John Smith and the Common Men
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John Smith and the Common Men, originally known as simply the Common Men, was a music group in 1960s England. (TV: "An Unearthly Child" [+]Part of An Unearthly Child, Loading...{"namedep":"An Unearthly Child (1)","1":"An Unearthly Child (TV story)"}; AUDIO: 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men [+]Loading...["1963: Fanfare for the Common Men (audio story)"])
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Common Men originally consisted of three members: Mark Carville, James O'Meara and Korky Goldsmith. The three were actually Byulnians, but did not know it. Their early songs included "Just Count To Three", "Oh, Won't You Please Love Me?" and "Who Is That Man?". (AUDIO: 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men [+]Loading...["1963: Fanfare for the Common Men (audio story)"])
John Smith was the stage name of the honourable Aubrey Waites, who started his career as Chris Waites and the Carrollers. One song from Chris Waites and the Carrollers was "Christmas Caroline". (TV: "An Unearthly Child" [+]Part of An Unearthly Child, Loading...{"namedep":"An Unearthly Child (1)","1":"An Unearthly Child (TV story)"}; PROSE: Time and Relative [+]Loading...["Time and Relative (novel)"])
In October 1963, John Smith and the Common Men were beaten to No. 1 by the Beatles. (AUDIO: Hunters of Earth [+]Loading...["Hunters of Earth (audio story)"]) That same month, "Oh, Won't You Please Love Me?" was played on the radio. (AUDIO: An Unearthly Woman [+]Loading...["An Unearthly Woman (audio story)"]) In an alternate timeline created by Lenny Kruger, the Common Men became the most famous band in the world in place of the Beatles. (AUDIO: 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men [+]Loading...["1963: Fanfare for the Common Men (audio story)"]) By one account, it was at the suggestion of the Fifth Doctor that the Common Men — happy to do anything that paid — became a backing group for "John Smith" on 31 October 1963. (AUDIO: 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men [+]Loading...["1963: Fanfare for the Common Men (audio story)"]) By another, however, advertisements for both of Aubrey's aliases and bands already existed on 11 February 1963, on one occasion being ironically booked for the same event. (TV: The Devil's Chord [+]Loading...["The Devil's Chord (TV story)"])
By November 1963, John Smith and the Common Men went from 19 to 2 in the British charts. Susan Foreman was fond of their music. Her science teacher and future travelling companion Ian Chesterton was quite familiar with them and knew Smith's true identity. (TV: "An Unearthly Child" [+]Part of An Unearthly Child, Loading...{"namedep":"An Unearthly Child (1)","1":"An Unearthly Child (TV story)"}) Susan had a John Smith and the Common Men album aboard the TARDIS. The First Doctor did not think much of them. (AUDIO: 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men [+]Loading...["1963: Fanfare for the Common Men (audio story)"])
On 23 November 1963, Bob Dovie listened to the Common Men on the radio. (AUDIO: The Light at the End [+]Loading...["The Light at the End (audio story)"])
In 1965, Dodo Chaplet listened to John Smith and the Common Men, but thought that they were "a bit past it." (PROSE: Salvation [+]Loading...["Salvation (novel)"])
During one UNIT Christmas party, the Third Doctor provided the music, which included John Smith and the Common Men. (PROSE: UNIT Christmas Parties: First Christmas [+]Loading...["UNIT Christmas Parties: First Christmas (short story)"])
In May 1997, while the Eighth Doctor and Bernice Summerfield searched Timothy Todd's flat, Benny discovered a cassette entitled Twang: More Than Thirty Years of John Smith and the Common Men. (PROSE: The Dying Days [+]Loading...["The Dying Days (novel)"])
Sam Gold, the DJ of Radio Yesterday, played a cover of one of the band's songs during his ex-wife Iris Wildthyme's visit to the station. (AUDIO: The Sound of Fear [+]Loading...["The Sound of Fear (audio story)"])
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The song heard in An Unearthly Child as Susan listened to the group on the radio was an instrumental called "Three Guitars Mood 2".
- As far as televised stories are concerned, the fact the Doctor later adopted "John Smith" as an occasional alias would appear to be a coincidence.
- As part of Record Store Day 2013, a physical vinyl EP of John Smith and the Common Men titled Sounds from the Inferno was released through Hyperion Records. The EP consisted of three tracks: "Three Guitars Mood 2" by Derek Nelson and Arthur Raymond, which Susan is seen dancing to in An Unearthly Child, and "The Eyelash" and "Latin Gear" by Johnny Hawksworth, which are both heard playing in the Inferno nightclub (hence the EP's name) in The War Machines.
