The Tea Set

Why did they name themselves The Tea Set? Was it prosaically, because the group used to rehearse in a tea room in the basement of London Polytechnic in Regent Street where they were studying in the early 1960s? Or was it suggestively, because 'tea' was a hip word for marijuana at the time? 

It could have been either, or both, or neither. But for a few months from late 1964 until mid-1965, that's what this collective of architecture and art students called their rhythm and blues band. They'd tried out a few other names, like Meggadeaths, the Screaming Abdabs, and Spectrum Five, but the Tea Set suited for a while, as they got their first musical engagements, then moved onto the London gig circuit and even made their first foray into the recording studio, laying down tracks that remained unreleased for fifty years. 

Virtually nobody at the time knew of the Tea Set, outside a couple of hundred London gig goers. And hardly anybody remembers them now. That's because in late 1965 they figured they needed one more change of name in their pursuit of a more idiosyncratic identity, and the one they opted for was The Pink Floyd Sound.

The Tea Set (Stanhope Gardens, Crouch End, 1965)

Let's rewind. Nicholas Mason, Richard Wright and Roger Waters met in 1962 after enrolling to study architecture at London Polytechnic, and along with fellow classmates Rado Klose (a friend of Waters from their Cambridge boyhood), Clive Metcalf and Keith Noble, they decided to form a band (as students do). Richard remained a member even when he transferred from the Polytechnic to London College of Music. Wright's girlfriend Juliette Gale would sometimes sing with them, mostly covers of popular tunes from the nascent beat and blues scenes.

Some time in 1964, Metcalf and Noble split away to form another band, and in early 1965 Roger 'Syd' Barrett (another school friend of Waters from Cambridge), who had recently come down to London to study at Camberwell College of Arts, stepped in to join the Tea Set. That recording session, arranged by a friend of Richard Wright, took place at a studio in West Hamstead in February or May (accounts differ) and shortly afterwards the five-piece Tea Set became the resident band at the Countdown Club in Kensington.

The Tea Set on stage (location unknown, 1965)

Two more things were to change during 1965. The first was that Rado Klose, on the advice of his parents and tutors, quit the band to concentrate full time on his studies, at which point Barrett became the front man of the group. The other was that the Tea Set found themselves at a gig where another group, also calling themselves the Tea Set, was playing. It was at that point that Barrett, apparently spontaneously, decreed that they should start calling themselves after a couple of American blues musicians, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council, though in fact the idea had come originally from his art school friend Stephen Pyle. Their days of living on egg and chips and cigarettes were almost over. Setting their controls for the heart of the sun, global fame beckoned for The Pink Floyd Sound, later elided to simply Pink Floyd.

No poem this week. It's been far too exciting a Saturday, with the Seasiders beating top of the table Huddersfield in a passionate and pulsating five goal thriller. 

Instead, as a musical bonus, here's a song from that first ever studio recording made by the band who would eventually become Pink Floyd. Those Tea Set recordings weren't released until fifty years later when, in November 2015, Pink Floyd issued them on an EP '1965: Their First Recordings'. It's a Syd Barret composition. Click on the song title to listen to: Lucy Leave.

Thanks for listening and reading, S ;-)

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Quince

One of the few places in the world that I would dearly like to visit is Mesopotamia. It has so many claims to be the cradle of human civilisation. From cities to writing to the wheel. I now have another reason for wanting to go and that reason is that the quince was first cultivated there about 5,000 years ago.

It didn’t remain rooted there for long as its popularity spread along ancient trade routes and quinces spread rapidly westwards and eastwards. To the west they were carried along the old trade routes, reaching the Middle East and then the Mediterranean as Golden Apples, flourishing as they went. To the east they were taken across the deserts of the Silk Road and thence to China where they arrived as the Golden Peaches of Samarkand. They quickly became very popular and were credited with both mythical and medicinal powers. From ancient times right up to the late Middle Ages quinces were, in most places, more widely used and better known than apples.

One of the quince’s earliest possible claims to fame is the Judgement of Paris in Greek mythology. Eris is the Greek goddess of strife and in a foolish miscalculation she was the only god not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Understandably furious, she barged into the wedding ceremony and threw down a fruit inscribed ‘For the most beautiful.’ This fruit was described as a golden apple and was, almost certainly, a quince. Hera, Athene and Aphrodite each claimed the fruit, so Zeus decided that the matter should be settled by Paris. Hera offered him empire, Athene guaranteed military glory and Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful woman in the world. This was Helen, who was unfortunately already married to Menelaus of Sparta. Paris gave the fruit to Aphrodite and she in turn helped him win Helen, thereby sparking off the Trojan War. The main result of this episode for quinces is that ever after they have been regarded as Aphrodite’s fruit. They are associated with love and fertility.

the quince

There are loads more myths in which the quince has a central role. For quince enthusiasts whenever an apple is mentioned they claim it is actually a quince. Think Garden of Eden.

Leaping forward a few thousand years the quince’s original Latin name for the fruit was cotoneum and this, in turn, evolved into the French coin or coings. In England in the Middle Ages the Old French name coyn or quoyn was used but by the fourteenth century the words had merged and the name quince was widespread.

And talking about names. The surname was introduced into England by followers of Duke William of Normandy at the time of the Conquest of England in 1066, the surname being one of the earliest recorded anywhere in the world. Spellings include de Quincey, Quince, Quincey, Quinsee, Quinsey and others. All derive their names from the pre 3rd century Gallo-Roman personal name Quintas, meaning fifth born, and the name of a famous Roman clan. Amongst the early recordings are those of Henri de Quenci in the Danelaw Documents of England in 1154, whilst from the church registers we have Bennet Quince who married Thomas Gee on December 14th 1592, at St. Dunstan's Stepney.

But not Shakespeare’s most famous quince, Peter Quince, the carpenter in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, that derives from quines or quoins, the wedges which carpenters use to steady the pieces they are cutting.

Back to the fruit. With the decline of servants they were increasingly regarded as too much bother to cook and so fell out of favour. In the twenty-first century and a new emphasis on home-grown produce this has meant that they are coming back into favour, so:

quince paste

Quince Paste: A Recipe

Take a pan with enough water
to cover four peeled and chopped quince
boil then reduce heat and cover
stir for thirty minutes and since
it needs to be smooth then puree
whose bitter taste will cause a wince
so add sugar and vanilla
cook until thick and red and rinse
a terrine mould for the mixture
pour it into the mould then mince
tofu beef with mixed fruit to add
when it’s set and that should convince
your taste buds or any top chef
of a new dish called Terrince Quinnce

Terry Quinn

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