Thunderclap Newman

Career

In 1969, Townshend created the band to showcase songs written by the former Who chauffeur, drummer/singer/guitarist Speedy Keen. Keen wrote the opening track on The Who Sell Out album, "Armenia City in the Sky". Keen, Newman and McCulloch met each other for the first time in December 1968 or January 1969 at Townshend's home studio to record "Something in the Air". Townshend produced the single, played its bass guitar under the pseudonym Bijou Drains and hired GPO engineer and Dixieland jazz pianist "Thunderclap" Newman (born Andrew Laurence Newman, 21 November 1942, Hounslow, Middlesex, died March 2016) and the fifteen-year-old Glaswegian guitarist Jimmy McCulloch. Before then, Townshend had planned to work on projects for each of the musicians, but Kit Lambert prevailed upon Townshend, who was working on what became the rock-opera Tommy, to save time by coalescing the three musicians into the collective project that became Thunderclap Newman.

"Something in the Air", which Keen wrote for the film The Magic Christian, was number one on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks, holding off Elvis Presley and the Beatles' "Ballad of John and Yoko". Originally titled "Revolution", but later renamed because the Beatles had released a song of that name in 1968 (the B-side of "Hey Jude"), "Something in the Air" captured post-flower power rebellion, marrying McCulloch's electric rhythm and lead guitars, Keen's drumming and falsetto, Newman's piano solo and Townshend's (uncredited) electric bass. By December 1969, the single was awarded a gold disc for world sales of more than a million.

"Something in the Air" appeared on the soundtracks of the films The Magic Christian (1969) and The Strawberry Statement (1970), the latter having helped the single reach number 25 in the United States. The song also appeared on the deluxe edition of the Easy Rider CD. In the UK and US, a follow-up single, "Accidents", came out in May 1970 and charted at No. 44 for only a week, but not charting at all in the US. An album, Hollywood Dream, again produced by Townshend and released the previous year, peaked in Billboard 200 chart at No. 163. "Something in the Air" was also in the film Kingpin (1996) and is used on the soundtrack. It was also used in Almost Famous (2000) and is on the soundtrack. It was also used in a 2008 television episode of My Name Is Earl.

The critic Nathan Morley described "Accidents" as the band's masterpiece. "One would", he wrote, "have to listen to Wagner in a funeral parlour for something even more morbid than Thunderclap Newman’s ‘Accidents’, which chronicles the deaths of various hapless children who all meet a very nasty end – Poor Mary falls in a river whilst waiting for the Queen to sail by and little Johnny is killed by a speeding car. That said, the song, orchestration and performance are simply brilliant. It is captivating and without doubt their best recording."

Thunderclap Newman had not planned to undertake live performances, but the band relented when, to their collective surprise, "Something in the Air" became a chart success. The trio, augmented by Jim Pitman-Avery (bass guitar) and McCulloch's elder brother Jack (drums), undertook a 26-date tour of England and Scotland in support of Deep Purple from July 1969 to August 1969. Thunderclap Newman's live setlist then typically included the following songs: "Lady Madonna", by the Beatles; a twelve-bar jam; "Wilhelmina"; Water music, by Andy Newman; and "Something in the Air". On 8 August, Pitman-Avery and McCulloch announced their intention to leave the band. Within weeks, they had formed the country-rock band Wild Country with Terry Keyworth (guitar) and Stuart Whitcombe (keyboards). That year, the band appeared in television programmes in Britain (How Late It Is, Top of the Pops) and Germany (Beat-Club).

In October 1970, Thunderclap Newman released its critically acclaimed album, Hollywood Dream. That year, they released three singles: "Accidents/I See It All", "The Reason/Stormy Petrel" and "Wild Country/Hollywood Dream". On 7 November, they appeared on Ev (a.k.a., The Kenny Everett Show). In early 1971, the founding trio reformed with the Australian musicians Roger Felice (drums) and Ronnie Peel (bass guitar).

On 6 March 1971, the New Musical Express reported the band's personnel change: "Thunderclap Newman has finally settled down into a five-piece group, with two new members being brought in—although on certain dates, the outfit may be augmented by a brass section. Permanent line-up now comprises Newman (piano), Speedy Keen (rhythm guitar and vocals), Jimmy McCulloch (lead guitar), Ronnie Peel (bass) and Roger Felice (drums). Dates include University of Sussex (tomorrow, Saturday), Sheffield University (March 12) and Nelson Imperial (14). A Scottish tour is being set for the end of April."

With its new line-up, from January 1971 to April 1971 Thunderclap Newman supported Deep Purple during a 19-date tour of England and Scotland. Their live setlist then typically included the following: "Look Around", "The Reason" and "Wild Country", plus cover songs written by other artists. At some time during those months, the band supported Leon Russell during a tour of the Netherlands and they had supported Deep Purple during a tour of Scandinavia. They played the club circuit and had avoided playing in ballrooms. That year, Thunderclap Newman made a cameo appearance in the British movie Not Tonight, Darling.

Thunderclap Newman broke up around 10 April 1971, days before they were scheduled to start a tour of Scotland and weeks before they were scheduled to be part of a package tour with Marsha Hunt and others during the Who's 12-week tour of the US.

The members of the band had little in common. In a 1972 NME interview, Newman said that he got on with Keen's music but not with Keen personally, while the exact opposite was true with regard to McCulloch.

In 2008, Newman appeared on an episode of the British television programme Those Were The Days to comment upon the night of the first moon landing, when Thunderclap Newman had performed an almost-nightlong concert.

Separate ways

McCulloch had stints with a dozen or more bands, including John Mayall, Stone the Crows, and Paul McCartney's Wings and at the age of 26 he died in his home of heroin-induced cardiac arrest on 25 September 1979. His body was not discovered by his brother, Jack, until two days later.

In 1973, Keen released a solo album for Track, entitled Previous Convictions, which featured McCulloch and Roger Felice on some tracks. He began recording a double album as a follow-up. Frustrated by his lack of progress at Track, he took the demos to Island Records, which pared it down to the single album Y'know Wot I Mean? and released it in 1975. Its single, "Someone to Love", received plenty of airplay but failed to sell.

Discouraged, Keen ceased recording after one more single in 1976. He tried his hand at record producing, working with the punk band Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers on their first album L.A.M.F. in 1977, and also produced Motörhead's first album before leaving the music industry. He appears on several tracks on the best of Motorhead double CD All the Aces, as part of a live set originally performed under the name the Muggers. The set includes five songs written and sung by Keen, only one of which had appeared on his solo albums.

Keen suffered from arthritis for several years, and was recording his third solo album, when he unexpectedly died of heart failure at the age of 56 on 12 March 2002.

In 1971, Newman recorded a solo album, Rainbow, and he played assorted instruments on Roger Ruskin Spear's first album.

Between 2004 and 2010 it was one of Andy's last wishes to set the record straight and give credit to the musicians who got him out of retirement. Istvan Etiam and David Buckley (X-Barracudas)had an idea back in 1986. David had said "what if we asked Andy to recreate the Hollywood Dreams LP with a band that we form?" Istvan wasn't sure at first however in 2004 we asked Andy to jam with us in a Stockwell rehearsal space.We made it a bi-weekly event and then moved to a Ladbroke Grove rehearsal space. We worked very hard to piece together the original LP and to do justice to Speedy Keen and Jimmy McCulloch as well as the original Thunderclap Newman band. We had no manager and no money but we did have experience and a raw desire to make this work. Our only goal was to get Andy back into the limelight and playing live again. We all shared a certain hatred of the music business which often ruins creativity.Andy snapped right back into mode and was able to play all of the songs as if he had just stepped into 1969.This line-up struggled to get gigs but found ways to get booked and enjoyed a good 5 years together. the feedback was always excellent with some super comments coming from those who saw the original band. The line up of 'The Thunderclap Newman Band' was David Buckley(vocals,tambourine,guitar),Istvan Etiam (vocals,slide and guitar),Antonio Spano (Drums),Stephanos Tsourelis (lead guitar)and Brian Jackson (Bass). We sent Antonio to get a suit for Andy which he wore with pride on stage. In 2010 Andy had was made an offer.This was troubling him and his loyalty to us. The band held a meeting and said for him to go for it if it will get him more high-profile gigs.

In February 2010, Newman performed as Thunderclap Newman at the Con Club in Lewes, Sussex, with a new line-up: Tony Stubbings (bass guitar), Nick Johnson (lead guitar), Mark Brzezicki (former Big Country, drums) and Josh Townshend (nephew of Pete Townshend, on rhythm guitar and vocals). Soon thereafter, the band released a CD entitled Beyond Hollywood. Thunderclap Newman supported Big Country on a 2011 tour of the UK.

On 30 March 2016, it was announced that Andy Newman had died at the age of 73.