The Bogweeds
From the SNT Records deep archives comes The Bogweeds, the band’s classic 1963 debut album.
Founded in Birmingham in April of 1961, the original lineup of Simon, Eggy, Peter, and Rolf pioneered a hot new Mod sound that fired up the nascent club scene and soared up the pop charts. Their first single, “Shambalah Blues” charted in the London Underground, peaking at #3 on the popular pirate radio network, BBX. Producer Thomas C. Ball recorded the band’s debut album, The Bogweeds, over a frenetic and dangerous 3 day period, resulting in at least one arrest and a very serious injury (crushed right arm and the loss of 2 fingers) to Sound Engineer Second Class, Reginald Whitehead, earning him the nickname “8 Fingers Reggie”.
The album peaked at #2 on the UK charts for 17 weeks, building deep hope and anticipation for their second album, tentatively named “Pretty Lights”. The band decamped to Jamaica in 1964, becoming wrapped up in the emergent sound system/rocksteady movement. They were last seen on a trek to Strawberry Hill, claiming to have found a golden portal to nirvana (or some such ramblings). They were never heard from again, but SNT Records has unearthed the only serving demo take of “Pretty Lights”, the first song on the unreleased and fabled second album.