Tinkerbells Fairydust

 Twenty Ten

Marjorine

The Worst That Could Happen

In My Magic Garden

Never My Love

You Keep Me Hanging On

Lazy Day

Every Minute Every Day

Sheila's Back In Town

Jeff's Boogie

They Didn't Believe Me

Whole World

Happy

1969

Where to begin and what to say about Tinkerbell’s Fairydust and a vinyl record that is one of the most highly sought after among collectors, not because of the music, but because of the rarity.

Despite being praised by John Peel, who seems never to have heard a song he didn’t like, after a couple of singles and BBC radio airplay, Tinkerbell’s Fairydust set themselves up for a series of problems. First, they were never able to secure the rights to the name Tinkerbell, and second, they never even attempted to secure the rights to the songs they covered on this album … with the opening track “You Keep Me Hanging On” being a Supremes’ cover, though Tinkerbell’s Fairydust covered the Vanilla Fudge version of the song, leading me to ask, “Why in the world would they decide to do a cover of a cover?”

One would think that in band containing no less than eight players, that at least one member would have the talent to come up with some original material, or at least the chops not to record covers of some of the most unhip AM radio friendly sunshine harmonic pop successful songs of the era, songs that included the Association’s “Never My Love,” “Lazy Day” by Spanky & Our Gand, and the oh so silly, “The Worst That Could Happen” by the Brooklyn Bridge … and they don’t even cover these songs equally as well. And worst of all, the band envisioned themselves a straight ahead psychedelic rock n’ rollers, even branding themselves with a name that was drug suggestive. Nevertheless, in 1969 Decca shined a light on Tinkerbell and they cut their record [SKL/LK 5028], with suggestions that this was for the Japanese market only, as their singles seemed to be hits here, with the cover of “Lazy Days” going head to head with none other than The Beatles’ “Hey Jude.” Now to Decca’s credit, it was instantly recognized that this record was going to be a monumental flop, so the album was pulled, leaving an actual handful of vinyl that survived … two test-pressings and perhaps four finished copies that as I said, jettisoned these records into the stratosphere when it came to collectors.

Of course, with the value of these records few had actually heard them, and rumors, as rumors will, abounded around this release, with the record’s value being in the rarity, and no one citing how bad the music actually was, meaning that those wearing the suits and ties of the recording industry saw these outrageous prices as some sort of indicator, and thought this meant that some hidden gem had escaped them, that people would be clamoring at the gates for a copy, and to that end, Tinkerbell’s Fairydust was reissued in 1998 as both a CD and a vinyl LP.

In all honesty, I cringe when I even say Tinkerbell’s Fairydust, and fall to the ground laughing when people try to tell me that the ups of the music far outweigh the downs, that the cover of “You Keep Me Hanging On” is overlooked and hard rocking, that the music is gritty and even adventurous, that other tracks [and all were laid down in 1967] such as ”Twenty Ten” was a forward looking saga into the pastoral progressive sounds solidly made famous by the likes of Barclay James Harvest or the Moody Blues, implying that Tinkerbell’s Fairydust were some sort of Sgt. Pepper forerunners of all things to come.

All that the reissues have done is to drive down the value of the originals, with people squaring off as to the value of the music, which should probably remain under appreciated and overlooked for all time.

*** The Fun Facts: Tinker Bell [actually two words] was a character from the 1904 play “Peter Pan” by J.M. Barrie, and the novel “Peter and Wendy.” A ‘tinker’ was someone who had the skill to do metal working, hence Tinker Bell was a fairy who mended the pots and kettles in the fairy community, with her speech composed of the sounds of tinkling bells, and only understood by those familiar with the language of fairies. Actually her ‘dust’ was not called ‘fairy dust’ [again two words] but ‘pixie dust.’