A bit of psychedelia today. I previously described The Monkees as an unusual source of psychedelia. I would submit this group is equally unlikely.

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: The Sun Goes Down

For comparison purposes here is the A-side from the same single. In this clip the group is obviously miming. Standard practice for the day, though.

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich: Zabadak

– who was a member of the most distinctively named 60s pop band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich has died.

The band’s name was supposed to be a conflation of their nicknames. Curiously my class at school had a Mick too and a set of other nicknames which were eerily similar. Nowadays we might have set up a tribute band (No. We wouldn’t. Really.) but we always joked we could call ourselves J D, Hodie, Dreek, Mick and Worm. The similarity broke down a bit at that last one, though.

The real band made it big with a series of tersely titled Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley songs, Hold Tight, Hideaway, Bend It, Okay, Zabadak among them, before morphing away from the teen market slightly with a series of wonderfully over the top tracks like Legend Of Xanadu, Last Night In Soho, Wreck Of The Antoinette and Don Juan. Because of the Top Of The Pops appearance with Legend Of Zanadu Dave always thought he’d be remembered as “that guy with the whip.”

When he left the band I had thought he had subsequently become a record producer but various sources including The Independent says he was actually head A&R man for WEA.

After Dave Dee left the rest carried on as DBM&T, changing their sound to try to achieve musical credibility, an endeavour within which the single Mr President wasn’t entirely a failure.

They apparently all got together again latterly to tour the nostalgia circuit.

Dave Dee, 17/12/1941 – 9/1/2009. So it goes.

Here’s Last Night In Soho in memoriam.

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich: Last Night in Soho