THE QUIET EXPLOSION
by
THE UGLY'S
The Ugly's left to right: John Hustwayte (bass),
John Holden (drums), Bob Burnett (guitar) and
Steve Gibbons (vocals)
This classic early psych-pop by the 1960’s Birmingham band The Ugly’s has a very distinctive organ sound played by Jimmy O’Neil on his Vox Continental organ. The Ugly’s formed from the late fifties band The Dominettes, Steve Gibbons, a young vocalist and harmonica player joined around 1960. They became The Ugly’s in 1963.
This track, ‘The Quiet Explosion’ was actually the B side to ‘A Good Idea’ and released in 1966. The writing credits are: Bob Burnett (guitarist who left the band in 1966), Jim Holden (left the band in 1968), Jimmy O’Neil (keyboard) and Steve Gibbons, who remained in the band until their demise in 1969 when he formed Balls with Keith Smart (drums), Dave Morgan (bass), and Richard Tandy (keyboards), also Trevor Burton (guitar) and Denny Lane (bass).
The Uglys first single release was ‘Wake up my mind’ and they released a further five singles:
Wake up my mind/Ugly Blues (PYE 7N 15858) 1965
It’s alright/A friend (PYE 7N 15968) 1965
A good idea/The quiet explosion (PYE 7N 17027) 1966
End of the season/Can’t recall her name (PYE 7N 17178) 1966
Real good girl/And the squire blew his horn (CBS 2933) 1967
I’ve seen the light/Mary Colinto (MGM 1465) 1968 (demo copies only)
The Quiet Explosion captures a mood with its anti-war lyrics and fear of nature’s destruction and the starvation of mankind. Steve Gibbons’ voice is perfect for the song’s sentiments and O'Neil's recurring hypnotic eerie organ chords and the amazing echo bass sound by the great John Hustwayte are ahead of their time while the drums thunder along with cool repetitive rolls. They rightfully should have attained the same status as The Yardbirds and The Who, but at least we still have this slice of perfect pop history – The Quiet Explosion!
THE QUIET EXPLOSION
If things go right and there’s no more trouble,
there’s no more fights that our problems double
when less mines to cave and there’s even less corrosion,
then be prepared for the quiet explosion!
In other lands where starvation is rife,
beggars hands are outstretched all their life.
But beggars can’t be choosers so their destiny is chosen,
each helpless voice is a quiet explosion!
War has been surpassed, peace descends at last,
but the harvest’s fast, growing small...
A quiet explosion bomb’s about to fall!
The world goes on fighting cold little wars,
but we must unite and all fight with one cause.
If men’s’ hearts grow much colder then their ears will soon be frozen
to the dangers of the quiet explosion!
War has been surpassed, peace descends at last,
but the harvest’s fast, growing small...
A quiet explosion bomb’s about to fall!
If things go right and there’s no more trouble,
there’s no more fights that our problems double
when less mines to cave and there’s even less corrosion,
then be prepared for the quiet explosion!
For more info on The Ugly’s see:
http://www.brumbeat.net/uglys.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6OYKtdotwo
