The Psych Ward–Think Pink by Twink
The Psych Ward–Think Pink by Twink
Twink, born John Alder, is a true one-of-a-kind. There is no other musician I know of who’s been making psychedelic music from the 60s to the present day. Sure, he had a brief flirtation with hard rock/proto-punk with The Pink Faries in the early 70s and served as a session man for much of his career, but he kept going back to psychedelic rock. In 1989, he cut a record with 80s psych rockers Plasticland called You Need a Fairy Godmother. The following year, he collaborated on an album called Magic Eye with psychedelic guitar whiz Nick Saloman of The Bevis Frond.
Although he remains obscure, he’s a seminal figure from London’s psychedelic music scene of the 60s. He played with Tomorrow, the one-album wonder that featured a pre-Yes Steve Howe, The Pretty Things, whose
He’s a seminal figure from London’s psychedelic music scene of the 60s.
album SF Sorrow is a critical contribution to the canon of British Psychedelia, the short-lived psychedelic duo Aquarian Age with Tomorrow bassist John Wood, who disbanded after one single, and The Pink Faries, an early 70s psychedelic and proto-punk band that forged a harder rocking sound after Twink’s departure. Twink also, incredibly, started a band in 1972 with Syd Barrett called Stars. This project, though, was profoundly short-lived, as Barrett walked off mid-performance and never played again.
His 1970 solo album, Think Pink, is a largely unheralded gem. It’s pure psychedelia from start to finish. When I interviewed Twink for this publication, I told him that his album is exactly what comes to my mind when people ask me what psychedelic music is. Think Pink is the epitome of psychedelic rock. In fact, there’s no track on the album that isn’t trippy. The album, much of which is instrumental, features contributions from Steve Peregrin Took, one-half (with Marc Bolan) of the folk duo Tyrannosaurus Rex and other members of the English psych band The Deviants.
Think Pink is the epitome of psychedelic rock.
The album kicks off with “The Coming of the Other One.” With a spoken word intro that channels Nostradamus, this is an otherwise instrumental track that evokes fear.
Think Pink, in fact, is approximately half-instrumental with the bulk of the instrumentation coming from the mellotron, percussion, chimes, pixie horn, vibraphone, and sitar, in addition to the standard guitars, bass, and drums, which are all used efficaciously in combination with various studio effects.
“Ten Thousand Words in a Cardboard Box”, sung with a megaphone or an effect that emulates one, is a standout track with eerie backing vocals, hyperactive drumming, and sound effects. It begins with the line, “A thousand colourful shadows dancing ’round my head/ Rejoicing to the awakening of the dead”. I think it’s a good bet that he was inspired by a psychedelic trip on this one. Incidentally, this song was the sole single by Twink’s short-lived duo Aquarian Age, although it’s done much differently here.
With eerie effects on vocals, various other sound effects, and inspired drumming, “Tiptoe on the Highest Hill” is another standout track. It begins with “Standing tiptoe on the Highest Hill/ Watching Dawn give birth to the light/ I cried” and creates an intensely trippy vibe.
Brilliantly produced by musician and jack-of-all-trades Mick Farren, formerly of The Deviants and later of The Pink Fairies, the album is an overlooked psychedelic masterpiece that deserves the attention of every psych-rock enthusiast.
Related: The 100 Best Psychedelic Rock Albums of the Golden Age
The Top 100 Psychedelic Rock Artists of All Time
The Top 200 Songs from the Original Psychedelic Era
The Psych Ward–Tomorrow by Tomorrow
Gallery
Recent Articles
