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  • William Leitch

"All of these and seven wonders more..."


KITES

SIMON DUPREE & THE BIG SOUND

PRODUCED BY DAVID PARAMOR/WRITTEN BY HAL HACKADAY & LEE POCKRISS

PARLOPHONE/OCTOBER 1967

UK CHART: 9

This is the first blog entry in a series where, as a tribute to my favourite music book This is Uncool by Garry Mulholland, I'm going to write a short entry of the 7" singles that I pick up in charity shops, at record fairs or have found their way to me through friends and family.

Kites was one I was after despite a flavour of cash-in. The Simon Dupree & The Big Sound name was generated to fit in with the times and the band later became prog rockers Gentle Giant, and were embarrassed by the Simon Dupree name and part of their career. The song was chosen by their manager from a recent publishing rights acquisition.

However, the song transcends these aspects and is a moody, atmospheric psychedelic record. No sitar, but a mellotron is present (for my money, the mix would be improved if the mellotron had been removed completely). Otherwise, it's a low-key psychedelia that takes a few listens to grab the hook of the chorus lines.

On a side-note, Simon Dupree & The Big Sound recorded a single named We are the Moles under the pseudonym The Moles, unleashing some of the frustration at changing their image to get the one hit of their career. Recorded at Abbey Road and released by Parlophone, The Beatles record label, the rumour built that it was the Fabs on the record. White label sales began to pick up before the story was quashed and the originators of the track were revealed. It's also worth a listen (YouTube link below) alongside the majestic Kites 7"inch.

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