Thursday, 1 August 2019

The Purple People Peter

Fifty years back Peter Daltrey was the main man in the legendary UK psych band Kaleidoscope. After they and his subsequent outfit Fairfield Parlour both went belly up, he disappeared from the scene - at least in terms of recordings - for the best part of a quarter of a century.

He reemerged in 1995 with a couple of albums that were released only in Japan. I managed to pick up a copy of one of them, "English Roses", when I was over there recently. While the passing of time had made his music a bit more mellow and mature, it was instantly recognisable as the great man.

Having rediscovered the urge to make music back in 1995, he hasn't stopped since. He has released something like twenty albums in one guise or another, many of which you can find on his Bandcamp page. I personally had the great privilege of seeing him live about five years ago backed by Trembling Bells - a fantastic show.


As a treat for you all, here is one track from Kaleidoscope's debut album, 1967's "Tangerine Dream", and one from "English Roses". You'll need to set aside the best part of twenty minutes to listen to them both - more if you add the groovy video.

"The Sky Children" - Kaleidoscope

"The Unicorn" - Peter Daltrey

4 comments:

  1. Don't recall Kaleidoscope but I do remember reviewing the Fairfield Parlour album.

    I wonder if Edgar Froese got his band's name from the Kaleidoscope "Tangerine Dream" album?

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    1. Good question. They formed in 1967 so it is possible I suppose. If Wikipedia is to be believed Edgar got the name from a mishearing of "tangerine trees and marmalade skies" in 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'. Maybe both bands misheard the same thing?

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  2. " best part of twenty minutes to listen to them both - more if you add the groovy video." as soon as this Houssam Gania album has finished the above tracks are next.

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  3. Loved Kaleidoscope's The Sky Children track

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