Junior's Eyes

Junior's Eyes was a British group led by guitarist Mick Wayne (born Michael Wayne, 1945, Kingston upon Hull - died 26 June 1994), which recorded one album and is notable for acting as David Bowie's backing band during 1969.
Mick Wayne's first group was The Outsiders, with Jimmy Page on guitar. After recording one single for Decca Records in 1965, the Outsiders broke up the following year at which point Wayne joined Hull musicians The Hullaballoos, replacing Ricky Knight briefly before they too broke up. He made an attempt to form a new line-up in Hull with drummer John Cambridge but soon returned to London (Cambridge later joined Hull band The Rats, with guitarist Mick Ronson). Wayne next joined the Bunch of Fives (including ex-Pretty Things drummer Viv Prince) during 1966 and this band evolved into The Tickle, with band members Mick Wayne (guitar), Mike Docker (vocals), Dave Williams (keyboards), Richard Dowling (bass) and John Beckerman (drums). The Tickle's only single - "Subway (Smokey Pokey World)" - has appeared on many psychedelic compilation albums, including Acid Drops, Spacedust & Flying Saucers: Psychedelic Confectionery.
After the break-up of the Tickle, Mick Wayne formed Junior's Eyes in early 1968, initially with drummer John 'Candy' Carr and then with John 'Honk' Lodge (ex-Graham Bond Organisation) (bass) and Steve Chapman (drums). They recorded a debut single with the help of pianist Rick Wakeman and producer Tony Visconti. The trio added singer Graham 'Grom' Kelly and (briefly) organist John Redfern in late 1968 and began work on an album. Battersea Power Station was released in June 1969.
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==Links to Peel==
Peel was present at some gigs in 1968 and 1969, where Junior's Eyes were performing. He had the band do two sessions for his shows, in 1968 and 1969. They were associated with the underground scene and were one of the few groups to be interviewed by Gandalf's Garden, the "mystical scene magazine" - they performed at the benefit concert for the magazine at Middle Earth club in May 1968. The band name and title of the piece (in issue 2 of GG), "The World Through Junior's Eyes", refers to a familiar idea of the British hippy era - seeing the world through the eyes of a child 
In the ABC Of Beauty article, published in the 2 November 1968 edition of Disc & Music Echo, Peel said that Junior's Eyes were "falling into place at last - definitely a force to be reckoned with etcetera". Despite this, the band only made one album which attracted little attention and split up in early 1970. During its short lifespan the band had an unsettled line-up with frequent personnel changes and, as the Wikipedia article on them points out, their work as Bowie's backing band during 1969 (including the album Space Oddity) disrupted their own career. Various members went on to work with other groups who did sessions for Peel, including Quiver and the Pink Fairies. 
On his 02 August 1988 show, Peel revealed that the first band John Walters produced for the BBC was Junior's Eyes. This was their second session, recorded when Walters had just taken over from Bernie Andrews as Peel's Top Gear producer, and JW didn't like them very much. 
==Sessions==
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1. Recorded: 1968-10-28. First Broadcast: 10 November 1968. Repeated: 05 January 1969
*By The Tree (On The Second Dream On Your Right) / White Light / Hang Loose / Imagination
2. Recorded: 1969-04-28. First Broadcast: 04 May 1969. Repeated: 08 June 1969
*Sing A Song / So Embarrassed / For Adam and Eve / Miss Lizzie (& Not Far Away 8/6/69)
==Other Shows Played==
;1969
*20 April 1969: Circus Days (7") Regal Zonophone 
==External Links==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
Category:Artists