Thunderclap Newman was a late 1960s one-hit wonder band from the UK. Their single, "Something in the Air", a 1969 UK number one hit, remains in demand for television commercials, film soundtracks, and compilations. In 1969, Pete Townshend, The Who's guitarist, created the band to play songs written by the former Who chauffeur, drummer/singer/guitarist John "Speedy" Keen. Keen wrote the opening track on "The Who Sell Out" album, "Armenia City in the Sky". Townshend produced the single, played its bass guitar under the pseudonym Bijou Drains, and hired for it GPO engineer and Dixieland jazz pianist Andy "Thunderclap" Newman and the fifteen year old Glaswegian guitarist Jimmy McCulloch. Originally titled "Revolution", but later renamed because The Beatles had released a song of that name in 1968, "Something in the Air" captured post-flower power rebellion, marrying McCulloch's majestic electric rhythm and lead guitars; Keen's powerful drumming and falsetto, Newman's legendary frostbite in boxing gloves piano solo and Townshend's (uncredited) electric bass. The single was Number One in the UK Singles Chart for three weeks, holding off Elvis Presley in the process. The scale of the song's success surprised everyone.
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