The Winkies were an English pub rock

Pub rock (UK)

Pub rock was a rock music genre that developed in the mid 1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement, pub rock was a reaction against progressive and glam rock. Although short-lived, pub rock was notable for rejecting stadium venues and for returning live rock to the small pubs and...

 group. During their career, the group primarily consisted of Philip Rambow, Michael Desmarais, Guy Humphreys, and Brian Turrington.

Biography

The Winkies were formed by Canadian-born Philip Rambow. Rambow formed the Winkies with former Holy Rollers

Holy Rollers

Holy Rollers is a 2010 independent film written by Antonio Macia, directed by Kevin Asch, and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Bartha, Ari Graynor, Danny Abeckaser, Q-Tip and Jason Fuchs...

 guitarist Guy Humphreys, and the rhythm section of Brian Turrington and Mike Desmaris. Their music and stage presence were a combination of the sound pub rock

Pub rock (UK)

Pub rock was a rock music genre that developed in the mid 1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement, pub rock was a reaction against progressive and glam rock. Although short-lived, pub rock was notable for rejecting stadium venues and for returning live rock to the small pubs and...

 and visuals of glam rock

Glam rock

Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...

 clothing.

The Winkies caught the attention of former Roxy Music

Roxy Music

Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...

 musician Brian Eno

Brian Eno

Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...

 while he was finishing his debut solo album Here Come the Warm Jets

Here Come the Warm Jets

Here Come the Warm Jets is the debut solo album by Brian Eno. Produced by Eno, it was released on Island Records in 1974. The musical style of Here Come the Warm Jets is a hybrid of glam rock and art rock, similar to Eno's previous album work with Roxy Music but with songs that are more quirky and...

. Eno took The Winkies as his backing band in February 1974, on his first and only solo tour. The outing ended after five shows, after Eno was rushed to the hospital suffering from a collapsed lung

Pneumothorax

Pneumothorax is a collection of air or gas in the pleural cavity of the chest between the lung and the chest wall. It may occur spontaneously in people without chronic lung conditions as well as in those with lung disease , and many pneumothoraces occur after physical trauma to the chest, blast...

. The only recorded material from Eno and the Winkies is of a collaboration on a BBC radio

BBC Radio

BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...

 session taped for John Peel

John Peel

John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...

 in March 1974, recording the songs "Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch", "Totalled", "Baby's on Fire

Baby's on Fire

"Baby's on Fire" is the third track on English musician Brian Eno's 1973 debut album, Here Come the Warm Jets. It is an example of the predominantly glam/art rock style Eno employed at the time, praised for its guitar solo by King Crimson founder Robert Fripp.-Writing and recording:Eno recorded...

" and a cover version

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of the Peggy Lee

Peggy Lee

Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...

 standard "Fever

Fever (1956 song)

"Fever" is a song written by Eddie Cooley and Otis Blackwell, who used the pseudonym John Davenport. It was originally recorded by Little Willie John in 1956. It has been covered by numerous artists from various musical genres, notably Peggy Lee in 1958....

".

After touring with Eno, the band signed with Chrysalis Records

Chrysalis Records

Chrysalis Records was a British record label that was created in 1969. The name was both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis...

 and recorded their debut album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 with Leo Lyons

Leo Lyons

Leo Lyons is an English rock musician, who was also the bassist of the British late 1960s to 1970s rock group Ten Years After....

 of Ten Years After

Ten Years After

Ten Years After is an English blues-rock band, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, Ten Years After scored eight Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart...

. Guests on the record included Chick Churchill and Eno. This album was never completed, and the Winkies began work on another set, with Guy Stevens

Guy Stevens

Guy Stevens worked in a number of different roles in the British music industry including producer and manager. He gave the rock bands Procol Harum and Mott the Hoople their distinctive names....

 producing. Their self-titled debut album The Winkies appeared 1975. Shortly after the release of this album, the Winkies disbanded.

Discography

Year	Title
1975	The Winkies Released: 1975 Label: Chrysalis Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records was a British record label that was created in 1969. The name was both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis... Formats: LP Gramophone record A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...