Biography
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Years Active
1972 – 1978 (6 years)
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Founded In
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom
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Members
- Mandy Morton (1972 – 1978)
- Mike Morton
Spriguns (initially Spriguns of Tolgus) was a British folk-rock group formed in Cambridge in 1972. They managed to obtain a record deal with a major label and the attention of some significant figures in the folk rock world. They produced four albums with growing originality and recognition but were unable to attain mainstream success and disbanded in 1978. Their lead singer, Mandy Morton, continued her solo career in Scandinavia and the band went on to a cult following.
Spriguns started life playing Friday and Saturday nights at the Anchor pub in Silver Street, Cambridge. Their 1974 privately released cassette was sold to students at live performances and less than 50 copies were produced. The cassette format has ensured that their value has not reached the epic proportions of the vinyl follow-up Jack With A Feather, which boasted better sound quality and duplicated some material from the earlier cassette. The playing on the album was good and almost all the material was traditional.
Abbreviating their name to Spriguns, they went on to record a couple of further albums for Decca which are also very rare now. By now the band was almost totally the vehicle of talented vocalist Mandy Morton who went on to form the Mandy Morton Band and record for Banshee and Polydor. In the eighties she toured with a rock band and became a presenter on BBC Radio Cambridge.
Of the other members: Mike Morton sadly died. Rick Thomas is married and now lives in Italy. Tom Ling plays in an excellent Cambridge based band call Usual Suspects and Chris Russon has returned to the local Cambridge music scene.
After the first Mandy Morton Band album "Sea Of Storms" (Polydor 2382 101), drummer Alex Cooper, Tom Ling and American guitarist Mark Boettcher left the group. Consequently Boettcher introduced Alex Cooper to some American musicians who then, together with ex-Soft Boy Kimberley Rew, formed Katrina and The Waves (who later made a big splash with their hit I'm Walking On Sunshine).
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