* En anglais uniquement
Composer/producer/guitarist
Eddy Pumer was born October 7, 1947, in Woolwich, London. His first instrument was the guitar, inspired by
Duane Eddy. The Sidekicks was his first group in 1963, which consisted of songwriter/guitarist
Pumer, Dan Bridgman on drums, Steve Clark on bass/flute, with the addition of lyricist
Peter Daltrey joining on lead vocals circa 1964. The boys changed their name to the Key around 1965, as
Pumer told the All Media Guide, "with all the original members intact through the whole
Kaleidoscope U.K. output" starting with the release of their first single in 1967 and two albums, Tangerine Dream and Faintly Blowing. After a name change to
Fairfield Parlour they recorded two more discs, From Home to Home and the critically acclaimed double-LP White Faced Lady, a concept album which went unissued until its release in 1990.
Pumer and
Peter Daltrey wrote the anthem to the Isle of Wright Festival in 1970 as well, and
Kaleidoscope opened the billing to that historic outdoor concert. Some of the memorable gigs for
Pumer with his group were "supporting act for
the Who at the Welsh Harp at Brent Cross, London, as well as appearing at Royal Albert Hall, the Plumpton Festival, and the Mothers Club in Birmingham, U.K." The band was active from 1963-64 to 1970. The songwriter/guitarist told AMG how the act formed: "I've known Danny Bridgeman since I was three, he too was influenced by
Duane Eddy and
Sandy Nelson. He picked up on drums, (as) I did on guitar in our early teens. On getting our first jobs, he met Steve Clark at the tool makers and I met
Peter Daltrey at ABC Television, where we were working as post boys together." In 1996, Mercury Records released a 23-song compilation, Dive Into Yesterday, the band obtaining a further bit of recognition by being included in the 2001 issue of Nuggets, Vol. 2, the prestigious box set spawned by
Lenny Kaye's original concept of collecting important psychedelic music.
Pumer was executive music producer at London's Capital Radio, program director with Europe's first TV satellite music channel, Music Box, and a regular consultant for London's Melody Radio.
Oobu Joobu, the number-one award-winning syndicated radio show in the U.S., was produced with
Sir Paul McCartney;
Pumer also told AMG that he "wrote and produced a lot of the jingle package for the series with
Sir Paul," composing the main themes. "Also,
Sir Paul and I produced special tracks for the (B-sides of the) Flaming Pie singles."
Pumer produced the
Band on the Run special-CD with
McCartney, released to celebrate the album's 25th anniversary. The special box set charted at number one on release in the U.S.A.'s Billboard "catalog" chart. The radio show of the same name won the World Gold Medal for Best Music Radio Program in 2000 at the New York International Radio Festival.
Pumer produced a two-hour radio special on
the Beatles'
Yellow Submarine; celebrating 30 years in 1999. This program was also aired on British Airways flights worldwide as part of BA's
Yellow Submarine special month. In conjunction with
the Beatles' TV Anthology,
Eddy Pumer created a series of audio programs to document the life and times of the Fab Four for Apple Corps. He composed, produced, and orchestrated jingles for Southern Sound, Music Box, and London's Capital Radio in association with
Sir George Martin.
Eddy Pumer has also produced a number of the world's premiere orchestras for radio. He has written music for film, television, commercials, and video, including Eyewitness, (produced by
Jonathan Demme), BT, SmithKline Beecham, VISA International, Procter & Gamble, Mobil Services Company Ltd., Perkins Engines, Regalian Properties PLC, and Tektronix, Inc. He is an associate member of the British Academy of Composers and Song Writers.
Pumer has also produced recordings with
Paul McCartney, including 1997's World Tonight. Along with the April 2002 information on
Kaleidoscope for the All Media Guide,
Eddy Pumer spoke with this writer in November of 1998 while the producer was in Los Angeles conducting interviews for the 25th Anniversary edition of
Band on the Run: "At the time,
Paul wanted to release a remastered version of
Band on the Run album to celebrate 25 years since its first release. As always,
Paul wanted to give the fans something more. When I talked with
Paul, the initial idea was to do an interview with him and have some music examples to accompany this and basically tell the story of how it was made. We've all heard stories of how
Paul and
Linda were mugged in Lagos (Nigeria) and the meeting with Dustin Hoffman from which 'Picasso's Last Words' was composed. This led to other ideas about reflecting on that time and the end result was to get as many of these celebrities to talk about that event. So it was an amalgamation of ideas that put this collection together. However, I give
Paul total credit for coming up with the initial (idea) for the second CD. In L.A., I managed to interview Dustin Hoffman, James Coburn,
Denny Laine, and Al Coury, who was the promotions president of Capitol Records. In the U.K., I interviewed Christopher Lee; Michael Parkinson (TV celebrity and writer); John Conteh (ex-boxing champion and now a writer); actor/TV celebrity
Kenny Lynch; (as well as) writer, TV, and radio celebrity and celebrity chef Clement Freud. Everyone really got into the spirit of the whole venture, you've only got to listen to the second CD to know how enthusiastic they all were about it. Some of
Paul's interview was done in 1985 with Mike Read for the BBC and the rest was recorded in
Paul's studio."
Eddy Pumer's work on compiling the information on the
Band on the Run re-release preserves the memory for future generations. "The response in the U.K. was five star," the producer told AMG. "This is a classic album, a milestone in popular music, one of
Paul's greatest works and it received the applause it deserves." After
Band on the Run, he worked on the aforementioned
Yellow Submarine two-hour show for radio which contained new up-to-date interviews with
Paul McCartney,
George Harrison, and
Ringo Starr which were conducted by Laura Gross. In 1998,
Pumer finished mastering a second CD for
McCartney to accompany
Run Devil Run. "This CD is purely an interview, again carried out by Laura Gross.
Paul talks about the making of the album and how he went back to the method of recording which he used with
the Beatles and much more."
In the Spring of 2002,
Pumer traveled to the San Francisco area of California to speak at four concerts: "I've been giving a series of lectures in California (San Francisco) related to an arrangement for strings I did of a piano piece by
Francis Poulenc performed by the New Century Chamber Orchestra. They also commissioned six other arrangers to complete a performance of the entire album of
Abbey Road. Two things here, one I was thrilled to hear the arrangement of the
Poulenc performed, and the
Abbey Road is a 'hit.' I was commissioned to lecture about both works and the history of not only the album
Abbey Road, but also the studios themselves." In April of 2002, the BBC discovered almost two dozen live performances by the
Kaleidoscope U.K., new material of
Peter Daltrey (vocals/keyboard), the late Steve Clarke (bass/flute), Danny Bridgeman (drums/percussion), and
Eddy Pumer (guitar/keyboard/vocals). This material recorded live for the BBC will see release.
Eddy Pumer may record new material with the surviving members of
Kaleidoscope,
Peter Daltrey, and Dan Bridgman along with his ongoing production work for
Sir Paul McCartney. He resides in England with his wife Roberta. ~ Joe Viglione