Minstrel Tales: The Groundhogs’ Tony McPhee

London June 1^st 2009

While in London and heading for a great man’s funeral, I saw an ad in the Guradian. Under a cloud of sadness, it seemed like a little ray of sunshine. The Pretty Things, The Groundhogs and the Edgar Broughton Band.

So three days later, the Stoat and CK headed from Brighton to Aylesbury Friars for an evening of early 70’s Brit rock, and during the first intermission, we get to meet The Groundhogs’ Tony McPhee. 

So CK asks Tony do you by any chance remember playing the now defunct Glasgow Apollo in 1972 with Stray? Funny you should say that, replies McPhee, yeah, I do, and ‘ere’s why.

Back in ’72, Stray are opening for the Groundhogs, and decide to include some rather primitive pyrotechnics during their set. The crowd love it, and Tony and the boys are also impressed as they watch from the wings. Stray finish to rapturous applause and yet more uncontrolled explosions, and leave the stage triumphant. 

During the interval beers flow and then the Groundhogs hit the stage. Now this was the period in which McFee had started to introduce keyboards into the group’s sound. So on he goes, a bit tiddled and determined to top the support act’s performance. He’s pretty new to the whole keyboard thing, but undeterred. The crowd erupts as Tony approaches the keyboard setup for the opening number.

And then he stops. Every one of the instrument’s keys is black. The soot and smoke from Stray’s gunpowder-fuelled experiments is inch-deep. He can’t figure out the ivories from the ebonies. He’s not amused, but the boys in Stray think this is the highlight of the tour.

So, I see CK yesterday, and he tells me that he’s just checked out if the Groundhogs are playing more dates soon. It turns out that they’re touring the UK this Summer with….Stray. Wonder if there’ll be any keyboards or pyrotechnics this time around.