TWINK - THINK PINK – 1970 (UK) space rock

Twink's real name was John Alder. In 1963 he drummed for a Colchester band, Dane Stephens and The Deep Beats, who later changed their name to The Fairies in 1964, when they signed to Decca.
By 1967, Alder assumed the name Twink and resurfaced in Tomorrow. He was then involved in The Pretty Things, playing on their S.F. Sorrow album in 1968, but by 1969 he'd left them too to form an early Pink Fairies line-up with Mick Farren and Steve Peregrin Took (from Tyrannosaurus Rex). He'd also recorded the above solo album with assistance from several musicians, including Took and various members of The Deviants. Twink sings as well as drums on the album, which is a mixture of his own songs (including some instrumentals) and poems. It is a very significant disc in the wilderness of British psychedelia. Its highlights included the opening cut, The Coming Of The Other One, with its Eastern-sounding gongs, bongos, sitars, backward tapes and sighs and screams; The Sparrow Is The Sign and Thousand Words In A Cardboard Box. It wasn't actually released until 1970, though. It is now very collectable but some copies were pressed on red vinyl and these are now ultra-rare. In 1970, Twink also formed Pink Fairies as a more stable unit with Mick Farren, but by mid-1971 Twink had left the group and shortly afterwards left the country too.
In 1972, he formed an outfit called Stars with Syd Barrett and bassist Jack Monk (ex-Delivery). They only lasted for half a gig before Barrett wandered off the stage - indeed, they must be a contender for one of the shortest-lived bands in history. Having married in 1974, Twink returned to the music scene in the late seventies but that is beyond the time span of this book.

As far as overlooked geniuses of the U.K. psychedelic underground go, the man known as Twink certainly belongs on the shelf alongside Kevin Ayers, Kevin Coyne, Syd Barrett, and Robert Wyatt. As drummer for the Pretty Things and, later, the Deviants, as well as being one-half of Shagrat with Steve Peregrin Took, Twink was integral in the creation of some of the U.K. psychedelic underground's most brilliant artifacts. His Think Pink session contains the classic Twink tracks "The Sparrow Is a Sign" and "The Coming of the Other One," which were cut with Steve Peregrin Took of Tyrannosaurus Rex fame. Incidentally, both tracks appear on the Shagrat album that was only officially released in 2001: Pink Jackets Required, which plays the sister album to the Twink solo outing in question. Think Pink is an incredibly varied album with no two songs resembling each other, but then one assumes an acid masterpiece like "Ten Thousand Words in a Cardboard Box" will stay on high rotation for at least a week on the stereos of most psychedelia fans, so overall album flow may not be such an issue. This is pure psychedelic acid rock of the highest order. If one can imagine a fusion of the Incredible String Band, Deviants, early Pink Floyd, and a fair dose of Twink's heredity as a member of Tomorrow and the Pretty Things, you get an idea of what he was up to. Not known for doing things in halves, he shows little restraint in the assembly of a group designed to tear the roof of the psychedelic scene. The band was made up of the Deviants guitarist Paul Rudolph -- the U.K. equivalent of Fred "Sonic" Smith -- who provides the most astonishing fuzz freak-outs and arrangements on the album. Other players included Viv Prince; Wally Waller; John Povey; Victor Unitt; Deviants bassist Honk; John Wood of Tomorrow; and, of course, the not-to-be underestimated contributions from Steve Peregrin Took. Regardless of the connotations the term "psychedelic" carries with it, it's not all Pink Fairies and Tolkien. Things get ominous and dark on "Fluid" and "I Remember Nothing"; then, by the first half of the album, the mind is expanded enough to take in side two, where the presence of Steve Took really starts to come into play. His brilliant "The Sparrow Is a Sign" is a psychedelic anthem that is worth acquiring the album for alone. Essential stuff, not to be missed by those following the U.K. underground psychedelic scene circa 1968-1972.

Twink Alder - Drums, Vocals
Paul Rudolph - Guitar, Bass, Vocals
John 'Junior' Wood - Bass
Wally Allen - Piano
John Povey - Sitar, Mellotron
Steve Peregrin Took - Guitar, Percussion, Vocals
Viv Prince - Drums (Mexican Grass War)
Mick Farren - Producer
1 The Coming of the Other One 3:37
2 Ten Thousand Words In A Cardboard Box 4:31
3 Dawn of Magic 1:43
4 Tiptoe on the Highest Hill 5:23
5 Fluid 4:04
6 Mexican Grass War 5:29
7 Rock an' Roll the Joint 2:46
8 Suicide 4:26
9 Three Little Piggies 3:15
10 The Sparrow Is A Sign 2:23

An extrememly psychedelic album from the famous drummer of other psychedelic bands. Aided by Steve Took and members of Deviants and Tomorrow this album shows varied psychedelia at its best. The opener "Coming of Other One" is a rather boring song with chanting. "Mexican Grass War" is not very good, and suffers from too much psych noodling. "Rock n Roll the Joint"is a better, funkier instrumental with a good pounding rhythm section. "Suicide" is more acoustic and yet spacey at the same time. The best song is the acidic "Ten Thousand Words in a Cardboard Box" with some fantastic guitar courtesy of the Deviants lead man. The last two tracks, stronly influenced by Steve Took have some value, especially the extreme trippiness "The Sparrow is the Sign." Highly recommended for any psych fans.

Highly recommended!
Rip from CD 256@ (full artwork included)
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