We Are Ever So Clean

Inspired by The Yardbirds, guitarist Brian Godding and bassist Brian Belshaw left their day jobs to start the Ingoes in 1964. After signing with manager Giorgio Gomelsky in 1965, he promptly sent them to Paris to hone their trade. They recorded a few singles and an EP, adding guitarist Jim Cregan along the way, before returning to the UK in 1967 to record their first album. By that time, Kevin Westlake had joined on drums, and psychedelia was in full swing. Gomelsky fashioned the band as a "cross between The Beatles and the Bee Gees" and rechristened them as the Blossom Toes. However, Polydor usurped control of the sessions, bringing in orchestrator David Whittaker and a host of session musicians to reshape the Toes' music. That said, We Are Ever So Clean is still a classic flower power record. When the album is on, it stands as some of the best music of the era. "Look at Me I'm You" kicks off, the psychedelia in full regalia, while the melodic popsike of "I'll Be Late for Tea" is infectious. As the hooks of "Telegram Tuesday" attest, Godding shines as a songwriter. His "What on Earth" is the album's gemstone, and the production couldn't be a better fit. A few tracks are a little too clever or contrived, and easily identified by their titles (and mostly written by Westlake): "The Remarkable Saga of the Frozen Dog," "People of the Royal Parks," etc. But great album or not, the band were unhappy with the sessions and Westlake promptly left the band. John "Poli" Palmer, previously in Deep Feeling, joined on percussion and vibes, but his term was short-lived. Unable to play the album live, the band's disastrous gigs ordered a rethink and a new direction was soon put to order. The album sunk with little trace, but has become a cult classic in the ensuing decades since its release.