Angel Pavement

Late 1960s British sunshine pop outfit from York, England. The band took its name from a 1930 novel by J.B. Priestley , also a Yorkshireman, and was assembled by guitarist / songwriter Alfie Shepherd out of the remnants of a soul-based outfit, Wesley Hardin's Shotgun Package, with Paul Smith (lead vocals), Dave Smith (guitar), Graham Harris (bass), and Alan Reeve (drums) (later replaced by Mike "Candy" Candler). They quickly developed a pop-oriented popsike sound with lush harmonies, similar to what the Hollies were doing on Evolution and Butterfly, and the Zombies on Odessey & Oracle. They managed to build a large following in their native York and this gave them a thirst to try cracking the competitive London Club Scene, but first they were to play a series of gigs in Mexico City, where the initial "few days' stay" turned into a 5 month residence. After their return to London, they worked on their debut album at Morgan Studios, but the recording process was interrupted by Dave Smith's departure. His replacement was John Cartwright, who played guitar and trumpet. Fontana released two singles which failed to elicit any serious chart action. As a result a third single and the announced LP didn't materialise, also due to disputes between guitarist Alfie Shepherd and the studio's publishing arm. At the end of 1970, the band broke up. Candler went on to join Decameron and John Coppin and his band. Shepherd wrote songs and in 1969 attempted to do a musical adaptation of The Wind In The Willows, while the others exited the music business altogether. In 2003, Tenth Planet issued Maybe Tomorrow, the first-ever release of some of the nearly two-dozen songs from those long-ago Morgan sessions. In 2008 Wooden Hill released the Wind In The Willows project on CD, digitally remastered with extra demo songs.