a road accident on the eve of their appearance at South Africa’s Woodstock, a stadium rock extravaganza on 31st May ’70. The guitarist, who has penned a yet- to-be published autobiography I Started Out To Write A Song, and went on to form top-selling South African band, Ballyhoo, recounts, “The car had gone out of control and rolled, and Phil lay unconscious, but alive on the roadside for hours until an ambulance came. When it arrived, the guys refused to help because he was the wrong colour! The ambulance was for non-whites only and, as a result, they turned around and went back without Phil, saying they would send a white ambulance. Some two hours later the ‘correct’ ambulance arrived and took Phil away. He was only pronounced dead on 1st June, as nobody worked on Sundays and public holidays.”
Alan Avon, a charismatic, soulful singer, who’d previously played with Honeyman in Alan Avon & The Presidents, came to the rescue. Avon was responsible for recording two highly collectable singles – ‘Say Goodbye To Yesterday’ b/w ‘Send My Love
Decca decided against releasing the Hedgehoppers, version of Wild Thing,, only to see The Troggs enjoy a smash hit with it a month later.
To Lucy’ on Polydor (as Toyshop) and ‘These Are The Reasons’ b/w ‘A Night To Remember’ on Concorde (attributed to Alan Avon & The Toyshop).
The latter, a musical take on the Titantic disaster, penned by guitarist Tony Todd, has been described as a haunting slice of psychedelia but is actually a dramatic, proto hard-rock freakout with Avon’s powerful vocal at the fore.
Abbreviated to Hedgehoppers, the quartet then recorded the stupendous Hey! for CBS in April ’71. It became a South African chart topper. A masterful collection of soulful ballads and rock-orientated material, it mixes unusual covers with Matthews’ strong originals. The album also forms the core of Fresh Music’s imminent CD compilation of the band’s entire South African output.
The LP’s haunting title track topped the South African radio chart. The infectious anthem ‘A Song For Pete’ – a tribute to English expat guitarist Pete Clifford – was another Top Five radio hit. Other standouts include Matthews’ excellent rocker ‘Near Her’ (also available on Fresh
Music’s Astral Daze Volume 2) and the yearning ‘She’s Been Hurt’, a tale of lost love and eventual seclusion.
WHAT WENT WRONG
Tinsley’s original band struggled to come up with a worthy successor to their hit debut. “It was a lack of good PR work and radio promotion,” he argues. “It was presumed that ‘Don’t Push Me’ would automatically make a chart entry… but the presumption was a huge mistake. More should have been done to promote the band after the huge success of ‘It’s Good News Week’.”
More tellingly, Decca decided against releasing the Hedgehoppers’ version of Chip Taylor’s ‘Wild Thing’, only to see The Troggs enjoy a smash hit with it a month later.
Tunstall’s death was tragic enough but when Honeyman died in a second road accident, the life and soul of Hedgehoppers was ripped out. “In them days if they had any roadwork diversions all they would get was a big 50 gallon oil drum, paint it red and white and stick it in
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the middle of the road,” says Avon. “Bill saw it at the last minute, swerved the van, fell out of the door and the van rolled over him.” Avon returned to the UK and was replaced by yet another frontman for a while. “I never went back. Bill was something special. He was like a big brother to me.”
Despite scoring sizeable South African hits and recording a brilliant chart-topping album, Hedgehoppers never recovered from these blows and it’s only now that their legacy is being remembered and honoured.
With thanks to Mick Tinsley, Jonathan King, Glenn Martin, Mick Matthews and Alan Avon. Also Tertius Louw and Gavin Furlonger for the photos and scans.
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