The Fairies were first known as Dane Stephens & the Deepbeats, Stephens being the lead singer. Songwriter Geoff Stephens (no relation to Dane) helped arrange for them to do sessions for Decca, resulting in the debut single "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," a cover of the Bob Dylan composition. The flipside, "Anytime at All," was far closer to the Fairies' true R&B-rock personality with its harmonica, maracas, and jagged guitar. It was written by Geoff Stephens, quite an oddity considering that Stephens would find success with overtly sentimental pop material such as Dave Berry's "The Crying Game" and the New Vaudeville Band's "Winchester Cathedral."

The next single, "Get Yourself Home"/"I'll Dance," was a peak treasure of obscure British Invasion R&B, particularly the A-side, which was written by Johnny Dee (who had also written the Pretty Things' hit "Don't Bring Me Down"). With its hoarse Phil May-like vocal, "Get Yourself Home" could well be mistaken for a bona fide Pretties track. The band's momentum was derailed around this time, though, when Dane Stephens fell asleep while driving, hit a car, and deaths resulted from the accident. Stephens didn't have a driver's license and went to jail, and Nick Wymer took over on vocals.

Although the Fairies cemented the Pretty Things connection by going with the Pretties' management and agency, their third and final single, "I Don't Mind," was more muted and poppy than their earlier endeavors, sounding like the very early Moody Blues. ("Jimmie Duncan" is credited as producer; most likely that was Pretty Things co-manager Jimmy Duncan, who had co-written their debut single, "Rosalyn.") As a final gesture of the Pretty Things-Fairies reciprocation society, After stints in the In Crowd and Tomorrow, Fairies drummer John "Twink" Alder joined the Pretty Things for a spell in the late '60s during their psychedelic phase.