Black Swan - Echoes and Rainbows/ Belong Belong

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .

Label: Ember
Year of Release: 1971

Now here's a rum release. While Black Swan may seem like a group name, it would appear that this was entirely the work of Cherbourg born sixties star Billy Bridge, who enjoyed some minor success in France with tracks such as "Le Grand M". For the Black Swan project, he apparently played absolutely all the instruments himself with no input from other sources.

Unlike his early approximations of beat pop and Rock and Roll, however, Black Swan is essentially very organic late period psychedelia, and in the context of the material he was best known for is as unexpected as finding a Cliff Richard 45 with a heavy hippy feel. Actually recorded across the water in Britain, the A-side "Echoes and Rainbows" has a minimal trance-like insistence, complete with kazoo overload, whereas the flip "Belong Belong" is - illogically enough - much poppier, riddled with merry hooks akin to a slightly lighter version of Aphrodite's Child. In all, the two sides amount to a very hazy, dope-fuelled campfire listening experience.

A full album entitled "Da Ga De Li Da - Echoes and Rainbows" was issued in mainland Europe, but not (so far as I'm aware) the UK. It's been unavailable for some time since and, while it's getting picked up by a few psychedelic aficionados now, remains rather obscure. What became of Billy after this weird footnote in his solo career is not clear to me, but the Black Swan project was clearly a one-off never to be repeated.

Sadly, Billy passed away in Paris in November 1994.

Both sides of this single are available on iTunes as part of the "Ember Pop" compilation, but "Echoes and Rainbows" can be heard in full on YouTube. Very brief clips are also available below to give you a flavour of the single.

Label: Ember
Year of Release: 1971

Now here's a rum release. While Black Swan may seem like a group name, it would appear that this was entirely the work of Cherbourg born sixties star Billy Bridge, who enjoyed some minor success in France with tracks such as "Le Grand M". For the Black Swan project, he apparently played absolutely all the instruments himself with no input from other sources.

Unlike his early approximations of beat pop and Rock and Roll, however, Black Swan is essentially very organic late period psychedelia, and in the context of the material he was best known for is as unexpected as finding a Cliff Richard 45 with a heavy hippy feel. Actually recorded across the water in Britain, the A-side "Echoes and Rainbows" has a minimal trance-like insistence, complete with kazoo overload, whereas the flip "Belong Belong" is - illogically enough - much poppier, riddled with merry hooks akin to a slightly lighter version of Aphrodite's Child. In all, the two sides amount to a very hazy, dope-fuelled campfire listening experience.

A full album entitled "Da Ga De Li Da - Echoes and Rainbows" was issued in mainland Europe, but not (so far as I'm aware) the UK. It's been unavailable for some time since and, while it's getting picked up by a few psychedelic aficionados now, remains rather obscure. What became of Billy after this weird footnote in his solo career is not clear to me, but the Black Swan project was clearly a one-off never to be repeated.

Sadly, Billy passed away in Paris in November 1994.

Both sides of this single are available on iTunes as part of the "Ember Pop" compilation, but "Echoes and Rainbows" can be heard in full on YouTube. Very brief clips are also available below to give you a flavour of the single.

The Academy featuring Polly Perkins - Munching The Candy/ Rachel's Dream

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .

Label: Morgan Blue Town

Year of Release: 1969

Life wasn't easy for independent labels in the sixties, and Morgan was no exception. Constantly dealing with shambolic distribution networks, very few of them scored hits. President Records broke the mould in the later part of the decade, but Joe Meek's struggles with Triumph and the financial struggles experienced by Strike Records spoke volumes about the hurdles many truly independent businesses had to deal with.

Far from being just an independent label, though, Morgan was also a large and well-respected recording studio in North London, with an in-house session team of musicians and songwriters who regularly bypassed the Morgan label and licensed their product to majors (The Smoke's "My Friend Jack" probably being the most famous example). The best Morgan recordings, such as those by The Smoke, Bobak Jons Malone and Fortes Mentum, were compiled on a superb Sanctuary Records release called "House of Many Windows" some years ago. This is now out-of-print, but copies are well worth tracking down - the team had developed a distinctive and actually incredibly agreeable sound by the late sixties, filled with tricksy and classical inspired arrangements, a low-end bass fuzz, and peculiar woozy but nonetheless poppy psychedelia. Whereas a lot of other psychedelic pop of the period sounded like the melodic equivalent of cheap Christmas cracker toys, Morgan took their mission seriously - in anyone else's hands, a track like Fortes Mentum's "Saga of a Wrinkled Man" would have possibly sounded cheap and nasty. Not for no reason did one prominent Morgan man Will Malone go on to become the arranger for The Verve in the nineties (and it is just about possible to hear the similarities if you really try).

Morgan Blue Town was an incredibly short-lived offshoot of the main label which attempted to reposition their product in a more progressive vain, appealing to the hippy and student markets. Any recordings on the label tend to be hopelessly scarce now, including this single by actress, Ready Steady Go compere and singer Polly Perkins.

This is actually a somewhat threadbare inclusion to their usually heavily produced catalogue. Polly Perkins had failed to score any hit singles in her music career, but was nonetheless a "known name" at this point who had already put out some commercial sounding grooves - so her sudden shift to progressive sounding music must have seemed bizarre at the time, a bit like Twinkle suddenly going a bit way-out and boarding the weed bus to rural Cambridgeshire. Nonetheless, "Munching The Candy" is a very folky, campfire effort which nods and winks in the direction of naughty drug-taking behaviour. "Rachel's Dream", on the other hand, is a rather more epic B-side which considers the plight of the Jewish people. No, really.

Like everything else on the label, it failed miserably. Polly only issued one other single in its wake, 1973's "Coochi Coo" on Chapter 21 Records, and seemed to focus more on her acting career afterwards. Perhaps that was the right decision. Between 2011-12 she scored a job on "Eastenders" as Dot Cotton's estranged sister Rose, and had numerous other jobs on the go in the run-up to that moment. While there's nothing wrong with her musical output, it certainly seems as if her strengths lay in theatre and screen work. For the rest of us, however, this single will always feel slightly like Dot Cotton's sister singing about a "hole in my head" where "the light's shining in" while a flute puffs in the background. And that's something that stays with you. Honestly, you'd have thought Dot had enough to deal with having Nick in the family.

The Academy and Polly Perkins also put out an album entitled "Pop-Lore According To The Academy" in 1969 which failed to do much business but was recently reissued to some fanfare.

Label: Morgan Blue Town

Year of Release: 1969

Life wasn't easy for independent labels in the sixties, and Morgan was no exception. Constantly dealing with shambolic distribution networks, very few of them scored hits. President Records broke the mould in the later part of the decade, but Joe Meek's struggles with Triumph and the financial struggles experienced by Strike Records spoke volumes about the hurdles many truly independent businesses had to deal with.

Far from being just an independent label, though, Morgan was also a large and well-respected recording studio in North London, with an in-house session team of musicians and songwriters who regularly bypassed the Morgan label and licensed their product to majors (The Smoke's "My Friend Jack" probably being the most famous example). The best Morgan recordings, such as those by The Smoke, Bobak Jons Malone and Fortes Mentum, were compiled on a superb Sanctuary Records release called "House of Many Windows" some years ago. This is now out-of-print, but copies are well worth tracking down - the team had developed a distinctive and actually incredibly agreeable sound by the late sixties, filled with tricksy and classical inspired arrangements, a low-end bass fuzz, and peculiar woozy but nonetheless poppy psychedelia. Whereas a lot of other psychedelic pop of the period sounded like the melodic equivalent of cheap Christmas cracker toys, Morgan took their mission seriously - in anyone else's hands, a track like Fortes Mentum's "Saga of a Wrinkled Man" would have possibly sounded cheap and nasty. Not for no reason did one prominent Morgan man Will Malone go on to become the arranger for The Verve in the nineties (and it is just about possible to hear the similarities if you really try).

Morgan Blue Town was an incredibly short-lived offshoot of the main label which attempted to reposition their product in a more progressive vain, appealing to the hippy and student markets. Any recordings on the label tend to be hopelessly scarce now, including this single by actress, Ready Steady Go compere and singer Polly Perkins.

This is actually a somewhat threadbare inclusion to their usually heavily produced catalogue. Polly Perkins had failed to score any hit singles in her music career, but was nonetheless a "known name" at this point who had already put out some commercial sounding grooves - so her sudden shift to progressive sounding music must have seemed bizarre at the time, a bit like Twinkle suddenly going a bit way-out and boarding the weed bus to rural Cambridgeshire. Nonetheless, "Munching The Candy" is a very folky, campfire effort which nods and winks in the direction of naughty drug-taking behaviour. "Rachel's Dream", on the other hand, is a rather more epic B-side which considers the plight of the Jewish people. No, really.

Like everything else on the label, it failed miserably. Polly only issued one other single in its wake, 1973's "Coochi Coo" on Chapter 21 Records, and seemed to focus more on her acting career afterwards. Perhaps that was the right decision. Between 2011-12 she scored a job on "Eastenders" as Dot Cotton's estranged sister Rose, and had numerous other jobs on the go in the run-up to that moment. While there's nothing wrong with her musical output, it certainly seems as if her strengths lay in theatre and screen work. For the rest of us, however, this single will always feel slightly like Dot Cotton's sister singing about a "hole in my head" where "the light's shining in" while a flute puffs in the background. And that's something that stays with you. Honestly, you'd have thought Dot had enough to deal with having Nick in the family.

The Academy and Polly Perkins also put out an album entitled "Pop-Lore According To The Academy" in 1969 which failed to do much business but was recently reissued to some fanfare.

Trevor Burton - Fight For My Country/ Janie Slow Down

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .

Label: Wizard

Year of Release: 1971/72

After Trevor Burton left The Move, he had huge plans for his future. Not for him the usual course of putting an advert in Melody Maker for musicians and waiting for the results - on the contrary, he wanted to tap into the much in-vogue (at the time) practice of forming a supergroup of respected and talented musicians.

The ridiculously named Balls were born, consisting of Brummie wunderkinds like Steve Gibbons of The Uglys, Richard Tandy (later of ELO), and Denny Laine from The Moody Blues. In truth, the formation of the group was muddy, complicated and fraught with difficulties and intense arguments. A revolving doors policy appeared to be in operation, and describing the personnel coherently here would be a task and a half. If you're really interested, the excellent Brum Beat website has patched together a very patient and detailed overview of their history here.

During the chaos of rehearsals and recording, it would seem that only one usable piece of work emerged, and that was this single, which consisted of Burton, Steve Gibbons and Denny Laine. Originally released under the group's name Balls in January 1971, it failed to sell, and was subsequently reissued as an edited version in 1972 under Trevor Burton's name. That also flopped, and the track was then reissued again on Birds Nest Records in 1975 under the name B L and G (with the track retitled as "Live In The Mountains"), where it also did precisely nothing. After that point, clearly everyone involved simply gave up.

I suspect the single's sales chances were harmed by the fact that it only appeared an entire year after Balls ceased to exist, but it's not hard to hear why many people felt the track had enormous potential. Strident, cocksure, anthemic and unusual, the buzzing analogue synths spin throughout the track like helicopter rotary blades while Burton and the boys build a naive but relatable anti-military message over the top. "Why don't we all go and live in the mountains?" Burton roars, and far from being the usual pile of old hoary supergroup mush, this actually sounds like psychedelic Brum beat crossed with early electronica and glam - a squidgy, messy soup of ideas taking place on the cusp of two decades which shouldn't really work, but does so brilliantly. I'd be willing to bet that at least one member of the Super Furry Animals likes this one...

After Balls petered out, Steve Gibbons went off to form The Steve Gibbons Band, and Denny Laine enjoyed colossal success with Paul McCartney in Wings, co-authoring "Mull of Kintyre" in the process. To my ears, both sides of this record are preferable to that bagpipe festooned anthem, but your feelings may differ.

Label: Wizard

Year of Release: 1971/72

After Trevor Burton left The Move, he had huge plans for his future. Not for him the usual course of putting an advert in Melody Maker for musicians and waiting for the results - on the contrary, he wanted to tap into the much in-vogue (at the time) practice of forming a supergroup of respected and talented musicians.

The ridiculously named Balls were born, consisting of Brummie wunderkinds like Steve Gibbons of The Uglys, Richard Tandy (later of ELO), and Denny Laine from The Moody Blues. In truth, the formation of the group was muddy, complicated and fraught with difficulties and intense arguments. A revolving doors policy appeared to be in operation, and describing the personnel coherently here would be a task and a half. If you're really interested, the excellent Brum Beat website has patched together a very patient and detailed overview of their history here.

During the chaos of rehearsals and recording, it would seem that only one usable piece of work emerged, and that was this single, which consisted of Burton, Steve Gibbons and Denny Laine. Originally released under the group's name Balls in January 1971, it failed to sell, and was subsequently reissued as an edited version in 1972 under Trevor Burton's name. That also flopped, and the track was then reissued again on Birds Nest Records in 1975 under the name B L and G (with the track retitled as "Live In The Mountains"), where it also did precisely nothing. After that point, clearly everyone involved simply gave up.

I suspect the single's sales chances were harmed by the fact that it only appeared an entire year after Balls ceased to exist, but it's not hard to hear why many people felt the track had enormous potential. Strident, cocksure, anthemic and unusual, the buzzing analogue synths spin throughout the track like helicopter rotary blades while Burton and the boys build a naive but relatable anti-military message over the top. "Why don't we all go and live in the mountains?" Burton roars, and far from being the usual pile of old hoary supergroup mush, this actually sounds like psychedelic Brum beat crossed with early electronica and glam - a squidgy, messy soup of ideas taking place on the cusp of two decades which shouldn't really work, but does so brilliantly. I'd be willing to bet that at least one member of the Super Furry Animals likes this one...

After Balls petered out, Steve Gibbons went off to form The Steve Gibbons Band, and Denny Laine enjoyed colossal success with Paul McCartney in Wings, co-authoring "Mull of Kintyre" in the process. To my ears, both sides of this record are preferable to that bagpipe festooned anthem, but your feelings may differ.

Epic Splendor - A Little Rain Must Fall/ Cowboys and Indians

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .

Label: Hot Biscuit Disc Company

Year of Release: 1967

The Epic Splendor were formed from the ashes of the New York based act Little Bits of Sound, and we've already covered their excellent and supremely under-rated single "It Could Be Wonderful" elsewhere on this blog. They were signed to the short-lived (and million dollar funded) US Capitol subsidiary Hot Biscuit and this was the first single the label issued.

"A Little Rain Must Fall" is generally treated with either huge enthusiasm or shrugging indifference by a lot of collectors these days, being regarded as a lost Northern Soul floor-filler by some commenters, or a slice of summery, breezy bubblegum by others. For my money, it's a beautiful, life-affirming little disc and I'd actually spent the last few years looking for a copy at a reasonable price. The lyrics are filled with gentle picture poster philosophy, filled to the brim with observations about how a "little rain must fall" before we get to enjoy the sunshine, but it's delivered with such spring and zest, and such an uptempo light soul arrangement, that it does indeed mirror the heartbreak and the passion necessary for a top northern soul spin. Its slightly gentle production may doom it for some in this respect, though - I can fully understand how it won't (and doesn't) win the rubber stamp of approval from everyone.

The B-side "Cowboys and Indians", on the other hand, is sneery outsider psychedelic pop about the marginalised life of a man with an alternative lifestyle, at total odds with the top side. "I suppose the way I live would blow people's brains/ but then the way they live has always blown mine" sneers the vocalist, bringing back images of an "Easy Rider" character on the dusty highway. 

Whatever you expect from sixties music, either the A-side or the B-side is bound to be a winner for you. 

Aside from this and "It Could Be Wonderful", there were no other releases from the Epic Splendor. "A Little Rain Must Fall" started out seeming like a likely hit, but in the end only managed to climb to number 87 in the Billboard Chart. An injustice, but the late sixties were flooded with so many astonishing records that it was far from the only one. 

Label: Hot Biscuit Disc Company

Year of Release: 1967

The Epic Splendor were formed from the ashes of the New York based act Little Bits of Sound, and we've already covered their excellent and supremely under-rated single "It Could Be Wonderful" elsewhere on this blog. They were signed to the short-lived (and million dollar funded) US Capitol subsidiary Hot Biscuit and this was the first single the label issued.

"A Little Rain Must Fall" is generally treated with either huge enthusiasm or shrugging indifference by a lot of collectors these days, being regarded as a lost Northern Soul floor-filler by some commenters, or a slice of summery, breezy bubblegum by others. For my money, it's a beautiful, life-affirming little disc and I'd actually spent the last few years looking for a copy at a reasonable price. The lyrics are filled with gentle picture poster philosophy, filled to the brim with observations about how a "little rain must fall" before we get to enjoy the sunshine, but it's delivered with such spring and zest, and such an uptempo light soul arrangement, that it does indeed mirror the heartbreak and the passion necessary for a top northern soul spin. Its slightly gentle production may doom it for some in this respect, though - I can fully understand how it won't (and doesn't) win the rubber stamp of approval from everyone.

The B-side "Cowboys and Indians", on the other hand, is sneery outsider psychedelic pop about the marginalised life of a man with an alternative lifestyle, at total odds with the top side. "I suppose the way I live would blow people's brains/ but then the way they live has always blown mine" sneers the vocalist, bringing back images of an "Easy Rider" character on the dusty highway. 

Whatever you expect from sixties music, either the A-side or the B-side is bound to be a winner for you. 

Aside from this and "It Could Be Wonderful", there were no other releases from the Epic Splendor. "A Little Rain Must Fall" started out seeming like a likely hit, but in the end only managed to climb to number 87 in the Billboard Chart. An injustice, but the late sixties were flooded with so many astonishing records that it was far from the only one. 

Winston's Fumbs - Real Crazy Apartment/ Snow White

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .

Label: RCA
Year of Release: 1967

So far as I'm aware, there are only two sixties singles whose lyrics are heavily focussed on interior design. One is Pregnant Insomnia's brilliant "Wallpaper", a track which gave its name to probably the best homebrew compilation I put together for this blog. The second is this, which is also surely the only rock record to heavily feature the repeated proclamation "Furn-i-ture! WOOO!" I'm not the right age to understand whether this line sounded as absurd at the time of this record's release as it does now, but it perhaps signifies how much design and lifestyle became a focus for many British sixties bands, and most especially any with a modernist agenda.

Jimmy Winston, yer man behind Winston's Fumbs, was unquestionably a man with a mod background, having previously been the keyboard player with The Small Faces. He'd already released one quite good 45 on Decca under the name Winston's Reflections, but he switched to lead guitar for this and sounded every inch the garage equivalent of Jimi Hendrix. "Real Crazy Apartment" is an excitable piece of work, so much so than the line "Take it easy now" could well be Winston addressing himself, shortly before he rattles off a list of things in his friend's apartment he particularly enjoys, including the Shakespeare volumes and the wallpaper. It's almost like Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen on uppers, combined with such a high-tempo, rattling backing that it feels almost beyond gleeful.

Much has also been made of the flip "Snow White" over the years, but to my ears it's the poorer cousin, being a rather metronomic piece of work focussed on the shortcomings of a vain female scenester.

Winston went on to work in theatre, appearing in the musical "Hair", whilst the keyboard player Tony Kaye had rather more success in the progressive monster that was Yes. There was no Fumbs follow-up, but perhaps that's just as well - this would have taken some beating.

Label: RCA
Year of Release: 1967

So far as I'm aware, there are only two sixties singles whose lyrics are heavily focussed on interior design. One is Pregnant Insomnia's brilliant "Wallpaper", a track which gave its name to probably the best homebrew compilation I put together for this blog. The second is this, which is also surely the only rock record to heavily feature the repeated proclamation "Furn-i-ture! WOOO!" I'm not the right age to understand whether this line sounded as absurd at the time of this record's release as it does now, but it perhaps signifies how much design and lifestyle became a focus for many British sixties bands, and most especially any with a modernist agenda.

Jimmy Winston, yer man behind Winston's Fumbs, was unquestionably a man with a mod background, having previously been the keyboard player with The Small Faces. He'd already released one quite good 45 on Decca under the name Winston's Reflections, but he switched to lead guitar for this and sounded every inch the garage equivalent of Jimi Hendrix. "Real Crazy Apartment" is an excitable piece of work, so much so than the line "Take it easy now" could well be Winston addressing himself, shortly before he rattles off a list of things in his friend's apartment he particularly enjoys, including the Shakespeare volumes and the wallpaper. It's almost like Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen on uppers, combined with such a high-tempo, rattling backing that it feels almost beyond gleeful.

Much has also been made of the flip "Snow White" over the years, but to my ears it's the poorer cousin, being a rather metronomic piece of work focussed on the shortcomings of a vain female scenester.

Winston went on to work in theatre, appearing in the musical "Hair", whilst the keyboard player Tony Kaye had rather more success in the progressive monster that was Yes. There was no Fumbs follow-up, but perhaps that's just as well - this would have taken some beating.

Esprit De Corps - If (Would It Turn Out Wrong)

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .

Label: Jam
Year of Release: 1972

Throughout the eighties, the musical prowess of Mike Read became something of a standing joke for popular culture vultures and viewers of "Saturday Superstore". The presenter and Radio One Breakfast Show host surely had plenty on his career-shaped plate during the period, but he still managed to slip out a few singles under the name The Trainspotters, all of which were met with utter indifference by both critics and the public. "Mike Read and his bloody guitar" almost became a disdainful national catchphrase for Saturday mornings.

At the time, hardly anybody at all referenced the fact that he was also partly responsible for this little-known 1972 flop which was later deemed of a high enough quality to emerge on the "Rubble" series of psychedelic compilation albums. I can only concur, it's actually pretty bloody good. The B-side "Pictures On My Wall" can probably be safely ignored, but "If (Would It Turn Out Wrong)" is one of those psychedelically tinged ballads with an unsettling undercurrent, here provided by the positively woozy phasing on the string section. It's an eerie piece of work which deserved further attention, but clearly never got it, despite sonically encapsulating the giddy, doubtful feelings of love which may possibly be unrequited - far from attempting to be "trippy", I'd argue that the chaps were merely trying to replicate conflicting emotions with the skying effects here.

Joining Mike Read were other music industry dabblers Dave Mindel, David Ballantyne, Bill Pit and Alan Tomes. It would appear that they only managed one more single after this one, "Lonely", before knocking matters on the head. Esprit De Corps are one of a privileged number of acts who appeared on "Top of the Pops" despite not having a hit to their name, so they clearly were given a fair chance by Read's future BBC paymasters, but it obviously came to nothing. As for what became of Read, he was at one point so successful in the eighties that Strawberry Switchblade's record label tried to talk one of the girls into going on a date with him, just to increase their chances of getting one of their records played on the Breakfast Show (they did not comply). It's a far cry from that to this, and no mistake.

Label: Jam
Year of Release: 1972

Throughout the eighties, the musical prowess of Mike Read became something of a standing joke for popular culture vultures and viewers of "Saturday Superstore". The presenter and Radio One Breakfast Show host surely had plenty on his career-shaped plate during the period, but he still managed to slip out a few singles under the name The Trainspotters, all of which were met with utter indifference by both critics and the public. "Mike Read and his bloody guitar" almost became a disdainful national catchphrase for Saturday mornings.

At the time, hardly anybody at all referenced the fact that he was also partly responsible for this little-known 1972 flop which was later deemed of a high enough quality to emerge on the "Rubble" series of psychedelic compilation albums. I can only concur, it's actually pretty bloody good. The B-side "Pictures On My Wall" can probably be safely ignored, but "If (Would It Turn Out Wrong)" is one of those psychedelically tinged ballads with an unsettling undercurrent, here provided by the positively woozy phasing on the string section. It's an eerie piece of work which deserved further attention, but clearly never got it, despite sonically encapsulating the giddy, doubtful feelings of love which may possibly be unrequited - far from attempting to be "trippy", I'd argue that the chaps were merely trying to replicate conflicting emotions with the skying effects here.

Joining Mike Read were other music industry dabblers Dave Mindel, David Ballantyne, Bill Pit and Alan Tomes. It would appear that they only managed one more single after this one, "Lonely", before knocking matters on the head. Esprit De Corps are one of a privileged number of acts who appeared on "Top of the Pops" despite not having a hit to their name, so they clearly were given a fair chance by Read's future BBC paymasters, but it obviously came to nothing. As for what became of Read, he was at one point so successful in the eighties that Strawberry Switchblade's record label tried to talk one of the girls into going on a date with him, just to increase their chances of getting one of their records played on the Breakfast Show (they did not comply). It's a far cry from that to this, and no mistake.

Sir Henry and His Butlers - Camp/ Pretty Style

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .



Label: Metronome
Year of Release: 1967

This is arguably one of the more baffling singles to be issued during the late sixties, and Lord knows there were plenty of other contenders.  The A-side "Camp" is a proto-Lieutenant Pigeon instrumental consisting of kazoos and a barrel organ, shouts and cheers, and little which would suggest it was going to storm the charts.  It's a clown car of a record, all wonky wheels and dodgy brakes.  As a piece of incidental music for the final cheerful item on a regional news programme it might pass, but as an A-side?  Never.

This does absolutely nothing to prepare you for the flip, which is an elongated piece of psychedelia with droning sitars, guitar riffage reminiscent of Joe Cocker's version of "A Little Help From My Friends", and some very dramatic, hollering vocals about nothing discernible.  It's absurdly compelling in the way that the most freakish American psych underground tracks are, and the fact that the band are from Copenhagen is a red herring to say the least.

Apparently Sir Henry and His Butlers were quite a draw in their home country of Denmark for a period of time, but their other releases are considerably more pop orientated and not at all similar to this downright absurd piece of work.  When sixties pop acts switched to the darker side of psych overnight, it was usually indicative of cynical marketing rather than the use of hallucinogens - in this case, however, I genuinely wouldn't be surprised to learn that somebody had spiked the band's drinks before the recording session (although the "Sweet Floral Albion" e-zine did suggest that this track was "contrived" when they covered it themselves some years ago.  I'm not so sure).

Label: Metronome
Year of Release: 1967

This is arguably one of the more baffling singles to be issued during the late sixties, and Lord knows there were plenty of other contenders.  The A-side "Camp" is a proto-Lieutenant Pigeon instrumental consisting of kazoos and a barrel organ, shouts and cheers, and little which would suggest it was going to storm the charts.  It's a clown car of a record, all wonky wheels and dodgy brakes.  As a piece of incidental music for the final cheerful item on a regional news programme it might pass, but as an A-side?  Never.

This does absolutely nothing to prepare you for the flip, which is an elongated piece of psychedelia with droning sitars, guitar riffage reminiscent of Joe Cocker's version of "A Little Help From My Friends", and some very dramatic, hollering vocals about nothing discernible.  It's absurdly compelling in the way that the most freakish American psych underground tracks are, and the fact that the band are from Copenhagen is a red herring to say the least.

Apparently Sir Henry and His Butlers were quite a draw in their home country of Denmark for a period of time, but their other releases are considerably more pop orientated and not at all similar to this downright absurd piece of work.  When sixties pop acts switched to the darker side of psych overnight, it was usually indicative of cynical marketing rather than the use of hallucinogens - in this case, however, I genuinely wouldn't be surprised to learn that somebody had spiked the band's drinks before the recording session (although the "Sweet Floral Albion" e-zine did suggest that this track was "contrived" when they covered it themselves some years ago.  I'm not so sure).

Black Velvet - Clown/ Peace and Love Is The Message

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .



Label: Beacon
Year of Release: 1969

Right at the start of this year I uploaded a couple of Black Velvet singles - including the astounding "African Velvet" - and announced that I'd drawn a total blank on the band.  I asked for more information, but the only answer I've received so far is from the DJ Pete Jennings who declared them to be a brilliant live act.  Nobody else came forward, and thus they remain an elusive act despite the fact that a number of records of theirs were issued.

This particular one is perhaps the most unusual of them all.  The A-side "Peace and Love Is The Message" is a decent enough slab of hippy-infused soul, the type of which was cropping up regularly towards the tail end of the decade.  It's the flip which is beginning to attract attention for its warped and peculiar tones, however.  "Clown" is a shimmering, discordant piece of psychedelia with demonic laughter, swirling organs, out-of-tune whistling, and descriptions of a "happy, smiling" clown I never want to meet in my life.  Chipper and cheerful in the way that Alexei Sayle was in the introductory sequence for his "Merry Go Round" series, "Clown" is black-streaked psych with a smile on its chops and evil in its heart, more Papa Lazarou than Ronald McDonald (although it's a fine line).

And come on, somebody out there must know who this lot were and what became of them.

Label: Beacon
Year of Release: 1969

Right at the start of this year I uploaded a couple of Black Velvet singles - including the astounding "African Velvet" - and announced that I'd drawn a total blank on the band.  I asked for more information, but the only answer I've received so far is from the DJ Pete Jennings who declared them to be a brilliant live act.  Nobody else came forward, and thus they remain an elusive act despite the fact that a number of records of theirs were issued.

This particular one is perhaps the most unusual of them all.  The A-side "Peace and Love Is The Message" is a decent enough slab of hippy-infused soul, the type of which was cropping up regularly towards the tail end of the decade.  It's the flip which is beginning to attract attention for its warped and peculiar tones, however.  "Clown" is a shimmering, discordant piece of psychedelia with demonic laughter, swirling organs, out-of-tune whistling, and descriptions of a "happy, smiling" clown I never want to meet in my life.  Chipper and cheerful in the way that Alexei Sayle was in the introductory sequence for his "Merry Go Round" series, "Clown" is black-streaked psych with a smile on its chops and evil in its heart, more Papa Lazarou than Ronald McDonald (although it's a fine line).

And come on, somebody out there must know who this lot were and what became of them.

Paul Nicholas - Lamplighter

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .



Label: RSO
Year of Release: 1976 (recorded 1971)

In a nineties interview, Jarvis Cocker once said that whilst he was high on drugs, he began to believe that he was in fact Paul Nicholas, the curly haired, lovable rogue of "Just Good Friends" fame.  He made it sound as if the entire experience was an appalling one, a bad trip from hell, but in fact this record proves that a way-out Nicholas may not be such a terrible thing after all.

For the benefit of overseas readers, "Just Good Friends" was a sit-com following the adventures of Nicholas' character Vince Pinner, a plastic cigarette smoking, softly spoken lothario whose catchphrase to his unfortunate girlfriend Penny was a slightly wounded and unimaginative "Sorry, Pen" (hers, for the record, was "You're a rat, Vince" which isn't much better).  However, long before that sit-com he had a varied career in film and theatre, a string of tepid pop hits in the seventies, and in the sixties had worked with Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages, Pete Townshend (covering his song "Join My Gang") and even David Bowie, who wrote "Over The Wall We Go" for him.  For somebody who is best remembered as a rather middle-of-the-road figure, Paul Nicholas actually has a CV many credible rock stars would give their eye teeth for.

Despite even this, "Lamplighter" is still a surprise and also something of a mystery.  Recorded in 1971 but finally appearing in 1976 as the B-side to the dreadful hit single "Reggae Like It Used To Be", it's filled to the brim with shimmering Eastern-sounding guitar lines, stripped to the bone, threadbare drum patterns, howling, almost Iggy-ish vocals, and nonsensical lyrics, like a particularly perverse White Stripes joke.  You can easily imagine Nicholas wearing leather trousers whilst performing the track, perhaps beckoning to a lady in the front row.  It sounds like a sixties nugget, but was recorded both too late and by the wrong person, and has remained largely ignored until quite recently.

Record dealers are getting wise to the contents of this track these days, and frequently pricing it up at £5 or over as a "psychedelic oddity" despite the dodgy A side, but there are still cheap copies about - I saw one for 50p in a well-known second hand store chain quite recently, so you should keep an eye open for it and grab one if ever you get the chance.  It's both a talking point and actually a genuinely good track.

Label: RSO
Year of Release: 1976 (recorded 1971)

In a nineties interview, Jarvis Cocker once said that whilst he was high on drugs, he began to believe that he was in fact Paul Nicholas, the curly haired, lovable rogue of "Just Good Friends" fame.  He made it sound as if the entire experience was an appalling one, a bad trip from hell, but in fact this record proves that a way-out Nicholas may not be such a terrible thing after all.

For the benefit of overseas readers, "Just Good Friends" was a sit-com following the adventures of Nicholas' character Vince Pinner, a plastic cigarette smoking, softly spoken lothario whose catchphrase to his unfortunate girlfriend Penny was a slightly wounded and unimaginative "Sorry, Pen" (hers, for the record, was "You're a rat, Vince" which isn't much better).  However, long before that sit-com he had a varied career in film and theatre, a string of tepid pop hits in the seventies, and in the sixties had worked with Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages, Pete Townshend (covering his song "Join My Gang") and even David Bowie, who wrote "Over The Wall We Go" for him.  For somebody who is best remembered as a rather middle-of-the-road figure, Paul Nicholas actually has a CV many credible rock stars would give their eye teeth for.

Despite even this, "Lamplighter" is still a surprise and also something of a mystery.  Recorded in 1971 but finally appearing in 1976 as the B-side to the dreadful hit single "Reggae Like It Used To Be", it's filled to the brim with shimmering Eastern-sounding guitar lines, stripped to the bone, threadbare drum patterns, howling, almost Iggy-ish vocals, and nonsensical lyrics, like a particularly perverse White Stripes joke.  You can easily imagine Nicholas wearing leather trousers whilst performing the track, perhaps beckoning to a lady in the front row.  It sounds like a sixties nugget, but was recorded both too late and by the wrong person, and has remained largely ignored until quite recently.

Record dealers are getting wise to the contents of this track these days, and frequently pricing it up at £5 or over as a "psychedelic oddity" despite the dodgy A side, but there are still cheap copies about - I saw one for 50p in a well-known second hand store chain quite recently, so you should keep an eye open for it and grab one if ever you get the chance.  It's both a talking point and actually a genuinely good track.

Double Feature - Baby Get Your Head Screwed On

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .

Label: Deram
Year of Release: 1967

Whilst the Madchester/ Baggy revolution of the late eighties and early nineties is widely regarded to be the moment where psychedelia, guitar pop, soul and dance collided, in truth such dabbling around with the audio palette was occurring long before the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays.  There are tons of examples of singles released throughout the late sixties alone which tried to tick as many genre boxes as possible.

Cat Stevens's track "Baby Get Your Head Screwed On", for example, is given a particularly soulful psychedelic rendition here (or should that be psychedelic soulful rendition?) complete with parping horns, proto-Electric Light Orchestra styled string solos, and a gritty, gnashing vocal.  Whilst there's very little doubt that the track is actually quite ahead of its time, it falls just short of being brilliant by dint of the fact that the tune gets rather repetitive once they've set out their stall within the first minute.  There are very few fuzzy, psychedelic records of this era which will tempt you on to the dancefloor in a similar way, however, and for that reason alone it deserves the share of attention it has since had from aficionados.

The flip "Come On Baby" has an insistent groove which isn't dis-similar to The Equals, but again ploughs a similar furrow and fails to progress as much as it perhaps could do across its full two-and-a-half minutes.

Double Feature were a duo consisting of Bill Hall and Brian Lane who hailed from Birmingham, and following the failure of this and the follow-up "Handbags and Gladrags" to make a commercial impression they seemed to fade from view.  If anyone knows what happened after that or if they're up to anything now, please do pass the information on.

Label: Deram
Year of Release: 1967

Whilst the Madchester/ Baggy revolution of the late eighties and early nineties is widely regarded to be the moment where psychedelia, guitar pop, soul and dance collided, in truth such dabbling around with the audio palette was occurring long before the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays.  There are tons of examples of singles released throughout the late sixties alone which tried to tick as many genre boxes as possible.

Cat Stevens's track "Baby Get Your Head Screwed On", for example, is given a particularly soulful psychedelic rendition here (or should that be psychedelic soulful rendition?) complete with parping horns, proto-Electric Light Orchestra styled string solos, and a gritty, gnashing vocal.  Whilst there's very little doubt that the track is actually quite ahead of its time, it falls just short of being brilliant by dint of the fact that the tune gets rather repetitive once they've set out their stall within the first minute.  There are very few fuzzy, psychedelic records of this era which will tempt you on to the dancefloor in a similar way, however, and for that reason alone it deserves the share of attention it has since had from aficionados.

The flip "Come On Baby" has an insistent groove which isn't dis-similar to The Equals, but again ploughs a similar furrow and fails to progress as much as it perhaps could do across its full two-and-a-half minutes.

Double Feature were a duo consisting of Bill Hall and Brian Lane who hailed from Birmingham, and following the failure of this and the follow-up "Handbags and Gladrags" to make a commercial impression they seemed to fade from view.  If anyone knows what happened after that or if they're up to anything now, please do pass the information on.

Re-upload: Beacon Street Union - Speed Kills/ South End Incident

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .



Label: MGM
Year of Release: 1967

The Boston-based Beacon Street Union were a psychedelic rock band who achieved some moderate and very culty success in America in the late sixties, and pop up on compilations rather less frequently than you'd expect for some baffling reason. They weren't half bad in their arty, hippy-ish ways, as the "Speed Kills" side of this single proves, whose 1:45 two chord rush actually predates some of Wire's more interesting miniatures by a whole decade.

According to other online sources, the band used to enjoy throwing bags of flour around on stage to create a low budget "fog" effect (is this what Fields of the Nephilim were also trying to do, then?) and messed with the audience's ears where expectations of volume were concerned, blasting eardrums out frequently without warning. They had enough of a following to get a few albums out in their career, and they certainly had their fans, but ultimately never achieved much in the USA apart from some very low-rung Top 75 placings.

In Britain it's safe to say they achieved even less, although somebody clearly cared enough to get this single imported - the hole through the middle of the label indicates that this was shipped over rather than purchased on holiday. Perhaps they were a Southend-on-Sea resident who had their own interpretation of the "South End Incident" side, which is drenched in sheer paranoia and foreboding, very much like the Honeycombs "Eyes" track I placed on this blog not too long ago.


(This blog entry was originally posted on 9 October 2008.  Since that time, somebody has left an anonymous comment to suggest that Beacon Street Union only used flour on stage once.  Presumably that's once more than is strictly advisable).  

Label: MGM
Year of Release: 1967

The Boston-based Beacon Street Union were a psychedelic rock band who achieved some moderate and very culty success in America in the late sixties, and pop up on compilations rather less frequently than you'd expect for some baffling reason. They weren't half bad in their arty, hippy-ish ways, as the "Speed Kills" side of this single proves, whose 1:45 two chord rush actually predates some of Wire's more interesting miniatures by a whole decade.

According to other online sources, the band used to enjoy throwing bags of flour around on stage to create a low budget "fog" effect (is this what Fields of the Nephilim were also trying to do, then?) and messed with the audience's ears where expectations of volume were concerned, blasting eardrums out frequently without warning. They had enough of a following to get a few albums out in their career, and they certainly had their fans, but ultimately never achieved much in the USA apart from some very low-rung Top 75 placings.

In Britain it's safe to say they achieved even less, although somebody clearly cared enough to get this single imported - the hole through the middle of the label indicates that this was shipped over rather than purchased on holiday. Perhaps they were a Southend-on-Sea resident who had their own interpretation of the "South End Incident" side, which is drenched in sheer paranoia and foreboding, very much like the Honeycombs "Eyes" track I placed on this blog not too long ago.


(This blog entry was originally posted on 9 October 2008.  Since that time, somebody has left an anonymous comment to suggest that Beacon Street Union only used flour on stage once.  Presumably that's once more than is strictly advisable).  

Locomotive - Mr Armageddan

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .



Label: Parlophone
Year of Release: 1969

Numerous music fans have a "year zero" mentality when it comes to the concept of Midlands-based ska bands - the populist view is that before Two Tone, there was virtually nothing.  As with all sweeping statements, this has little grounding in fact.  Birmingham had a thriving ska scene in the sixties way before Coventry's The Specials took the blueprint and brought it to wider awareness.

Locomotive are a decidedly odd case in point.  They were a gigging jazz act in their earliest years, but upon being joined by the keyboard player Norman Haines were suddenly introduced to a wider array of other sounds.  Having spent his time working in a record store in the multi-cultural Smethwick area,  he brought an enthusiasm for Blue Beat and Ska to a band of accomplished musicians, a mind-broadening exercise which eventually led to the minor hit single (and club DJ staple) "Rudi's In Love" in 1968.

Whilst the band could probably have forged a strong career continuing in this vain, their muso tendencies were also positively tickled by the emerging progressive rock style, which led to a series of recordings which dabbled around in the musical spectrum so much that they actually sounded utterly unique.  The second single "Mr Armageddan" showcases this change of style marvellously, being full of the-end-is-nigh styled hippy doom and gloom combined with blue-eyed soul vocals, a storming brass section and swirling keyboards.  It's almost the sound of a band who can't quite make up their minds about their general direction producing a psychedelic single which sounded utterly unlike any other during the period.  The track presented here is the original mono single version (straight from crackly vinyl) but is only an excerpt.  A full version can be downloaded from iTunes and other online music stores if you're interested.

The flip "There's Got To Be A Way" (edit below) combines jazzy riffs with soulful vocals and zig-zagging musical structures.  It's not going to be to everyone's tastes, and indeed there's sufficient evidence to prove that the band's multi-genre melodies turned away all the fans they'd originally built up at the time.  Still, it's an intriguing record, and "Mr Armageddan" at least is up there with some of the better pre-prog, post-psych records of 1969.

Dismayed by the stone cold public response to their album "We Are Everything You See" in 1970, the band split in several directions - but perhaps most notably and appropriately, their drummer Bob Lamb went on to produce UB40's legendary debut album "Signing Off", thereby having a marked influence on  the styles that emerged during the early eighties.

Label: Parlophone
Year of Release: 1969

Numerous music fans have a "year zero" mentality when it comes to the concept of Midlands-based ska bands - the populist view is that before Two Tone, there was virtually nothing.  As with all sweeping statements, this has little grounding in fact.  Birmingham had a thriving ska scene in the sixties way before Coventry's The Specials took the blueprint and brought it to wider awareness.

Locomotive are a decidedly odd case in point.  They were a gigging jazz act in their earliest years, but upon being joined by the keyboard player Norman Haines were suddenly introduced to a wider array of other sounds.  Having spent his time working in a record store in the multi-cultural Smethwick area,  he brought an enthusiasm for Blue Beat and Ska to a band of accomplished musicians, a mind-broadening exercise which eventually led to the minor hit single (and club DJ staple) "Rudi's In Love" in 1968.

Whilst the band could probably have forged a strong career continuing in this vain, their muso tendencies were also positively tickled by the emerging progressive rock style, which led to a series of recordings which dabbled around in the musical spectrum so much that they actually sounded utterly unique.  The second single "Mr Armageddan" showcases this change of style marvellously, being full of the-end-is-nigh styled hippy doom and gloom combined with blue-eyed soul vocals, a storming brass section and swirling keyboards.  It's almost the sound of a band who can't quite make up their minds about their general direction producing a psychedelic single which sounded utterly unlike any other during the period.  The track presented here is the original mono single version (straight from crackly vinyl) but is only an excerpt.  A full version can be downloaded from iTunes and other online music stores if you're interested.

The flip "There's Got To Be A Way" (edit below) combines jazzy riffs with soulful vocals and zig-zagging musical structures.  It's not going to be to everyone's tastes, and indeed there's sufficient evidence to prove that the band's multi-genre melodies turned away all the fans they'd originally built up at the time.  Still, it's an intriguing record, and "Mr Armageddan" at least is up there with some of the better pre-prog, post-psych records of 1969.

Dismayed by the stone cold public response to their album "We Are Everything You See" in 1970, the band split in several directions - but perhaps most notably and appropriately, their drummer Bob Lamb went on to produce UB40's legendary debut album "Signing Off", thereby having a marked influence on  the styles that emerged during the early eighties.

Reupload - Camel Drivers - Sunday Morning 6 O'Clock/ Give it a Try

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .



Label: Buddah
Year of Release: 1967

This one may be rather more obscure than I originally thought, since the band have presently only managed to clock 12 plays on Last FM. Twelve plays, I ask you! Even the most unsightly of unsigned bands can hope for more than that these days, so it's difficult, if not impossible, to explain how Michigan's The Camel Drivers have been so roundly ignored by so many for so long.

Y'see, they produce a variety of sixties sunshine pop which, whilst definitely lacking in an identity of its own (hundreds of other bands from the same era could easily have produced this single) still has a vibrancy and a spring about it which should at least mean a prominent slot on a sixties obscurity CD somewhere. "Sunday Morning 6 O Clock" is a fair piece of work in itself, but I'm much more interested in the flip "Give it a Try", which is so brassy and bouyant it would bring a smile to even Sir Alan Sugar's face.

According to an interview with the drummer (Here: http://peachfuzzforest.blogspot.com/2007/09/camel-drivers-you-made-believer-of-me.html) they mainly toured around Michigan, New Jersey and Ontario in Canada, and didn't really manage to acheive any national impact in America, never mind international impact. This single seems to have been their only fully fledged national realease, with other singles coming out on Top Dog recordings locally in the Michigan area.

The Camel Drivers seem to have been one of those sixties American College bands who came within a whisker of turning their music into a career, but perhaps fell by the wayside when this single on Buddah didn't do the business. "And how did it end up in Camden Town, then?" I hear you ask again, and once again my answer is "search me". It's almost easier to buy flop American sixties singles in London than British ones at the moment - it's like some sort of Yank garage/psych vinyl slick. 


Originally posted in November 2008. I have no updates to give in this instance, except to say that the American garage/ psychedelic vinyl slick of Camden appeared to cease shortly after I bragged about it.  Oh well.

Label: Buddah
Year of Release: 1967

This one may be rather more obscure than I originally thought, since the band have presently only managed to clock 12 plays on Last FM. Twelve plays, I ask you! Even the most unsightly of unsigned bands can hope for more than that these days, so it's difficult, if not impossible, to explain how Michigan's The Camel Drivers have been so roundly ignored by so many for so long.

Y'see, they produce a variety of sixties sunshine pop which, whilst definitely lacking in an identity of its own (hundreds of other bands from the same era could easily have produced this single) still has a vibrancy and a spring about it which should at least mean a prominent slot on a sixties obscurity CD somewhere. "Sunday Morning 6 O Clock" is a fair piece of work in itself, but I'm much more interested in the flip "Give it a Try", which is so brassy and bouyant it would bring a smile to even Sir Alan Sugar's face.

According to an interview with the drummer (Here: http://peachfuzzforest.blogspot.com/2007/09/camel-drivers-you-made-believer-of-me.html) they mainly toured around Michigan, New Jersey and Ontario in Canada, and didn't really manage to acheive any national impact in America, never mind international impact. This single seems to have been their only fully fledged national realease, with other singles coming out on Top Dog recordings locally in the Michigan area.

The Camel Drivers seem to have been one of those sixties American College bands who came within a whisker of turning their music into a career, but perhaps fell by the wayside when this single on Buddah didn't do the business. "And how did it end up in Camden Town, then?" I hear you ask again, and once again my answer is "search me". It's almost easier to buy flop American sixties singles in London than British ones at the moment - it's like some sort of Yank garage/psych vinyl slick. 


Originally posted in November 2008. I have no updates to give in this instance, except to say that the American garage/ psychedelic vinyl slick of Camden appeared to cease shortly after I bragged about it.  Oh well.

Music Soothes The Savage Breast

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .

Update: I'm afraid I've had to remove the download link to this one, though feel free to read about the contents below if that's what grabs you. 

Whilst I’m not in the habit of making New Year’s resolutions, it did occur to me that it’s been an absolute age since the last “Left and to the Back” sixties compilation.  At various points in 2010 I did sit down and try to pull one together, but suffered the same problem that’s plagued many a compiler or DJ – once you’ve pulled several hours worth of old material together, it’s hard to know where to go from there without scraping the bottom of the barrel.

The break has obviously been beneficial, as in that time I’ve stumbled upon all sorts of goodies, and I think what I’ve pulled together is one of the best homebrew compilations there’s been on this blog.  It is rather more chirpy and popsike than the others, so if there’s a theme at all then that’s probably it; but as ever, the main intention is just to put together (or ‘curate’ if you’re feeling rather precious) a lot of music which hangs well in the same space for reasons which can’t always be easily defined without using the defensive phrase “Look, it just works, all right?”

As always, the cover “art” (above) is truly rubbish, being some “soothing” moisturizing cream which you wouldn’t necessarily realize was moisturizing cream unless I told you first.  If anyone wants to come up with a better sleeve, let me know, and if you submit a better example with the same title I’ll be indebted to you, and easily guilt-tripped into return favours.

Note - sorry. This is no longer available for downloading. 

Tracklisting

1.              Peter Thorogood: Haunted (Pye – 1968)

Given the dominance of Blaikley and Howard on this blog at present, it would be tempting to claim that the compilation kicks off with a project of theirs entirely deliberately – but the main reason is simply that this has become a serious psychedelic collectible over the last ten years, and it’s not difficult to hear why.  Whilst the identity of the one single wonder Thorogood remains shrouded in mystery, “Haunted” is a wobbly, wistful thing of wonder, with an astounding violin-driven hook.  Truly the kind of British sixties record you would have thought would have been dug out long before its present revival.

2.              O’Hara’s Playboys – The Ballad of the Soon Departed (Fontana – 1967)

This Glasgow based outfit were led by saxophonist John O’Hara, and whilst some of their tracks allowed him to root and toot to his heart’s content, this is a rather more straightforward beat offering, and none the worse for it.  Veering into mod territory, this is a great single whose hook may have been too subtle to make an immediate impact at the time.

3.              Sun Dragon – Five White Horses (MGM – 1968)

Following the break-up of a band who were known variously as Sands (of “Listen to the Sky” infamy), The Army or The Others, their rhythm guitarist Robert Freeman and bass guitarist Ian McLintock became the duo Sun Dragon.  A quickie cover of “Green Tambourine” was released by the pair in an attempt to take the wind out of the sails of the Lemon Pipers’ original in the UK, but only managed to climb to number 50 in the charts before being almost entirely forgotten about.  “Five White Horses” was their final single, and is an effects-laden piece of slightly haunting pop about the sinking of an over-laden Chinese ship. 

Jon Laden, Ian Paice and Ritchie Blackmore were present on the eponymous album they released, but it’s not clear whether all three are present on this effort.

4.              Robbie Burns – Exit Stage Right (Spin – 1967)

The three lions of pop The Gibb Brothers took a break from writing hit singles of their own and dining on the fresh carcasses of wildebeest in 1967 to pen this effort for fellow Australian Robbie Burns.  An insistent, nagging Beatlesy riff stamps its way right through this track, and it’s good enough to make you wonder why they didn’t bother to keep it for themselves. 

5.              Bamboo Shoot – The Fox Has Gone To Ground (Columbia – 1968)

The late sixties saw “popular music” as the public knew it begin to split and fragment into two distinct camps – the mainstream and the underground.  Whilst there’s no conclusive record of this, it’s tempting to think of The Bamboo Shoot as one of the first acts to become simultaneously blessed and cursed with the “John Peel band” tag.  He seemed to be the only DJ who was interested in their work, playing this track eight times on his show.  Eventually, the BBC simply banned it outright, believing it to be filled with drug references, and even his support was forced to cease.

The band never released another single, and continue to insist that there are no references to illegal substances in the record.  As I’ve never heard any myself, it’s hard to understand quite what Auntie Beeb were getting so tetchy about.  “We don’t understand what they’re on about, so we’d better ban it” seemed to be the sole reasoning behind their act.

6.              Sunchariot – Firewater (Decca – 1973)

Cheekily stolen from the “Purepop” blog for the benefit of this compilation – where I think it fits in rather well – “Firewater” is a rather condescending (some would say offensive) overview of Native American life, but is nonetheless backed with pounding rhythms, disorientating echoing effects and high level silliness.  The identity of the band remains unknown.

7.              New York Public Library – Got To Get Away (MCA – 1968)

An absolutely brilliant track from this Leeds outfit, which focuses on the topic of backwater town ennui and entrapment long before it became the bog-standard theme of many an indie fop.  The frustration sounds genuine enough (did they hate Leeds that much, or was it a piece of fiction?) and the vocal harmonies and the hooks in the chorus create something which sounds like it should have been a proper hit.  Clearly it was not to be.

8.              Darwin’s Theory – Daytime (Major Minor – 1968)

Please see here for a full explanation of this track.

9.              The Spectrum – Music Soothes The Savage Breast (RCA – 1968)

The flipside of their opportunistic cover of “Ob La Di Ob La Da”, “Savage Breast” is rather more satisfying, being a pleasurable piece of light orchestral whimsy.  Keith Forsey was a member of this act, who later wrote “Don’t You Forget About Me” for Simple Minds, and the theme to “Flashdance”.  This is a far cry from both.

10.          The Silver Eagle – Theodore (MGM – 1967)

I have absolutely zero information regarding the background of this particular single, which is an absurd satirical view of a hotel suicide attempt witnessed by a gathering pavement crowd.  “The chestnut man is marching down to make a sale or two/ followed by the ice cream vendor” the band inform us cheerily.  This is toytown psych with a very bitter pill in its belly.

      11.          Peter and Gordon – Uncle Hartington (Capitol – 1968)

By the time Peter and Gordon issued their final album “Hot Cold and Custard” in 1968, nobody was really listening anymore.  Perhaps that’s why that particular album is their most eccentric issue, taking in obsessions which usually only troubled the minds of the most disturbed folk singers.  “Uncle Hartington” is about a tobacco stinking elderly relative the duo inform us is a royal pain in the rear, although he sounds pleasant enough to me.

12.          Nick Garrie – Wheel of Fortune (DiscAZ – 1969)

Nick Garrie’s career has recently returned from the wilderness and he has recorded tracks with Norman Blake out of Teenage Fanclub for his album “49 Arlington Gardens”.  However, it was this track which seemed to set the ball rolling for him again when it appeared on the “Circus Days” compilation.  An exploration of one man’s death at a Great Yarmouth funfair, it’s a lovely piece of pop from a man who would later go on to support Leonard Cohen on tour.

13.          Tidal Wave – Spider Spider (RCA – 1970)

Tidal Wave were a South African band, and “Spider Spider” managed to climb into their native country’s top 20 in 1970, whilst seemingly being largely ignored elsewhere.  It’s a screeching piece of powerful orchestral psychedelia which deserved to find more pairs of ears abroad.

14.          KG Young – Spider (CBS – 1969)

Kenny Young has had a long and varied career as a songwriter, most famously penning “Under The Boardwalk” and eventually producing and writing hits for Fox in the seventies.  “Spider” was one of his occasional solo ventures, and when it failed as a single, he quietly gave it to Clodagh Rogers to put on a B-side – which you can hear here (if you haven’t already).

15.          Dave Clark Five – Concentration Baby (Columbia – 1967)

On the B-side of the frankly dreary ballad “Everybody Knows” lies this little garage styled stormer, which finds the Tottenham quintet sounding rather more like The Monks than they ever would at any other phase in their career.  Admittedly, this isn’t the same thing as saying they sound exactly like The Monks, but surely even vague parallels are entertainingly unlikely?

16.          St Giles System – Swedish Tears (Philips – 1968)

St Giles System hailed from the Netherlands, but beyond that I have very little information on them.  “Swedish Tears” is a bit of a psychedelic stormer, though, alternating between compelling and aggressive R&B riffage and demonic, swirling organ based mayhem. 

17.          Rita – Erotica (Major Minor – 1968)

For the limited information I have available to me on this track, please read here.  I still don't think it's Rita from "Coronation Street", by the way.

18.          The Poets – Fun Buggy (Strike Cola – 1971)

Scottish cult act The Poets were roped into doing a promotional single for the long-forgotten Barr manufactured cola drink “Strike” in 1971.  This was long past the point where I would have thought their efforts made a positive difference to supermarket brands, but as I’d wager more people have heard of The Poets these days than have heard of Strike, perhaps we shouldn’t worry too much.  “Fun Buggy” is an advert in all but name, but it grooves along in such a neat way that it’s found itself sampled in all sorts of places since. 

19.          Peter and Gordon – I Feel Like Going Out (Capitol – 1968)

When they were at their most strident, Peter and Gordon could sound scarily close to an irate Mulligan and O’Hare.  When they defiantly sang “I’m going to get my name in the papers”, one could only tremble slightly and wonder what for.  Still, this song swings along so confidently and purposefully that it’s impossible not to be swept along with its intentions.

20.          Tuesday’s Children – Mr. Kipling (Pye – 1968)

Tuesday’s Children were Barry Younghusband’s band before he went off to get involved in the marginally more successful Warm Sounds.  “Mr. Kipling” seems to accuse everybody’s favourite corporate cake expert of being something of a man about town.  Keep the slogan to yourselves, please.

21.          Sons and Lovers – From Now The Sun Shines (Beacon – 1968)

For more information on this track, please read here.

22.          Windmill – I Can Fly (MCA – 1970).

Please read the previous Windmill entries here and here for more information.  I’ve finally managed to find a copy of their elusive third single “Wilbur’s Thing”, which means I need to find the stamina and inspiration to write a third blog entry for them in 2011. 

23.          Just William – Cherrywood Green (Spark – 1968)

Just William are the Midlands band Herbie’s People moonlighting under another name.   “Cherrywood Green” is a jaunty piece of psych-pop which rested on the flip of their single “I Don’t Care”.

24.          Blonde on Blonde – Country Life (Pye – 1968)

Welsh proggers Blonde on Blonde were always the bridesmaids, never the brides, playing the Isle of Wight festival and apparently being well received but never truly capitalizing on their presence at the event with a hit album or single.  Whilst their album “Contrasts” is only really worth a dip if you’re more interested in the prog end of the musical spectrum, “Country Life” (the B-side to their sole Pye single “All Day and All Night”) is the kind of wistful, quintessentially English number many of their poppier peers could have dished out, but few would have done it so well.

25.          The Gibsons – City Life (Major Minor – 1967)

Songs tartly dismissing London life seem to be more common than tracks actually praising it – the harshness and expense of the environment seems to have wounded many an aspiring musician.  As I know nothing at all about The Gibsons it’s tempting to assume that “City Life” is an Alan Partridge styled rant about the place, but we’ll let them off because the rush of the lyrical content does sum up the mood of the capital very well.

26.          Cyan – My Little Ship Louise (RCA – 1971)

The B-side of their Euro-hit “Misaluba”, Cyan’s “My Little Ship Louise” is a delicate McCartney styled ballad which I always knew I’d end up making the final track on a blog compilation one day.  The whimsical nature of the song may alienate some, but I personally think it’s a perfect closedown tune.

Italian poppers Cyan were stars for a period of time across much of Europe, but never quite saw the same degree of success in the UK, where they remain relatively unknown.

Download it here 

Update: I'm afraid I've had to remove the download link to this one, though feel free to read about the contents below if that's what grabs you. 

Whilst I’m not in the habit of making New Year’s resolutions, it did occur to me that it’s been an absolute age since the last “Left and to the Back” sixties compilation.  At various points in 2010 I did sit down and try to pull one together, but suffered the same problem that’s plagued many a compiler or DJ – once you’ve pulled several hours worth of old material together, it’s hard to know where to go from there without scraping the bottom of the barrel.

The break has obviously been beneficial, as in that time I’ve stumbled upon all sorts of goodies, and I think what I’ve pulled together is one of the best homebrew compilations there’s been on this blog.  It is rather more chirpy and popsike than the others, so if there’s a theme at all then that’s probably it; but as ever, the main intention is just to put together (or ‘curate’ if you’re feeling rather precious) a lot of music which hangs well in the same space for reasons which can’t always be easily defined without using the defensive phrase “Look, it just works, all right?”

As always, the cover “art” (above) is truly rubbish, being some “soothing” moisturizing cream which you wouldn’t necessarily realize was moisturizing cream unless I told you first.  If anyone wants to come up with a better sleeve, let me know, and if you submit a better example with the same title I’ll be indebted to you, and easily guilt-tripped into return favours.

Note - sorry. This is no longer available for downloading. 

Tracklisting

1.              Peter Thorogood: Haunted (Pye – 1968)

Given the dominance of Blaikley and Howard on this blog at present, it would be tempting to claim that the compilation kicks off with a project of theirs entirely deliberately – but the main reason is simply that this has become a serious psychedelic collectible over the last ten years, and it’s not difficult to hear why.  Whilst the identity of the one single wonder Thorogood remains shrouded in mystery, “Haunted” is a wobbly, wistful thing of wonder, with an astounding violin-driven hook.  Truly the kind of British sixties record you would have thought would have been dug out long before its present revival.

2.              O’Hara’s Playboys – The Ballad of the Soon Departed (Fontana – 1967)

This Glasgow based outfit were led by saxophonist John O’Hara, and whilst some of their tracks allowed him to root and toot to his heart’s content, this is a rather more straightforward beat offering, and none the worse for it.  Veering into mod territory, this is a great single whose hook may have been too subtle to make an immediate impact at the time.

3.              Sun Dragon – Five White Horses (MGM – 1968)

Following the break-up of a band who were known variously as Sands (of “Listen to the Sky” infamy), The Army or The Others, their rhythm guitarist Robert Freeman and bass guitarist Ian McLintock became the duo Sun Dragon.  A quickie cover of “Green Tambourine” was released by the pair in an attempt to take the wind out of the sails of the Lemon Pipers’ original in the UK, but only managed to climb to number 50 in the charts before being almost entirely forgotten about.  “Five White Horses” was their final single, and is an effects-laden piece of slightly haunting pop about the sinking of an over-laden Chinese ship. 

Jon Laden, Ian Paice and Ritchie Blackmore were present on the eponymous album they released, but it’s not clear whether all three are present on this effort.

4.              Robbie Burns – Exit Stage Right (Spin – 1967)

The three lions of pop The Gibb Brothers took a break from writing hit singles of their own and dining on the fresh carcasses of wildebeest in 1967 to pen this effort for fellow Australian Robbie Burns.  An insistent, nagging Beatlesy riff stamps its way right through this track, and it’s good enough to make you wonder why they didn’t bother to keep it for themselves. 

5.              Bamboo Shoot – The Fox Has Gone To Ground (Columbia – 1968)

The late sixties saw “popular music” as the public knew it begin to split and fragment into two distinct camps – the mainstream and the underground.  Whilst there’s no conclusive record of this, it’s tempting to think of The Bamboo Shoot as one of the first acts to become simultaneously blessed and cursed with the “John Peel band” tag.  He seemed to be the only DJ who was interested in their work, playing this track eight times on his show.  Eventually, the BBC simply banned it outright, believing it to be filled with drug references, and even his support was forced to cease.

The band never released another single, and continue to insist that there are no references to illegal substances in the record.  As I’ve never heard any myself, it’s hard to understand quite what Auntie Beeb were getting so tetchy about.  “We don’t understand what they’re on about, so we’d better ban it” seemed to be the sole reasoning behind their act.

6.              Sunchariot – Firewater (Decca – 1973)

Cheekily stolen from the “Purepop” blog for the benefit of this compilation – where I think it fits in rather well – “Firewater” is a rather condescending (some would say offensive) overview of Native American life, but is nonetheless backed with pounding rhythms, disorientating echoing effects and high level silliness.  The identity of the band remains unknown.

7.              New York Public Library – Got To Get Away (MCA – 1968)

An absolutely brilliant track from this Leeds outfit, which focuses on the topic of backwater town ennui and entrapment long before it became the bog-standard theme of many an indie fop.  The frustration sounds genuine enough (did they hate Leeds that much, or was it a piece of fiction?) and the vocal harmonies and the hooks in the chorus create something which sounds like it should have been a proper hit.  Clearly it was not to be.

8.              Darwin’s Theory – Daytime (Major Minor – 1968)

Please see here for a full explanation of this track.

9.              The Spectrum – Music Soothes The Savage Breast (RCA – 1968)

The flipside of their opportunistic cover of “Ob La Di Ob La Da”, “Savage Breast” is rather more satisfying, being a pleasurable piece of light orchestral whimsy.  Keith Forsey was a member of this act, who later wrote “Don’t You Forget About Me” for Simple Minds, and the theme to “Flashdance”.  This is a far cry from both.

10.          The Silver Eagle – Theodore (MGM – 1967)

I have absolutely zero information regarding the background of this particular single, which is an absurd satirical view of a hotel suicide attempt witnessed by a gathering pavement crowd.  “The chestnut man is marching down to make a sale or two/ followed by the ice cream vendor” the band inform us cheerily.  This is toytown psych with a very bitter pill in its belly.

      11.          Peter and Gordon – Uncle Hartington (Capitol – 1968)

By the time Peter and Gordon issued their final album “Hot Cold and Custard” in 1968, nobody was really listening anymore.  Perhaps that’s why that particular album is their most eccentric issue, taking in obsessions which usually only troubled the minds of the most disturbed folk singers.  “Uncle Hartington” is about a tobacco stinking elderly relative the duo inform us is a royal pain in the rear, although he sounds pleasant enough to me.

12.          Nick Garrie – Wheel of Fortune (DiscAZ – 1969)

Nick Garrie’s career has recently returned from the wilderness and he has recorded tracks with Norman Blake out of Teenage Fanclub for his album “49 Arlington Gardens”.  However, it was this track which seemed to set the ball rolling for him again when it appeared on the “Circus Days” compilation.  An exploration of one man’s death at a Great Yarmouth funfair, it’s a lovely piece of pop from a man who would later go on to support Leonard Cohen on tour.

13.          Tidal Wave – Spider Spider (RCA – 1970)

Tidal Wave were a South African band, and “Spider Spider” managed to climb into their native country’s top 20 in 1970, whilst seemingly being largely ignored elsewhere.  It’s a screeching piece of powerful orchestral psychedelia which deserved to find more pairs of ears abroad.

14.          KG Young – Spider (CBS – 1969)

Kenny Young has had a long and varied career as a songwriter, most famously penning “Under The Boardwalk” and eventually producing and writing hits for Fox in the seventies.  “Spider” was one of his occasional solo ventures, and when it failed as a single, he quietly gave it to Clodagh Rogers to put on a B-side – which you can hear here (if you haven’t already).

15.          Dave Clark Five – Concentration Baby (Columbia – 1967)

On the B-side of the frankly dreary ballad “Everybody Knows” lies this little garage styled stormer, which finds the Tottenham quintet sounding rather more like The Monks than they ever would at any other phase in their career.  Admittedly, this isn’t the same thing as saying they sound exactly like The Monks, but surely even vague parallels are entertainingly unlikely?

16.          St Giles System – Swedish Tears (Philips – 1968)

St Giles System hailed from the Netherlands, but beyond that I have very little information on them.  “Swedish Tears” is a bit of a psychedelic stormer, though, alternating between compelling and aggressive R&B riffage and demonic, swirling organ based mayhem. 

17.          Rita – Erotica (Major Minor – 1968)

For the limited information I have available to me on this track, please read here.  I still don't think it's Rita from "Coronation Street", by the way.

18.          The Poets – Fun Buggy (Strike Cola – 1971)

Scottish cult act The Poets were roped into doing a promotional single for the long-forgotten Barr manufactured cola drink “Strike” in 1971.  This was long past the point where I would have thought their efforts made a positive difference to supermarket brands, but as I’d wager more people have heard of The Poets these days than have heard of Strike, perhaps we shouldn’t worry too much.  “Fun Buggy” is an advert in all but name, but it grooves along in such a neat way that it’s found itself sampled in all sorts of places since. 

19.          Peter and Gordon – I Feel Like Going Out (Capitol – 1968)

When they were at their most strident, Peter and Gordon could sound scarily close to an irate Mulligan and O’Hare.  When they defiantly sang “I’m going to get my name in the papers”, one could only tremble slightly and wonder what for.  Still, this song swings along so confidently and purposefully that it’s impossible not to be swept along with its intentions.

20.          Tuesday’s Children – Mr. Kipling (Pye – 1968)

Tuesday’s Children were Barry Younghusband’s band before he went off to get involved in the marginally more successful Warm Sounds.  “Mr. Kipling” seems to accuse everybody’s favourite corporate cake expert of being something of a man about town.  Keep the slogan to yourselves, please.

21.          Sons and Lovers – From Now The Sun Shines (Beacon – 1968)

For more information on this track, please read here.

22.          Windmill – I Can Fly (MCA – 1970).

Please read the previous Windmill entries here and here for more information.  I’ve finally managed to find a copy of their elusive third single “Wilbur’s Thing”, which means I need to find the stamina and inspiration to write a third blog entry for them in 2011. 

23.          Just William – Cherrywood Green (Spark – 1968)

Just William are the Midlands band Herbie’s People moonlighting under another name.   “Cherrywood Green” is a jaunty piece of psych-pop which rested on the flip of their single “I Don’t Care”.

24.          Blonde on Blonde – Country Life (Pye – 1968)

Welsh proggers Blonde on Blonde were always the bridesmaids, never the brides, playing the Isle of Wight festival and apparently being well received but never truly capitalizing on their presence at the event with a hit album or single.  Whilst their album “Contrasts” is only really worth a dip if you’re more interested in the prog end of the musical spectrum, “Country Life” (the B-side to their sole Pye single “All Day and All Night”) is the kind of wistful, quintessentially English number many of their poppier peers could have dished out, but few would have done it so well.

25.          The Gibsons – City Life (Major Minor – 1967)

Songs tartly dismissing London life seem to be more common than tracks actually praising it – the harshness and expense of the environment seems to have wounded many an aspiring musician.  As I know nothing at all about The Gibsons it’s tempting to assume that “City Life” is an Alan Partridge styled rant about the place, but we’ll let them off because the rush of the lyrical content does sum up the mood of the capital very well.

26.          Cyan – My Little Ship Louise (RCA – 1971)

The B-side of their Euro-hit “Misaluba”, Cyan’s “My Little Ship Louise” is a delicate McCartney styled ballad which I always knew I’d end up making the final track on a blog compilation one day.  The whimsical nature of the song may alienate some, but I personally think it’s a perfect closedown tune.

Italian poppers Cyan were stars for a period of time across much of Europe, but never quite saw the same degree of success in the UK, where they remain relatively unknown.

Download it here 

Granny's Intentions - Story of David

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .



Label: Deram
Year of Issue: 1967

"David Miller was a cock..."

Well, that's just charming.

"Wrote poetry... using only seven English verbs"

Ah, now I understand.  I've had dealings with such characters myself.

Granny's Intentions were a Dublin based outfit who, like rather too many Irish acts in the sixties, were largely ignored in Britain, being forced into the position of supporting various showbands in their home country instead.  Apparently slavered over by a cult following on the Irish gig circuit, their apparent absence from the usual array of sixties compilations is a curious case which should surely be remedied soon.  "Story of David" may not quite be up there with "My White Bicycle", but nonetheless its pounding organ riffs, bellowing blue-eyed soul meets mystic seer vocals, and beatnik-bashing lyrics make it very of its time.

Indeed, "The Story of David" appears to be a cautionary warning about delving too deep into the complex and unappreciated world of experimental poetry.  David Miller, we learn, was rejected from endless publishers for his hip appearance and bizarre prose, forced to live on unemployment benefit, and we are finally told that really, he should simply stop snubbing convention and "Go back to work".  One can almost see the pointing of several nagging, wagging fingers when that line is collectively delivered by the band in a harmonious fashion.  Who David Miller is or was (almost certainly not the Australian poet listed on Wikipedia) and what business any of this happened to be of Granny's Intentions shall possibly forever remain a mystery, but the end result appears to be a critique of underground dabblers, placing this track on a rarified list of psychedelic songs which either dis the scene that spawned them (The Montanas "Difference of Opinion", Dave Clarke Five's "Lost In His Dreams") or make rather conservative judgmental noises about the homeless or jobless (Falling Leaves' "Beggar's Parade").

The Intentions also briefly counted Gary Moore amongst their line-up, who played on several tracks on their sole album "Honest Injun".  Thus, they are arguably the least obscure of all the remaining unsung underground sixties acts.

Label: Deram
Year of Issue: 1967

"David Miller was a cock..."

Well, that's just charming.

"Wrote poetry... using only seven English verbs"

Ah, now I understand.  I've had dealings with such characters myself.

Granny's Intentions were a Dublin based outfit who, like rather too many Irish acts in the sixties, were largely ignored in Britain, being forced into the position of supporting various showbands in their home country instead.  Apparently slavered over by a cult following on the Irish gig circuit, their apparent absence from the usual array of sixties compilations is a curious case which should surely be remedied soon.  "Story of David" may not quite be up there with "My White Bicycle", but nonetheless its pounding organ riffs, bellowing blue-eyed soul meets mystic seer vocals, and beatnik-bashing lyrics make it very of its time.

Indeed, "The Story of David" appears to be a cautionary warning about delving too deep into the complex and unappreciated world of experimental poetry.  David Miller, we learn, was rejected from endless publishers for his hip appearance and bizarre prose, forced to live on unemployment benefit, and we are finally told that really, he should simply stop snubbing convention and "Go back to work".  One can almost see the pointing of several nagging, wagging fingers when that line is collectively delivered by the band in a harmonious fashion.  Who David Miller is or was (almost certainly not the Australian poet listed on Wikipedia) and what business any of this happened to be of Granny's Intentions shall possibly forever remain a mystery, but the end result appears to be a critique of underground dabblers, placing this track on a rarified list of psychedelic songs which either dis the scene that spawned them (The Montanas "Difference of Opinion", Dave Clarke Five's "Lost In His Dreams") or make rather conservative judgmental noises about the homeless or jobless (Falling Leaves' "Beggar's Parade").

The Intentions also briefly counted Gary Moore amongst their line-up, who played on several tracks on their sole album "Honest Injun".  Thus, they are arguably the least obscure of all the remaining unsung underground sixties acts.

Herbie & The Royalists - Soul of the Matter

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .



Label: Saga
Year of Release: 1968

Sleevenotes:
"In the last eight months Herbie & The Royalists have acquired a tremendous following in London and the provinces.  Fans delight not only in their music but also incurable sense of humour.
The effervescent HERBIE captivates his audiences, expounding energy and vitality, "above and beyond the call of duty".
The Royalists themselves are excellent musicians whose music is exciting, original and varied.
"Baby I Love You" is fast and lively, featuring exciting guitar work by IAN MILLER (lead guitar), "Dirty Old Town" is slow, sentimental and nostalgic, depicting HERBIE's home town in Barbados.
A number with a heavy beat and interesting harmony backing from BRIAN COOPER (drums), STEVE FIELD (bass) and IAN is "A Day in the Life of Julie", but perhaps the most sensational number on the album is the dramatic "Lost Voyage", a powerful and original instrumental.
The only other instrumental on the LP is "Royal Suite", based on Handel's "Entrance of the Queen of Sheba".  Arrangement on this was by organist DENIS LASCELLES.  The number displays a perfect blend of classical and popular music.
Alien to HERBIE's happy personality are the sentiments of "My Life Has Just Blown a Fuse", the cry of a lost and angry young man in a powerful hard-hitting number.  The album closes romantically on "It's All Because Of You".  And it's all because of Herbie & The Royalists that you will enjoy this album - because they get right to the SOUL OF THE MATTER."

Hmm, yes.  "Mulligan and O'Hare" styled sleevenotes aside, this album often crops up in passing conversation as being one of the few relatively untapped mines of sixties goodness, so please let me begin this blog entry on a critical note - it's largely very average indeed, and when it troughs, by God does it trough.  Disclaimers aside, however, there is at least one track on here I'm incredibly surprised has never found its way on to a British psychedelic compilation.

To understand the potential failings of the album, you need to consider the fact that Saga Records specialised in quickly bashed out budget albums designed for the cash-strapped patron of Woolworths and the record department of Boots the Chemist.  From the sleeve design to the recording and pressing of the vinyl, very little expense was spared.  Bands were given contracts to sign which entitled them to a one-off payment and no royalties at all on sales.  The recording itself would take place in cheaply assembled studios in unlikely places, with several items in the Saga back-catalogue (most notably the Magic Mixtures album) having been recorded in an Infant School Hall at night.  The session would generally last only slightly longer than a straight run-through of the band's material would take, so there were few (if any) retakes allowed, and the production seemed non-existent.  It takes an exceptional band performing under top flight circumstances to pull the necessary on-the-one genius out of the bag, and Saga weren't dealing with bands at the top end of their profession, just hungry musicians desperate to get some product in the shops and their name known.

Given these mitigating factors, it is possible to see "Soul of the Matter" in a much more flattering light.  Herbie admittedly isn't the best singer the Royalists could have hoped for, and his voice probably is more suited to frustrated howlers such as "My Life Has Just Blown a Fuse" rather than romantic ditties.  However, there are a few tracks here which arguably would have made the miniscule asking price of the album worth anyone's while.  Besides "Fuse", there's the decidedly unsoulful psychedelic trip of "Lost Voyage", which starts off in a subdued, metronomic fashion only to burst into kaleidoscopic colour and life two minutes in, filled with a blistering, soaring guitar break up there with the finest instrumental Pink Floyd pieces of the same period.  "Royal Suite" too is as good a take on classically influenced pop as any I've heard, and it leaves me wondering what Herbie and his gang would have been capable of with more production time and a better studio.  As this appears to have been their only recorded output, we'll probably never know.

It's not clear to me what happened to the band after this release, but Saga have gone from strength to strength and now own a radio station, as well as specialising in holidays, private finance and insurance. As such, they're probably a lot more bankable than EMI at present... Perhaps Herbie & The Royalists work in one of their offices.

For people who want to skip downloading the whole album and just listen to "Lost Voyage", I have provided a stand-alone mp3 below.



Tracklisting:


Side One
1. Baby I Love You
2. Dirty Old Town
3. Please Forgive
4. A Day in the Life Of Julie
5. Forever Yours
6. Flowers All Surrounding
7. Lost Voyage


Side Two
1. Royal Suite
2. Try to Find Me
3. Too Blind To See
4. I'll Never Stop
5. My Life Has Just Blown a Fuse
6. I'm Breathing Heavy
7. It's All Because of You

Download it Here

Label: Saga
Year of Release: 1968

Sleevenotes:
"In the last eight months Herbie & The Royalists have acquired a tremendous following in London and the provinces.  Fans delight not only in their music but also incurable sense of humour.
The effervescent HERBIE captivates his audiences, expounding energy and vitality, "above and beyond the call of duty".
The Royalists themselves are excellent musicians whose music is exciting, original and varied.
"Baby I Love You" is fast and lively, featuring exciting guitar work by IAN MILLER (lead guitar), "Dirty Old Town" is slow, sentimental and nostalgic, depicting HERBIE's home town in Barbados.
A number with a heavy beat and interesting harmony backing from BRIAN COOPER (drums), STEVE FIELD (bass) and IAN is "A Day in the Life of Julie", but perhaps the most sensational number on the album is the dramatic "Lost Voyage", a powerful and original instrumental.
The only other instrumental on the LP is "Royal Suite", based on Handel's "Entrance of the Queen of Sheba".  Arrangement on this was by organist DENIS LASCELLES.  The number displays a perfect blend of classical and popular music.
Alien to HERBIE's happy personality are the sentiments of "My Life Has Just Blown a Fuse", the cry of a lost and angry young man in a powerful hard-hitting number.  The album closes romantically on "It's All Because Of You".  And it's all because of Herbie & The Royalists that you will enjoy this album - because they get right to the SOUL OF THE MATTER."

Hmm, yes.  "Mulligan and O'Hare" styled sleevenotes aside, this album often crops up in passing conversation as being one of the few relatively untapped mines of sixties goodness, so please let me begin this blog entry on a critical note - it's largely very average indeed, and when it troughs, by God does it trough.  Disclaimers aside, however, there is at least one track on here I'm incredibly surprised has never found its way on to a British psychedelic compilation.

To understand the potential failings of the album, you need to consider the fact that Saga Records specialised in quickly bashed out budget albums designed for the cash-strapped patron of Woolworths and the record department of Boots the Chemist.  From the sleeve design to the recording and pressing of the vinyl, very little expense was spared.  Bands were given contracts to sign which entitled them to a one-off payment and no royalties at all on sales.  The recording itself would take place in cheaply assembled studios in unlikely places, with several items in the Saga back-catalogue (most notably the Magic Mixtures album) having been recorded in an Infant School Hall at night.  The session would generally last only slightly longer than a straight run-through of the band's material would take, so there were few (if any) retakes allowed, and the production seemed non-existent.  It takes an exceptional band performing under top flight circumstances to pull the necessary on-the-one genius out of the bag, and Saga weren't dealing with bands at the top end of their profession, just hungry musicians desperate to get some product in the shops and their name known.

Given these mitigating factors, it is possible to see "Soul of the Matter" in a much more flattering light.  Herbie admittedly isn't the best singer the Royalists could have hoped for, and his voice probably is more suited to frustrated howlers such as "My Life Has Just Blown a Fuse" rather than romantic ditties.  However, there are a few tracks here which arguably would have made the miniscule asking price of the album worth anyone's while.  Besides "Fuse", there's the decidedly unsoulful psychedelic trip of "Lost Voyage", which starts off in a subdued, metronomic fashion only to burst into kaleidoscopic colour and life two minutes in, filled with a blistering, soaring guitar break up there with the finest instrumental Pink Floyd pieces of the same period.  "Royal Suite" too is as good a take on classically influenced pop as any I've heard, and it leaves me wondering what Herbie and his gang would have been capable of with more production time and a better studio.  As this appears to have been their only recorded output, we'll probably never know.

It's not clear to me what happened to the band after this release, but Saga have gone from strength to strength and now own a radio station, as well as specialising in holidays, private finance and insurance. As such, they're probably a lot more bankable than EMI at present... Perhaps Herbie & The Royalists work in one of their offices.

For people who want to skip downloading the whole album and just listen to "Lost Voyage", I have provided a stand-alone mp3 below.



Tracklisting:


Side One
1. Baby I Love You
2. Dirty Old Town
3. Please Forgive
4. A Day in the Life Of Julie
5. Forever Yours
6. Flowers All Surrounding
7. Lost Voyage


Side Two
1. Royal Suite
2. Try to Find Me
3. Too Blind To See
4. I'll Never Stop
5. My Life Has Just Blown a Fuse
6. I'm Breathing Heavy
7. It's All Because of You

Download it Here

Windmill - I Can Fly/ Such Sweet Sorrow

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .



Label: MCA
Year of Release: 1970

Almost exactly one year ago on this blog, we pondered the failure of the enthusiastically backed Windmill to break through in the late sixties and early seventies.  Here, after all, were a band with the Blaikley/ Howard songwriting team behind them and MCA at the wheel.  I concluded that the problem was mainly that the band's sound was too damn dated by the time of their media unveiling, and the unearthing of a mint copy of this single hasn't done anything to change my mind.

"I Can Fly" really is just a burst of bouyant popsike occurring at least three years too late, having originally been released by The Herd back then.  The deep vocals about "ghosts and phantoms", the puffing flutes, and the celebratory away-with-the-fairies chorus all gels together to create something distinctly paisley patterned.  Whilst I wouldn't want to give more ammo to the continual myth that psych-pop just didn't chart in the early seventies - Hawkwind's "Silver Machine" alone proves that wasn't the case - it isn't unfair to note that it stood much less of a chance of breaking through with the fashion obsessed public.  This is a shame, as "I Can Fly" is an irrepressibly jaunty piece of work.

The rest of the Windmill story is summarised over at my previous entry, and if I ever do find a copy of "Wilbur's Thing" I can afford, rest assured you lot will be among the first to find out.

Label: MCA
Year of Release: 1970

Almost exactly one year ago on this blog, we pondered the failure of the enthusiastically backed Windmill to break through in the late sixties and early seventies.  Here, after all, were a band with the Blaikley/ Howard songwriting team behind them and MCA at the wheel.  I concluded that the problem was mainly that the band's sound was too damn dated by the time of their media unveiling, and the unearthing of a mint copy of this single hasn't done anything to change my mind.

"I Can Fly" really is just a burst of bouyant popsike occurring at least three years too late, having originally been released by The Herd back then.  The deep vocals about "ghosts and phantoms", the puffing flutes, and the celebratory away-with-the-fairies chorus all gels together to create something distinctly paisley patterned.  Whilst I wouldn't want to give more ammo to the continual myth that psych-pop just didn't chart in the early seventies - Hawkwind's "Silver Machine" alone proves that wasn't the case - it isn't unfair to note that it stood much less of a chance of breaking through with the fashion obsessed public.  This is a shame, as "I Can Fly" is an irrepressibly jaunty piece of work.

The rest of the Windmill story is summarised over at my previous entry, and if I ever do find a copy of "Wilbur's Thing" I can afford, rest assured you lot will be among the first to find out.

Rita - Erotica/ Sexologie

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .



Label: Major Minor
Year of Release: 1969

Sometimes when you obtain second-hand records, you're given subtle clues about the personal preferences and habits of their previous owners.  My copy of "Flames" by Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, for example, has "MILLWALL FC" scrawled over-enthusiastically across the label - though I can't really think of a link between the two myself.  This record, I'm sorry to say, had a sticky mess across the vinyl I had to remove with an alcohol based cleaner.  Whether the sticky mess was actually the substance I had in my worst fears or not I wouldn't like to say.

"Erotica" is, after all, probably one of the saucier "Je T'Aime" related records to have leaked out during the late sixties.  It's five minutes of the inappropriately named Rita (I mean, really, Rita has to be one the least erotic names ever, surely?  Or a couple of rungs down from Ursula at least) puffing, groaning and climaxing to a funky rhythm.  Atop the groove is a psychedelic, organ driven jam which isn't terribly unlike Pink Floyd during their prime, ending in some bizarre "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" styled disorientation, making this a pretty unusual choice for a single.  It was certainly never going to get airplay, and there's nothing soft, sensual or gentle about the track itself, so it was primarily depending on shock value to generate the sales which never came.  It is a genuinely engaging piece of work, though, and if it weren't for the porno feel to the entire thing I'm sure we'd have heard a lot more about it - and given the fact that Lil Louis' "French Kiss" was an orgasmic club hit in the nineties, it's surprising that a few more retro-minded DJs haven't picked up on this yet.

The B-side "Sexologie" is rather more restrained, sounding as if it could be the new theme tune to "Bottom" should Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson ever get a chance to make another series.  Which is appropriate, given that "Erotica" is the kind of single the character Eddie would have owned and treasured himself...

Label: Major Minor
Year of Release: 1969

Sometimes when you obtain second-hand records, you're given subtle clues about the personal preferences and habits of their previous owners.  My copy of "Flames" by Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, for example, has "MILLWALL FC" scrawled over-enthusiastically across the label - though I can't really think of a link between the two myself.  This record, I'm sorry to say, had a sticky mess across the vinyl I had to remove with an alcohol based cleaner.  Whether the sticky mess was actually the substance I had in my worst fears or not I wouldn't like to say.

"Erotica" is, after all, probably one of the saucier "Je T'Aime" related records to have leaked out during the late sixties.  It's five minutes of the inappropriately named Rita (I mean, really, Rita has to be one the least erotic names ever, surely?  Or a couple of rungs down from Ursula at least) puffing, groaning and climaxing to a funky rhythm.  Atop the groove is a psychedelic, organ driven jam which isn't terribly unlike Pink Floyd during their prime, ending in some bizarre "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" styled disorientation, making this a pretty unusual choice for a single.  It was certainly never going to get airplay, and there's nothing soft, sensual or gentle about the track itself, so it was primarily depending on shock value to generate the sales which never came.  It is a genuinely engaging piece of work, though, and if it weren't for the porno feel to the entire thing I'm sure we'd have heard a lot more about it - and given the fact that Lil Louis' "French Kiss" was an orgasmic club hit in the nineties, it's surprising that a few more retro-minded DJs haven't picked up on this yet.

The B-side "Sexologie" is rather more restrained, sounding as if it could be the new theme tune to "Bottom" should Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson ever get a chance to make another series.  Which is appropriate, given that "Erotica" is the kind of single the character Eddie would have owned and treasured himself...

Tintern Abbey - Beeside/ Vacuum Cleaner

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .

Label: Deram
Year of Release: 1967

No points for originality here, then.  "Beeside" backed with "Vacuum Cleaner" (rather than "Vacuum Cleaner" backed with "Beeside" as would be logical) is one of the most collectible British Psychedelic discs of all time, frequently selling for four figure sums.  Verily, I will bet that even David Dickinson is aware of the value of this one, such is its startling pricetag.  And before you ask for my address so you can come around and burgle my flat, yes, my copy is one of the re-issues rather than the original, which I'd be lucky to get ten pounds for.

When the value of a record raises to such preposterous heights, questions must be asked about how it got way up there. In the case of this single, the fact that this is a marvellous piece of work helps - even Record Mirror acknowledged at the time of its release that Tintern Abbey were "one of the most promising new outfits in a long time".  They continued to say that "This could be a first time hit; certainly is a value-for-money coupling".  Sadly, a December release date probably meant that the trippy, summery vibes of the record got lost amidst the festive season, and it sold terribly.  It took a long time before its quality was appreciated, as decades down the line it became ripe for appearances on numerous sixties compilation albums, beginning with the "Chocolate Soup for Diabetics" series and finishing (to the best of my knowledge) with an American appearance on the iconic "Nuggets II" box set.

Over the years, however, much has been made of the record's B-side "Vacuum Cleaner" over its perversely titled top side "Beeside", almost as if the title of that track has become some kind of self-fulfilling prophesy.  That's a deep pity, because it is actually the superior song in my view, filled with tinkling piano lines, mellotron lines, shimmering effects, and some suspicously Syd Barretty "la la la la la" echoing effects - suspicious because I suspect Syd ripped off Tintern Abbey on "Jugband Blues" rather than vice versa, incidentally, as the dates of release conclusively prove.  Syd even lived in the same Earl's Court block of flats as the band's bass player Stuart MacKay and borrowed his records; could a copy of this possibly have been amongst them?

"Vacuum Cleaner", on the other hand, is something of a club favourite purely for having a bit more of a groove behind it, and it's not without its merits either, but stops short of being amazing.  The track was devised when the police believed the band had come into a lot of expensive amplification equipment through dishonest means, and they found themselves having to hoover up all evidence of drug use in their shared abode in case they dropped by to inspect the premises in more detail.  The guitar solo on this track is treated with special "vacuum cleaner noise" effects which wouldn't (to the best of my knowledge) be repeated again until The Farmer's Boys used an actual vacuum cleaner on one of their records in the eighties.  In a rather unconnected way, the lyrics seem to be concerned with a rejection of materialistic values.

For all the undeniable promise on display here, Tintern Abbey didn't last - after this single, the group splintered, but all was not entirely lost.  Lead singer David MacTavish joined the frankly brilliant Velvet Opera, another unfairly overlooked act.

(Both sides are commercially available in all the usual places, and both Side A and Side B can be heard on YouTube).

Label: Deram
Year of Release: 1967

No points for originality here, then.  "Beeside" backed with "Vacuum Cleaner" (rather than "Vacuum Cleaner" backed with "Beeside" as would be logical) is one of the most collectible British Psychedelic discs of all time, frequently selling for four figure sums.  Verily, I will bet that even David Dickinson is aware of the value of this one, such is its startling pricetag.  And before you ask for my address so you can come around and burgle my flat, yes, my copy is one of the re-issues rather than the original, which I'd be lucky to get ten pounds for.

When the value of a record raises to such preposterous heights, questions must be asked about how it got way up there. In the case of this single, the fact that this is a marvellous piece of work helps - even Record Mirror acknowledged at the time of its release that Tintern Abbey were "one of the most promising new outfits in a long time".  They continued to say that "This could be a first time hit; certainly is a value-for-money coupling".  Sadly, a December release date probably meant that the trippy, summery vibes of the record got lost amidst the festive season, and it sold terribly.  It took a long time before its quality was appreciated, as decades down the line it became ripe for appearances on numerous sixties compilation albums, beginning with the "Chocolate Soup for Diabetics" series and finishing (to the best of my knowledge) with an American appearance on the iconic "Nuggets II" box set.

Over the years, however, much has been made of the record's B-side "Vacuum Cleaner" over its perversely titled top side "Beeside", almost as if the title of that track has become some kind of self-fulfilling prophesy.  That's a deep pity, because it is actually the superior song in my view, filled with tinkling piano lines, mellotron lines, shimmering effects, and some suspicously Syd Barretty "la la la la la" echoing effects - suspicious because I suspect Syd ripped off Tintern Abbey on "Jugband Blues" rather than vice versa, incidentally, as the dates of release conclusively prove.  Syd even lived in the same Earl's Court block of flats as the band's bass player Stuart MacKay and borrowed his records; could a copy of this possibly have been amongst them?

"Vacuum Cleaner", on the other hand, is something of a club favourite purely for having a bit more of a groove behind it, and it's not without its merits either, but stops short of being amazing.  The track was devised when the police believed the band had come into a lot of expensive amplification equipment through dishonest means, and they found themselves having to hoover up all evidence of drug use in their shared abode in case they dropped by to inspect the premises in more detail.  The guitar solo on this track is treated with special "vacuum cleaner noise" effects which wouldn't (to the best of my knowledge) be repeated again until The Farmer's Boys used an actual vacuum cleaner on one of their records in the eighties.  In a rather unconnected way, the lyrics seem to be concerned with a rejection of materialistic values.

For all the undeniable promise on display here, Tintern Abbey didn't last - after this single, the group splintered, but all was not entirely lost.  Lead singer David MacTavish joined the frankly brilliant Velvet Opera, another unfairly overlooked act.

(Both sides are commercially available in all the usual places, and both Side A and Side B can be heard on YouTube).

The Darwin's Theory - Daytime/ Hosanna

psychedelia - Hola Music Lovers, Music іѕ а form оf art thаt involves organized аnd audible sounds аnd silence. It іѕ nоrmаllу expressed іn terms оf pitch (which includes melody аnd harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo аnd meter), аnd thе quality оf sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, аnd texture). Music mау аlѕо involve complex generative forms іn time thrоugh thе construction оf patterns аnd combinations оf natural stimuli, principally sound. Music mау bе uѕеd fоr artistic оr aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, оr ceremonial purposes. Thе definition оf whаt constitutes music varies ассоrdіng tо culture аnd social context.This Blog tell About psychedelia, Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions. .



Label: Major Minor
Year of Release: 1966

"She just takes me halfway there/ I tried and tried and tired/ I didn't get anywhere".

Why yes, it's yet another moping rock and roll nursery rhyme about some evil woman failing to give a man his conjugal rights.  At the slightly messy, dirty end of rock culture in the sixties, women either featured in lyrics as delightful, sprightly darlings on the dancefloor, or evil hussies who just didn't "give out" often enough.  In its own way this kind of stereotyping was just as offensive and conservative as the kind of stuff going on out in Easy Listening land about finding the perfect housewife.

Still, sentiments aside, "Daytime" is actually a solid piece of early psychedelia.  Supposedly performed by The Darwin's Theory, it's actually French beat combo Les Cinq Gentlemen in disguise for the benefit of the British market.  Radio Caroline boss (and owner of the Major Minor label) Phil Solomon caught them live on a trip to France and was so blown away by their show that he offered them a deal there and then.  He had originally hoped that they would translate one of their tracks "Si Tu Reviens Chez Moi" into English and re-record it, but for whatever reason, this was not to be.  Therefore, all English audiences were ever given was this track, alongside the chaotic, five-mad-bastards-going-berserk-around-a-piano flipside "Hosanna".  I don't know about you readers, but I always like to imagine they're playing a game of musical chairs around the instrument, hence all the audible excitement and huff and puff on the recording.

"Daytime", on the other hand, is a simple piece of Dylanry featuring a mourning organ, repetitive riff, and strangely haunting melody.  Due to Solomon's fingers being in another pirate-shaped pie, it achieved quite a bit of airplay on the good ship Caroline (the first time I ever heard the track was on an old, crackly tape recording of a sixties Caroline show) but this failed to translate into success.  Les Cinq Gentlemen were therefore left to continue with their careers in France, issuing five EPs in the process which are highly sought after by collectors both at home and abroad these days.

Label: Major Minor
Year of Release: 1966

"She just takes me halfway there/ I tried and tried and tired/ I didn't get anywhere".

Why yes, it's yet another moping rock and roll nursery rhyme about some evil woman failing to give a man his conjugal rights.  At the slightly messy, dirty end of rock culture in the sixties, women either featured in lyrics as delightful, sprightly darlings on the dancefloor, or evil hussies who just didn't "give out" often enough.  In its own way this kind of stereotyping was just as offensive and conservative as the kind of stuff going on out in Easy Listening land about finding the perfect housewife.

Still, sentiments aside, "Daytime" is actually a solid piece of early psychedelia.  Supposedly performed by The Darwin's Theory, it's actually French beat combo Les Cinq Gentlemen in disguise for the benefit of the British market.  Radio Caroline boss (and owner of the Major Minor label) Phil Solomon caught them live on a trip to France and was so blown away by their show that he offered them a deal there and then.  He had originally hoped that they would translate one of their tracks "Si Tu Reviens Chez Moi" into English and re-record it, but for whatever reason, this was not to be.  Therefore, all English audiences were ever given was this track, alongside the chaotic, five-mad-bastards-going-berserk-around-a-piano flipside "Hosanna".  I don't know about you readers, but I always like to imagine they're playing a game of musical chairs around the instrument, hence all the audible excitement and huff and puff on the recording.

"Daytime", on the other hand, is a simple piece of Dylanry featuring a mourning organ, repetitive riff, and strangely haunting melody.  Due to Solomon's fingers being in another pirate-shaped pie, it achieved quite a bit of airplay on the good ship Caroline (the first time I ever heard the track was on an old, crackly tape recording of a sixties Caroline show) but this failed to translate into success.  Les Cinq Gentlemen were therefore left to continue with their careers in France, issuing five EPs in the process which are highly sought after by collectors both at home and abroad these days.