THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,927) The Kinks a.k.a. “The Tol-Puddle Martyrs” — “Nellie Bligh”
In ’68, the Kinks [see #100, 381, 417, 450, 508, 529, 606, 623, 753, 865, 978, 1,043, 1,108, 1,330, 1,451, 1,591, 1,697, 1,784, 1,907] released this single in Australia in the guise of an obscure Australian band named the Tol-Puddle Martyrs (as they had done the prior year (see #1,653)). But there is no mistaking Ray Davies’ fingerprints. First, “This single sounds exactly like a Kinks cover” (verysixty, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/tol_puddle_martyrs/love_your_life___nellie_bligh/) with its “rather fey, extremely late-’60s Kinks-influenced perkiness” and “some of the most accurate emulations of the circa 1966-1967 Kinks sound, though with a rawer fuzz guitar than the Kinks were using at that point.” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-tol-puddle-martyrs-mn0001442992#biography, https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-tol-puddle-martyrs-mw0000303751) Ranko1964 says “if it were a Kinks song [it] would be held up as another example of Ray Davies’ genius”. (https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/tol_puddle_martyrs/love_your_life___nellie_bligh/) Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!!
Second, even the name of the band reflects Ray’s inimitable sense of humor — referring to “an 1834 incident in which six farm workers in Tolpuddle, England, were banished to Australia for unionizing, subsequently becoming known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs.” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-tol-puddle-martyrs-mn0001442992#biography) Or maybe they were martyred for trying to preserve the village green?!
But, why in the world did the Kinks engage in this lark? Well, as we know, Ray was deeply affected by his sister Rosy’s emigration to Australia in ’64. Wikipedia cites Thomas Kitts’ Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else in telling us that:
“Rosy Won’t You Please Come Home” [see #623] was inspired mainly by Rosy Davies, the sister of Ray and Dave Davies. She, along with her husband, Arthur Anning, had moved to Australia in 1964, which devastated Ray to a great extent. On the day that they moved, Ray Davies broke down on the beach after a gig. “I started screaming. A part of my family had left, possibly forever. … I collapsed in a heap on the sandy beach and wept like a pathetic child”, Davies said of the incident. Dave Davies added, “All of a sudden, the fact that they were really leaving finally hit Ray. He ran to the sea screaming and crying.” Rosy and Arthur’s departure later inspired the premise for the Kinks’ 1969 concept album, Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) [see #450].
Well, when the Kinks toured Australia in ’65 in support of Manfred Mann [see #78-79, 146, 698, 1,344] (https://www.austourdbase.com/the-kinks.html), Ray and Rosy cooked up the Martyrs, maybe to calm nerves.
The Martyrs remained obscure out of necessity — they weren’t going out on tour! Richie Unterberger quips that: “[N]ot many people heard them outside of Australia at the time of their release. (Actually, not a whole lot of people heard them inside Australia either.)” (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-tol-puddle-martyrs-mn0001442992#biography) Ha, ha, ha!!! Ranko1964 writes that these “guys from Bendigo didn’t have the same cache [as the Kinks] and regretably th[e single] sank without a trace.” https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/tol_puddle_martyrs/love_your_life___nellie_bligh/
In any event, the fake biography of the band goes like this, per Kimbo:
Formerly known as Peter & the Silhouettes (from Bendigo), they were one of the first regional pop/rock bands to be given the opportunity to record. The only two songs recorded were: “Claudette Jones” and “The Natural Man”, which appeared on a compilation album, titled The Scene From Northern Victoria showcasing the regional talent of the day. The Silhouettes changed their name to the Tol-Puddle Martyrs in 1966 and changed their line-up at the same time. . . . The band played up to four gigs a week in regional Victoria and southern NSW. In 1968 they were a finalist at the Hoadley’s Battle Of The Sounds won by The Groove. Their first single was released on the Pacific label ”Time Will Come”/”Social Cell” both sides being written by guitarist Peter Rechter. The single reached #6 on the Top Forty charts in central Victoria. The band then won a recording contract with Festival and travelled to Sydney to cut their second single, ”Love Your Life”/”Nellie Bligh” produced by Joe Halford. On the success of that record, they appeared on TV show Uptight. Unfortunately, they soon they disbanded when members got married or moved into another musical direction.
https://historyofaussiemusic.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-tol-puddle-martyrs.html
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