Phil May, RIP

Sorry to hear that Phil May, founder of the Pretty Things, has died.

Phil attended Forest’s Revolt In Style dinner at the Savoy Hotel in London shortly before the introduction of the smoking ban in 2007.

A few days earlier he had launched a campaign, All Light Up, to protest against the ban. Visitors to the website could download flyers, posters and a Pretty Things’ track, 'All Light Up', which was described as a ‘freedom of choice anthem’:

Play it loud and clear for all to hear, wherever you go. At home. In the car. In clubs and pubs. At work. And tell your friends to do the same!"

To put this in perspective, the Pretty Things had ‘history’. As this 2015 article explains:

The Pretty Things were the creation of original Rolling Stones guitarist Dick Taylor (who was Bill Wyman's predecessor) and the band were arguably the world's first “garage band”. Amongst the many citing them as a major influence are the Ramones, Iggy Pop, the Sex Pistols, Nirvana, The Libertines and the Who - Pete Townshend once said the 'S.F. Sorrow' rock opera by the Pretty Things was the model for 'Tommy'.

The band were also very heavily into drugs earlier than most others and were the target of the first rock drugs bust. On one occasion they were stopped by police in Brian Jones's Bentley with Judy Garland and Rudolph Nureyev also aboard. They were also banned for life from visiting Australia and New Zealand after causing a fire on an aeroplane.

Like many people my age I was aware of the band but it was a surprise, in 2007, to discover that they were still playing and recording.

A few weeks after the Savoy event I was contacted by the band’s manager and former drummer Mark St John. He wanted to talk about the ‘All Light Up’ campaign.

We met for breakfast at the Troubadour coffee house in Old Brompton Road, a venue with even more history than the Pretty Things:

Through the 50’s and 60’s this was one of the centres of London intellectual and artistic life. It’s where Private Eye was first produced and distributed; where the early Ban the Bomb meetings were held (the precursor to CND); and where the Black Panthers met when they left Paris after the ’68 riots. 

The Troubadour was the first place where Bob Dylan performed in London. Paul Simon, Martin Carthy, Redd Sullivan, Charlie Watts, Sammy Davis Jr and Jimi Hendrix have all played here. 

‘All Light Up', Mark told me, was part of a broader defence of civil liberties. How broad that was I never found out because the campaign soon fizzled out.

Years later however I read that apart from the chorus ‘All Light Up’ wasn’t really about smoking at all.

Interviewed by Jason Barnard for The Strange Brew, band members Frank Holland and Dick Taylor were asked about it:

Jason – Frank, one of my favourite Pretty Things tracks is the ‘All Light Up’ single from the Latest Writs compilation and Balboa Island album. You were involved in its writing.

Frank – I came up with the rhythm and the riff. Mark St John our manager came up with the idea as we needed a hook. He went “All Light Up!” Phil said “What? All right now!” [laughs] So it became “All Light Up”. Phil constructed some lyrics around that. It’s not really a pro-smoking song but the chorus is.

As a postscript the Pretty Things’ website adds:

Lead singer Phil May had taken on a one man crusade against the UK’s smoking ban ... his personal website ‘All Light Up’ was set up because “someone from rock & roll has got to stand up against this shitty piece of legislation, it may as well be me ...”

Predictably the effect on the smoking ban was nil, and the effect on the BBC’s fabled playlist was predictable ... Bye bye ‘All Light Up’ – Ho Hum!

Phil May, RIP.

Comments

[Pat Nurse]

I'll light one up now in his honour. RIP.