Artist · chart history
Thunderclap Newman
Band London United Kingdom Active 1969–1970
Thunderclap Newman formed in 1969 in London, United Kingdom and was active until 1970. Thunderclap Newman has 8 chart appearances on 8 radio countdowns from 7 stations on RockLists, spanning 2001–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Something in the Air”, which appears on 8 lists with a best position of #229. The station that charted Thunderclap Newman most often is 92.3 KGON (Portland, OR), with 2 appearances.
Thunderclap Newman didn't form so much as get assembled. In 1969 Pete Townshend of the Who and Kit Lambert put the band together in London to show off three talents: John "Speedy" Keen, a songwriter who sang and played drums and guitar; Andy "Thunderclap" Newman on piano; and Jimmy McCulloch on guitar. Townshend recorded and produced everything himself, at IBC Studio and at his home studio in Twickenham, and played bass on the lot under the alias Bijou Drains. The records came out on Track Record.
"Something in the Air" was the payoff, a UK number one in 1969, a song that drifts in easy and then swells like weather rolling over the hills, with Newman's piano holding the whole thing together. It has never really gone away, turning up again and again in TV ads, film soundtracks and compilations. The album, Hollywood Dream, won the critics over and yielded three more singles in "Accidents", "The Reason" and "Wild Country".
On the road the trio needed extra hands: Jim Pitman-Avery on bass and Jack McCulloch on drums in 1969, then the Australians Roger Felice on drums and Ronnie Peel on bass early in 1971. It didn't hold together for long after that.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Thunderclap Newman on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Something in the Air | 8 | #229 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
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