Mandrake Paddle Steamer

Mandrake Paddle Steamer was a British psychedelic rock band formed in 1967 by vocalist Brian Engel and guitarist Martin Briley. Barry Nightingale, Martin Hooker and Paul Riordan later joined. They are best remembered for their single 'Strange Walking Man' The band was formed in 1968 when several of the above were at Walthamstow Art School students, and becoming heavily influencedby the psychedelic music and hippie ethos then emerging from America's West Coast.

They got together specifically to create an English version of the total music/LifeStyle trip then being espoused by The New California scene, and were probably one of the first UK bands to do so, rather than evolving (as did Pink Floyd and Dantalions Chariot, for instance) from existing blues R&B or Jazz bands. Mandrake launched their own total concept 'scene' in the form of the Ascard Club, which 'happened every Sunday at the Angel Hotel Stratford, in East London. In a freaked out atmosphere, fiendishly illuminated by Pale Green Limousine Light Show, the band and regular guests like Sam Apple Pie would play and everybody would get heartily stoned.

Sue Ritter, who worked for Polydor Records, took one of their demo taped songs, 'October Country' to that Labels Andy Black, who decided it was a bit way-out for Polydor. Undeterred Sue then played it to Martin Wilcox of publishers Shapiro Bernstein,and they were sufficiently impressed to make a set of demos of their original material.......What ever happened to those demos ?.......

Following some concerted plugging by Shapiro Bernstein and the bands manager, East End businessman John Lindsay, Mandrake Paddle Steamer were eventually give an audition by EMI Records at Manchester Square. Brian Engel recalls that the big brass didn't know what to make of them at all, but seamed sufficiently interested and/or bewildered to give the band a try and thus it was that they were teamed with producer Rob Finnis and Engineer Jeff Jarrett at Abbey Road Studios, to make their first single.

References

1 Mandrake were also regulars at Stratfords "Bottleneck Blues Club" at the Railway Tavern.