When Psychedelia went Heavy – CYCLE formed in 1968 when Middlesbrough lad John Whittingham on lead guitar/vocals teamed up with Ronnie Patterson of Norton on bass and Norman Smith of Middlesbrough on drums.

1971 – Live at Redcar Jazz Club

The trio quickly acquired a following on the local circuit with support slots with touring groups Van der Graaf Generator, Atomic Rooster and Mott the Hoople.

John Whittingham guitarman

John Whittingham started out in the mid 60’s as a teenage guitarist with The Down and Outs then The Elastic Band who mostly performed soul music. As music styles evolved he began coming up with song ideas.

Ronnie Patterson bassman

The addition of bassman Ronnie Patterson enabled them together to move their music to become more heavy and adventurous. In 1969 they recruited drummer Norman Smith and Cycle mk1 were complete.

Norman Smith on his drums!

Despite all three of them having full time jobs they would play 3 and 4 nights per week throughout the North and soon became a hot live act. In 1971 they invested in themselves by making a recording of their music, pressing 99 copies of a six song album. This helped them get further gigs and was even played by John Peel. They were praised by many of the touring groups they supported, who suggested they relocate to London, but this was a very big decision to make and they ultimately did not risk it.

The classic three piece sound of Cycle was augmented by the use of an Oscillator which was made by their friend Andy Chisholm. The weird sounds that this could make was incorporated into many of their songs. By mid1973 Ronnie’s priorities had changed and the call of domestic life meant he made the difficult decision to step down from the group. Malcom Harker was recruited to take on bass duties and in late 1973 Cycle mk2 recorded six more songs at the home studio of Andy Chisholm. They continued to play every week and subsequently they made a further recording in 1975 of two songs, this time at Malcolm’s home.

Cycle mk2 1973-5 Malcolm Harker, Normans Smith John Whittingham

As 1976 began they realised that the musical tide had turned with a coming of punk and Cycle had run its course.

50 years on and some graffiti just never fades – Skinner Street Stockton – drummer Norman Smith says it wasn’t him who done it!