Simon Dupree & The Big Sound

Simon Dupree and the Big Sound was a British pop band formed by three brothers, Derek Shulman, born 1947 (vocals), Phil Shulman, born 1937 (vocals, saxophone, trumpet), and Ray Shulman, born 1949 (guitar, violin, trumpet, vocals). They sta

Simon Dupree and the Big Sound was a British pop band formed by three brothers, Derek Shulman, born 1947 (vocals), Phil Shulman, born 1937 (vocals, saxophone, trumpet), and Ray Shulman, born 1949 (guitar, violin, trumpet, vocals). They started as The Howling Wolves, and then became The Road Runners, playing hard core R&B around the Portsmouth area, home of the Shulman brothers. Making up the rest of the group were Pete O'Flaherty (bass), Eric Hine (keyboards), and Tony Ransley (drums).

Their first few singles, notably 'I See The Light' (1966), failed to chart and they only broke through at the end of 1967 with the psychedelic-influenced 'Kites', a Top 10 in Britain. Regarding themselves as blue-eyed soul brothers, they hated it as it was so unrepresentative of their usual style. The follow-up, 'For Whom The Bell Tolls', was only a minor hit, and a subsequent single, 'Broken Hearted Pirates', featuring an uncredited Dudley Moore on piano, made no headway at all.