My White Bicycle

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"My White Bicycle"
Single by Tomorrow
from the album Tomorrow
B-side"Claramount Lake"
ReleasedMay 1967
GenrePsychedelic rock[1]
Length3:17
LabelParlophone
Songwriter(s)Keith Hopkins, Ken Burgess
Producer(s)Mark Wirtz
Tomorrow singles chronology
"My White Bicycle"
(1967)
"Revolution"
(1967)

"My White Bicycle" is Tomorrow's debut single.[2] According to Tomorrow drummer John 'Twink' Alder, the song was inspired by the Dutch Provos, an anarchist group in Amsterdam which instituted a bicycle-sharing system: "They had white bicycles in Amsterdam and they used to leave them around the town. And if you were going somewhere and you needed to use a bike, you'd just take the bike and you'd go somewhere and just leave it. Whoever needed the bikes would take them and leave them when they were done."[3]

The Scottish rock band Nazareth did a cover version, which reached No. 14 in the UK Singles Chart in 1975, staying for eight weeks.[4] Actor Nigel Planer, as his character Neil the Hippy from TV-series The Young Ones, reached No. 97 with his cover in 1984.[5]

Richie Unterberger of AllMusic wrote that the song was one of the first to prominently feature backward guitar phasing.[6]

References

  1. ^ DeRogatis, Jim (1 January 2003). Turn on Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 4. ISBN 0634055488.
  2. ^ "Tomorrow (2) - My White Bicycle". Discogs. Retrieved 28 August 2018. Tomorrow only issued two singles under that name. "My White Bicycle" in May 1967, and "Revolution" released in September that same year
  3. ^ Alder, John C. "Tomorrow". Members.tripod.com. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  4. ^ "NAZARETH | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  5. ^ "NEIL - full Official Chart History - Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  6. ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/tomorrow-mw0000247533