Paul Rudolph incarnation, 1969–1972 The group were formed after the three musicians from
the Deviants (
Paul Rudolph, guitar and vocals, Duncan Sanderson, bass and Russell Hunter, born Barry Russell Hunter, drums), dismissed their singer and leader
Mick Farren during a disastrous tour of the
West Coast of the United States. Prior to the tour, these musicians had collaborated on the
Think Pink solo album by
Twink, former drummer of
the Pretty Things. Most of the musicians involved were members of a drinking club called the
Pink Fairies Motorcycle Club and All-Star Rock and Roll Band, their name taken from a story written by Jamie Mandelkau. While the former Deviants' sidemen were still stranded in America after the tour, Twink, Farren and former
Tyrannosaurus Rex percussionist
Steve Peregrin Took had used the Pink Fairies name for various activities, including one shambolic gig in
Manchester (with Farren on vocals, Took on guitar, Twink on drums, and Twink's girlfriend Sally Meltzer, also known as "Silver Darling", on keyboards) as well as the recording of Farren's solo album,
Mona – The Carnivorous Circus. Within a few months Twink had left, followed by Farren, by which point Took had renamed the embryonic band
Shagrat. Took continued with Shagrat as a vehicle for his own songs, and the two bands would appear as separate acts at the
Phun City festival that summer. Their music was upbeat good-time
rock and roll, often jamming on
the Beatles' "
Tomorrow Never Knows",
the Ventures' "
Walk, Don't Run", "
Ghost Riders in the Sky" and other standards. Their sets climaxed with the lengthy "Uncle Harry's Last Freakout", essentially an amalgam of old Deviants riffs that included extended guitar and double drum solos. They were closely associated with the
UK underground, being based in the
Ladbroke Grove scene and playing festivals, benefits, and free concerts.
Polydor Records commissioned the group to record a single, "The Snake" backed with "Do It", and were happy enough with the results to offer the group an album contract. The debut album
Never Never Land was released in 1971. This new three-piece then recorded the 1973 album
Kings of Oblivion. and follow up single "Broken Statue".
1980s and 1990s In the early 1980s, Wallis, Sanderson and drummer George Butler (ex-Lightning Raiders) recorded and played live, the albums
Previously Unreleased (1982) and
the Deviants'
Human Garbage (live 1984) being released. The band went under many names including the Police Cars, the Police Sleighs, the Donut Dunkers of Death, and finally the Love Pirates Of Doom, the most settled line-up being Wallis, Sanderson, Butler and second guitarist Andy Colquhoun (ex-Warsaw Pakt & Brian James'
Tanz Der Youth). In 1987,
Jake Riviera, head of
Demon Records, offered a recording contract for a reformed Pink Fairies. Of the five group members,
Paul Rudolph was not involved, collaborated with the band to produce two tape releases (
Silence Of The Hams and
Son Of Ham) and two CDs (
Son Of Ham extended version and
Hogwatch) for subscribers, all featuring entirely unreleased music by members of the band in various side projects (the Deviants, Lightning Raiders etc.), radio sessions and specially written material. In common with many 'official' Pink Fairies releases the artwork was by the late underground cartoonist Edward J. Barker (I.T., Nasty Tales) noted for his Largactalites cartoons and his pig and crow
caricatures. Much of the magazine was actually written by ex-band members and by longtime associate, road manager, 'wet nurse' and manager of
Dingwalls, Boss Goodman, who went on to become a renowned chef, once cooking for US President
Bill Clinton at the Portobello Gold. In the mid-1990s Twink collaborated with Rudolph and the pair recorded 1996's
Pleasure Island and 1997's
No Picture, released as the Pink Fairies on Twink's own label. Twink also issued a plethora of albums featuring outtakes, alternative versions,
BBC sessions and live material including:
The Golden Years 1969-1971,
Do It,
Live at Weeley Festival 1971 and ''Mandies and
Mescaline Round at Uncle Harry's
(1998). was published by Headpress. In September 2009, the What a Bunch of Sweeties
line-up (Rudolph, Sanderson and Hunter) re-united in the studio to record a new version of "Do It" for the various artists CD Portobello Shuffle: A
Testimonial To Boss Goodman And Tribute To The Deviants & Pink Fairies''. The CD was a fund-raiser for Goodman, who was suffering from the after-effects of a stroke. In 2011, Farren and Colquhoun returned to the UK from Los Angeles after nearly 20 years in exile. They teamed up with the rhythm section of Hunter and Sanderson, along with second guitarist Tim Rundall and percussionist Jaki Windmill, for a number of appearances. This line-up performed on the 'Spirit of 71' stage at the
2011 Glastonbury Festival - 40 years after the Pink Fairies' previous appearance at that event - under the name 'Mick Farren & The Last Men Standing'. Without Rundall, they later performed as The Deviants until Farren's death in 2013. In 2014, the Pink Fairies reformed with a line-up of Hunter, Sanderson, Colquhoun, Windmill and second drummer Butler. Initially announcing two dates - The Robin 2 in Bilston on 15 May and 100 Club in London on 17 May - more dates were later added up to October 2015. A new album called
Naked Radio was released after a
Pledgemusic campaign ended on 12 February 2017. Rudolph completed recordings with Motörhead's first drummer
Lucas Fox and
Hawkwind bass player
Alan Davey in Austin, Texas, to be released as a Pink Fairies album on
Cleopatra Records in 2018. One track appeared on the 2017 compilation
Halloween Garage Blues. The LP
Resident Reptiles was released on August 24, 2018. A second album by this line-up,
Screwed Up, was released in July 2023. Stone died November 2016. Butler died in January 2018. Goodman died on 22 March 2018. Wallis died on 19 September 2019, and Sanderson died just two months later on 20 November 2019. Rundall died in January 2022, and Hunter died on 19 December 2023, at the age of 77. ==Band members==