Plastic Penny

Plastic Penny was a UK 1960s pop band, formed in November 1967 before splitting up in August 1968. Their existence was notable only for their one hit single, early in 1968, with the song "Everything I Am". It reached a high of number six in the UK Singles Chart.cite book
first= David
last= Roberts
year= 2006
title= British Hit Singles & Albums
edition= 19th
publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
location= London
pages= p. 429
id= ISBN 1-904994-10-5] The song was a laboured ballad, augmented by a string arrangement. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=PLASTIC|PENNY&sql=11:j9fpxq85ldte~T1 Allmusic.com biography] ] It was a cover of a song originally recorded by the Box Tops. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=17:465559 Allmusic.com - song search results] ] The track, which first appeared as the b-side to the Box Top's 1967 minor hit single, "Neon Rainbow", was written by Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn.

Career

Much of the group's material was psychedelic pop, veering towards a more prog rock feel on some of their album tracks. The majority of their material was written by three of the band members, Brian Keith, Paul Raymond and Tony Murray. Keith later left the band leaving it a quartet, and Raymond took over vocal duties. Plastic Penny's outrput was released on the Page One Records label. The band's swansong was appearing at the first Isle of Wight Festival, held on 31 August 1968. [ [http://www.isleofwightfestival.com/band.aspx?name=PlasticPenny Isleofwightfestival.com] ]

Although Plastic Penny were not remarkable in themselves, several of their members went on to greater fame. Mick Grabham (then billed as Mick Graham) moved on to play with Cochise, and then Procol Harum. Keith later became the lead vocalist with Congregation, who oddly and coincidentally, share the unwanted one-hit wonder tag with Plastic Penny. Raymond later played several spells with the long-lived rock band, UFO. Nigel Olsson became an in-demand session musician, most notably drumming on much of Elton John's early work. He has also worked with the Spencer Davis Group, Uriah Heep, Kiki Dee, Neil Sedaka, Rod Stewart and Leo Sayer.

The group's third and final album, "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose" was a hastily put together collage of the band's more obscure recordings, issued after the group had disbanded.

Band members

*Brian Keith (born Brian O'Shea, 22 September 1942, Port Glasgow, West Renfrewshire, Scotland) - Vocalist [ [http://www.oshea-keith.com Oshea-keith.com] ]
*Paul Raymond (born Paul Martin Raymond, 16 November 1945, St Albans, Hertfordshire) - Keyboardist / Guitarist
*Mick Graham (born Michael Grabham, 22 January 1948, Sunderland, County Durham) - Guitarist
*Nigel Olsson (born 10 February 1949, Wallasey, Cheshire) - Drummer
*Tony Murray (born Anthony Murray, 26 April 1943, Dublin, County Dublin, Republic of Ireland) - Bassist

Discography

ingles

*"Everything I Am" - 1968

*"Nobody Knows It" - 1968

Albums

*"2 Sides of a Penny" - 1968
*"Currency" - 1969
*"Heads I Win, Tails You Lose" - 1970

References

External links

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:pneq9757krrt~T1 Plastic Penny biography at the All Music Guide website]
* [http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palladium/2214/mgrab_b.htm Mick Grabham biography at the Musicians’ Olympus website]
* [http://members.tripod.com/~longdancer/ Nigel Olsson fan site]