Biography
Tony Clarkson, a Birmingham native born in 1945, made his primary mark on music by serving as bassist for the psychedelic pop outfit the World of Oz during 1968-1969. Growing up in England at the moment when homegrown rock & roll first exploded, he came of age amid the city’s thriving early-1960s scene, locally nicknamed “Brum,” which blended American rock & roll, R&B, and jazz. As part of that environment—later dubbed the “Brumbeat” circuit—he performed on bass in several unrecorded mid-’60s groups, among them the Nicky James Movement, Way of Life (which counted future Fairport Convention member Dave Pegg and Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham among its personnel), and Zeus.
In 1968 Clarkson teamed with keyboardist David Kubinec and two other Birmingham musicians, Christopher Robin and David Reay, to form the World of Oz. The pop-psychedelic quartet moved to London, where Deram Records—the forward-looking pop subsidiary of Decca Records—signed them. Internal dissatisfaction with the material they were producing, along with additional pressures, fractured the lineup after barely more than twelve months, ending the group once their sole album appeared.
In 1968 Clarkson teamed with keyboardist David Kubinec and two other Birmingham musicians, Christopher Robin and David Reay, to form the World of Oz. The pop-psychedelic quartet moved to London, where Deram Records—the forward-looking pop subsidiary of Decca Records—signed them. Internal dissatisfaction with the material they were producing, along with additional pressures, fractured the lineup after barely more than twelve months, ending the group once their sole album appeared.