In 1969, Pete Townshend, The Who's guitarist, was the catalyst behind the formation of the band. The concept was to create a band to perform songs written by drummer, singer and guitarist Speedy Keen, former Who chauffeur, who had written "Armenia City in the Sky", the first track on The Who Sell Out. Townshend recruited jazz pianist Andy 'Thunderclap' Newman (a friend from art college), and 15-year-old Glaswegian guitarist Jimmy McCulloch, who subsequently played lead guitar in Paul McCartney's Wings from 1974 to 1977 and died of a heroin overdose in 1979 aged just 26. Keen played the drums and sang the lead. Originally titled "Revolution" but later renamed to avoid confusion with the Beatles' 1968 song of that name
Keen, Newman and McCulloch met each other for the first time in December 1968 or January 1969 at Townshend's home studio to record "Something in the Air". Townshend produced the single and played its bass guitar under the pseudonym Bijou Drains. Before then, Townshend had planned to work on projects for each of the musicians, but Kit Lambert prevailed upon Townshend, who was working on what became the rock-opera Tommy, to save time by coalescing the three musicians into the collective project that became Thunderclap Newman.
The band augmented its personnel during its tours: in 1969 with James "Jim" Pitman-Avery (bass guitar) and Jack McCulloch (drums); and in 1971 with Ronnie Peel (bass guitar) and Roger Felice (drums). The band folded in April 1971 but was resurrected by Andy Newman with a new group around 2007.
In 1969, Pete Townshend, The Who's guitarist, was the catalyst behind the formation of the band. The concept was to create a band to perform songs written by drummer, singer and guitarist Speedy Keen, former Who chauffeur, who had written "Armenia City in the Sky", the first track on The Who Sell Out. Townshend recruited jazz pianist Andy 'Thunderclap' Newman (a friend from art college), and 15-year-old Glaswegian guitarist Jimmy McCulloch, who subsequently played lead guitar in Paul McCartney's Wings from 1974 to 1977 and died of a heroin overdose in 1979 aged just 26. Keen played the drums and sang the lead. Originally titled "Revolution" but later renamed to avoid confusion with the Beatles' 1968 song of that name
Keen, Newman and McCulloch met each other for the first time in December 1968 or January 1969 at Townshend's home studio to record "Something in the Air". Townshend produced the single and played its bass guitar under the pseudonym Bijou Drains. Before then, Townshend had planned to work on projects for each of the musicians, but Kit Lambert prevailed upon Townshend, who was working on what became the rock-opera Tommy, to save time by coalescing the three musicians into the collective project that became Thunderclap Newman.
The band augmented its personnel during its tours: in 1969 with James "Jim" Pitman-Avery (bass guitar) and Jack McCulloch (drums); and in 1971 with Ronnie Peel (bass guitar) and Roger Felice (drums). The band folded in April 1971 but was resurrected by Andy Newman with a new group around 2007.
In 1969, Pete Townshend, The Who's guitarist, was the catalyst behind the formation of the band. The concept was to create a band to perform songs written by drummer, singer and guitarist Speedy Keen, former Who chauffeur, who had written "Armenia City in the Sky", the first track on The Who Sell Out. Townshend recruited jazz pianist Andy 'Thunderclap' Newman (a friend from art college), and 15-year-old Glaswegian guitarist Jimmy McCulloch, who subsequently played lead guitar in Paul McCartney's Wings from 1974 to 1977 and died of a heroin overdose in 1979 aged just 26. Keen played the drums and sang the lead. Originally titled "Revolution" but later renamed to avoid confusion with the Beatles' 1968 song of that name
Keen, Newman and McCulloch met each other for the first time in December 1968 or January 1969 at Townshend's home studio to record "Something in the Air". Townshend produced the single and played its bass guitar under the pseudonym Bijou Drains. Before then, Townshend had planned to work on projects for each of the musicians, but Kit Lambert prevailed upon Townshend, who was working on what became the rock-opera Tommy, to save time by coalescing the three musicians into the collective project that became Thunderclap Newman.
The band augmented its personnel during its tours: in 1969 with James "Jim" Pitman-Avery (bass guitar) and Jack McCulloch (drums); and in 1971 with Ronnie Peel (bass guitar) and Roger Felice (drums). The band folded in April 1971 but was resurrected by Andy Newman with a new group around 2007.