Kaleidoscope (UK band) (2025)

Kaleidoscopewere anEnglishpsychedelic rockband that were active between 1967 and 1968.[1]The band's songs combined the elements ofpsychedeliawith lyrics.[2][3]The band were also known at various times asThe Sidekicks,The Key,I Luv WightandFairfield Parlour.[4]

Contents

  • 1 Contents
  • 2 History[edit]
  • 3 Fairfield Parlour[edit]
  • 4 Band members[edit]
  • 5 Discography[edit]
    • 5.1 Singles[edit]
    • 5.2 Albums[edit]

Contents[]

[hide]*1History

History[edit][]

Having performed since 1963 under the nameThe Sidekicks, they becameThe Keyin November 1965, before settling upon the name Kaleidoscope when they signed a deal withFontana Recordsin January 1967 with the help of the music publisher Dick Leahy.[5][6]The group consisted of Eddy Pumer onguitar, Steve Clark onbassandflute, and Danny Bridgman ondrumsand thevocalistPeter Daltrey, who also playedorganand joined the band in March 1964.[5][7][8]Most of the band's songs were composition of Pumer's music and Daltrey's lyrics.[7]While the group did not achieve commercial success in its time, it retains a loyal fan-base and its recordings are remembered in high regard.[2][3]

The band's first single "Flight from Ashiya" (b/w "Holidaymaker") was released on 15 September 1967 byFontana Records, a little earlier than the band's first albumTangerine Dream.[1]The song was telling about an impending plane crash.[1][3]The single got quite an amount of radio airplay but failed to reach the charts.[3]Years later, the song has appeared on manycompilation albums, includingNuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969, the secondbox setof theNuggetsseries andAcid Drops, Spacedust & Flying Saucers: Psychedelic Confectionery.[9]Two months later,Tangerine Dreamproduced by Dick Leahy was released. The album included "Flight From Ashiya", "Please Excuse My Face" and "Dive into Yesterday" which are now considered some the band's best songs.[10]Meanwhile the band were aired performing live on severalBBC radioshows.[1]A new single was released in 1968 called "Jenny Artichoke" (b/w "Just How Much You Are") that was inspired byDonovan's, "Jennifer Juniper".[1]After the release the band traveled around Europe, and when inNetherlandssupportedCountry Joe and the Fishat the Amsterdam Concert Hall.[1]Faintly Blowing, again produced by Leahy, was released later, in 1969 byFontana Records.[1]This time the band's sound was heavier but the tracks still included psychedelic elements with notable lyrics but it failed to reach the charts.[1][11]After the failure ofFaintly Blowing, they released two more singles which were songs by other writers and, after a radio session inBBCMaida Vale Studios, the band never again appeared as Kaleidoscope.[1]

Fairfield Parlour[edit][]

By the end of the decade, failing with their last single "Balloon", the band moved on with their new manager DJ David Symonds, whom they met during the BBC sessions, asFairfield Parlour, with the same line up.[12]Despite the fact that they were now being called aprogressive rockband, their music did not change much and still included fairy-tale lyrics with psychedelic harmony.[13]The band's first single as Fairfield Parlour, "Bordeaux Rosé", was released on 17 April 1970 on theVertigolabel.[12]It got a considerable amount of radio airplay, but failed to achieve success. After releasing several singles, the albumFrom Home to Homewas released on 14 August 1970 with Symond's production.[12]While the band was getting ready to release the album, they again used another name for themselves,I Luv Wight, as they were asked to record the theme tune for theIsle of Wight Festival, "Let the World Wash in", which got released a week after the release of the albumFrom Home to Home.[12][13]They made the opening for the festival as Fairfield Parlour.[14]The band's second album,White Faced Lady, which they financed independently, was recorded inMorgan Studiosin London.[13][15]Attempts at finding a record company failed and the album was shelved until 1991 when it was released under the name Kaleidoscope on their own label.[15][16]The band's last appearance was at a concert in Bremen, Germany, in 1972.[15]

In 2003, the independent record label Circle released the Kaleidoscope and Fairfield Parlour's 1967 to 1971 BBC radio sessions recordings in an album calledPlease Listen To The Pictures.[17]

Band members[edit][]

Discography[edit][]

Singles[edit][]

as Kaleidoscope

  • "Flight from Ashiya" / "Holidaymaker" (Fontana 863, 15 September 1967)
  • "A Dream for Julie" / "Please Excuse My Face" (Fontana 895, 26 January 1968)
  • "Jenny Artichoke" / "Just How Much You Are" (Fontana 964, 6 September 1968)
  • "Flight from Ashiya" / "(Further Reflections) In the Room of Percussion" (Netherlands only) (Fontana 906, 1968)
  • "Do It Again for Jeffrey" / "Poem" (Fontana TF1002, 14 March 1969)
  • "Balloon" / "If You So Wish" (Fontana TF1048, 25 July 1969)
  • "Nursey, Nursey" (free withBucketfull of Brainsmagazine) (1 May 1989)

[18]

as Fairfield Parlour

  • "Bordeaux Rose" / "Chalk on the Wall" (17 April 1970)
  • "Emily" / "Sunnyside Circus" (Australia only) (1970)
  • "In My Box" / "Glorious House Of Arthur" (France promo-only) (1970)
  • "Just Another Day" / "Caraminda" / "I Am All the Animals" / "Song for You" (24 July 1970)
  • "Eyewitness" / "Epilog" (Japan only) (1970)
  • "Bordeaux Rose" / "Baby Stay for Tonight" (19 March 1976)
  • "Bordeaux Rose" / "Overture to White Faced Lady" (1976) (Australia only)

[18]

as I Luv Wight

  • "Let the World Wash In" / "Medieval Masquerade" (Philips 6006 043, 21 August 1970)

[18]

Albums[edit][]

as The Sidekicks

  • The Sidekicks Sessions 1964-1967(2003)

as Kaleidoscope

  • Tangerine Dream(Fontana (S)TL 5448, 24 November 1967)
  • Faintly Blowing(Fontana STL5491, 11 April 1969)
  • White Faced Lady(The Kaleidoscope Record Company KRC 001 CD, 14 February 1991)
  • Please Listen to the Pictures(Circle Records CPWL/CPWC 104, 1 September 2003)

[18][19][20]

as Fairfield Parlour

Kaleidoscope (UK band) (2025)

References

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