Editing Thunderclap Newman (section)

==Career==
In 1969, Townshend created the band to showcase songs written by the former Who [[chauffeur]], drummer, singer and guitarist Keen. The opening track on ''[[The Who Sell Out]]'' album, "Armenia City in the Sky", was written by Keen.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/03/andy-thunderclap-newman-obituary |title=Andy 'Thunderclap' Newman obituary |date=3 April 2016 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=15 October 2021}}</ref> Newman, McCulloch and Keen met each other for the first time in December 1968 or January 1969, at Townshend's home studio, to record "Something in the Air". Townshend [[record producer|produced]] the single, played its bass guitar under the [[pseudonym]] Bijou Drains, and hired [[General Post Office|GPO]] engineer and [[Dixieland]] jazz pianist "Thunderclap" Newman (born Andrew Laurence Newman, 21 November 1942, [[Hounslow]], [[Middlesex]], died 29 March 2016) and the fifteen-year-old [[Glasgow|Glaswegian]] guitarist [[Jimmy McCulloch]]. Before then, Townshend had planned to work on projects for each of the musicians, but Kit Lambert prevailed upon Townshend, who was working on what became the rock-opera ''[[Tommy (The Who album)|Tommy]]'', to save time by coalescing the three musicians into the collective project that became Thunderclap Newman.

"Something in the Air", which Keen wrote, was number one on the [[UK Singles Chart]] for three weeks,<ref name="auto"/> replacing [[the Beatles]]' "Ballad of John and Yoko" and holding off [[Elvis Presley]]. Originally it was titled "Revolution", but later renamed because the Beatles had released [[Revolution (Beatles song)|a song of that name]] in 1968, the [[A-side and B-side|B-side]] of "[[Hey Jude]]". By December 1969, the single had been awarded a gold disc for worldwide sales of more than a million.

"Something in the Air" appeared on the soundtracks of the films ''[[The Magic Christian (film)|The Magic Christian]]'' (1969) and ''[[The Strawberry Statement (film)|The Strawberry Statement]]'' (1970), the latter having helped the single reach number 25 in the United States. In the UK and US, a follow-up single, "Accidents", came out in May 1970 and charted at number 44 for only a week, but did not chart at all in the US. "Something in the Air" was also in the film ''[[Kingpin (1996 film)|Kingpin]]'' (1996) and is used on the soundtrack.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116778/soundtrack |title=Kingpin (1996) : Soundtracks |publisher=IMDb |access-date=2016-03-31}}</ref> It was also used in ''[[Almost Famous]]'' (2000) and is on the soundtrack.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Thunderclap Newman had not planned to undertake live performances, but the band relented when, to their collective surprise, "Something in the Air" became a chart success. The trio, augmented by Jim Pitman-Avery (bass guitar) and McCulloch's elder brother Jack (drums), undertook a 26-date tour of England and Scotland, in support of [[Deep Purple]], from July 1969 to August 1969.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marmalade-skies.co.uk/yearbyyear.htm |title=Year By Year Index |website=Marmalade-skies.co.uk |access-date=2016-03-31}}</ref> On 8 August, Pitman-Avery and McCulloch announced their intention to leave the band. Within weeks, they had formed the country-rock band Wild Country with Terry Keyworth (guitar) and Stuart Whitcombe (keyboards). That year, the band appeared in television programmes in Britain (''How Late It Is'', ''Top of the Pops'') and Germany (''Beat-Club'').<ref name="imdb">{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628289/ |title=Thunderclap Newman |publisher=IMDb |access-date=2016-03-31}}</ref>

In October 1970, Thunderclap Newman released its critically acclaimed album, ''Hollywood Dream''.<ref name="Larkin"/> Produced by Townshend, the album peaked at number 163 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]]. That year, they released three singles: "Accidents/I See It All", "The Reason/Stormy Petrel" and "Wild Country/Hollywood Dream". On 7 November, they appeared on ''Ev'' (also known as ''The Kenny Everett Show''). In early 1971, the founding trio reformed with the Australian musicians Roger Felice (drums) and Ronnie Peel (bass guitar).<ref name="imdb" />

On 6 March 1971, ''[[New Musical Express]]'' (''NME'') reported the band's personnel change: {{blockquote|Thunderclap Newman has finally settled down into a five-piece group, with two new members being brought in—although on certain dates, the outfit may be augmented by a brass section. Permanent line-up now comprises Newman (piano), Speedy Keen (rhythm guitar and vocals), Jimmy McCulloch (lead guitar), [[Ronnie Peel]] (bass) and Roger Felice (drums). Dates include University of Sussex (tomorrow, Saturday), Sheffield University (12 March) and Nelson Imperial (14). A Scottish tour is being set for the end of April.}}
 
With its new line-up, Thunderclap Newman supported Deep Purple from January 1971 to April 1971, during a 19-date tour of England and Scotland. At some time during those months, the band supported [[Leon Russell]] during a tour of the Netherlands and supported Deep Purple during a tour of Scandinavia. They played the club circuit and avoided playing in ballrooms. That year, Thunderclap Newman made a cameo appearance in the British movie ''[[Not Tonight, Darling]]'' (1971).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/298651?view=cast |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125163459/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/298651?view=cast |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-01-25 |title=Not Tonight, Darling! (1971) &#124; BFI |website=Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk |date=2015-07-02 |access-date=2016-03-31}}</ref>

Thunderclap Newman broke up around 10 April 1971, days before they were scheduled to start a tour of Scotland, and weeks before they were scheduled to be part of a package tour with [[Marsha Hunt (actress, born 1946)|Marsha Hunt]] and others during the Who's 12-week tour of the US.

The members of the band had little in common. In a 1972 ''NME'' interview, Newman said that he got on with Keen's music but not with Keen personally, while the exact opposite was true with regard to McCulloch.<ref>"The sound of Thunderclap". ''New Musical Express''. 26 August 1972.</ref>

In 2008, Newman appeared on an episode of the British television programme ''Those Were The Days'' to comment upon the night of the first [[Moon landing]], when Thunderclap Newman had performed an almost-night-long concert.{{cn|date=October 2024}}