Thunderclap Newman's Biography
'Thunderclap Newman is a late 1960s one-hit wonder from the UK. Their single \"Something in the Air\", a 1969 UK Number One hit, remains in demand for television commercials, film soundtracks, and compilations.\n\nIn 1969, Pete Townshend, The Who\'s guitarist, created the band to play songs written by former Who roadie, drummer/singer John \'Speedy\' Keen (miscredited as \"Keene\" on the single\'s label). Townshend produced the single, arranged its strings, played its bass under the pseudonym Bijou Drains, and hired for it eccentric GPO engineer and jazz pianist Andy \'Thunderclap\' Newman (born Andrew Newman, in 1943) and 15-year-old Glaswegian Jimmy McCulloch.\n\nOriginally titled \"Revolution\", but later renamed because the Beatles released a single of that name, \"Something in the Air\" captured post-flower power rebellion, marrying McCulloch\'s sweeping acoustic and glowing electric guitars, Keen\'s powerful drumming and yearning falsetto, and Newman\'s felicitous piano solo.\n\nThe single was No. 1 after just three weeks, holding off Elvis Presley in the process. The scale of the song\'s success surprised everyone, and there were no plans to promote Thunderclap Newman with live performances. Eventually a line-up, augmented by Jim Pitman-Avory on bass and McCulloch\'s elder brother Jack on drums, played a handful of gigs. Personal records say the band played live only five times, although Keen referred to a two-month tour, playing \"everywhere\".\n\n\"Something in the Air\" appeared on the soundtracks of the films The Magic Christian (1969), Almost Famous (2000), The Dish (2000), The Girl Next Door (2004), and The Strawberry Statement (1970); the latter helped the single reach No. 25 in the United States. In the UK, a follow-up single, \"Accidents\", came out only in May 1970, and charted at No. 44 only for a week, and an album, Hollywood Dream, peaked in Billboard at No. 163.\n\nThe members of the band had little in common. Newman once commented, in a 1972 interview with New Musical Express, that he got on well with Keen but not with his music, while for McCulloch it was the other way round. Two more singles followed before the band split.'
Source: Wikipedia
