Group

Octopus

1970s UK psychedelic rock band from Hatfield

From: Hatfield, United Kingdom
Active: 1967–1972
Releases: 2

psychedelic pop
psychedelic rock

About

Octopus were an English psychedelic rock band, resulting from renaming a Hatfield (UK) based band named the Cortinas in late 1968. At the time of the renaming the group consisted of founder members Paul Griggs and his brother Nigel Griggs, Rick Williams and Nigel (Gary) Whinyates. As the Cortinas they released one single on Polydor in 1968. As Octopus they released one LP Restless Night on Penny Farthing in April 1971, along with several singles from 1969 to 1971.

Octopus supported many well-known groups including Cream and Yes and had several members who later joined famous groups: including drummer Brian Glascock, who replaced Nigel Whinyates in late 1969, John Cook and Tim Reeves of Mungo Jerry, and brother Nigel Griggs himself and Malcolm Green, both later of the New Zealand group, Split Enz. Paul Griggs was later a founding member of the pop group Guys 'n' Dolls.

From Octopus (English band) on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Members

John Cook now keyboard
Nigel Griggs now
Paul Griggs now
Brian Glascock 1969–1970 · former drums (drum set)
Malcolm Green 1970–1971 · former drums (drum set)

Discography

Albums 1

Restless Night 1971

Singles 1

Laugh at the Poor Man 1969

Links

Reference

Identifiers

MusicBrainz: d774e7c0-ad4e-4162-b033-36cc7e14ec70
ISNI: 0000000115545335

Data from MusicBrainz, saved 11 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.