The Herd (UK band)

The Herd
The Herd in 1968. Left: Andy Bown (keyboards, vocals), back: Gary Taylor (bass), front: Andrew Steele (drums), right: Peter Frampton (guitar, vocals).
Background information
Origin	London
Genres	freakbeat, psychedelic rock, psychedelic pop

The Herd were a British pop rock group, founded in 1965, that came to prominence in the late 1960s. They launched the career of Peter Frampton and scored three UK top twenty hits.

The Herd were founded in 1965 in south London, England. The group recorded three unsuccessful singles with the record label Parlophone. In 1966 three members in succession (Terry Clark, Louis Cennamo and Mick Underwood) quit the group and the group got the line-up that made it famous. The singer, Peter Frampton, was 16 when he joined the group in 1966 and had just left school. The other members were a few years older. Parlophone did not want to go on with them, but Fontana was willing to give them a try. They also sent their manager Billy Gaff away and brought in the songwriters/producers Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley instead. This pair had been largely responsible for a string of hits by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich.

Howard and Blaikley orchestrated for them a unique blend of pop and flower power. After a UK Singles Chart near-miss with "I Can Fly" (1967), the haunting "From the Underworld", based on the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, reached Number 6 later that year with help from copious plays on pirate radio. It was a hit in other countries too. In the Netherlands the song reached Number 3. "From the Underworld" was followed by "Paradise Lost", which made it up to Number 15 in 1968.

Their greatest success came with "I Don't Want Our Loving to Die", a Number 5 UK hit single (also in 1968).