Biography
Hapshash And The Coloured Coat served as the chosen moniker for graphic artists Michael English and Nigel Weymouth after they first encountered each other in London, England, during 1966. Their initial joint project, the Love Festival poster, blended the aesthetics of Man Ray with those of US pop artist Tom Wesselman. The pair’s designs came to embody the romantic spirit of the English Underground movement, encompassing promotional posters for Soft Machine, Tomorrow, Jimi Hendrix and Arthur Brown, plus events staged at the UFO Club and Brian Epstein’s Saville Theatre, both situated in London. After forming a connection with producer/svengali Guy Stevens, English and Weymouth entered the studio to cut their debut album. Hapshash And The Coloured Coat consisted of extended, semi-improvised tracks built around hard, repetitive riffs and chanted vocals, with backing supplied by Stevens’ protégés Art. Issued in a de rigueur psychedelic sleeve and pressed on red vinyl, the record became a central release within the English ‘underground’ scene. With Stevens subsequently unavailable and English favouring visual work over music, Weymouth took primary responsibility for completing Western Flyer. Groundhogs’ guitarist Tony McPhee and future Wombles producer/songwriter Mike Batt contributed to the sessions, which ranged across pop, progressive and Cajun idioms in an appropriately idiosyncratic fashion. English and Weymouth dissolved their partnership shortly thereafter.
Albums
