Hue Montgomery

The Foundations
Origin	London, England
Genres	Soul
Years active	1967–1970
Labels	Pye, Castle, Uni
Past members	1966-1968 Eric Allandale Arthur Brown Pat Burke Clem Curtis Mike Elliott Tony Gomez Tim Harris Peter MacBeth Alan Warner 1968-1970 Eric Allandale Pat Burke Tony Collinge Tony Gomez Tim Harris Peter MacBeth Alan Warner Colin Young 1970-1971 Eric Allandale Steve Bingham Pat Burke Tony Gomez Tim Harris Paul Lockey Alan Warner Colin Young

The Foundations were a British soul band, active from 1967 to 1970. The group, made up of West Indians, White British, and a Sri Lankan, are best known for their two biggest hits, "Baby Now That I've Found You" (number one in the UK Singles Chart and Canada, and number eleven in the US), written by Tony Macaulay and John MacLeod; and "Build Me Up Buttercup" (number two in the UK and number three on the US Billboard Hot 100), co-written by Macaulay with Mike d'Abo, at the time the lead vocalist with Manfred Mann. The group was the first multi-racial group to have a number one hit in the UK in the 1960s.

The Foundations were one of the few British acts to successfully imitate what became known as the Motown Sound. The Foundations signed to Pye, at the time one of only four big UK record companies (the others being EMI with its HMV, Columbia Records, and Parlophone labels; Decca; and Philips who also owned Fontana).

The Foundations drew much interest and intrigue due to the size and structure of the group. Not only was there a diverse ethnic mix in the group, but there was also diversity in ages and musical backgrounds. The oldest member of the group was Mike Elliott, who was 38 years old. The youngest was Tim Harris, who, at 18, was barely out of school. The West Indian horn section, which consisted of Jamaican-born Mike Elliott and Pat Burke, both saxophonists and Dominican-born Eric Allandale on trombone. They were all highly experienced musicians who came from professional jazz and rock-and-roll backgrounds. Mike Elliott had played in various jazz and rock and roll bands including Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott, the Cabin Boys (led by Tommy Steele's brother, Colin Hicks), and others. Pat Burke, a professional musician, was from the London Music Conservatorium. Eric Allandale had led his own band at one stage as well as having played with Edmundo Ros and being a former member of the Terry Lightfoot and Alex Welsh bands. Alan Warner was the guitarist. Bassist Peter Macbeth was a former teacher. Tony Gomez, the keyboard player, was a former clerk, while Clem Curtis had been an interior decorator and professional boxer.

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