Mike Stuart Span - Through The Looking Glass (1968) BBC Radio John Peel Top Gear Show.

Mike Stuart Span - Through The Looking Glass

BBC Radio session

John Peel's Top Gear Radio Show May 1968

From Brighton/Sussex. One of numerous bands that never got a real break. They evolved out of the Mighty Atoms, a group Stuart Hobday and Brian McCabe had formed in the early sixties and became the Mike Stuart Span around 1965. Enlarged to a five, later six-piece, they were signed by Columbia in 1966. The first two singles were recorded by the sextet and flopped, but in summer 1967 the group dropped trumpet, sax and organ and with the addition of lead guitarist Brian Douglas Bennett they gave it a new try as a quartet.They toured Denmark, Holland, Belgium and Iceland several times and wrote a science fiction suite for the Brighton Arts Festival called "Cycle". This opera was to be released as a complete LP it never appeared and was previewed at London's 100 Club in April 1968 together with the Electric Liquid Light Show and the Crimson Ballett. In June 1968 they became the subject of a BBC-TV documentary which would take a year to make. It was produced by Paul Watson, titled "Time Waits For No Man" and was to be an hour long film in colour about the group. It's not known if it ever appeared. Around the same time the group formed its own publishing company, opened its own record shop in Hove and cut their name just to the Span (the announcement of shortening their name took place for the second time the first time it happened was in December 1967, but they were still booked as Mike Stuart Span over the next months). All of their joined ventures weren't really lucky and finally in January 1969 they announced a name change to Leviathan. Within a month they were signed by the American based Elektra Records but again all of their three following singles releases flopped. Disillusioned the group packed it in autumn 1969 and all members went their seperate ways.
The group cut a handful of acetates, all great tracks. Luckily most of them were released on Tenth Planet in 1995.
The name Mike Stuart was created by reversing Stuart Hobday's christian names.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Mike Stuart Span
• Mod Psych Music
• 1960's.