Musical artist

Flake were an Australian pop and rock group which formed in 1968. They released an album, How's Your Mother!, in December 1971 on the Violet's Holiday label, distributed by Festival. The group appeared on the Go-Set National Top 60 singles chart with cover versions of Bob Dylan's "This Wheel's on Fire", Marmalade's "Reflections of My Life", Vanda and Young's "Life is Getting Better" and Honeybus' "Under the Silent Tree". The group disbanded in 1974 but reunited in 1989 to support a compilation album, Reflections: The Festival File Volume Thirteen, before breaking up again in 1991.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.