Inside. . .

London -  The festive season was in full swing. Bright lights and colorful decorations adorned the hip clothing shops on London's trendy Wardour Street, many of which featured the latest in fine imported fashions along with kaleidoscopic hippie-ware. With the post-Christmas hangover still ringing, the city's young music fans eagerly awaited the sold-out New Year's Eve show at the Alexandra Palace. Advertised on light standards throughout the city's west end and heralded as "The place to be", the arrival of the final year of the swinging sixties would be celebrated with a dynamic musical mix of Mod and R&B that featured the father-figure of British Rhythm and Blues Alexis Korner in support of the stylish and cheeky Small Faces. As the tye-dyed, acid-induced haze of the feel-good sixties drew to a close, this memorable evening and potent double bill would bring an explosive end to one of England's most distinguished and popular bands. 

As the remaining weeks of 1968 dawned, The Small Faces continued working hard while most of their peers were comfortably ensconced in their respective country estates for some much needed rest and relaxation as the fruits of their previous months' labors were released. The Stones, who just a few weeks prior had filmed and recorded their "Rock and Roll Circus", took a break after the December 4th release of their "Beggars Banquet" album while still glowing from their most recent worldwide hit, "Jumpin' Jack Flash". For their part, The Beatles' golden touch remained as they continued to dominate and expand. Their ever increasing power and influence afforded them the luxury of their own record label as they celebrated yet another number one single, "Hey Jude" b/w "Revolution" (August 30th), the very first release on Apple Records. Meanwhile, the late-summer release of their full-length animated film, "Yellow Submarine", continued its box office looting while being praised endlessly by critics in Europe and North America. Fellow Modsters-turned-high-volume rockers, The Who, enjoyed a brief respite as they prepared to enter IBC studios in January to record a little something called "Tommy". Oddly, a few weeks earlier, on November 20th, Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones joined Keith Moon for the encore performance of "Magic Bus" when the fiesty Shepherd's Bush foursome played the Liverpool Empire Theatre.

As for The Small Faces, 1968 was a tumultuous year laden with maddening paradoxes. Troubles with Decca, their former label, and financial mismanagement saw them working harder, earning more, yet keeping less, even though the band charted two Top 20 singles during the course of the year ( "Lazy Sunday" #2 and "Universal" #16). The band refined its sound as they continued their evolution from Pop/R&B to Psychedelia, finally arriving at a more complete, mature sound with the release of the superlative "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake" album, its classic circular fold-out sleeve a replica of the familiar U.K. tobacco brand. Critics lauded the album and the solid songwriting partnership that had been cemented between Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, this in spite of the fact that strife between the two often times left them barely speaking to one another. Adding to this volatile powder keg was the incendiary strain of mounting pressure for the band to produce more chart toppers to match the international success of 1967's trippy-hippie anthem "Itchycoo Park". Marriott remained frustrated with both the band's overall playing ability and their collective failure to produce on-stage what they did in the studio. His recommendation to add another guitarist to augment their live shows (he suggested adding one Peter Frampton to the band) was shot down immediately by the others who were satisfied with the band's competence. Marriott's disappointment with the non-musical aspects of the record business also came to a head during this time, his disdain for the press more than apparent during an interview, "As far as the kids are concerned, they love us, but in the eyes of the press we're just dirty, boozing bastards. We were stereotyped as difficult, quite unfairly, because a clause in our contract demanded that the management supply soap and clean towels for us. Is that asking too much?" The seeds of malcontent had been sown for some time, and as New Year's Eve rolled around, the unhappiness had grown and flowered. continued . . .