Simon Dupree and the Big Sound
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Simon Dupree and the Big Sound was a British pop band formed by three brothers, Derek Shulman, born 1947 (vocals), Phil Shulman, born 1937 (vocals, saxophone, trumpet), and Ray Shulman, born 1949 (guitar, violin, trumpet, vocals). They started as The Howling Wolves, and then became The Road Runners, playing R&B around the Portsmouth area, home of the Shulman brothers. Making up the rest of the group were Peter O'Flaherty (bass), Eric Hine (keyboards), and Tony Ransley (drums).
Their first few singles, notably "I See The Light" (1966), failed to chart and they only broke through at the end of 1967 with the psychedelic "Kites", a Top 10 hit in the UK Singles Chart. Regarding themselves as blue-eyed soul brothers, they hated it as it was so unrepresentative of their usual style. The follow-up, "For Whom The Bell Tolls", was only a minor hit, and a subsequent single "Broken Hearted Pirates", featuring an uncredited Dudley Moore on piano, made no headway at all.[citation needed]
A then unknown keyboard player by the name of Reginald Dwight was hired to fill in for an ill Eric Hine and he joined them on a 1967 tour in Scotland. They were asked to allow him to stay on, and he was almost recruited as a permanent member. They politely rejected the chance to record any of his compositions, and laughed when he told them he was adopting the stage name of Elton John.[1]
The group released two albums; Without Reservation, on Parlophone Records (1967), and a compilation Amen (1980). A more recent set, Part Of My Past (2004), includes all their singles, album tracks and previously unreleased material prepared for their second album, release of which was cancelled at the time.
Frustrated as being seen as one-hit wonders being pushed by their record label as a pop group rather than the soul band they had always intended to be, they disbanded in 1970 and the Shulman brothers went on to form the successful progressive rock group Gentle Giant.
