THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,394) The Ugly’s — “Mary Cilento”
Birmingham’s Ugly’s give us a gorgeous B-side not to be, “late ’60s UK Pysche at it’s very best” (https://www.heavysoul45s.co.uk/product-page/the-uglys-i-ve-seen-the-light-mary-colinto), “David Watts meets David Bowie”. (Paul Cross, liner notes to the CD comp Sweet Floral Albion: 23 Pop & Psych Gems)
Bulls Head Bob writes that:
This most talked about of groups, that danced on the edge of really making it for so many years, visited Advision Studios at 1030 pm on St Valentines night to record “I See the Light” and “Mary Colinto”. A one-single deal with MGM, the producer was Tony Cox who had been a member of some ‘duo type’ group and had just finished producing the debut album for Caravan. He had been up to Birmingham prior to that session to see the band live at The Adelphi, West Bromwich and another live gig at Rhodes Hall, just outside of London where The Ugs were supported by Amen Corner (how different things were just a few weeks later with Amen Corner riding high in the charts) – “The Uglys were a very, very tight band and both of the songs to be recorded were delivered with some real force on stage” said Cox. . . . The Uglys were constantly ‘on the road’ like some other bands at that time and had no problem in laying down a good take quickly . . . . The only extra track that was used after that first take was to record a second guitar line – one single note – to harmonise with the opening riff. Because of the luxury of having more recordable tracks to play with than ever before, more use was actually taken in the recording of Mary Colinto and was used to good effect vocally with heavy, punchy harmonies delivered aggressively over a guitar rich background and insistent drumming. This was a band on top of their game. . . .
https://bullsheadbob.blogspot.com/2008/02/february-08-spotlight-on-uglys.html?m=1
According to Brumbeat.net, release of the single was cancelled when band members Steve Gibbons and Dave Morgan left the Ugly’s to start a new band with ex-Move guitarist Trevor Burton. (http://www.brumbeat.net/uglys.htm)
As to the Ugly’s, Bruce Eder writes:
The Ugly’s’ history represents one of those hard-luck stories that is all too common in the history of British beat music — a talented band with good songs . . . who, despite a long history and an array of future notables, somehow fails to get past local and regional success. . . . The Ugly’s’ history starts in Birmingham in 1957 . . . with a band called the Dominettes . . . . They were together for three years, with various musicians passing through their ranks . . . . [and] mov[ing] from rock & roll into a more R&B-based sound . . . . By 1963 . . . [the band’s] name and accompanying image seemed extremely dated amid the Merseybeat explosion . . . . [but t]he group’s own sound had advanced considerably, so that they were now reflecting the influence of the Liverpool sound to some extent, and they’d moved far away from the music that they’d initially built their reputation on. The Dominettes moniker was retired, and in its place they chose the Ugly’s. . . . . [T]he group was signed to Pye Records . . . in 1965. Their debut single . . . “Wake Up My Mind” . . . a British Invasion-style protest song . . . . didn’t chart in England, but did manage to do very well in New Zealand . . . . [Their] second single, “It’s Alright,” got the band lots of exposure on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio London. That airplay resulted in a groundswell of popular support . . . . [but] never translated into an actual sales chart position, a situation that may well have been the result of a concurrent strike at the distributors . . . . A third single, “A Good Idea” . . . came out in early 1966 — in later years, the members would lament the choice of sides, recognizing early on that “The Quiet Explosion” was the song to push. It was a tragic error in judgment that cost the band dearly, and not even an appearance on Thank Your Lucky Stars could salvage the record from oblivion. And in the wake of that failure [two members] exited the band . . . . [T]he group’s fourth single, a cover of Ray Davies’ “End of the Season,” . . . . . didn’t sell well enough to keep them signed to Pye. . . . As a recording act, they were struggling, and their one-off single for British CBS, “And the Squire Blew His Horn,” . . . disappeared without a trace. . . . [A]ccording to [band member Will] Hammond, . . . there was some serious talk of [Graham] Nash . . . taking over their management, with major promotion on a national scale, but it fell apart over [his] insistence that they give up the Ugly’s name. . . . [A] one-off single for MGM Records called “I’ve Seen the Light (Goodnight)” [with “Mary Colinto” on the flip side]. . . . died on the vine amid a management/contractual dispute involving their new representative, Tony Secunda and MGM. . . . Secunda, who had lately been sacked by the Move over the catastrophic results of a promotional campaign over their single “Flowers in the Rain,” was going through machinations to get [most of the Ugly’s] folded into a new band in conjunction with Trevoer Burton and/or Carl Wayne, both ex-members of the Move. Hammond found himself the odd man out in this maneuvering, and it all proved disastrous for the group, which had pretty much dissolved by the end of 1969.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-uglys-mn0000568107#biography
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