The Fox

by Richie UnterbergerThe Fox released one obscure psychedelic pop album in 1970, the wittily titled For Fox Sake. The record had much in common with some other British bands with a strong keyboard base in the late '60s that mixed varying degrees of pop and psychedelia. The strongest resemblance was to the post-Steve Winwood releases by the Spencer Davis Group, with some similarities to the pop-soul of the Mike d'Abo-period Manfred Mann and the Baroque pop-psych of the Odessey and Oracle-era Zombies surfacing as well. The chief difference between Fox and the rest of this particular crowd? Well, their songs weren't nearly as good. The album's likable in some respects, with strong cathedral-like Hammond organ parts and pop harmonies. But the songs are average and not too memorable, though they exhibited some range, from fey beatific love odes to more soul-oriented material, blunt stabs at social consciousness, and (on the nine-minute "Madame Magical") determined trippiness. The Fox formed in Brighton in 1968 when veterans of several local bands teamed together. Hammond organist Alex Lane, drummer Tim Reeves, and percussionist-singer Nick Apostiledes had been in the mod-soul band the Alex Lane Group. Reeves had also been in the soul band Omega Plus, as had bassist-keyboardist Dave Windross. Songwriter and guitarist Steve Brayne, who had known Lane and Reeves since primary school, completed the first lineup, though Apostiledes was soon replaced by guitarist Winston Weatherill (formerly in Gary Farr & the T-Bones). The band made test recordings at a 12-hour session in Radio Luxembourg Studios, which worked out so well that most of them were issued as For Fox Sake, though a couple tracks were re-recorded. Management interest cooled off, however, and the Fox broke up soon after the album's release.