The Who’s Pete Townshend Has Penned the Foreword to New Book About Thunderclap Newman, the One-Hit Wonder Band He Helped Form

The Who’s Pete Townshend has penned the foreword to a new biography about Thunderclap Newman, the U.K. rock band he helped put together that’s best known for the 1969 hit “Something in the Air.” Hollywood Dream: The Thunderclap Newman Story will be released in a standard paperback edition on October 1 in the U.S.

A limited-edition hardcover version of the book, signed by Townshend and author Mark Wilkerson, can be pre-ordered now at ThirdManBooks.com, and will ship on November 14. The hardback edition will come with a fold-out poster created by Josh Townshend, Pete’s nephew. Josh served as singer/guitarist in the final incarnation of Thunderclap Newman.

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Townshend and Who manager Kit Lambert put Thunderclap Newman together in late 1968 or early ’69. The band featured three core members: singer/drummer/guitarist/songwriter John “Speedy” Keen, keyboardist Andy “Thunderclap” Newman, and 15-year-old lead guitarist Jimmy McCulloch. Pete produced the group’s sole studio album, Hollywood Dream, which was released in 1970. He also played bass on the record under the pseudonym Bijou Drains.

Thunderclap Newman was made up of an unlikely collective of musicians. Keen had previously served as The Who’s chauffer. He also wrote “Armenia City in the Sky,” which the band recorded for their 1967 concept album, The Who Sell Out. Newman was a talented and enigmatic improvisational jazz pianist who also worked as an engineer for the U.K. post office. McCulloch would go on to the play with Paul McCartney & Wings before tragically passing away from medication-induced heart failure at age 26.

More About Thunderclap Newman

“Something in the Air” was released as Thunderclap Newman’s debut single in May 1969. The song knocked The Beatles’ “The Ballad of John and Yoko” from the top of the U.K. chart in July of that year, and stayed at No. 1 for three weeks. In the U.S., it also reached No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100.

By April 1971 the band had broken up. Keen passed away from heart failure in 2002 at age 56. Thunderclap Newman re-formed in 2010, with Newman accompanied by a new lineup of musicians, and were active until 2012. Newman died in 2016 at the age of 73.

Townshend’s Comments About the New Book

A press statement about the Hollywood Dream book included a quote from Townshend.

“I will turn to Wilkerson’s book again and again to be reminded of my three dear friends who comprised the band Thunderclap Newman,” he said. “It’s carefully and devotedly researched with lots of input from all kinds of other friends of mine who shared their journey.”