English pop-psychedelia band of the late 1960s.
The Spectrum were mostly known in Europe, despite being a British band -- they were actually a manufactured group, reportedly put together by British RCA to see if they couldn't come up with a U.K. equivalent of the Monkees, but they never had any luck in their own country, despite exposure on a popular children's television show for part of its run and getting a single picked up by a top pirate radio station.
Tony Atkins (lead guitar), Colin Forsey (vocals), Bill Chambers (organ), Tony Judd (bass), and Keith Forsey (drums) made their debut with a single of "Samantha's Mine" b/w "Saturday's Child," issued in early 1967; it became much more popular in Spain (where it reached the number one spot) than it was in England.
Their second single, "Portabello Road," was picked up by Radio London, the top pirate radio outlet in England, and played very heavily, but it failed to chart.
But their third single, "Headin' for a Heatwave," hit number one in Spain, and their fifth single, a cover of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," reached the top spot in Germany during 1968.
The group was also featured in the closing credits of the Gerry Anderson-produced series Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons, singing the title song, but this exposure failed to get them any significant sales and the song was never issued commercially -- ironically enough, their presence on the title theme even gave the group a bit of exposure in America (where the series was popular and ran for years in reruns, and where their singles had never been released), of which they were never able to take advantage.
By 1968, Peter Wood had replaced Chambers on the organ, and the following year Atkins switched to bass and Colin Forsey became their rhythm guitarist while John Beattie took over on lead guitar.
Two additional singles were forthcoming from the group on RCA, along with an LP entitled The Light Is Dark Enough, after which the group moved to Parlophone for one last single before splitting up.
This early record of mixed success seemed to be nothing up a hiccup in the career of Keith Forsey, who went on to play drums with numerous other artists, in addition to becoming a major songwriter (including co-authoring "Flashdance (What a Feeling)" and "Don't You Forget About Me") and producing Billy Idol, Nina Hagen, the Pointer Sisters, and the Psychedelic Furs, among numerous other artists, and writing several movie soundtracks.
