Hollywood Dream - Thunderclap Newman (1969)
A week of one-album wonders
John “Speedy” Keen was a roadie for and general pal of The Who. If you can’t figure out who’s singing Armenia City In The Sky, the lead track from The Who Sell Out, it’s because that’s Keen, not an actual Who member.
He was also a pretty good songwriter. He and Who mastermind Pete Townshend put together the band Thunderclap Newman to showcase that songwriting, with Townshend producing and playing bass.
You might expect that this would sound like the Who, and… well, it does a fair bit. But Keen loved a good pop tune probably more than Townshend and the lads did. It ends up being more of a mix of British Invasion pop meets American west coast country-leaning psych.
The lead track, Something In The Air, is the only track you’re likely to have heard, either from this track or from a Petty & The Heartbreakers cover as filler on their Greatest Hits record §. I’d forgotten the track also featured in the the greatest bowling film ever made
It’s a fun album of some clever and well-played power pop, but it was the only thing the band would ever really release.
§ tbf, the other “filler” track on that TP&HB collection is Last Dance With Mary Jane, one of their best loved and most recognizable tunes
