THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,121) Tin Tin — “Swans on the Canal”
“‘Baroque pop’ is possibly the best description I can think of [to describe Tin Tin’s (see #355) first album], with tracks like Swans On The Canal . . . conjuring up images of lace cuffs and the like.” (planetmellotron.com, http://akashaman.blogspot.com/2007/01/tin-tin-debut-70-atco.html) Well, I guess better than conjuring up images of handcuffs. The song (later a ’71 B-side), and the album, was produced by Maurice Gibb (see #353, 354, 466, 861). The writing credit goes to Tin Tin’s Steve Kipner and Steve Groves, but it sounds soooooo Maurice, one can’t help but think . . . .
Of Tin Tin, Greg Prato says:
The obscure Australian pop/rock band Tin Tin formed in 1968. They issued a pair of albums in the early ’70s — a self-titled debut from 1970 (which spawned the single “Toast and Marmalade for Tea”) and 1971’s sophomore effort, Astral Taxi — both of which were produced by the Bee Gees’ Maurice Gibb, who also played assorted instruments. The quartet broke up in 1973.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tin-tin-mn0001514584#biography
The definitive Mileago: Australasian Music & Popular Culture 1964-1975 writes:
Tin Tin are really only remembered for their shimmering 1971 single “Toast and Marmalade For Tea”, a US and Australian hit in mid-1971. Predictably they’ve been pegged as one-hit wonders, which obscures the fact that Tin Tin recorded a body of quality harmony psych-pop songs during its short life, with nine singles and two LPs to their credit. Although it’s technically a UK band . . . all the members (except Peter Beckett) were Australian[,] the band has its roots on the Australian music scene of the 1960s. . . . [and its] history . . . is intricately connected with many other prominent Australasian bands and performers. Named after the popular Hergé cartoon character, Tin Tin was founded in London in 1969 by Steve Kipner and Steve Groves. Both were ambitious young veterans of the fertile Aussie beat scene of the mid-1960s. Kipner — the son of producer and songwriter Nat Kipner — had been the lead singer-guitarist with popular mid-60s Sydney band Steve & The Board. His partner in Tin Tin, Steve Groves, came from another highly-rated band of the same period, The Kinetics, who scored a Melbourne Top 20 hit in 1966 with “Excuses”. Steve & The Board had close connections with The Bee Gees. Nat Kipner had known the Gibb boys since their early days in Brisbane and at the start of 1966 he came to the rescue of the struggling trio when they were about to be dumped from their label (Leedon) by its owner, Festival Records. Nat was able to negotiate a deal that transferred them to the newly-established Spin label (which kept Festival happy because they distributed it).
http://www.milesago.com/artists/tintin.htm
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Recently, for my 70’s playlist I attempted to find Tin Tin’s “Toast and Marmalade” on Apple Music and came up short. The closest I found was an instrumental cover version. So “Marmalade” joins The Poppy Family’s “Which Way You Going Billy?” original non Karaoke version and The Sylver’s “Hotline” as a song too obscure for Apple Music’s listeners. Or is it a licensing issue?
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