"Simon Dupree" was vocalist Derek Shulman, one of three brothers from Portsmouth, on the southern coast of England. A modestly successful R&B outfit, their management pressed them to cash in on the burgeoning market for the psychedelic.
Prominently featuring a distinctly oriental Mellotron vibe, the self-penned end result was this 45 written and recorded at Abbey Road. Their first major commercial breakthrough, the song soared into the UK Top Ten.
The Shulman brothers were far from happy with their new-found celebrity. They journeyed north to Scotland with Elton John. Like budding Dostoyevskys tortured into writing a Mills & Boon, they bowed their collective head in shame and quit in 1969. The gig was up. Their snow white kite tumbled back to earth like a lead balloon.
They changed their name to Gentle Giant.
▼ SIMON DUPREE & THE BIG SOUND: KITES from "Kites" 45 (EMI) 1967 (UK)
GO FLY A KITE
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