Pink Fairies - WikiHQ

Pink Fairies are an English rock band initially active in the London (Ladbroke Grove) underground and psychedelic scene of the early 1970s. They promoted free music, drug use, and anarchy, and often performed impromptu gigs and other stunts, such as playing for nothing outside the gates at the Bath and Isle of Wight pop festivals in 1970, as well as appearing at Phun City, the second Glastonbury Festival, and other free festivals including Windsor and Trentishoe.

History

Paul Rudolph incarnation, 1969–1972

The group were formed after the three musicians from the Deviants (Paul Rudolph, guitar and vocals, Duncan Sanderson, bass and Russell Hunter, born Barry Russell Hunter, drums), dismissed their singer and leader Mick Farren during a disastrous tour of the West Coast of the United States. Prior to the tour, these musicians had collaborated on the Think Pink solo album by Twink, former drummer of the Pretty Things. Most of the musicians involved were members of a drinking club called the Pink Fairies Motorcycle Club and All-Star Rock and Roll Band, their name taken from a story written by Jamie Mandelkau. While the former Deviants' sidemen were still stranded in America after the tour, Twink, Farren and former Tyrannosaurus Rex percussionist Steve Peregrin Took had used the Pink Fairies name for various activities, including one shambolic gig in Manchester (with Farren on vocals, Took on guitar, Twink on drums, and Twink's girlfriend Sally Meltzer, also known as "Silver Darling", on keyboards) as well as the recording of Farren's solo album, Mona – The Carnivorous Circus. Within a few months Twink had left, followed by Farren, by which point Took had renamed the embryonic band Shagrat. Took continued with Shagrat as a vehicle for his own songs, and the two bands would appear as separate acts at the Phun City festival that summer.

Their music was upbeat good-time rock and roll, often jamming on the Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows", the Ventures' "Walk, Don't Run", "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and other standards. Their sets climaxed with the lengthy "Uncle Harry's Last Freakout", essentially an amalgam of old Deviants riffs that included extended guitar and double drum solos. They were closely associated with the UK underground, being based in the Ladbroke Grove scene and playing festivals, benefits, and free concerts.

Polydor Records commissioned the group to record a single, "The Snake" backed with "Do It", and were happy enough with the results to offer the group an album contract. The debut album Never Never Land was released in 1971. This new three-piece then recorded the 1973 album Kings of Oblivion. and follow up single "Broken Statue".

1980s and 1990s

In the early 1980s, Wallis, Sanderson and drummer George Butler (ex-Lightning Raiders) recorded and played live, the albums Previously Unreleased (1982) and the Deviants' Human Garbage (live 1984) being released. The band went under many names including the Police Cars, the Police Sleighs, the Donut Dunkers of Death, and finally the Love Pirates Of Doom, the most settled line-up being Wallis, Sanderson, Butler and second guitarist Andy Colquhoun (ex-Warsaw Pakt & Brian James' Tanz Der Youth).

In 1987, Jake Riviera, head of Demon Records, offered a recording contract for a reformed Pink Fairies. Of the five group members, Paul Rudolph was not involved, collaborated with the band to produce two tape releases (Silence Of The Hams and Son Of Ham) and two CDs (Son Of Ham extended version and Hogwatch) for subscribers, all featuring entirely unreleased music by members of the band in various side projects (the Deviants, Lightning Raiders etc.), radio sessions and specially written material. In common with many 'official' Pink Fairies releases the artwork was by the late underground cartoonist Edward J. Barker (I.T., Nasty Tales) noted for his Largactalites cartoons and his pig and crow caricatures. Much of the magazine was actually written by ex-band members and by longtime associate, road manager, 'wet nurse' and manager of Dingwalls, Boss Goodman, who went on to become a renowned chef, once cooking for US President Bill Clinton at the Portobello Gold.

In the mid-1990s Twink collaborated with Rudolph and the pair recorded 1996's Pleasure Island and 1997's No Picture, released as the Pink Fairies on Twink's own label. Twink also issued a plethora of albums featuring outtakes, alternative versions, BBC sessions and live material including: The Golden Years 1969-1971, Do It, Live at Weeley Festival 1971 and Mandies and Mescaline Round at Uncle Harry's (1998). was published by Headpress. In September 2009, the What a Bunch of Sweeties line-up (Rudolph, Sanderson and Hunter) re-united in the studio to record a new version of "Do It" for the various artists CD Portobello Shuffle: A Testimonial To Boss Goodman And Tribute To The Deviants & Pink Fairies. The CD was a fund-raiser for Goodman, who was suffering from the after-effects of a stroke.

In 2011, Farren and Colquhoun returned to the UK from Los Angeles after nearly 20 years in exile. They teamed up with the rhythm section of Hunter and Sanderson, along with second guitarist Tim Rundall and percussionist Jaki Windmill, for a number of appearances. This line-up performed on the 'Spirit of 71' stage at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival - 40 years after the Pink Fairies' previous appearance at that event - under the name 'Mick Farren & The Last Men Standing'. Without Rundall, they later performed as The Deviants until Farren's death in 2013.

In 2014, the Pink Fairies reformed with a line-up of Hunter, Sanderson, Colquhoun, Windmill and second drummer Butler. Initially announcing two dates - The Robin 2 in Bilston on 15 May and 100 Club in London on 17 May - more dates were later added up to October 2015. A new album called Naked Radio was released after a Pledgemusic campaign ended on 12 February 2017.

Rudolph completed recordings with Motörhead's first drummer Lucas Fox and Hawkwind bass player Alan Davey in Austin, Texas, to be released as a Pink Fairies album on Cleopatra Records in 2018. One track appeared on the 2017 compilation Halloween Garage Blues. The LP Resident Reptiles was released on August 24, 2018. A second album by this line-up, Screwed Up, was released in July 2023.

Stone died November 2016. Butler died in January 2018. Goodman died on 22 March 2018. Wallis died on 19 September 2019, and Sanderson died just two months later on 20 November 2019. Rundall died in January 2022, and Hunter died on 19 December 2023, at the age of 77.

Band members

Timeline

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Line-ups

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! scope="col" style="width:22em;" |Period

! scope="col" style="width:25em;" |Members

! scope="col" style="width:25em;" |Releases

! October 1969 - January 1970

Mick Farren – Vocals
Steve Peregrin Took – Guitars
Silver Darling – Keyboards
Twink – Drums

| none

!Feb 1970 - mid 1971

Paul Rudolph – Vocals, Guitars
Duncan Sanderson – Bass
Russell Hunter – Drums
Twink - Drums, Vocals

"The Snake" (1971)
Never Never Land (1971)

!mid 1971 – July 1972

Paul Rudolph – Vocals, Guitars
Duncan Sanderson – Bass
Russell Hunter – Drums

"I Saw Her Standing There" (1972)
What a Bunch of Sweeties (1972)

!July 1972 - November 1972

Mick Wayne – Vocals, Guitars
Duncan Sanderson – Bass
Russell Hunter – Drums

"Well Well Well" (1972)

! December 1972 - end 1974

Larry Wallis – Vocals, Guitars
Duncan Sanderson – Bass
Russell Hunter – Drums

Kings of Oblivion (1973)

!1975

Larry Wallis – Vocals, Guitars
Paul Rudolph – Vocals, Guitars
Duncan Sanderson – Bass
Russell Hunter – Drums
Twink - Drums, Vocals

Live at the Roundhouse (1982)

!1982

Larry Wallis – Vocals, Guitars
Duncan Sanderson – Bass
George Butler – Drums

Previously Unreleased (1984)

!1987

Larry Wallis – Vocals, Guitars
Andy Colquhoun – Vocals, Guitars
Duncan Sanderson – Bass
Russell Hunter – Drums
Twink - Drums, Vocals

Kill 'Em and Eat 'Em (1987)

! January 2007

Larry Wallis – Vocals, Guitars
Duncan Sanderson – Bass
Russell Hunter – Drums

! September 2009

Paul Rudolph – Vocals, Guitars
Duncan Sanderson – Bass
Russell Hunter – Drums

! 2014

Andy Colquhoun – Vocals, Guitars
Duncan Sanderson – Bass
Russell Hunter – Drums
Jaki Windmill - Keyboards
George Butler – Drums

! 2018 - present

Paul Rudolph – Vocals, Guitars
Alan Davey – Bass
Lucas Fox – Drums

Discography

Albums

1971 – Never Never Land (Polydor) – Rudolph; Sanderson; Hunter; Twink
1972 – What a Bunch of Sweeties (Polydor) – Rudolph; Sanderson; Hunter; Burton - UK No. 48
1973 – Kings of Oblivion (Polydor) – Wallis; Sanderson; Hunter
1987 – Kill 'Em and Eat 'Em (Demon) – Wallis; Colquhoun; Sanderson; Hunter; Twink
1996 – Pleasure Island (Twink Records) – Twink; Rudolph
1997 – No Picture (Twink Records) – Twink; Rudolph
2017 – Naked Radio (Gonzo Music) – Colquhoun; Sanderson; Hunter; Butler; Windmill
2018 – Resident Reptiles (Purple Pyramid) – Rudolph; Davey; Fox
2023 – Screwed Up (Cleopatra Records) – Rudolph; Davey; Fox
2026 – Covered In Pink (Cleopatra Records) – Rudolph; Davey

EPs

1978 - Twink and the Fairies (Chiswick) – Twink; Sanderson - consisting of the tracks "Do It '77", "Psychedelic Punkeroo" and "Enter The Diamonds"
1984 – Previously Unreleased (Big Beat) – Wallis; Sanderson; Butler - recorded 1982

Compilation albums

1975 - Flashback (Polydor)
1999 - Live at the Roundhouse / Previously Unreleased / Do It '77 (Big Beat) - UK Indie No. 13
1999 – Master Series (Universal)
2002 – Up the Pinks – An Introduction to Pink Fairies (Polydor)
2021 – Duo Up (Explore Rights Management Ltd via Cherry Red)

Singles

1971 - "The Snake" / "Do It" (Polydor) – Rudolph; Sanderson; Hunter; Twink
1972 - "Pigs of Uranus" / "I Saw Her Standing There" (German Polydor release) Rudolph; Sanderson; Hunter
1973 - "Well, Well, Well" / "Hold On" (Polydor) – Wayne; Sanderson; Hunter
1976 - "Between the Lines" / "Spoiling for a Fight" (Stiff) – Wallis; Stone; Sanderson; Hunter

Live albums

1982 – Live at the Roundhouse 1975 (Big Beat) – Wallis; Rudolph; Sanderson; Hunter; Twink
1998 - The Golden Years: 1969–1971 (Cleopatra Records) – Rudolph; Sanderson; Hunter; Twink (live, BBC sessions, Twink solo material)
1998 - Mescaline and Mandies Round at Uncle Harry's (NMC) – Rudolph; Sanderson; Hunter; Twink; Burton (BBC sessions, live)
1999 - Do It! (Total Energy) – Rudolph; Sanderson; Hunter; Twink (live, Twink solo material)
1999 - Live at Weeley 1971 (Get Back) – Rudolph; Sanderson; Hunter (live)
2005 - Chinese Cowboys (Captain Trip) – Wallis; Colquhoun; Sanderson; Hunter; Twink (live 1987)
2008 - Finland Freakout 1971 Major League Productions (MLP) - Rudolph; Sanderson; Hunter (live)

References

External links

Twink's Pink Fairies pages
Larry Wallis' Pink Fairies website (via Archive.org)
Phil Franks Digital Archive The Pink Fairies
UHCK History of the World Part Two story of the Pink Fairies.
Current Pink Fairies website