Chicory Tip are best known for their worldwide number 1 single from 1972, "Son Of My Father," but they also had two other British Top 20 hits - "What's Your Name" and "Good Grief Christina."  Although they charted just three times their recording career spanned five years from 1970 from the first single, "Monday After Sunday," to the final 45, one of their best ever tracks, "Survivor."  

Despite recording 12 singles in the UK they only ever made one album, "Son Of My Father," which came out in 1972, but depending on what version you bought back then, you had either "Excuse Me Baby" (on earlier versions) or "What's Your Name" as the final cut on Side One.

Let's go back to the beginning though. As infants Rick Foster and Barry Mayger were chums - they went to the same school and as they grew up in the early 1960s, they decided to start a band called The Sonics, named after the guitar and bass guitar they both had which were Burns Tri-Sonic guitars.

Barry and Rick were joined by Geoff Baker on Drums, Derek Nye Rhythm Guitar and Peter Hewson on vocals to form the original Sonics. Rick and Barry wanted to concentrate on playing guitar and rhythm guitarist Derek suggested Peter. After an audition Peter Hewson became lead vocalist. Derek and Peter were a year above Barry and Rick at the same school South Borough in Maidstone Kent. Not only are
Chicory Tip the only band from that school to have made it into the charts, they are the only band to date from Maidstone to have had any musical success!
Two years later Barry left with Geoff to form The Blue Beats.
In came Robin Huckstep on Bass and Jock Law on Drums.

The Sonics fizzled out in 1965, but after a two year gap they re-formed.
That band now included lead singer Peter Hewson, drummer Mick Russell along with Barry Mayger bass guitar and Rick Foster lead guitar and in 1967 the change of name to Chicory Tip gave them a change of fortune.

"We wanted to get away from names which started with the word 'The' as there were so many around like 'The' Shadows and 'The' Beatles," explained Rick in a recent interview which you can hear on the Audio page of this website.

"We were in an army barrack just outside Maidstone and on with another band called The Mannish Boys featuring David Bowie," he recalls.

"We came off stage and Barry had seen a brand of coffee (probably Camp Coffee) which had Chicory in it and featured that fact on the label. He said 'What about Chicory Tip for a name?' and I agreed, so we went with it."