Biography
Floribunda Rose originated in 1967 when John Kongos, fresh from two early-1970s British Top Five singles titled “He’s Gonna Step on You Again” and “Tokoloshe Man,” assembled the band. Kongos had already cut records in South Africa as a teenager during the early 1960s; after relocating to England in 1966 he issued one solo single on Piccadilly before stepping forward as Floribunda Rose’s guitarist and vocalist. Completing the roster were singer-guitarist Pete Clifford, formerly of Dusty Springfield’s backing group, organist Chris Dee, drummer Nick “Doc” Doktor, and singer-bassist Jack Russell.
Their lone 1967 Pye single, coupling “One Way Street” with “Linda Loves Linda,” avoided full-blown psychedelia and instead offered gently whimsical pop-rock tinged with passing psychedelic color. At moments “One Way Street” evoked Monkees-styled British freakbeat, while “Linda Loves Linda” presented a milder tribute to a narcissistic flower child. Commercial indifference followed, prompting the musicians, still under contract to Pye, to adopt the name Scrugg in 1968 and release three further low-profile singles, the most overtly psychedelic of which was the pairing “Everyone Can See” / “I Wish I Was Five.”
All tracks from the Floribunda Rose 45, both sides of Kongos’s 1966 Piccadilly release, the complete output of the three Scrugg singles, the full contents of Kongos’s 1969 album Confusions About a Goldfish, plus several previously unreleased Kongos and Scrugg recordings from the period appear on the anthology Lavender Popcorn.
Their lone 1967 Pye single, coupling “One Way Street” with “Linda Loves Linda,” avoided full-blown psychedelia and instead offered gently whimsical pop-rock tinged with passing psychedelic color. At moments “One Way Street” evoked Monkees-styled British freakbeat, while “Linda Loves Linda” presented a milder tribute to a narcissistic flower child. Commercial indifference followed, prompting the musicians, still under contract to Pye, to adopt the name Scrugg in 1968 and release three further low-profile singles, the most overtly psychedelic of which was the pairing “Everyone Can See” / “I Wish I Was Five.”
All tracks from the Floribunda Rose 45, both sides of Kongos’s 1966 Piccadilly release, the complete output of the three Scrugg singles, the full contents of Kongos’s 1969 album Confusions About a Goldfish, plus several previously unreleased Kongos and Scrugg recordings from the period appear on the anthology Lavender Popcorn.