After Cord Rees left the Deviants, Mick Farren’s flatmate Duncan Sanderson became the new bassist. This line-up produced the band’s second album Disposable in 1968. Although the musical ideas and commitment of the band were just as strong as on their debut, the execution was a little lacking in places, so this album is something of a disappointment. The cover shot shows a whole crowd of people, so maybe there was a “too-many-cooks” problem.
The three remaining members of the Deviants at that point – Russell Hunter, Duncan Sanderson and Paul Rudolph – became the core members of the Pink Fairies, though not immediately.
The Pink Fairies proper began to take shape when Twink connected with the three remaining members of the Deviants after Mick Farren was sacked: Russell Hunter, Duncan Sanderson and Paul Rudolph. This line-up produced the debut album, Never Never Land (1971). The album features classic Fairies tracks like “Do It”, “War Girl”, and “Uncle Harry’s Last Freak-Out”, but not the early single that is probably their best known song, “The Snake” (yes, that is a penis reference).
As described on the funtopia.com website: “On his return to England in 2009, he [Mick Farren] reconvened his band the Deviants along with his long time friend and musical collaborator Andy Colquhoun and original 1960s era Deviants and later Pink Fairies, Russell Hunter and Duncan ‘Sandy’ Sanderson. They played a number of well received gigs since reforming, including The Spirit of ’71 stage at Glastonbury [Festival] in 2011, as well as the Sonic Rock Solstice Festival in Wales, June 2013. The Deviants also released a new single on Shagrat Records in July 2013 called ‘The Fury of the Mob’. Mick collapsed on stage whilst the Deviants were performing at the Atomic Sunshine Festival at the Borderline Club on Saturday 27th July 2013. He never regained consciousness.”
