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PINK FAIRIES
The Polydor Years FLOATING WORLD
REISSUE OF THE MONTH 8/10
Three early-’70s albums by the “people’s band” who turned on the freaks and the punks. By Peter Watts
THE Pink Fairies made their point with “Do It”, the first song on their first album. This fibrous rock anthem – originally a B-side – implored that people “don’t talk about it… don’t sing about it… don’t write about it… do it”. It was a call to action that contained all the vigour and energy later demonstrated by punk, but the title was filched from elite hippie Jerry Rubin’s anti-establishment manifesto. It encapsulates the Pink Fairies’ ability to bridge the two (counter) cultures – this was one of the few bands adored by the freaks and admired by the punks.
The Pink Fairies didn’t just borrow from the counterculture but were defined by its principles. Along with the Edgar Broughton Band, they were arguably the only genuine British underground rock band – that is, bands that were formed by, for and from the movement. Their music was suitably proletarian, garage rock with leanings towards psych and metal. Their reputation as a great live act saw them signed to Polydor, and the band – in various guises – recorded three albums between 1971 and 1973. These have now been reissued in a single volume, with new sleevenotes and bonus tracks.
The Fairies’ music is in many ways indivisible from their political context. They were born from Mick Farren’s Deviants, who existed as an extension of Farren’s ego and embodiment of his revolutionary zeal. The Deviants – Farren, bassist Duncan Sanderson and drummer Russell Hunter – would subvert the music industry and give Farren an excuse to proselytise on stage while wearing tight leather trousers, something that just about worked until guitarist Paul Rudolph arrived from Canada. Rudolph was politically simpático but could actually play. This not only threatened Farren’s status, it also went against the band’s anti-music raison d’être. The Deviants imploded, and the Pink Fairies formed from the ashes.
The three non-Farren Deviants were snapped up by Twink, former drummer for Tomorrow and Farren’s drinking partner. The two-drummer lineup made their debut at the Roundhouse in April 1970, and were immediately acclaimed by the heads. The principle musicians were Twink and Rudolph, who wrote 1971’s debut LP Never Never Land. For “Do It”, this meant the sort of sloganising garage-rock anthem the Deviants had never got round to writing, and which gave the album a strong start. There were also freestyle rock rages such as “Uncle Harry’s Last Freak-Out”, inspired by the band’s idols, the MC5. Live shows inevitably ended in extended improvised versions of “Uncle Harry’s…”, and the song featured with “Do It” across one entire side of 1972’s Glastonbury Fayre triple album from the second Glastonbury festival.
The Fairies struck up a bond with fellow west London druggy street freaks Hawkwind, and they sometimes played together as Pinkwind. Although the rough-and-ready Fairies didn’t sound a whole lot like Hawkwind, there are some similarities on Twink’s trippy “War Girl”, while Rudolph’s “Teenage Rebel” sees the band edging into the sort of speed-rock territory that Motörhead – a band with roots in both Hawkwind and Pink Fairies – would soon occupy. The title track is an interesting anomaly, atmospheric art rock with the subtle textures and unorthodox rhythms that Rudolph would bring to the four albums he recorded with Brian Eno. The reissue also features alternative versions of “Do It”, “War Girl” and “Uncle Harry’s Last Freak-Out”, plus the brilliant “The Snake”, their
