Release Date: 10th January 1969

This was the debut release by the band, issued early in 1969. The record labels on both sides of the single state that the record was produced by ‘Finito’ – a management company run by Tony Palmer and Adrian Rudge – for Noel Gay Productions.Sadly, the record didn’t, as they say, trouble the compilers of the record charts. Neither side of this single appeared on any of the band’s albums and consequently the record has become highly collectible.

Both songs were written by John Meeks and Colin Radcliffe, who wrote much of the material on their later records. Both sides of the record sound more “folky” than some of the band’s later work, even though there is orchestral string accompaniment to the band’s otherwise mainly acoustic guitar-based sound, with George on string bass.

A minor but interesting point to note is that on the demo label the band was shown as Five Penny Piece (“Five Penny” as two separate words), whereas on the official release copy it was shown as Fivepenny Piece (“Fivepenny” as one word) – you can see this on the labels displayed at the top of the page.

Side 1

1. Running Free (John Meeks – Colin Radcliffe)

Side 2

1. Land Of Half Past Nine (John Meeks – Colin Radcliffe)