#78: Cornflakes and Ice Cream by Lords of London

City: Toronto, ON
Radio Station: CHUM
Peak Month: August 1967
Peak Position in Toronto ~ #1
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~did not chart
YouTube: “Cornflakes And Ice Cream”
Lyrics: N/A

On July 31, 1967, CHUM 1050-AM in Toronto had this to say about the Lords of London in their Pop Pix section. “The Lords of London are an assortment of kids from 15 to 17 and look it. Consisting of Sebastian Agnello (15), Danny Taylor (drums), Hughie Leggat (16), John Richardson (17), and Greg Fitzpatrick who is the songwriter in the group responsible for their first hit “Cornflakes and Ice Cream” rapidly rising on the charts.” The CHUM Hit Parade for July 31, 1967 showed “Cornflakes and Ice Cream” climbing from #34 to #26.

On the jacket for the 45-RPM of “Cornflakes and Ice Cream” Apex Records wrote “The Lords of London are one of the happiest and most original groups of entertainers on the scene today, and “Cornflakes and Ice Cream” and “Time Waits For No One” spotlights them as the “happy waxers: to watch. If you’ve had the advantage of seeing The Lords of London perform, then this release will create that much more excitement for you. If not, this disc will make you want to make the scene. There are only five Lords of London, and what a bundle of talent that is. Greg Fitzpatrick, he wrote both sides of this release, and he’s only 16. Greg plays bass guitar, organ, drums, trumpet and piano. Danny Taylor is 16 too; he plays drums, organ, saxophone and harmonica, and he also wants to get a good working arrangement going for him with all instruments including violin and string bass. John Richardson is the old one of the group. He’s 17 and plays lead guitar like nobody plays lead guitar. Sebastian Agnello was born in Sicily in 1952, and get this, he’s blonde. Have you ever seen a blonde Sicilian? Especially one who can play organ, bass guitar, saxophone, piano and drums? His hair is for real and so are his musical talents. Hughie Leggat is 15, born in Glasgow, Scotland, and doesn’t play the bagpipes, but he sure sets down a mean bass guitar sound. Well there they are, the Lords of London, and here they are with their first hit!

“Cornflakes and Ice Cream” was written by Greg Fitzpatrick. The song begins with the sound of children singing “Ring-around-a-rosie, a pocket full of posies…” The narrator recalls “cracker jacks and paper dolls, cornflakes and ice cream” are some of the things that remind him of a girl he got to know. They’d play at the beach in the sand, “You’d be the woman, I’d be the man.” She’d make him a mud pie, while he looked up to the sky. The narrator discloses, “You grew into a beauty queen. I grew into a music machine.” The recording has jingling sounds of bells, perhaps from a bicycle, or an ice cream truck. These musical effects echoed some of the sounds being made by The Beatles on Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Traffic on the bridge in “Hole In My Shoe”, Simon & Garfunkel on “Fakin’ It” and others. The lyrics in “Cornflakes and Ice Cream” also echoed an appeal to the innocence of childhood in “The Rain, The Park and Other Things” by the Cowsills. The Lords of London contend children need to have their fun.

“Cornflakes and Ice Cream” reached #1 in Toronto and #15 in Hamilton (ON). They also reached to Top 20 in Kitchener (ON) and Simcoe (ON). Elsewhere, the single charted in the Top 30 in Cranbrook (BC), and Halifax (NS).

In November 1967, Rock music critic Ritchie Yorke described the Lords of London’s appearance on the Cleveland, Ohio, pop music variety show Upbeat. They appeared alongside Booker T and the MG’s, the O’Jays, Brenda Holloway, Brian Hyland, Wayne Cochrane, and the Robbs. Yorke writes, The Lords of London “caused a sensation” when they appeared on stage. “…according to host Don Webster, Up-beat has never featured such a colourful and original-looking act as the Lords of London. Sebastian was attired in a Donald Duck outfit, Danny played the sailor-role, John was wearing pyjamas and monster feet, Greg had on his nightshirt, and Hughie looked like Tom Sawyer ! Sounds unbelievable but it was real. They were the hit of the show and drew the greatest response from the teeny-bopper audience. Later they spent half-an-hour signing autographs. This Saturday the Lords will be featured coast-to-coast in Canada on the CTV’s After Four at 4 p.m. on Channel 9. They sing four numbers on the show, including their new release, The Popcorn Man, which is surely destined to follow Cornflakes and Ice Cream to the top of the Canadian charts. The Up-beat show on which the Lords appeared will be seen in Toronto on Nov. 11 at 1 P.m. on channel 2. It also will be watched by millions of Americans in New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Memphis, Seattle, Philadelphia, Baltimore, St. Louis, Dallas and Miami. The Lords have come a long way in 1967.”

Ritchie Yorke continued, “After watching them play together in Ontario for two years, Manager Brian Pombiere finally decided that the group had sufficient experience to go into the recording studios. The result was Cornflakes and Ice Cream, written and produced by Greg Fitzpatrick, 16, which topped the charts and is the biggest-selling locally- produced rock record ever. Because of the disc’s huge success here, Decca Records decided to issue Cornflakes and Ice Cream in the U.S. market. They backed up the release with a large-scale promotional campaign, including a full page ad in the bible of the record business, Billboard. As in Canada, Cornflakes has been a slow starter. The industry calls this type of disc a “sleeper”. It doesn’t hit the charts immediately, but takes a little time to gather momentum. At present Cornflakes is receiving radio exposure in Boston, Hartford, Cleveland, Toledo and Detroit. The Upbeat show could well swing it into the national picture and put it with the top 100 best sellers. Group leader Greg Fitzpatrick is regarded as the youngest record producer in North America, if not the world. In my own 25,000 miles of travelling the pop world I have never encountered such a multi-talented 16-year old. Surprisingly enough, the Lords’ success has not gone to their heads. Usually young rock groups who hit the big time have a great deal of trouble keeping rein on their expanding egos. This is certainly not so with the Lords of London. They are five of the nicest young guys any-one could hope to meet in the pop world. They don’t drink, smoke or get high.”

From August 15th to September 2nd, 1967, The Lords of London appeared as part of a regular live attraction at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. They appeared alongside The Guess Who, Toronto band Kensington Market, and American band Moby Grape.

The Lords of London released a followup titled “Popcorn Man”/”21000 Dreams” was a Top Ten hit in Hamilton (ON), and reached the Top 20 in Kingston (ON). Festival Records in Australia released an EP of the first four tracks by the Lords of London from their first two singles. The EP was titled Introducing the Lords of London. However, the band didn’t catch on down under. And subsequent releases in Canada got little notice. “Candy Rainbow” charted in Calgary and Toronto into the spring of 1968. But that was all. Sebastian Agnello left the Lords of London. The remaining members morphed into Nucleus, which became a progressive rock band.

On May 24th 1969 Billboard reported that ‘Nucleus seem to be on the verge of breaking through internationally’, but it wasn’t to be. By 1970 the band was frustrated with their failure to make commercial headway, and though further 45s had appeared (Johnny Peace / Ernie’s Gone and Wonder Girl / Help Me Find Some Peace), they split at the end of the year, with Taylor, Leggat and Home joining ex-Leather members Alex Machin and Paul Naumann to become A Foot In Coldwater.

Meanwhile, Greg Fitzpatrick went solo as Fitzpatrick and released the single “(We’re All Singing) The Same Song”.  Later, Greg Fitzpatrick and John Richardson moved California in search of a greater musical breakthrough. Fitzpatrick eventually settled in Newfoundland and has performed in A Foot In Coldwater reunions.

Sebastian Agnello established himself as a respected solo artist and session musician on over 200 albums, based in Toronto. He recorded under the titles Sebastian/SEB. He hosted a weekly open mic at the Black Swan in Toronto for many years.

Original members reunited informally in 1991 at a Canadian Wax Hounds gathering in Toronto, where they discussed their careers and screened a long-lost “Cornflakes and Ice Cream” promo video.

Sebastian Agnello died at the age of 71 in 2023. No cause of death was reported.

After A Foot In Coldwater dissolved in the late 70s, Hughie Leggat formed bands like Thunder Road and Private Eye. Danny Taylor continued session work with related projects and has remained active in music circles.

November 6, 2026
Ray McGinnis

References:
Ritchie Yorke, “The Lords of London,” reprinted in Canadian Bands.com.
“CHUM Hit Parade and Pop Pix – July 31, 1967,” CHUM Tribute.com.
“Nucleus,” Citizen Freak.ca.
“A Foot In Coldwater,” Citizen Freak.ca.
Kerry Doole, “Sebastian Agnello, a Toronto-based singer/songwriter, died on September 28, at age 71. No cause of death has been reported,” Billboard, October 5, 2023.

CHUM Hit Parade | CHUM 1050-AM Toronto (ON) | August 28, 1967