pink hedgehog records
SIMON FELTON
"Felton effortlessly keeps the should-be hits coming."
- Michael Toland (The Big Takeover, USA)
"Bulletproof pop sensibility and signature self-deprecating wit."
- Marco Rossi (Shindig!, UK)
"Has a great gift for composing catchy ear candy."
- Jeff Penczak (Happening Magazine, UK)
"A true renaissance man of power pop."
- Ronnie Dannelley (Ear Candy, USA)
a short biography
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Simon lives in Weymouth, a seaside town on the south coast of England. By day he walks other people’s dogs. When he's not doing that, he runs a record label called Pink Hedgehog, enjoying critical and occasionally commercial success with many artists including Anton Barbeau, Electrasy and Hamfatter. Some of you will know Electrasy for their top 20 UK hit 'Morning Afterglow', while Hamfatter gave the label its own entry in the UK Singles Chart with 'Sziget (We Get Wrecked)' before achieving notoriety by appearing on BBC's Dragon's Den. Simon also fronts his own power-pop band called Garfields Birthday, who have gained a loyal fan base around the world, with several highly-respected albums, appearances at the legendary Cavern Club in Liverpool and European tours to their name. In 2020 they celebrated 25 years together (exactly half Simon’s life!), with a retrospective compilation called Typically Stereo.
Ever the late-developer, Simon didn’t truly come of age until 2009 when he released his first solo album called Failing in Biology, recorded with Californian pop guru Anton Barbeau and West Country prog-rock legend Alan Strawbridge. All the while, Simon had decided to become a full-time mature student at Bournemouth University, graduating back in 2010 with an honours degree in Psychology. In 2011, the successful team of Strawbridge, Barbeau and Felton reunited and repeated the magic of Biology, with sophomore album Surrender, Dorothy!. More recently, Simon has joined harmony-fuelled roots band Wilson, appearing on their Old School, New Rules album and released his “therapeutic trilogy” of albums; Emotional Feedback (2015), Return to Easton Square (2016) and Topsy Turvy (2017); all solo records in the truest and most vulnerable sense of the word. After a few years of being distracted by the real world and a good many live appearances with Wilson, November 2020 sees the release of his latest collection of melancholy pop, The Cost of Living, and as ever he remains nervously optimistic.
WATCH THE NEW VIDEO NOW
Simon Felton 'A Clown Without a Face'
Taken from The Cost of Living
Released November 2020
"Pink Hedgehog majordomo Felton has been putting smiles on our faces for over 25 years (even his catalogue numbers begin with a SMILE!). The fourth part of his "therapeutic trilogy" (see what we mean?) is another frothy collection of peppy powerpop with a melancholic, self-deprecating edge. 'Drowned in Sound' is a snappy slice of synth-pop with a Lightning Seeds groove that Ian Broudie would die for, 'Casualty Ward''s unexpected fuzz solo rouses us from its doomy gloom in time to bop around the room to the light-footed 'Hello Major' and its effervescent XTC trappings, and the joyful 'Find Me in Your Words' deserves "major hit" status. Crystal-clear production brings the soothing keyboard backing front and centre. Felton's nice-guy vocals deliver intelligent and emotional lyrics with maximum sincerity and minimum treacle, and the deftly-placed harmonies wrap everything in a perfect package for pure pop people."
- Jeff Penczak (Shindig! Issue 111, UK)
