Plastic Penny was a UK 1960s pop band, formed in November 1967 before splitting up in August 1968.

Contents 1 Career 2 Band members 3 Discography 3.1 Singles 3.2 Albums 4 Reference 5 External links

Career

Their existence was notable only for their one hit single, early in 1968, with the song "Everything I Am". It reached a high of number six in the UK Singles Chart. The song was a laboured ballad, augmented by a string arrangement.

Much of the group’s material was psychedelic pop, veering towards a more prog rock feel on some of their album tracks. The majority of their material was written by three of the band members, Brian Keith, Paul Raymond and Tony Murray. Keith later left the band leaving it a quartet, and Raymond took over vocal duties.

Although Plastic Penny were not remarkable in themselves, several of their members went on to greater fame. Mick Grabham moved on to play with Cochise, and then Procol Harum. Keith later became the lead vocalist with Congregation, who oddly and coincidentally, share the unwanted one hit wonder tag with Plastic Penny. Raymond later played several spells with the long-lived rock band, UFO. Nigel Olsson became an in-demand session musician, most notably drumming on much of Elton John’s early work. He has also worked with the Spencer Davis Group, Uriah Heep, Kiki Dee, Neil Sedaka, Rod Stewart and Leo Sayer.

The group's third and final album, Heads I Win, Tails You Lose was a hastily put together collage of the band's more obscure recordings, issued after the group had disbanded.

Band members

• Brian Keith (born Brian O’Shea, 22 September 1942, Port Glasgow, West Renfrewshire, Scotland) - Vocalist
• Paul Raymond (born Paul Martin Raymond, 16 November 1945, St Albans, Hertfordshire) - Keyboardist / Guitarist
• Mick Graham (born Michael Grabham, 22 January 1948, Sunderland, County Durham) - Guitarist
• Nigel Olsson (born 10 February 1949, Wallasey, Cheshire) - Drummer
• Tony Murray (born Anthony Murray, 26 April 1943, Dublin, Co Dublin, Republic of Ireland) - Bassist

Discography

Singles

• "Everything I Am" - 1968

• "Nobody Knows It" - 1968

Albums

• 2 Sides of a Penny - 1968 - Page One Records
• Currency - 1969
• Heads I Win, Tails You Lose - 1970

Reference

• Guinness Book of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-190-X

External links

• Plastic Penny biography at the All Music Guide website
• Mick Grabham biography at the Musicians’ Olympus website
• Nigel Olsson fan site