The Penguin Café Orchestra (PCO) first appeared in 1976 and subsequently toured and recorded extensively throughout the eighties and nineties; pieces such as ‘Music for a Found Harmonium’ and ‘Telephone and Rubber Band’ became well-known through frequent use in film soundtracks and advertisements. Sadly, Simon Jeffes, our founder died in 1997. For ten years we played only privately, but came back in 2007 for three concerts at the Union Chapel in London. The Orchestra That Fell To Earth, formed from a core group of the original PCO, came together after those concerts. We were for a short time known as 'The Anteaters', named after a joke Simon had made about the Penguins having to change their name. But that's another story....
The original PCO had come into being as a consequence of a disturbing experience Simon Jeffes had during a bout of food poisoning in 1972. In his delirium Simon had a vision of a world of fearful, isolated individuals in which everyone and everything had been neutralized, made grey and anonymous, a scene of “ordered desolation... a place which had no heart”. The next day he felt better and had another vision, of a place in which people could relax and just be themselves without fear, a place where human spontaneity and what Simon called the ‘random element’ could be embraced rather than suppressed; a place where a particular kind of music would be played and enjoyed; a place called ‘The Penguin Cafe’ from which the original PCO took its name.
The Orchestra That Fell To Earth continues to play in that same spirit. Geoffrey Richardson, Jennifer Maidman, Steve Fletcher and Annie Whitehead, all toured and recorded extensively for many years in the original band. Our percussionist, Liam Genockey of Steeleye Span, also toured with the original band.
If you would like us to come and play for you please get in touch via our contact form or via Facebook.
You provide the venue and we'll bring the music......
The original PCO had come into being as a consequence of a disturbing experience Simon Jeffes had during a bout of food poisoning in 1972. In his delirium Simon had a vision of a world of fearful, isolated individuals in which everyone and everything had been neutralized, made grey and anonymous, a scene of “ordered desolation... a place which had no heart”. The next day he felt better and had another vision, of a place in which people could relax and just be themselves without fear, a place where human spontaneity and what Simon called the ‘random element’ could be embraced rather than suppressed; a place where a particular kind of music would be played and enjoyed; a place called ‘The Penguin Cafe’ from which the original PCO took its name.
The Orchestra That Fell To Earth continues to play in that same spirit. Geoffrey Richardson, Jennifer Maidman, Steve Fletcher and Annie Whitehead, all toured and recorded extensively for many years in the original band. Our percussionist, Liam Genockey of Steeleye Span, also toured with the original band.
If you would like us to come and play for you please get in touch via our contact form or via Facebook.
You provide the venue and we'll bring the music......
