In 1969, Pete Townshend of The Who, was the catalyst behind the formation of the band Thunderclap Newman. The concept was to create a band to perform songs written by former Who roadie and drummer John 'Speedy' Keen, who had written "Armenia City in the Sky", the first track on The Who Sell Out. Townshend recruited jazz pianist Andy 'Thunderclap' Newman (a friend from art college), and 15-year-old guitarist Jimmy McCulloch. Keen played the drums and sang the lead.
Townshend produced the single "Something In The Air", arranged the strings, and played bass under the pseudonym Bijou Drains. "Something in the Air" captured post-flower power rebellion, and reached No. 1 on the UK charts just three weeks after release, 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.
"Something in the Air" appeared on the soundtracks of several films The Magic Christian (1969) and The Strawberry Statement (1970) (which helped the single reach No. 25 in the United States) and later Kingpin (1996), Almost Famous (2000), The Dish (2000), and The Girl Next Door (2004). It also appeared on and was the title of the second disc in the Deluxe Edition of the Easy Rider soundtrack. The song has been covered by many bands, and was a hit for Tom Petty in 1994. To me it's a great song, but also the epitome of the late 60's and the revolution attitude.
