Today’s classic song of the day comes to us all the way from the land down under, and has a connection to that trio of British brothers called the Bee Gees. The song is “Toast and Marmalade for Tea” by the group Tin Tin and, when it was released in early 1970, the single peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100. It hit #10 in the group’s native Australia and #11 in neighboring New Zealand.
“Toast and Marmalade for Tea” was written by a Tin Tinner Steve Groves, although he never got around to writing a chorus for the thing. With just a couple of verses to work with, the group’s producer, Bee Gee Maurice Gibb, had the group repeat the verses and added a modulation in the middle, to give it that little lift. The recording used only a guitar (played by Steve Groves) and piano (played by Steve Kipner). The drums were recorded on an broken down kit they found in the studio; since the bass drum pedal didn’t work, Kipner had to push it with his hand to get the kick drum sound.
To my ears, “Toast and Marmalade for Tea” sounds a little like a late-60s Bee Gees record. I suppose that’s to be expected, given Maurice Gibb’s presence throughout the whole process.
Tin Tin was formed, as the Kinetics, by the two Steves (Groves and Kipner) in Australia in 1966. They moved to the U.K. in 1969, changed their name to Tin Tin, and hooked up with Maurice Gibb, who got them a recording contract with Polydor Records. Gibb produced the group’s first album and executive produced their second. Tin Tin broke up shortly after that, essentially a one-hit wonder—in the U.S. They released a few other singles that charted (barely) in Australia and Canada, and that was that.
By the way, that kind of wobbly sound you hear on the “Toast and Marmalade for Tea” single was created when the recording engineer accidentally leaned on the tape machine during a playback session. They liked it and kept it.
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, a black and white promo film for “Toast and Marmalade for Tea,” featuring Steve and Steve sailing on a boat out in a harbor. Of course.
