Slithey Tove

The band was germinated when Simon Whaley (guitar) met Simon Burgin (guitar) in an Essex college in 1989 and went to work on Whaley’s backlog of demos, musical whiffs and nick nacks. They made ‘The Si’s tape’ which became an inspiration and quickly a band materialised via college friends Aaron Liddard (sax) and Toby Baron (drums) to develop the tunes. The band was completed with Conrad Winchester (bass) and occasional Steve Baker (guitar/perc) from psyche band Triptych. Together they started to gig, embellishing the tunes with extended jams and never playing a song the same way twice. They played double bills with The Green Ray around East London, for whom Simon was drummer with his brother Ken Whaley on bass. Burgin and Liddard were also Green Ray players later on. Slithey Tove quickly became a draw for their fun psychedelic gigs with odd timings and mid-song genre shifts. The band’s on-stage joy was infectious. They were soon playing the mushroom parties and pub skittle alleys of Devon, to the student digs of Manchester, as well as demos and squats, thriving in the heady days of the free-festival scene in the early 90s. They also played Glastonbury, Norfolk Festival of the Sun and Cambridge’s Strawberry Fair. The Tove family grew with the addition of Doug Southall (vox) from ‘Blitzed’ and David Reed (percussion) to become a tighter and more versatile band, weaving humour with highly practiced syncopations akin to Zappa, with the spirit of Gong and the driving riffs of Zeppelin. At other times they could be gentle and pastorale. Their gigs became an ironic pastiche; a smorgasbord of styles that offered unpredictability and musical surprises. Some of their range is demonstrated on this album. An exciting support act, Slithey Tove played with The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Doctor and the Medics and were occasionally joined by Ozric Tentacles’ flautist Jumping John. As the decade wore on and the free festival scene became prohibited, the band slowly disintegrated with little to show except a handful of live recordings. Conrad moved away and formed Whip the Minister, Toby became the drummer for Ray Davis. Aaron moved to Manchester to become a renowned jazz saxophonist and later joined Amy Winehouse’s band at her peak. Simons Whaley and Burgin continued with The Green Ray, where Whaley still resides, now on guitar. After Simon Burgin’s sad passing in 2000 the band came together to support The Green Ray in Walthamstow once again, joined on bass by Jonty Bankes whilst on sabbatical from The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, and the magic was reignited. They continued to play gigs here and there for a while but commitments, babies and emigration got in the way, so Aaron suggested recording an album instead. Several years of studious tinkering later and we are proud to share the results. So here it is folks! Slithey Tove’s Big Top of musical acts.