Keith West (born Keith Alan Hopkins; 6 December 1943, Dagenham, Essex, England) is a British rock singer who was the lead singer of Tomorrow, a 1960s psychedelic rock band. West composed most of the band's songs (duly credited to Keith Hopkins). Despite critical acclaim and support from BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, who featured them on his Perfumed Garden show, the band was not a commercial success. In 1964, West became lead singer of "In Crowd" a rock band from London, which was then renamed Tomorrow. Another member of that earlier band was the guitarist Steve Howe (later Yes). (More from Wikipedia)
Twink is also renowned as a founding member of the hard psych band the Pink Fairies, along with the Deviants' Mick Farren and Steve Peregrin Took, who was Marc Bolan's partner in the original Tyrannosaurus Rex band.
Besides Twink, the other bandmembers in Tomorrow – originally called the Four Plus One – included guitarist Steve Howe, which was later in Yes; Junior Wood; and Keith West, who was evidently the best known member of the band when their album came out. Of note is the fact that Tomorrow was featured on the very first of the Peel Sessions by DJ John Peel on BBC Radio 1, on September 21, 1967.
Tomorrow – back when they were called the In Crowd – also had a part in an early rock opera that was actually called A Teenage Opera; the project was spearheaded by Mark Wirtz, who had had the idea as early as January 1966. After writing the lyrics for the song, Keith West released a single from the rock opera called "Excerpt from A Teenage Opera (Grocer Jack)" in late July 1967 – he also performed on a second song called "Sam" – and “Grocer Jack” became an instant hit in the U.K. during what is known as “the Summer of Love”. Keith West then mounted a modest solo career based on this hit.
(July 2013)
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Also present at the Think Pink sessions was John (Junior) Wood on bass; Wood had been a member of one of the earliest British psychedelic bands, Tomorrow, along with Twink, future Yes guitarist Steve Howe, and Keith West, who appeared in the early rock opera masterminded by Mark Wirtz called A Teenage Opera. West's single "Excerpt from A Teenage Opera (Grocer Jack)" was an instant hit when it was released in July 1967 and became part of the soundtrack of the Summer of Love.
(March 2014/1)
