October 1967.

It may not be the sunniest (or warmest) start to the day but, in my head, it’s just downright groovy this morning…and there’s purple paint (for real, not in my head).

John Fred & His Playboy Band, regarded as a bit of a novelty act, were formed in Louisiana in 1956. Written by Fred and fellow band member Andrew Bernard, the title is an obvious play on the Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and came about due to Fred believing the lyrics were actually Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds.

This was their only hit, successfully knocking The Beatles’ Hello, Goodbye off the US number one spot for two weeks. It also made it to number one in Germany, Switzerland and Australia whilst here in the UK, it spent twelve weeks on the UK chart and peaked at number three.