THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,647) The Orange Bicycle — “Competition“
This “gorgeous” (David Wells, liner notes to the CD comp Come Join My Orchestra: The British Baroque Pop Sound 1967-73) “Pop-Sike gem” (Bam-Caruso, https://www.45cat.com/record/imp200013) made its only appearance on the B-side of a French EP. Written by UK session musicians Vic Flick and Dougie Wright, it is a dead ringer for a Pet Sounds outtake. Are we sure that Wilson Malone wasn’t Brian Wilson on a busman’s holiday in London?
The Orange Bicycle was a “traditional [UK] harmony pop group . . . reconstituted to meet the demands of the flower power era”. (David Wells, liner notes to the CD comp Hyacinth Threads: The Morgan Blue Town Recordings) Bryan Thomas tells us that:
The British psych-pop outfit known as Orange Bicycle evolved from a Beat group, Robb Storme & the Whispers, also known as the Robb Storme Group. They had recorded a handful of harmony pop singles for Pye, Piccadilly, Decca, and Columbia Records during the early ’60s, but with little success. In 1966, the Robb Storme Group covered the Beach Boys’ “Here Today.” It was arranged by the band’s own multi-talented keyboardist/producer Wilson Malone and produced by Morgan Music’s co-owner Monty Babson at Morgan Studios in the Willesdon area of London. With psychedelic music at its zenith, the group decided to change its name change and, in 1967, they re-emerged as Orange Bicycle. Over the next few years, they released a half-dozen singles; their — “Hyacinth Threads” — remains the band’s best-known track . . . . In late August/early September 1968, Orange Bicycle — wearing matching black and orange suits — performed at the Isle of Wight music festival, reportedly covering songs by Love and the Rolling Stones. In 1970, already somewhat past their prime, Orange Bicycle recorded their only album, The Orange Bicycle. It was comprised largely of covers . . . . A few tracks were produced by John Peel. Psychedelic pop music, however, was on the wane, or transmogrifying into heavier prog or hard rock, so the group decided to call it a day, breaking up in 1971. Wilson Malone’s self-titled solo album (as Wil Malone) for Fontana was released that same year. Meanwhile, drummer Kevin Currie joined Supertramp, then Burlesque, before becoming a session drummer. Malone went on to form the heavy psych-prog trio Bobak Jons Malone [see #839, 1,053] with celebrated engineer/producer Andy Jons and guitarist producer Mike Bobak. They recorded one album, Motherlight. . . . Malone . . . went on to become a top producer/arranger on his own, working with many successful groups and solo artists. His string arrangement for the Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” (which appropriated the symphonic arrangement from the Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time”) caused a ruckus that resulted in Andrew Loog Oldham suing the Verve for songwriting royalties.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/orange-bicycle-mn0000476242#biography
David Wells notes that:
Babson was immediately impressed with both [their] sound and, more pointedly, the varied talents of Wilson Malone. When Babson left Landsdowne to set up the Morgan Sound Recording Studios . . . he took Orange Bicycle with him, but also employed Malone as an all-round, multipurpose studio whizzkid who was able to write, sing, play, produce and arrange with equal dexterity.
liner notes to Hyacinth Threads
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