Well well, will wonders never cease? I've been a Pretty Things fan from day 1 (hearing Rosalyn on the radio) up to what IMHO is the band's last real album, Rage Before Beauty (the long-delayed "reply" to Crosstalk.) After that the line-up altered and Phil and Dick remained the only two original members, resulting in a very-much-changed overall sound.
I was devastated to hear of Phil's death (in an emergency operation after breaking a hip falling off his bike) and saddened because he'd returned to performing after a long bout of COPD related to depression and lack of self-care following his much earlier divorce (the subject matter of many of the songs on Crosstalk and Rage Before Beauty.) I always felt he deserved a better death than passing away on an operating table.
And I do agree that S F Sorrow was the definitive Rock Opera and a work of great imagination, which also deserved better than it got, delayed in release until after The Who's Tommy, so that appeared to be a copy rather than the originator. Anyway, always nice to hear from another fan, thanks paw.
If you've got time to spare you can read my Band Biography of the Pretties at:
http://www.britishbluesarchive.org.uk/Biographies/Pretty_Things.php It's a few years out of date now but there's still tons of info for interested parties. Meanwhile, let me say an RIP and a fond farewell to the illustrious Phil May, sadly missed.
