
The Deviants - Deviants 3
In 1967 a London-based group released their debut album which effectively wrote the blueprint for a musical movement that would burst forth some ten years later. Long before Mr. Lydon and Co. ventured forth onto a British concert stage there was a band that was truly anarchistic, “Proto-Punk” and anti-establishment in the extreme. That band was The Deviants, a group of freaks living in Notting Hill who epitomised the growth of the counter culture. Long before such luminaries as Hawkwind and The Edgar Broughton Band burst on to the UK underground scene, The Deviants had torn up the rule book of rock in two short years, recording three wonderful albums of power, anarchistic prose and counter-culture humour, before grinding to a halt after a disastrous tour of Canada and the USA in 1969. The Deviants were pioneers who blazed a musical trail that would be taken up by Hawkwind, The Pink Fairies and others and would reach its logical conclusion with the Punk explosion of 1976 / 1977.

The Deviants - Deviants 3
In 1967 a
London-based group released their debut album which effectively wrote the
blueprint for a musical movement that would burst forth some ten years later. Long
before Mr. Lydon and Co. ventured forth onto a British concert stage there was
a band that was truly anarchistic, “Proto-Punk” and anti-establishment in the
extreme. That band was The Deviants, a group of freaks living in Notting Hill
who epitomised the growth of the counter culture. Long before such luminaries
as Hawkwind and The Edgar Broughton Band burst on to the
the rule book of rock in two short years, recording three wonderful albums of
power, anarchistic prose and counter-culture humour, before grinding to a halt
after a disastrous tour of
and the
in 1969. The Deviants were pioneers who blazed a musical trail that would be
taken up by Hawkwind, The Pink Fairies and others and would reach its logical
conclusion with the Punk explosion of 1976 / 1977.
The group began in late 1966 as the non-recording group
The Social Deviants, who featured a revolving line-up including vocalist and
self-appointed spokesman of the emerging counter culture Mick Farren, bass
player Pete Munro and guitarist Clive Maldoon. Inspired by the recordings of
the
bohemian group The Fugs, The Social Deviants were poles apart from the laid
back hippy ethos, appealing to an audience of speed freaks, drinkers and
anarchists. Drummer Russell Hunter soon joined the group who within months
became known as The Deviants and had secured appearances at the legendary
underground clubs UFO and Middle Earth. Mick Farren’s friendship with Barry
Miles, founder of the underground paper “International Times”, and John Dunbar
,owner of the Indica bookshop and emerging underground face, meant the Deviants
were soon known in the select circle of
counter culture elite. Through Barry Miles, Mick Farren was introduced to Nigel
Samuel, a 21 year old millionaire nephew of Lord Goodman (a peer who owned
significant property interests in
Goodman had enthusiastically embraced all aspects of
friendship with Goodman eventually led to the young heir agreeing to invest £700
of his own money to allow the group to record their first album.
Following
two concerts in
Pete Munro and Clive Maldoon departed the fold to be replaced by guitarist Sid
Bishop and bass guitarist Cord Rees. Thus it was this line-up that entered IBC
Studios to commit the musical anarchy of the Deviants to tape. The material
recorded was astounding when placed in the musical context of 1967. Farren
later commented; “It was 1967, and all things seemed possible, we wanted the
world and we wanted it now.
was getting ugly and LSD-25 was hitting the headlines”. Whilst most British
bands had embraced psychedelia and explored some gentler sides of their musical
nature, The Deviants debut album explored darker and alternative musical
avenues. The influence of The Fugs and Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention
was apparent, with the finished album sounding like nothing ever attempted by
any British rock band at that time. The music of the Deviants album was such a
radical departure from much of popular music and such a statement of the stance
of the underground movement that the decision was made to press copies of the
record independently and sell the album via mail order through advertisements
and coverage in International Times and fellow underground publication Oz. Thus
Ptooff! was released on the Underground Impresarios label in the Autumn of 1967
under the catalogue number IMP 1. The record was issued in an elaborate
fold-out sleeve which featured liner notes by legendary underground DJ and
Deviants champion John Peel who stated “there
is little that is not good, much that is excellent and the occasional flash of
brilliance”. The impact of the album on the underground scene in
but elsewhere the band found it hard to get live work. Russell Hunter would
later state; “At that time we didn’t do anything as organised as a tour. Just
the odd one-night stand”.
Cord Rees
was soon replaced on bass guitar by Duncan Sanderson, a friend of Mick Farren’s
who would join the band at occasional concerts on stage as a vocalist and had
made a vocal contribution to Ptooff!. Slowly building a live reputation in the
following from Bikers and Hippies, the band soon evolved from being mainly a
vehicle for Mick Farren’s ideas to one of a collective creative musical unit.
Reaction to the Deviants first album was strong enough for the band to come to
the attention of newly established independent label Stable Records, who
offered the band a chance to record a second album, one which would be
available through conventional distribution rather than a mail order only item.
With the
signing of a deal with Stable Records came the chance to undertake more
extensive live work. The band acquired a Ford Transit van, a full time booking
agent / manager in the form of friend Jamie Mandelkau and began performing
further afield outside of London. Studio time was booked at Morgan Studios in
Willesden,
with Andy Johns engineering and Deviants associate Steve Sparkes producing. The
band’s fondness for amphetamines dominated the sessions. The music recorded was
later described by Russell Hunter as “a complete amphetamine lunacy album”. He
would later add “I remember one evening that Andy Johns was tired and wanted to
go home. We gave him some amphetamine and we were there for two days on the
trot after that! A lot of what was recorded was drivel as a result and ended up
on the cutting room floor. “Let’s Loot the Supermarket” was recorded about five
days into this binge when everyone was tired and ragged. We had lots of friends
in the studio milling around, most of whom were out to lunch!”
Released
in 1968 as Stable Records SLP 007, the album Disposable was technically more
accomplished than Ptooff!! and gained much coverage in the
Hold On b/w Let’s Loot the Supermarket were issued as a single (Stable STA
5601), but neither record troubled the
months of its release, Stable Records proved to be anything but and closed.
This upheaval led to the departure of guitarist Sid Bishop, who was replaced by
a friend of Canadian manager Jamie Mandelkau. A fellow native of
flew to
to join the band. A guitarist of some ability, Rudolph would soon bring his
influence upon the direction of the band. Mick Farren would later reflect; “I had one idea and the rest of them wanted to be a kind
of Led Zeppelin type guitar band". Farren’s comments were a little unfair
as although the Deviants became a tighter musical unit, they still were
champions of the underground cause. The reaction to the new incarnation of the
band was favorable enough to lead to Transatlantic Records signing the group in
the Spring of 1969. Transatlantic was Britain’s premier folk label and founder
Nat Joseph was keen to sign some of the emerging UK underground acts to the
label, of which the Deviants were one of first.
Recording
sessions for the band’s third album were undertaken at Morgan studios and at
Sound Techniques in
with engineer Roy Thomas Baker. The material recorded was perhaps the finest by
the band to date. Pieces such as the excellent Billy the Monster, Rambling B(l)ack
Transit Blues, Broken Biscuits were to enhance the reputation of the band and
contribute to their future legend. A glance at the compositional credits
reveals Paul Rudolph’s immense contribution to the sessions, with him writing
seven out of the eleven tracks recorded. Of all the material committed to tape,
Metamorphosis Explosion was perhaps the most outstanding, running at over eight
minutes and featuring some social observations from Mick Farren and wonderful
musical interplay and guitar work from Paul Rudolph.
The
completion of the album in June 1969 saw the band perform at the
Joining a bill headlined by the Rolling Stones and featuring King Crimson, the
Deviants made their impression on the audience and appeared to be on the verge
of making a breakthrough to a wider audience. Sadly, this concert would be the
band’s final British concert. An invitation by a promoter in
flying to the city soon after their triumph at
Upon arrival they soon discovered that the promised live work wasn’t
forthcoming. With funds low, moral within the band was also declining. Mick
Farren, already unhappy with the direction the Deviants were heading, succumbed
to the pressure and following an argument with Jamie Mandelkau and Duncan
Sanderson he departed the band and returned to
Rudolph, Sanderson and Hunter, the Deviants secured some concerts in
Haight Ashbury and performed at The Matrix Club.
A meeting
with Seymour Stein, founder of Sire Records, led to him funding a trip to
The recording sessions of earlier in the year were released as Deviants 3 in
September 1969. Mick Farren teamed up with former Tomorrow and Pretty Things
drummer Twink to form a short lived line-up of the Pink Fairies. In December
1969 he recorded a solo album for Transatlantic Records.
By a twist
of fate, upon their return to
Paul Rudolph, Duncan Sanderson and Russell Hunter united with Twink to become
the next line-up of the Pink Fairies and signed to Polydor Records in 1970.
Along with Hawkwind, the Fairies would be the darlings of the underground
community in the new decade.
The
Deviants recorded legacy of three albums and a single was to have a major
influence on the Punk rock generation, with John Lydon citing them as one of
his favourite bands. Anarchistic, groundbreaking and brave, the Deviants music
remains nothing short of inspirational.
Mark Powell


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