Think Pink is the 1970 debut album by English psychedelic musician Twink. It was produced by Mick Farren and featured members of The Pretty Things, The Deviants, plus Steve Peregrin Took of Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was released on Polydor Records in the UK and Sire Records in the US. The track “Fluid” was sampled by duo Gnarls Barkley on their track “Would Be Killer” from the hit album The Odd Couple. (More from Wikipedia)
I picked up a 2001 CD by Shagrat called Pink Jackets Required, and it is a delight. This music was evidently made by the earliest lineup of the band. In the review of the album for Allmusic, Dean McFarlane gives it four stars and reports: “This album was recorded in 1969 just before Tyrannosaurus Rex embarked on their first U.S. tour and was completed on [Steve Peregrin] Took’s return. Although it is in effect a collection of demos, and some of the tracks will be known to fans of Think Pink – primitive takes of ‘The Coming of the Other One’ and ‘The Sparrow Is a Sign’ will be familiar – in fact, Pink Jackets Required is one of the most astonishing albums either of the pair recorded, and in popular opinion and rock-evidence surpasses the Twink Think Pink album. The name Shagrat was bounced around for an incarnation of one of Twink’s other groups with members of the Pink Fairies, but that unit was entirely different from the genius brilliance of the project with Steven Peregrin Took. Simply, this should be tracked down and given serious attention by those who love A Beard of Stars [by Tyrannosaurus Rex], Deviants, Pretty Things, and early T. Rex.”
However, the Wikipedia article on Shagrat states the following: “Shagrat was a British supergroup formed by Steve Peregrin Took and Mick Farren in February 1970 after they split with Twink, their partner in the prototype Pink Fairies supergroup of late 1969.” Thus, the tracks on Pink Jackets Required might not be by Shagrat, strictly speaking. According to the liner notes: “The Think Pink tracks [“The Coming of the Other One”, “The Sparrow Is a Sign” and “Three Little Piggies”] were recorded at Recorded Sound Studios, London 1969 with various members of ‘The Pink Fairies Motorcycle Club All Star Rock and Roll Band’. The ‘Demo Versions 1 & 2’ [all other songs] were recorded at Denmark St. Studios, 1969 & 1970”. Individual musicians credited are Steve Peregrin Took, Twink and Paul Rudolph.
Mick Farren, Steve Peregrin Took and Twink had actually teamed up a few months before their October 1969 gig as the Pink Fairies, during the July 1969 recording sessions for Twink’s first solo album, Think Pink, which was released in 1970. Farren produced the album, Took was on guitar and vocals, and Twink was on drums and vocals. Paul Rudolph, previously in the Deviants and later in the Pink Fairies, played guitar and bass and also provided vocals.
Also present at the 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.
Standout songs on Think Pink include “Ten Thousand Words in a Cardboard Box”, “The Coming of the Other One” and “The Sparrow Is a Sign”. Dean McFarlane in his Allmusic review also gives Think Pink four stars and writes: “Think Pink is an incredibly varied album with no two songs resembling each other, but then one assumes an acid masterpiece like ‘Ten Thousand Words in a Cardboard Box’ will stay on high rotation for at least a week on the stereos of most psychedelia fans, so overall album flow may not be such an issue. This is pure psychedelic acid rock of the highest order. If one can imagine a fusion of the Incredible String Band, Deviants, early Pink Floyd, and a fair dose of Twink’s heredity as a member of Tomorrow and the Pretty Things, you get an idea of what he was up to. Not known for doing things in halves, he shows little restraint in the assembly of a group designed to tear the roof off the psychedelic scene.”
Think Pink was another thrilling find for me; my copy was marked up in ballpoint pen (apparently by a DJ) including a note describing the album as “Underground”.
