What You're Not Listening To

What You're Not Listening To


Phil May Was The Prettiest Thing

September 21, 2020

A tribute to one of the greatest “cult” bands of all time, which featured lead singer and songwriter Phil May, Rock and Roll’s first true bisexual frontman. #bivisibilityday #britishinvasion #garagerock #psychedelic #guitarrock

I found out about the amazing history of The Pretty Things in a very roundabout way, as I am certain many others do who weren’t around during their initial Swinging London period of brief commercial success. I was at the library, and reading a book about Led Zeppelin. Guitar legend Jimmy Page was quoted about how amazing The Pretty Things were, a group he had signed to his Swan Song label, and was disappointed their albums weren’t selling well.

Phil May, performing live at the BBC with The Pretty Things, 1974. Photo by Fin Costello, courtesy of Redferns.

The library didn’t have any recordings in their collection of the band. Undaunted, I went to the one place I thought would have some: the radio station I interned at. I asked one of the male DJ’s there about the band. He looked at me strangely, and then said, “Oh yeah, that band with the queer lead singer. Won’t play that shit. It’s bad enough I gotta play that faggot Bowie.”

Front cover of Get The Picture?, 1965. Courtesy of Fontana/UMG.

Mind you, this was a rock radio station that once described itself as “progressive” and “underground”. Like the British heavy rock band UFO once sang, “Oh my, how the times have changed.”

Pretty Things in 1965 Netherlands from left to right: Brian Pendleton, John Stax, Dick Taylor, Phil May, and Viv Prince. Photographer: Joop van Bilsen (ANEFO) – GaHetNa (Nationaal Archief NL).

That singer was Phil May. He fronted The Pretty Things, a band whom, at the time, were reported to have the longest hair of any male act in England in the early 1960’s. Dick Taylor, the original guitarist, was a founding member of The Rolling Stones.

They weren’t Beatles pin-ups, were raunchier and dirtier sounding than The Stones, no ultra-flash guitar playing like the Yardbirds, not as loud as The Who, no English stylistic musings like The Kinks and no Pop sensibility like The Dave Clark Five. What they did have was an amazing group bond, ultra-freak energy and a sound that would come to define what is now labeled garage rock; what they lacked in virtuosity, they more than made up for in heart and soul.

The cover of S.F. Sorrow, the very first Rock opera. Cover Illustration by Phil May, courtesy of EMI.

The Pretty Things would go on to have a 55 year career as a recording and touring outfit. Unlike their initial contemporaries, their legend, and fan base, grew as the years went by, even crashing the servers of a reunion gig live-streamed on the internet several years ago due to overwhelming demand.

Phil May, singer of English rock band “The Pretty Things” photographed in London, United Kingdom circa 1965. Photo by Wolfgang Kuhn/United Archives via Getty Images.

They would break-up and reform often, with May being the sole member in all line-ups. May conceived of the very first Rock opera, S.F. Sorrow, released six months before Tommy by The Who in the U.K. In hindsight, it sounds more Pink Floyd than even The Wall did. An American pressing, released by Motown (yes, THAT Motown), was riddled with a strange cutout cover and truly poor mixing.

During the late-1960’s, just to make some extra money, the group would record under the name Electric Banana, providing the music to several low budget films, which ran the gamut from horror flicks to soft-...