Blossom Toes, Procol Harum, Simon Dupree & The Big Sound, The Peddlers, Jackie Trent and Tony Hatch – Top Of The Pops – May 10, 1968 – BBC Transcription Service.
With the exception of Procol Harum, it is doubtful most people in the U.S. have heard of the rest of the acts on this episode of the iconic Top Of The Pops program, first aired on May 10, 1968 and broadcast worldwide by the BBC Transcription Service.
Blossom Toes was a short-lived band with a surplus of talent. They were only active for two years, from 1967-1969 before heading off in different directions and becoming an even the shorter-lived B.B. Blunder, whose only album (Worker’s Playtime) was actually considered the 3rd Blossom Toes album, before they called it quits. The album was reissued in 1989 under the title Blossom Toes ’70 nd has been considered one of the most underrated and under-appreciated bands of the early 1970s (I agree completely). A very interesting band with a very complicated family tree.
Simon Dupree and The Big Sound were another short-lived band, who actually went on to become a major player in the Prog-Rock sweepstakes of the early 1970s; Gentle Giant.
The Peddlers had a long run, forming in 1964 and finally disbanding in 1976, releasing some 8 albums before that. I believe only one of their albums, the 1968 Three In A Cell, which they recorded for CBS/Epic in 1968, was issued in the States.
Jackie Trent and Tony Hatch were a husband and wife team. Hatch was a producer-arranger who is credited with a string of hits for singer Petula Clark. Wife Jackie Trent was an accomplished songwriter, penning several hits for Petula Clark. For a time they were known as Mr. and Mrs. Music because of their hit-making ability for other artists. Trent stayed married to Hatch until 2002 when a messy divorce ensued and Trent died in 2015 after a decades long battle with alcohol.
And Procol Harum needs no background – this is material from their Shine on Brightly album – and with everything about this show, it is a true grab-bag of musical talents which further gives evidence of the truly eclectic nature of Pop Music in the 1960s.
Enjoy – and you can crank this one up too, if you want.
