Tomorrow (previously known as The In Crowd and before that as Four Plus One) were a 1960’s psychedelic rock, pop and freakbeat band. Despite critical acclaim and support from DJ John Peel who featured them on his “Perfumed Garden” radio show, the band was not a great success in commercial terms. They were among the first psychedelic bands in England along with Pink Floyd and Soft Machine. Tomorrow recorded the first ever John Peel show session on BBC Radio 1 on 21 September 1967. (More from Wikipedia)
Of all the meanings that “Midnight Love Cycle” might have, the song turns out to be about a bicycle. As stated in the liner notes, “Midnight Love Cycle” bears more than a passing resemblance to the May 1967 psychedelic single “My White Bicycle” by Tomorrow. However, the Klubs claim never to have heard this song.
I have a copy of Tomorrow’s classic self-titled album, Tomorrow, and it is not too hard to find; there are both black-and-white and color versions of the front cover. “My White Bicycle” also appears on the second Nuggets box set, Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964-1969. Remarkably, all four discs from Nuggets II came through Katrina more or less unscathed, and I have them all cleaned up and playable. As I recall, I found most of them still in their original box.
The band’s drummer Twink (real name: John Alder) was originally in a tough rhythm and blues band called the Fairies – it won’t be much longer before that band joins the ranks of the UARB’s – and is perhaps best known as the drummer for the Pretty Things on their ground-breaking 1968 concept album called S.F. Sorrow.
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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Items: Tomorrow
