The story of the Groundhogs spans the most exciting years British rock will ever enjoy. Springing from the same early roots as the Animals, Pretty Things and Rolling Stones, they soon garnered a reputation as a blues band backing the likes of John Lee Hooker and many other giants of the genre. From this solid base, they graduated to writing some of the most challenging progressive music of the 1960s and 1970s, even though the next generation of musicians like Captain Sensible and others were fans.
They were led by visionary guitarist, singer and songwriter Tony McPhee (who sadly passed away in 2023, age 79), abetted by the powerhouse rhythm section of Ken Pustelnik and Pete Cruickshank. Legendary DJ John Peel was a big fan and helped to send their Split album into the UK top five.
Other albums such as Thank Christ For The Bomb, Who Will Save The World, Hogwash and Solid cemented their reputation and their thirteen studio albums span four decades. Tony's adventures as a pioneer of the synthesizer, taking it on the road on a solo tour and building one of the first home studios to record with it, shows another side to the complex McPhee that is far less widely known, understood and, as a result, appreciated.
This is the story of those classic years.
The author
Martyn Hanson was born in 1956 and married Carole in 1978. They have two grown-up children and are grandparents. Martyn ran many marathons in the 1980s and 1990s, also completing the famous London to Brighton road race twice. He co-authored ELP - The Show That Never Ends in 2000 followed by four solo projects. Hang on to a Dream - The Story of The Nice was published in 2002. Hoggin' The Page was originally published in 2005. He has also written two books on Jon Hiseman - Colosseum's founder: Playing The Band - A Musical Biography and Jon Hiseman's Journey in the Time Machine - Album by Album. He has also written many CD/vinyl liner notes. He lives in Solihull, UK.
