Wild 90 (1968)

Talk today about Britain's psychedelic psyxties, and it's the light whimsy of Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd, the gentle introspection of the village green Kinks, Sgt. Pepper, and "My White Bicycle" which hog the headlines. People have forgotten there was an underbelly as well, a seething mass of discontent and rancor which would eventually produce the likes of Hawkwind, the Pink Fairies, and the Edgar Broughton Band. It was a damned sight more heartfelt, too, but the more some fete the lite-psych practitioners of the modern age, the further their reality will recede. Fronted by journalist/author/wild child Mick Farren, the Deviants spawned that reality. Over the years, three ex-members would become Pink Fairies; for subsequent reunions, sundry ex-Fairies would become honorary Deviants…

In the golden age of the British R&B revival, few groups created as much excitement and controversy as the Pretty Things. They came up alongside the Rolling Stones in the early 1960s, but were deemed by critics and fans as wilder and bluesier than even Mick Jagger & co. When long-haired Phil May sang and shook his maracas with manic intensity, audiences and record buyers knew they were in for a wild ride.