Cet article non signé est paru dans l’hebdomadaire britannique Disc & Music Echo daté du 28 mai 1966. Les Pretty Things, toujours défiants, s’inscrivent à contre-courant des modes, bien décidés à ne jouer que la musique qu’ils aiment. Ce n’est qu’une attitude, évidemment, et les faits viennent assez franchement la contredire quand on se souvient des des derniers singles de la période Fontana et des arrangements baroques de l’album Emotions. Le journaliste a beau parler de la « confusion des sons et des sitars », les Pretties ne tarderont pas à faire mumuse à leur tour avec ces nouvelles sonorités…
Transcription
Amid the confusion of sounds and sitars, of short hair and shorn hair and stand-on-end hair—the Pretty Things.
With amazing regularity the Pretty Things surface into the chart roughly every three months, with a new single.
Amazing because the Pretty Things have never changed. In a pop world where the clever thing is to experiment with sound, where every group—even the Stones—have conformed just a little bit, the Pretty Things have kept their unruly mops, their slouching walk, their raw uninhibited sound.
“I should think we are the only group that still use a harmonica as the basic instrument on stage,” said Phil May.
“We don’t just jump on the bandwagon when new sounds come along. It seems our fans like us the way we are.
“At present the chart is full of Bacharach melodic sounds. And every group that goes on stage is doing the same numbers.
“As far as records are concerned we keep to our sound because it’s ours. People have come to us with some lovely stuff which is obviously a hit—in fact other people have done it and it has been a hit—but it’s too pretty for us.
“We couldn’t afford to do it. Music is getting too pretty these days. That’s why the Troggs had such a huge hit.
“‘Wild Thing’ had to happen because in a chart full of sweetness it was gassy and happening. It knocked you out.
“Yes, it does surprise us that we’re still popular, that we still get chart success.
“But we won’t conform. I suppose you could say we do what we want and to hell with everyone else, but that’s a bit strong.
“The way I’d put it is like this: we play what we want to play, every single number, and we won’t conform with trends. That way we’re happy. And it looks like our fans are too!”
Source : WorldRadioHistory.com (PDF).