During the opening years of the 1970s, Majority One composed and cut tracks on little-noticed recordings that echoed the more affected strain of British psychedelic pop from the final stretch of the 1960s, a manner already displaced from mainstream taste. The lineup had its roots in the U.K. group the Majority, which placed eight singles with Decca from 1965 to 1968 yet failed to register on the British charts. Extensive membership shifts and an interval spent accompanying British vocalist Barry Ryan preceded the band’s relocation to France, where it issued one last single under the Majority name, “Charlotte Rose,” confined to selected European markets. Still operating from France in 1970, the musicians adopted the title Majority One and went on to release several singles across 1970 and 1971 plus a self-titled album in 1971, the latter appearing only in France and Holland. Their work displayed affinities with the gentler late-’60s output of the Beatles, Bee Gees, and Moody Blues and therefore attracted scant notice in Britain, although the 1971 single “Because I Love” climbed into Holland’s Top 20 and scored hits in Italy and Brazil. Additional tracks surfaced under the pseudonyms Black Label and Rocky Cabbage before the ensemble dissolved in summer 1971. Much of the catalog issued by Majority One, together with certain sides originally credited to the Majority, Black Label, and Rocky Cabbage, was later gathered on the 2006 CD compilation Rainbow Rockin’ Chair: The Definitive Collection 1969-1971.
