The Deviants (formerly The Social Deviants) were an English rock band originally active from late 1966 to 1969, but later used as a vehicle for the musical work of writer Mick Farren until his death in 2013. Farren has stated that The Deviants were originally a community band which "did things every now and then—it was a total assault thing with a great deal of inter-relation and interdependence". Musically, Mick Farren described that they were influenced by The Who, Charles Mingus, Velvet Underground, and Frank Zappa. History 1960s The Social Deviants were founded by singer/writer Mick Farren in late 1966 out of the Ladbroke Grove UK Underground community, featuring Pete Munro on bass, Clive Muldoon on guitar, Mike Robinson on guitar, and Benny (surname unknown) on drums. This group played at UFO in Tottenham Court Road and opened the Alexandra Palace Love-In festival. Shortly thereafter Benny (surname unknown) was replaced by Phil Mari on drums for a few gigs. In the early months of 1967 Phil Mari left the band and was replaced by Russell Hunter (born 26 April 1946, Woking, Surrey) as permanent drummer in the group. The band then shortened their name to "The Deviants" after Pete Munro, Clive Muldoon, and Mike Robinson all left the group and were replaced by Cord Rees on bass and Sid Bishop on guitar (born Ian Bishop, 17 December 1946, Balham, South West London). With the financial backing of Nigel Samuel, the 21-year-old son of a millionaire, whom Farren had befriended, the group independently recorded their debut album Ptooff!, selling copies through the UK Underground press before it was picked up by Decca Records. This LP had been reissued on Drop Out Records (1992), Captain Trip Records (2004), Esoteric Recordings (2009), and Angel Air Records (2013); additionally, a 10" EP with excerpts from Ptooff!! was released on Alive/Total Energy Records (1996) under the name Social Deviants. Rees left the band in June 1967 to be replaced by Farren's flatmate Duncan Sanderson (born Stuart Duncan Sanderson, 31 December 1948, in Carlisle, Cumbria) and the band released a second album Disposable through the independent label Stable Records. When Bishop married and left the band, Farren recruited Canadian guitarist Paul Rudolph (born Paul Fraser Rudolph, 14 June 1947, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) at the suggestion of Jamie Mandelkau. This band recorded and released the album The Deviants 3 through Transatlantic Records. During a tour