Initially known as The Jaygars, Alan Young (vocals and rhythm guitar), Billy Scenters (bass) and brothers Jimmy and Jack McCulloch (lead guitar and drums respectively) regrouped as One In A Million when they moved down from Glasgow to London in the summer of 1966.
They recorded a single for CBS ( Use Your Imagination b/w Hold On ) which was released in 1967, following which the group were picked up by publishing house Southern Music, who placed the band under the wing of one of their regular session men (and occasional member of The Flower Pot Men) Mickey Keen.
He produced their unreleased but subsequently bootlegged No Smokes – which somehow found its way into an episode of BBC TV’s children’s show, The Clangers!
The group’s second – and final – 45 ( Fredereek Hernando b/w Double Sight ) was perhaps the most cataclysmic single to escape from the primordial mushroom soup of the British psychedelic underground.
Both tracks were astonishing, skull-busting examples of the crash-and-burn end of the British psychedelic spectrum, marrying acid-ravaged lyrics and a psychotropic lead vocal to a blitzkrieg sonic assault led by Jimmy McCulloch. Amazingly he was just 14 years old at the time.
Released a few days before Christmas 1967, One In A Million’s sophomore release sadly failed to attract as much attention as the big yuletide musical event that year, the unveiling of Magical Mystery Tour.
Nevertheless, the band staggered on, although Jimmy and Jack were also involved on a peripatetic level with other bands on the late 60s London underground scene.
Jimmy played with a pre-Free Simon Kirke and future Charlie guitarist/vocalist Jim ‘Terry’ Thomas in a band called Matron’s Magic Mixture. They recorded a fine psychedelic pop album for budget label, Saga, under the truncated name of Magic Mixture – on which Jack McCulloch moonlighted under the pseudonym of Jack Collins.
Jack also appeared on the Five Day Week Straw People album (for Saga) before joining post-Attack hard rock crew Andromeda, and then Andwella’s Dream. He also acted as an auxiliary live member of Jimmy’s band, Thunderclap Newman.
Billy Scenters (who adopted the name ‘Billy Fisher’ for a while) went on to join the RAF. Alan Young got married, took a regular job and left the music business completely.
After the brothers briefly reunited in Wild Country, Jimmy went on to form Bent Frame, then on to John Mayall, Stone The Crows, Wings and the reconstituted Small Faces before dying at a tragically early age.
Alan Young
Vocals, rhythm guitar
Jimmy McCulloch
Lead guitar
William Scenters
Bass
Jack McCulloch
Drums
