THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,902) Wimple Winch — “Marmalade Hair”
UK freakbeat/psych masters cut this amazing pop psych demo in ‘68. I may be wrong, but I think I’m right that the lyrics might be a bit touchy nowadays: “I may be wrong, I think I’m right She’ll give in tonight”
Mark Deming writes of Wimple Winch:
Liverpool’s Wimple Winch are best known to obsessive collectors of U.K. freakbeat for a handful of rare but potent singles, such as the malevolent “Save My Soul” [see #49] . . . . Dee Christopholus (vocals and guitar), John Kelman (lead guitar), and Larry King (aka Lawrence Arendes, drums) were members of the beat combo the Four Just Four Men (who briefly became the Just Four Men), who start out playing pleasant but unremarkable instrumentals . . . and eventually moved on to pop vocal sides that make them sound like competent but unremarkable also-rans on the Merseybeat scene. They improved as they went along . . . . However, when bassist Stuart Sirrett left at the end of 1965 and Barry Ashall took over in early 1966, something kicked in with this band, which adopted the new name Wimple Winch and embraced a far more aggressive and compelling sound, with a crispness that suggested the mod sound that was coming into vogue, along with shades of psychedelia creeping into “Atmospheres” [see #384] . . . . None of the Wimple Winch singles were hits . . . . [but later demos] confirm the group was continuing to evolve and innovate even after it was dropped by Fontana, with the psychedelic influences moving comfortably to the forefront and pop-minded pastoral accents coloring the melodies. . . . [T]his is fascinating stuff for those enamored of the point where beat music fell under the lysergic influence, and reveals just how weird a seemingly ordinary, clean-cut band could get during the first era of acid.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/tales-from-the-sinking-ship-mw0000808821
Vernon Joynson adds that:
Their manager, Mike Carr, owned a club named The Sinking Ship near Mersey Square south in Stockport and, having become the house band, it wasn’t long before Wimple Winch secured a record contract . . . . In 1967 the Sinking Ship caught fire, and all the band’s gear was lost. They rallied to record some tracks that summer, but momentum was lost and they split soon afterwards. . . . When they disbanded in mid-1967, Lawrence Arendes joined Sponze, a jazzy progressive combo who backed Dave Berry [see #554, 778, 887, 955] on a 1969 45 “Huma Luma”/”Oh What a Life” . . . . They later evolved into Pacific Drift [see #550] . . . .
45cat.com says that the demos were done in ’68 — post-breakup:
Larry, Dee and Barry produced some unreleased recordings in May of 1968 including “Bluebell Wood”, “Lollipop Minds”, “Marmalade Hair”, “Coloured Glass” and “Those Who Wait”. A few months later, Dee and Larry with ex-Herman’s Hermits [see #300, 613, 639, 841] members Keith Hopwood and Derek Leckenby, gathered at the newly opened Pluto Studios in Manchester and provided four more tracks.
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