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The Shyt – ‘Scarlet Morning’

Robin Bacon (vcls, oboe), Niblet O’Connor (harp), Fe’eal Cycle (bass), Colin-Campbell-Lyons (autoharp), John Morgan (drums, Chinese percussion)

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‘Scarlet Morning’ stands out one of the most charming psychedelic period pieces of the era. Lasting a mere 51 seconds, it gracefully meanders through a fairytale landscape of unicorns, pixies and lepers, as the singer lovingly describes a naked morning walk with his similarly naked girlfriend.

The Shyt, however, did not manage to get a hit with this song, though it was later pushed into the charts by Arthur Westminster, who sanitised the lyrics and gave it more of a calypso feel, with a jew’s harp to the fore of the mix.

At the time, there was speculation amongst music business cognoscenti that it was the group’s name that was holding them back. Although spelled with a ‘y’, the name was believed to have similarities to the word ‘shit’ and a record company press release claiming that the name should be pronounced ‘shite’ did nothing to relieve the problem (see below).

‘Shit’ or ‘Shite’, the band refused to change their name and quietly dropped out of musical history. Fe’eal Cycle went on to form the heavy metal band Titanium Asmodeus, who received a temporary notoriety when their drummer Trump Dimmer was killed on stage in 1972 when an over-excited member of the audience shot him in the head with a gas-powered Hechmann 834 crossbow.

 

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Press Release from the Paisley Halls of Fancy Records UK

Being of ye year 11^th November 1966

The Shyt

The boys in ‘’The Shyt’ are concerned that their many fans have been pronouncing the group’s name incorrectly. It is not, as is often supposed, pronounced to rhyme with ‘’‘pit’ or ‘’git’. The correct pronunciation does, in fact, rhyme with ‘’light’ or ‘‘’spite’. 

The lads in The Shyt hope that their many fans will now jive into their local record shop and ask for ‘’Scarlet Morning’ by The Shyt, as pronounced above. If you have previously bought the record asking for the latest waxing by The Shyt (to rhyme with ‘’slit’), may we humbly suggest that you purchase another copy of this fine record, this time pronouncing the group’s name to rhyme with ‘‘’tight’ or ‘’‘kite’.   

Luckily for The Shyt, this will give ‘Scarlet Morning’ an even better chance of hitting the charts and being the big, big success that the boys so surely deserve! 

Robin Bacon and the rest of the lads would like to take this opportunity to wish their many fans a very happy Christmas and a ’Shyt’ filled new year!