Aquarian Age

A quartet of Twink (b. John Alder, 1944, Colchester, Essex, England; guitar, keyboards, vocals) and John ‘Junior’ Wood (bass), with session musicians Clem Cattini (b. 28 August 1939, London, England; drums) and Nicky Hopkins (b. 24 February 1944, London, England, d. 6 September 1994, California, USA; piano), Aquarian Age only released one single in the late 60s but are fondly remembered as a unique collaboration between celebrated mavericks Twink and Hopkins. ‘10, 000 Words In A Cardboard Box’/‘Good Wizard Meets Naughty Wizard’, a confident example of instrumental psychedelia, was released on Parlophone Records in 1968 as a studio project inaugurated by Twink and Wood, and produced by Mark Wirtz. Written by Wood, it was actually a bitter attack on former Tomorrow singer Keith West. West had abandoned his former colleagues Twink and Wood when he tasted solo success with a version of ‘Excerpt From A Teenage Opera’. Wirtz himself later re-recorded the song under a new title, ‘Love And Occasional Rain’, for his Comeback And Shake Me album. Twink too would return to the song, recording a version of it for his Think Pink album in 1970. Aquarian Age never recorded again, though the project was initially intended to be a long-term venture. The group members even wrote material together for a play entitled The Good Wizard Meets The Naughty Wizard, and went as far as casting it. However, when Twink was asked to replace Skip Alan of the Pretty Things, the band collapsed. Wood subsequently worked as a croupier before becoming a round-the-world yachtsman.