THE YEAR HEAVY ROCK GOT HEAVY! PART 2

By the end of 1969 the psychedelic dream was fading and a new crop of musicians were getting harder and heavier. RICHARD MORTON JACK celebrates the bands whose LPs from that definitive year fetch up to £750 today.

THE DEVIANTS

The Deviants (Transatlantic TRA 204, with booklet) 9/69 £200

Led by the extravagantly-afro’d Mick Farren, a native of Cheltenham who’d moved to London to study at St Martin’s School Of Art, The Social Deviants coalesced in the city’s seedy East End in early 1967. Influenced by New York’s anarchic Fugs, Farren had previously played in a shambolic R&B trio named The Mafia, but came to see heavy rock and roll as his future.

The band’s intention was not to become pop stars or preach peace and love, but to shock and stir up trouble, espousing unorthodox politics and values and reflecting the unrest in Britain’s urban sprawl. Put crudely, they were speed freaks, not potheads, and their message was lapped up by jaded youths in ugly towns up and down the motorways.

The original line-up comprised Farren on vocals, Clive Muldoon on guitar, Pete Munro and Mac McLennan on bass and Russell Hunter on drums, though Muldoon and the Canadian Munro were soon replaced by Ian ‘Sid’ Bishop and Cord Rees, respectively. Another key member was Alex Stowell, responsible for their eccentric light show, operated from the stage alongside the musicians. The new line-up shortened its name to The Deviants, and …

by RICHARD MORTON JACK
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