[ ]   [ ]   [ ]                        [ ]      [ ]   [ ]
Thunderclap Newman — Something In The Air
Album: Hollywood Dream
Avg rating:
7.4

Your rating:
Total ratings: 2035









Released: 1970
Length: 3:52
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Call out the instigators
Because there's something in the air
We got to get together sooner or later
Because the revolution's here

And you know it's right
And you know that it's right
We have got to get it together
We have got to get it together now

Lock up the streets and houses
Because there's something in the air
We got to get together sooner or later
Because the revolution's here

And you know it's right
And you know that it's right
We have got to get it together
We have got to get it together now

Hand out the arms and ammo
We're gonna blast our way through here
We got to get together sooner or later
Because the revolution's here

And you know it's right
And you know that it's right
We have got to get it together
We have got to get it together now
Comments (301)add comment
Ahhgg
 gjeeg wrote:

For your information, I was there.... and NO, there was NO bad music in 1970. That was the miracle.
Everything that came our way was transporting, fresh, alarming, revolutionary. A tsunami of world changing, consciousness changing sound.

Or maybe it's just my sweet embroidered memory.




You are right, it is called creativity and is wonderful.
 rulebritannia wrote:
bluedot wrote: This was among the awesome songs of all time, which is why TN is notable among the all-time one-hit wonders.


Thunderclap Newman gets a +1 for a cool band name!
Such a wonderful song ... of course it takes me back to my younger days - one of the songs of my life! 
The USP of this single was the great pub piano break played by a man so unlikely to be a member of a rock group...it was a novelty track really, pushed heavily on Top of the Pops. Catchy enough though. One hit wonder.
 Zep wrote:


"I Think I Love You", The Partridge Family ?



Dana, "All Kinds of Everything"? It won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1970.
 gjeeg wrote:

For your information, I was there.... and NO, there was NO bad music in 1970. That was the miracle.
Everything that came our way was transporting, fresh, alarming, revolutionary. A tsunami of world changing, consciousness changing sound.

Or maybe it's just my sweet embroidered memory.




It doesn't matter. Either way is fine and you put it so eloquently.
GREAT TUNE!!  I  bought this album right after it came out. I was 15yrs old.  WNEW FM 102.7  NYC, used to play it a lot.   Thanx RP!   
In the summer of 1981 I was working in an Argentinian/Tex Mex joint on Long Acre in Covent Garden, London. We used to have live music and for a few weeks a really strange comedy band turned up fronted by a very eccentric performer called Bob Flag - a lovely fella who weirdly was the face of Big Brother in the 1984 film of 1984. I am certain that Andy "Thunderclap" Newman was playing piano for them. Thing is, it's a long time ago and a very riotous time at that. He definitley have beeen gigging a few leagues below his usual standard, so there's every chance this complete nonsense. I wonder if anyone out there might know?

 Gromit_42 wrote:

I have this song on a  45 single. The B-side is Wilhelmina,  a silly little song  ("Wilhelmina is plump and round..."). A comment on a YouTube recording of that song says it originally dates back to at least 1924, so Thunderclap Newman's is a cover.




So plump and round is a BAD thing?  Who fucking knew...
 kjf06 wrote:

Proudly produced by Pete Townshend. Who would have guessed?



And  more trivia.....Jimmy McCullough went on to be the guitarist for McCartney's Wing. 
I have this song on a  45 single. The B-side is Wilhelmina,  a silly little song  ("Wilhelmina is plump and round..."). A comment on a YouTube recording of that song says it originally dates back to at least 1924, so Thunderclap Newman's is a cover.
 unclehud wrote:

Still longing for The Revolution that never fully arrived, and seems so lost these days.




I'm active duty in the Revolution. It's being waged now. You just can't see it. It's invisible.
 rulebritannia wrote:
bluedot wrote: This was among the awesome songs of all time, which is why TN is notable among the all-time one-hit wonders.


this is probably (still) MY favourite song of all time -  everything stops whenever this song comes on. It's the distillation of all that was good in my 14 year old pre-high school summer life.
 gjeeg wrote:

For your information, I was there.... and NO, there was NO bad music in 1970. That was the miracle.



"I Think I Love You", The Partridge Family ?
I have a playlist of songs on my phone titled "60s" featuring all of the great tunes of a generation waking up and revolutionizing themselves through music and the belief that all you need is love. This is one of those songs. I didn't realize until today that this one came out in 1970. For those too young to remember, the 70s was the period where the dream was taken over by the demise of the Beatles, Hendrix, Janis and Jimmy, the dirty politics of Watergate, and the destructive rise of cocaine, greed, and disco music. The 60s was a short dream, but a beautiful one.
 LoudshirtsBand wrote:
Fish from the original Marillion covers this well on the solo album Internal Exile

I thought it was a bad tom petty cover. once again rp shows me the original of a cover that i didn't know was a cover.
 DanielHLloyd wrote:


Well, that and y'all had stronger pot. 


They had stronger acid. Pot today is MUCH stronger than then. 
 DanielHLloyd wrote:


Well, that and y'all had stronger pot. 


Not so... you could smoke a few joints and still function reasonably well. These days...not so much. 
A most relevant lyric for our times.  A song of hope in a time of turmoil.  Peace and love to the other side!
 bc wrote:

Don't worry.  It won't be televised.  



But it might be "monetised" on YouTube!?
 gjeeg wrote:

For your information, I was there.... and NO, there was NO bad music in 1970. That was the miracle.
Everything that came our way was transporting, fresh, alarming, revolutionary. A tsunami of world changing, consciousness changing sound.

Or maybe it's just my sweet embroidered memory.




Well, that and y'all had stronger pot. 
Godlike song.
 AhhtheMusic wrote:

One of my all time classic favorites!



It's one of those songs where you turn the sound up no matter how many times you've heard it.   
Now that I know what a "circle of fifths" is, I hear it everywhere :-)
 WattsUp wrote:
I haven't heard this song in years. Thanks RP for keeping it real. 



Such a great tune that ages well✌️


Call out the instigators

indeed
Wonderful to hear this again.
Another overplayed overrated song NEXT
I do hear George Harrison ...
 bc wrote:

Don't worry.  It won't be televised.  
 
Ummmm, it already is.
 DeemerDave wrote:
Funny I don't see any complaints about the vocals, even though he can't sing. Love the song though. 8
 

common this is part of the theatrics of this song , its alive moving and psychadelic just like any other great rock band
 gjeeg wrote:
For your information, I was there.... and NO, there was NO bad music in 1970. That was the miracle.
Everything that came our way was transporting, fresh, alarming, revolutionary. A tsunami of world changing, consciousness changing sound.

Or maybe it's just my sweet embroidered memory.


 
Either way the result was magical.  Where has the magic gone?  
to me definitely a proud member of the 100 top bands of the glorious 20th century
 bc wrote:

Don't worry.  It won't be televised.  

 Little did you know what was to come..... the Revolution is here. 


 bruceandjenna wrote:

Almost.
 
Famous
Fish from the original Marillion covers this well on the solo album Internal Exile
 bruceandjenna wrote:
 unclehud wrote:
Still longing for The Revolution that never fully arrived, and seems so lost these days.

It's coming.  But it will be ugly.
 
Don't worry.  It won't be televised.  
 unclehud wrote:
Still longing for The Revolution that never fully arrived, and seems so lost these days.

It's coming.  But it will be ugly.
 Pilsenaaa wrote:
Reminds me of the movie Almost Famous
 
Almost.
Gee another overplayed song
 DeemerDave wrote:
Funny I don't see any complaints about the vocals, even though he can't sing. Love the song though. 8
 I just came to comment on the painfully harsh vocals on this and saw your  comment.

Funny I don't see any complaints about the vocals, even though he can't sing. Love the song though. 8
Still longing for The Revolution that never fully arrived, and seems so lost these days.
Reminds me of the movie Almost Famous
Yeah - Com-On people - we have got to get it together.
but HAND IN THE ARMS AND AMMO
I was 12 going on 13 when this hit the radio...Loved it then...and it still moves me today.
Unofficial theme song of SDS/Weathermen (Students for a Democratic Society)... at least in my chapter. 
Never noticed the little excerpt from  "La Marseillaise" at the end! I didn't realize he was singing about the French revolution ;-)
I haven't heard this song in years. Thanks RP for keeping it real. 
Always puts a smile on my face!
The best one track wonder of all time!!!
 Proclivities wrote:

Well, tastes vary, but it may be your memory a little bit.  Like any other year, there were some "questionable" hit tunes in 1970 (not this one though):  Everything Is Beautiful-Ray Stevens, Candida-Tony Orlando & Dawn, Which Way You Going Billy-The Poppy Family, Indiana Wants Me - R. Dean Taylor, etc.  But overall, most of the music was pretty great.
 
God, I remember having to sing Everything is Beautiful in first grade when it was a hit. Ugh.
 gjeeg wrote:
For your information, I was there.... and NO, there was NO bad music in 1970. That was the miracle.
Everything that came our way was transporting, fresh, alarming, revolutionary. A tsunami of world changing, consciousness changing sound.

Or maybe it's just my sweet embroidered memory.


 
Well, tastes vary, but it may be your memory a little bit.  Like any other year, there were some "questionable" hit tunes in 1970 (not this one though):  Everything Is Beautiful-Ray Stevens, Candida-Tony Orlando & Dawn, Which Way You Going Billy-The Poppy Family, Indiana Wants Me - R. Dean Taylor, etc.  But overall, most of the music was pretty great.
One of my all time classic favorites!
{#Bananapiano}
Always loved the key change just after the tinkly piano bit !!
 d48m02h wrote:
 Guitar player:  Jimmy McCulloch, who went on to join Paul McCartney and Wings.  


kcar wrote:

Always thought it was just a guy...but it was one-hit band put together by Pete Townsend for three musicians, including his chauffeur who wrote "Something in the Air" and the Who's "Arminia City in the Sky." Townsend plays bass on this song as "Bijou Drains." The piano player is Andy "Thunderclap" Newman, so I guess that's why I was confused. 

The guitarist on this track was 15. Can you imagine being 15 and playing with a Rock God? 

"Also I am curious to know if there was any BAD music made in in 1970."

 Why wouldn't there be?  

 

 
Thanks for clearing that up. I looked around comments on this one because the bass player was doing really fun high things. Pete Townsend. Makes sense now.
takes me back to high school in California my new home
this is marvelous...
{#Daisy}
{#Bounce}from the sound track magic Christian with peter sellers great tune ! t petty does a great cover / main guy was speedy keen which did some really good solo stuff produced by pete townsend / great listening if u can still find it
John Berzins - this is your song! Happy memories of working on the cameras at Belmont and Ascot Race Courses in the 1980s as you sang this song from the AV Van into everyone's headsets.
One of the few songs I can listen to and never tire of it.
Reminds me of the Beatles and Badfinger
 hempmandan wrote:
Wow forgot how much I love this one. How much my Mom loved it too!
 
 
{#Roflol}  How funny -  my dear old Dad who at 50+ had discovered pop music with the Beatles loved this track too! {#Smile}
I still prefer the "Single" version of this song.
Great memories of the summer of '70.
Come on people: "We have got to get it together"... Peace
 wrangler wrote:
2 days in a row?!  well ok {#Cowboy}

 
I don't mind this 2 days in a row
Proudly produced by Pete Townshend. Who would have guessed?
2 days in a row?!  well ok {#Cowboy}
 BobbyCat wrote:
Still like this song after so many years, can't say why, but it sounds nice :)

And I don't understand what all these photos of Raquel Welsh are doing here ?!

 
This song was featured prominently in the 1969 film "The Magic Christian", in which there was a memorable scene featuring Raquel Welch.  The images are stills from the film.
I bought the original LP at age 15 for Something in The Air...  then spent more time listening to Accidents and Open The Door Homer than anything else.  Unique and brilliant stuff. Very idiosyncratic - it's a shame they didn't seem to have  much after this LP (or anything?)
Always a smile for this one!    {#Smile}
 marklaw wrote:
What a week we've had!  There is something in the air - change, hope, equality.

 
I hate to be cynical — such brilliant tunes as this were crafted to dispel cynicism even as they reminded us of its prevalence — but if the powers that be continue to have their demented ways, the ideals of change, hope and equality will remain in the air. The revolution is here! Where? 
Bernie Sanders better hire some food tasters.
 
9->10
What a week we've had!  There is something in the air - change, hope, equality.
I always wondered what was so special with this song, but after all these years, it's still weird and very pleasant to my ears.
Wow forgot how much I love this one. How much my Mom loved it too!
 

Back in the day when I was attending college this song really brought hope that maybe we would get together and make a better world. 

Even though this may seem a bit naïve in today's world I am so glad we at least had the dreams and the music to sing and dance to ... so sorry for today's youth they cannot afford to realistically entertain those ideas.     


Life is a game, you fly your paper plane, there is no end. Life is a game, you fly....

Ringo is playing in B.C. tonight, but I doubt he's playing with Raquel Welch.


Raquel Welch and Ringo Starr


 gjeeg wrote:
For your information, I was there.... and NO, there was NO bad music in 1970. That was the miracle.
Everything that came our way was transporting, fresh, alarming, revolutionary. A tsunami of world changing, consciousness changing sound.

Or maybe it's just my sweet embroidered memory.



 
I agree.  So does my son, born in 1987.  AND I have this record!   They had another hit, "Accidents."


Still like this song after so many years, can't say why, but it sounds nice :)

And I don't understand what all these photos of Raquel Welsh are doing here ?!
 gjeeg wrote:
For your information, I was there.... and NO, there was NO bad music in 1970. That was the miracle.
Everything that came our way was transporting, fresh, alarming, revolutionary. A tsunami of world changing, consciousness changing sound.

Or maybe it's just my sweet embroidered memory.



 
Annnd...just what were you embroidering your memory with, gjeeg? 

Oh, it's kicks and giggles when you start:

teen using video game controller as bong


But one night you'll wind up sniffing glue in an air traffic control tower, blubbering about The Bay City Rollers and Bread...

Still from movie  


Proclivities, thanks again for that movie still. Did not realize that was Raquel Welch (as "Priestess of the Whip"  {#Roflol} )
until Misterfixit mentioned it. 

Raquel Welch and Ringo Starr



52 f'ing years later still lovely
I'm going to start introducing myself to people as "Thunderclap". 

Also, Tom Petty does a really nice cover of this tune. He omits the "guns and ammo" line, tho.  
 Proclivities wrote:

John 'Speedy' Keen wrote and sang the tune - Townshend produced it.  It was in a few films - most notably The Magic Christian - which the publicity still below is from:
Raquel

Any excuse to post that image...

 
Cool movie! Thank you for posting this beauty!
 gjeeg wrote:
For your information, I was there.... and NO, there was NO bad music in 1970. That was the miracle.
Everything that came our way was transporting, fresh, alarming, revolutionary. A tsunami of world changing, consciousness changing sound.

Or maybe it's just my sweet embroidered memory.



 
yeah...you're right. Music in the 70's was amazingly eclectic and weird. 
Ahhhh dreams of revolution....
Wow! This is part of the soundtrack for "The Strawberry Statement"--so tells me my older brother ... {#Sunny}
 Guitar player:  Jimmy McCulloch, who went on to join Paul McCartney and Wings.  


kcar wrote:

Always thought it was just a guy...but it was one-hit band put together by Pete Townsend for three musicians, including his chauffeur who wrote "Something in the Air" and the Who's "Arminia City in the Sky." Townsend plays bass on this song as "Bijou Drains." The piano player is Andy "Thunderclap" Newman, so I guess that's why I was confused. 

The guitarist on this track was 15. Can you imagine being 15 and playing with a Rock God? 

"Also I am curious to know if there was any BAD music made in in 1970."

 Why wouldn't there be?  

 


 gjeeg wrote:
For your information, I was there.... and NO, there was NO bad music in 1970. That was the miracle.
Everything that came our way was transporting, fresh, alarming, revolutionary. A tsunami of world changing, consciousness changing sound.

Or maybe it's just my sweet embroidered memory.
 {#Crown}
?
Cool to learn about this band.

The beginning of the verse is super-similar to Ride Captain Ride, no? (Which, interestingly, was also released in 1970. The same muse must have visited both Blues Image and Thunderclap Newman... Muses are so flighty.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DH3Tj8dsRdxk&sa=U&ei=SoXUUY-vFamqiQL_vIDoDQ&ved=0CB0QtwIwAQ&sig2=FR4SAVANgOgWjFG02f4WTQ&usg=AFQjCNER_uo3WRza2jZmwRf10bQ62ux-Dg
 Boy_Wonder wrote:
Anyone ever heard anything else by them?







Nope.... thought not! 

 

Didn't seem to bother Pete Townshend or Kit Lambert........
Ahhh! Takes me back!
Anyone ever heard anything else by them?







Nope.... thought not! 
Wow - haven't heard this in years.  I love this tune, and I wouldn't have been able to remember the band name if my life depended on it.  But it's one of those tunes where I would be duped into thinking I MUST know the name of this band.....but really have ZERO recollection! 
OMG, I'm having a existential flashback. And we knew that it was right!!!
For your information, I was there.... and NO, there was NO bad music in 1970. That was the miracle.
Everything that came our way was transporting, fresh, alarming, revolutionary. A tsunami of world changing, consciousness changing sound.

Or maybe it's just my sweet embroidered memory.


Still gaining fans 40+ years on.  Makes me smile.  The Pete connection doesn't hurt.
 Stranglersfan wrote:
I hate to sound ignorant, but i have never heard of this band, they sound great!
Also I am curious to know if there was any BAD music made in in 1970.
I love 1970 for music from all over the world, England, Jamaica, USA, etc

 
Always thought it was just a guy...but it was one-hit band put together by Pete Townsend for three musicians, including his chauffeur who wrote "Something in the Air" and the Who's "Arminia City in the Sky." Townsend plays bass on this song as "Bijou Drains." The piano player is Andy "Thunderclap" Newman, so I guess that's why I was confused. 

The guitarist on this track was 15. Can you imagine being 15 and playing with a Rock God? 

"Also I am curious to know if there was any BAD music made in in 1970."

 Why wouldn't there be?  
I hate to sound ignorant, but i have never heard of this band, they sound great!
Also I am curious to know if there was any BAD music made in in 1970.
I love 1970 for music from all over the world, England, Jamaica, USA, etc
 kestrel wrote:
gooose bumps man...far out...I was there...it was a happening.{#Motor}  Hope you youngsters have a song like this to give you goosebumps when you are 59.

 

Even when you are 66 {#Motor}!   This will always remind me of my Father.  He actually "got it" when he heard this tune at 75!{#Bounce} Classic.
love this tune !  love tom petty's cover too ...
The ultimate hippy song,love it.
For years I could have sworn I didn't hear the electric guitar added over the end of this song. I finally got the remastered CD of this album, and it has the "single version" on it... without the added guitar. Mystery solved.
I like the single version better.
Holy something, something, Batman!
Nice to see the original artwork for the album up at last.

great song full of memories.
Ah yes, Jo Raquel Welch, AKA Raquel Tejada ... San Diego TV Station KFMB Weather girl who made good.  And a very nice lady, BTW.
 
Oh, for my lost youth!
 kingart wrote:
A classic. A 9, because it is inextricably linked to its late '60s time, and oozes out of the song. And I believe it was written by Pete Townsend. 
 
 
John 'Speedy' Keen wrote and sang the tune - Townshend produced it.  It was in a few films - most notably The Magic Christian - which the publicity still below is from:
Raquel

Any excuse to post that image...
Perhaps a perfect song. Ten?  Merely godlike?  I think this was written by Pete Townsend (someone correct me if wrong) but it's rendering here makes it extra special.  Included in a seminal '60s movie drives it higher yet.  
I could cry! So wonderfull this song is!
A classic, and possibly one of the best examples of a one-hit group.
Oh,those were the days!!!!
My modern speakers, though good, just can't make the right noise for this sort of song.  Oh for the days of well made speakers full of metal parts.  Oh well loud with a bit of a play with the equalizer will have to do.
 kestrel wrote:
gooose bumps man...far out...I was there...it was a happening.{#Motor}  Hope you youngsters have a song like this to give you goosebumps when you are 59.
 
 yup!