The Spectrum: obscure in the '60s, all but forgotten today.
Details are hard to come by, which resulted in quite a few
rumors and distorted facts over the years. To wit:

- although often described (and derided) as a British
"answer" to The Monkees, they actually pre-date The Monkees
by several years. RCA did sign them in 1967 with The
Monkees in mind, although not much became of it (aside from
a cover of "Saturday's Child" as the B-side of their first
single).

- another misconception is that they were created to tie-in
with Gerry Anderson's animated TV series "Captain Scarlet
And The Mysterons" (Captain Scarlet worked for an
organization called "Spectrum".) And while it is true that
Anderson signed The Spectrum to record a version of the
Captain Scarlet Theme Song, I suspect that the name
duplication was mere coincidence -- and Anderson only hired
the band to avoid a lawsuit!

- they were definitely not the same as the Australian group
with the same name, although an Aussie band called The
Gathering did a version of Spectrum's "Portobello Road" (not
the Cat Stevens song) in 1968.

- the band was formed in 1962 by singer Colin Forsey, with
Colin's younger brother Keith on drums. But before Keith
joined the group, they went through a slew of drummers --
including, for a few days in 1962, a certain drummer on
hiatus from Blues Incorporated......Mr. Charlie Watts!

- the band also had an indirect link to The Beatles, having
opened for them in Salisbury in 1963 (June 15?). A few
months later they were hired to record a cash-in album for
the French market, under the pseudonym Group 5 (the album
was titled "Direct From Liverpool"!)

- after the group split up in 1971, Keith Forsey went to
work for producer Giorgio Moroder, playing drums and
co-writing many of Moroder's disco productions of the '70s
(including Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff"). Later he became a
producer in his own right, guiding Billy Idol's career and
also co-writing several top-40 hits: Irene Cara's
"Flashdance (What A Feeling)", Simple Minds' "Don't You
Forget About Me", and Glen Frey's "The Heat Is On", to name
a few.

- the group's 1968 B-side "Music Soothes The Savage Breast"
is nothing short of a pop-sike masterpiece. It's like the
Flaming Lips went back in time.

- just for fun, here's their version of the "Captain Scarlet
Theme":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXvfNJIOzxg&feature=related

Regards,

Scott