The World of Oz was an English

psychedelic pop Psychedelic pop (or acid pop) is a genre of pop music that contains musical characteristics associated with psychedelic music. Developing in the mid-to-late 1960s, elements included " trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, ...

band from the 1960s. The band released a self-titled LP in 1968 and two charting singles, "The Muffin Man" and "King Croesus", before fading into relative obscurity. The album gained wider recognition after it was re-issued on CD.

Career

The band formed in January 1968 in Birmingham by Chris Evans and David Reay who recruited David 'Kubie' Kubinec and Tony Clarkson. They were signed to Sparta Florida Music on 13 February 1968, and relocated to London to record with

Deram Records Deram Records was a subsidiary record label of Decca Records established in the United Kingdom in 1966. At the time, U.K. Decca was a different company from the Decca label in the United States, which was owned by MCA Inc. Deram recordings w ...

. Their song, "The Muffin Man" was released on 3 May 1968, and it was a minor hit in the UK and reached the Top 10 in a number of European countries, including the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. However, a week after the single was released, their manager

Barry Class Barry Class is an entrepreneur, former music store chain owner, band manager, record label founder, musical director, producer and recording studio owner. His greatest success as a manager was with the soul group The Foundations. He also managed t ...

left for America to manage his other band,

The Foundations The Foundations were a British soul band who were primarily active between 1967 and 1970. The group's background was West Indian, White British and Sri Lankan. Their 1967 debut single " Baby Now That I've Found You" reached number one in the ...

, and Michael Levi who took over management duty cut the promotional budget for the record, with the result that the single failed to chart higher. Despite the lack of a hit US single, the band recorded the album with changing lineups.

Geoff Nicholls Geoffrey James Nicholls (29 February 1948 – 28 January 2017) was an English guitarist and keyboardist, and longtime member of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath until 2004. Nicholls also played in the NWOBHM band Quartz before joining Black S ...

replaced Kubinec when the album was half-recorded. Rob Moore then replaced Reay who left to move into group management. They released a second single "King Croesus" on 16 August 1968. The album was released in February 1969 to favourable reviews, and "Willow’s Harp" was also released as a single on February 7, 1969. The group appeared on the

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

television program, "

Colour Me Pop ''Colour Me Pop'' was a British music TV programme broadcast on BBC2 from 1968–1969. It was a spin-off from the BBC 2 arts magazine show '' Late Night Line-Up''. Designed to celebrate the new introduction of colour to British television, it ...

" on 8 March 1969. Also in 1969, they were one of the musical acts (alongside

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

, Tristram Carey, Daphne Oram and others) featured in David Buckton's BBC television documentary on electronic music production, "The Same Trade As Mozart", in the "Workshop" series. Their TV appearance was used to explain

multi-track recording Multitrack recording (MTR), also known as multitracking, is a method of sound recording developed in 1955 that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources or of sound sources recorded at different times to create a cohesive who ...

techniques. A further single, "The Hum-Gum Tree", was released in May 1969, although according to the files of Decca this release in Britain was unofficial. Their 1969 releases failed to achieve any level of commercial success, and lack of success prompted the band to break up soon after.

Line-up

* Christopher Robin Evans (

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

) * Tony Clarkson (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

) * David 'Kube' Kubinec (guitar/

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

) * David Reay (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

) *

(organ/guitar) * Rob Moore (drums)

Discography

Albums

* ''The World of Oz'' (March 1969)

Singles

(all of the above singles tracks except for "Peter's Birthday" were from their LP)

References

External links

The World of Oz at Marmalade SkiesThe Muffin Man video
{{DEFAULTSORT:World of Oz British pop music groups Deram Records artists English psychedelic rock music groups Psychedelic pop music groups Musical groups established in 1968 Musical groups disestablished in 1969