MR. FANTASY

'Dear Mr Fantasy' was a product of Steve Winwood's desire to distance himself from the hype of the pop scene and make a serious 'ROCK' record instead of the hip singles that he had been churning out with Spencer Davis and the angst of Dave Mason's desire for hit records ( only Mason wanted 'Hole in My Shoe' released as the groups second single the others opting for the more solid rock feel of 'Coloured Rain' ) . With three hit singles under their belt, 'Paper Sun', 'Hole In My Shoe' & 'Here we go round the Mulberry Bush', the tensions within the band over direction and control proved too much and Manson left before the LP's release in December 1967.

'Dear Mr Fantasy' is a sucsess in spite of the waring factions as the varied material makes for interesting listening.

'Heaven Is In Your Mind', the beautiful 'No Face, No Name, No Number', 'Dear Mr Fantasy' (much loved by the Grateful Dead & Stephen Stills) and 'Coloured Rain' show the promise of a great rock band while the whimsy and pychedelic trappings of 'Berkshire Poppies'(with a little help from Steve Marriott), 'House For Everyone', the caustic mesage of 'Utterly Simple', fairground grind of 'Hope I Never Find Me There' and the multi layered pop march of 'Giving To You' showed a perfect grasp of the pop ethic.

Its such a shame that they couldn't see it that way at the time.