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 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 New York

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 London’s

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 London).

Goodman had enthusiastically embraced all aspects of London’s underground scene. Farren’s

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 Holland,

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. Vietnam

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 London was undeniable,

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 London area and gaining a

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, London

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 UK underground press. You’ve Got to

Hold On b/w Let’s Loot the Supermarket were issued as a single (Stable STA

5601), but neither record troubled the UK chart listings. Indeed, within

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 Vancouver, Paul Rudolph was contacted by Mandelkau and

flew to London

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 Chelsea

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 Hyde Park Free Festival soon after on July 5^th.

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 Vancouver,

Canada led to the band

flying to the city soon after their triumph at Hyde Park.

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 Britain. Reduced to a trio of

Rudolph, Sanderson and Hunter, the Deviants secured some concerts in Seattle and finally travelled to San Francisco where they stayed in a squat 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 Montreal where the band played a series of concerts at McGill University.

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 England,

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

The Deviants – Deviants 3