Love,Poetry & Revolution

Ever since Mod Fun's Mick London and Ron Rimsite urged me to check out Bam Caruso's "Rubble.." series in 1985 my life has been forever entwined with obscure U.K. 60's "freakbeat" and/or "psychedelia".  Since that time I have purchased a multitude of comp LP's/CD's in the genre and all too often there's a lot of track overlap.  When "Love, Poetry & Revolution: A Journey Through The British Psychedelic And Underground Scenes 1966-1971" was announced I was hesitant as a great deal of tracks (23 to be exact) I'd already had in a variety of places.  But the rest looked intriguing. It semmed to me to be a perfect companion to 2006's mighty 4 CD "Real Life Permanent Dreams: A Cornucopia of British Psychedelia  1965-1970" set and I duly pre-ordered it.  Repeats aside (Mirage, Jason Crest, John's Children, Sands, Mike Stuart Span, Crazy World of Arthur Brown etc) my mind was suitably blown and continues to do so....The liner notes by Tenth Planet man and all round U.K. 60's scholar David Wells are spot on and informative. It's like taking a university course in U.K. 60's psych/freakbeat.  Did you know that The Shy Limbs (of "Love"/"Reputation" fame) included Greg Lake and Robert Fripp in their ranks?  Or that members of the Flies and The Cymbaline joined forces in 1969 as Infinity? Or that The Mirage backed Caleb (Quaye) on "Baby Your Phrasing Is Bad"? And that's just a taste...In an effort to reign in my enthusiasm fueled long winded-ness I'll keep this brief (yeah like that's gonna happen) and give you some of my fave pics from each disc.

DISC ONE:
Deep Feeling (formerly known as The Hellions) and home to pre-Traffic Dave Mason and Jim Capaldi (in addition to pre-Art/Spooky Tooth member Luther Grosvenor) open the comp with the unreleased 1966 song "Pretty Colours", with it's "Mars, Bringer Of War" intro and a lysergic percussion charting the journey from mod/r&b to psychedelia perfectly. And on that similar path is the gem of the set, an acetate recording by Tintern Abbey, responsible for the greatest U.K. psych single of all time ("Beeside"/"Vacuum Cleaner"). "Busy Bee" is an acetate demo of "Beeside" before the band got to utilize studio gimmickry and create their sole 45.  "Busy Bee" is just bass, drums, one guitar and vocals on the famous Oak acetate label.  To me, as mentioned in last month's picks, this track perfectly illustrates the period where The Who-ish/Creation crunch of mod/freakbeat gave way to sugar lumps and mind bending technicolor. Worth the price of the whole set in my book! The Shame's 1967 Janis Ian cover "Don't Go 'Way Little Girl" is a nifty little number with some raga fuzz licks and bleak lyrics that are pretty deep for '67 (it even got a US release on the obscure Poppy label).  One In A Million (responsible for two highly recommended and costly 45's in '67) offer the unreleased "Man In Yellow" a choppy, tough little mod/power pop number not at all dissimilar to The Game or The Barrier.  We here at "Anorak Thing" as you may have read a zillion times are fascinated by that period where all the modernist Stax/Motown loving Ben Sherman crew popped a tab and put a bit of fairy dust in their music.  In that line of thinking comes The Alan Bown , formerly The Alan Bown Set, a 7 piece soul/r&b combo who lived at the Marquee and couldn't catch a break no matter how tight they were. Their 1968 single "Storybook " (their second for the new label, MGM and new image) features a mix different than that on their LP thanks to some trippy effects on the intro.  The band still sports the souful Jess Roden on lead vocals, high Action style backing vocals, Hammond organ and flute/sax backing....then the breathy backing vocals, reverberating voices, Middle Eastern sounding horns and Mellotron tells us Rufus Thomas missed the bus and no one's going back to pick him up...magic. The disc closes with the surprising folky "Child Of The Sky" from England's favorite counter culturists The Deviants, not at all what you'd expect from what one wag called "The Limey MC 5".

DISC TWO:
The West Coast Consortium, best known for their Association on six bags of sugar sound offer the almost CS & N plus Mellotron laced unreleased psych pop ditty "Amanda Jane" full of lyrics about tricycles and playgrounds. The Flies unreleased  jaunty piano/organ driven "Winter Afternoon" is perfect as I sit here typing this out in Lower Binfield and the snow is coming down and bending the three story tall pine tree outside my window under it's rapidly accumulating weight.  "Jabberwocky" by Peter Howell & John Ferdinando comes from two gents (Howell  was later of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and responsible for updating the "Dr. Who" theme) who cut an LP in 1969.  Their musical reading of the Lewis Carroll poem was not groundbreaking as Pink Floyd chum and London Free Clinic doctor Sam Hutt already cut a suitably trippier version in '68 as Boeing Duveen and the Beautiful Soup.  But this version is far folkier, and not at all unlike something from Duncan Browne's "Give Me Take You" elpee, but with some subtle psychedelic bits.  Forever Amber were responsible for one of the rarest LP's of the genre (the 99 copies pressing "The Love Cycle") and touted by cutie Zooey Deschanel in "Mojo" as her fave LP.  "Bit Of Your Life, Bits Of My Life" is not unlike a bargain basement "Odessey And Orcale" era  Zombies, and to date the only track I know by these guys.  Maybe someday I can pop by Zooey's and have a listen to the rest. "Strange Ways" by Please, an unreleased '69 tunes sounds like The Flies late era, possibly because they were led by their former lead vocalist Pete Dunton. The Liverpool Scene's unissued '69 cut "We'll All Be Spacemen Before We Die" makes use of some great NASA control chatter and rolls into a heavy,wah wah pedal monster with a vocalist who sounds like a cross between Danny the Dealer and Al Stewart reciting beat poetry while being backed by The Pink Floyd '66, got that?  Good. "The Makers" by The Sorrows comes from their Italian only  LP "Old Songs New Songs" (butchered in the 80's by the dodgy Gallic label Eva as "Sorrows In Italy"), with heavily Anglicized lead vocals and funky heavy Small Faces '68 musical backing . Cool till it starts to exceed 4 minutes mark. Second Hand, responsible for the mind numbing , apocalyptic "The World Will End Yesterday" serve up a distinctly unlike them pop-psych demo "A Fairy Tale", a slice of Mellotron twee pop psych not unlike Wimple Winch's late era demos. "Love" by the Shy Limbs has been a fave ever since it was unearthed by Strange Things Are Happening's first "Circus Days" CD comp in the early 90's. Propelled by driving throbby John Entwistle/Ace Kefford style bass from Greg Lake (who also supplied the soulful lead vocals) and searing guitar licks(c/o Mr. Toyah Wilcox Robert Fripp) and crashing into an amazing blissful chorus, it's always been a string track to these ears. Lake and Fripp soon absconded to form King Crimson. "Tomorrow Today" by ex-S.D.G. members (Eddie) Hardin & (Pete) York is a big fave here at "Anorak Thing" manor and this Hammond/tambourine fed track with some gorgeously soulful female backing vocals gets lots of airings!

DISC THREE:
Disc three is a bit too "mellow" for me really, some bargain basement Bill Fay's and "heavy" stuff that's possibly not sounding as good as it could for me in my present, lucid, straight weekday state.  Naw wot I meahn? Taiconderoga's (yes it's spelled like that!)  heavy take on "Whitchi Tai To" threw me for a loop as I'm used to the John Schroeder muzaky version.  This version awash in tabla, phlanged guitar (courtesy of a teenage pre-Damned Brian James) is not bad at all but I'm sure this hippie dirge was a skeleton in Mr. James closet in '77! Hawkwind Zoo (aka Hawkwind) contribute an unreleased '69 mid tempo mantra "Hurry On Sundown" full of some good raga riffs and a groove for the oh-so-stoned cut before they snipped the "Zoo" from their moniker. Fut's Fab Four-esque psych parody (complete with Scouse accents)  "Have You Heard" has seen issue in lots of issue in other places and is in reality the work of Maurice Gibb, Aussie ex-pat duo Tin Tin and Mo's then brother in law (and Lulu's brother) Billy Lawrie, no matter how many Beatles bootlegs it's been on.  The Fab Four sound is so spot on that the liner notes indicate that the Dragon Lady attempted to register it as a Lennon track in 1985, silly cow. From the "from the 70's but sounds 60's" comes the magic of Octopus and their Badfinger-esque "Rainchild", don't own their LP "Restless Night"?  Go forth and get it. Beau's "Creation" from an LP on John Peel's short lived Dandelion label is firmly in the "from the 70's but sounds '60's" category (1971 actually).  It would've sounded quite a home in a late 60's/early 70's Hammer film! Uncredited on the sleeve comes Lol  Coxhill's "I Am The Walrus" which is a group of small group of English children singing the Fab's track with flute and Monk-ish piano.  Lol was a late British sax player who'd been part of Kevin Ayer's and the Whole Wide world as well as spending a spell in Welfare State. That was quite weird, there's hope for my four year old's Syd Barrett-eque tunes yet.....

The Mindbenders c/o Rodney Argent

THE MINDBENDERS-I Want Her She Wants Me/The Morning After U.K. Fontana TF 780 1966

1966 was the year everyone left their backing groups and went solo. Billy J. Kramer parted ways with The Dakotas, Brian Poole and The Tremeloes went in separate directions and Wayne Fontana and The Mindbenders were no more even before 1965 was over.  Oddly both artists stayed with Fontana (both in the U.K. and the States) the label they were on together. The Mindbenders struck first, in time for Xmas 1965 with their #1 hit "A Groovy Kind Of Love" (TF 644) while it was not till the Spring of '66 (April to be precise) that Wayne Fontana released his solo debut ("Come On Home" TF 684). The Mindbenders quickly cranked out three more singles before 1966 was over and today's item in question was among them being released in December 1966.

 "I Want Her She Wants Me" was penned by The Zombies keyboardist Rod Argent.  A Zombies version of the track would not see the light until the posthumous second LP "Oddysey(sic) And Oracle" saw the light of day in April 1968. The Mindbenders version eschews any high note backing vocals and is pretty straight forward with very little backing vocals at all really, just lead singer Eric Stewart's voice double tracked with bass, drums, guitar and some faint piano.  Certainly not a patch on the later Zombies recording it's still interesting.  The B-side is where it's at and is in my opinion the finest Mindbenders track of all time.  "The Morning After" was introduced to a whole generation of 60's fans when Bam Caruso included it on their incredible 1984 LP comp "The Psychedelic Snarl". It's ballsy, filled with great harmonies and busts of "freakbeat" guitar licks and a cool chugging rhythm .  Infectious to say the least it's their best track and one of my favorite 60's singles (and a original, written by Eric Stewart).

Both cuts can be found on a an Mindbenders anthology "A Groovy Kind Of Love: The Complete LP and Singles 1966-1968".

Hear "I Want Her She Wants Me":

http://youtu.be/F9nZbxadahU

Hear "The Morning After":

http://youtu.be/llSiUW-Wua0

More U.K. Obscurities On U.S. Labels: Jake Holmes via Jackie Lomax

JACKIE LOMAX-Genuine Imitation Life/One Minute Woman U.S. Epic 5-10270 1967

Singer/bassist Jackie Lomax landed on his feet in early '66 when his Liverpool band The Undertakers went belly up. The Undertakers released three singles in the U.K. on Pye, a one off in the U.S.(their best in my book "Throw Your Love Away" b/w "I Fell In Love (For The Very First Time)" on the U.S. Black Watch label) and also released a one off 45 as The Takers in the U.K. The Undertakers had moved to the States in '65 along with The Pete Best Combo (Pete was milking the Fab Four associations for all that they were worth over here). Both bands cut loads of material in NYC at the Talentmasters studio on West 42nd Street. After the band split Lomax and drummer Bugs Pemberton hooked up with some NYC locals and began playing as The Lost Souls (fitting perhaps)and in early '66 Brian Epstein saw them play in Greenwich Village and convinced them to come back to England where under the name of The Lomax Alliance they cut several tracks, in fact nearly an album's worth. The results of some of which were released in the States only as "One" ("Hey Taxi" b/w "Enter My World"  on Columbia 4-44256 August '67) and a U.K. only release by The Lomax Alliance ("Try As You May" b/w "See The People" CBS 2729 in May '67). Unreleased tracks "Honey Machine" wound up up on "Circus Days Volume One" and the stellar "Golden Lion" turned up on perhaps the fab-est British psych box set: "Real Life Permanent Dreams": A Cornucopia of British Psychedelia 1965-1970". All of these and others have turned up on on the Jackie Lomax compilation double CD "Lost Soul: Singles And Demos 1966-67" (featuring "Better Get Going Now", later made famous by Aussie power poppers Zoot). The LP's completion was terminated with the death of Brian Epstein and the band folded, but Lomax made the transition like many other Epstein acts to impresario/producer Robert Stigwood who duly wasted no time getting Lomax into the studio to cut today's record.

The Lomax Alliance circa '67, Jackie Lomax far left.

The lyrically powerful "Genuine Imitation Life" was written by American Jake Holmes and featured on his June 1967 U.S. Tower LP (alongside his original "Dazed And Confused" soon to be nicked by Jimmy Page, but that as they say, is another story for another day) "The Above Ground Sound of...". Lomax had met Holmes whilst playing NYC's Greenwich Village and followed his career and successfully lobbied to record "Genuine.." as his new single.  With lush orchestration by Stigwood giving it an almost "Handbags And Gladrags" feel the record should've been a smash.  Lomax's interestingly soulful vocals (dig the Justin Hayward-esque note he ends the track on) lend itself perfectly to the tune above the sweeping strings, powerful horns and kitschy Swinging London organ straight off of a Scott Walker LP the following year.

On the flip Jackie tackled a track from Stigwood's charges The Bee Gee's debut U.K./U.S. LP "Bee Gee's 1st" the overwrought "One Minute Woman"(later covered unsuccessfully by Billy Fury the following summer on the bottom side of David Bowie's "Silly Boy Blue") .  I've never been a fan of the track no matter who's doing it and Lomax's spirited vocals don't help me sway on the matter. The single was launched in both the U.S. (December 1967) and the U.K. (October 1967 as CBS 2554) and sadly died a death.  The following year Lomax was signed to Apple as a songwriter and the rest is history....

Sadly Jackie Lomax passed away on September 15th of this year from cancer at the age of 69.

Both sides of this 45 are available on the above mentioned CD comp "Lost Soul" from Amazon.com and available from iTunes on a collection titled "Sour Mile Sea:The Early Collection".

Hear "Genuine Imitation Life":

http://youtu.be/PvOpHjrPx2g

Hear "One Minute Woman":

http://youtu.be/HK4PcSt6LpM

A (History) Lesson Perhaps..............

BALLOON BUSTERS-Alcock And Brown/Bluer Than Blue Canada Pye 7N 17748 1969

Despite being a military aviation enthusiast for longer than I've been a 60's music fan it was not until I heard "Alcock & Brown" by The Balloon Busters earlier this year that I learned the story of the intrepid airman Captain John Alcock (pilot) and Flight Lieutenant Arthur Brown (navigator). Both Alcock and Brown served in WWI as airmen and both were shot down and became P.O.W's. Post war in a Daily Mail sponsored competition in June 1919 they flew a World War I vintage twin engined Vickers Vimy bomber on the first non stop flight across the Atlantic from St. John's, Newfoundland to Clifden, Ireland.  Hailed as national heroes upon their landing they were awarded 10,000 pounds and were knighted by King George V. Sadly Alcock was killed in a flying accident just six months later, Brown passed away in 1948.  A statue of them both stands on display at Heathrow airport to this day.

Capt. John Alcock and Lt. Arthur Brown, 1919

Despite being on the Pye label I had never heard of it before, which struck me as positively weird because I was once informed by one of the gentlemen behind the Bam Caruso label that licensing fee for Pye/Piccadilly is reasonable and a great deal of the label's catalog has been comped to death as a result! It was not until my friend Larrry Grogan (of Funky 16 Corners/Iron Leg blog fame) came upon a U.S. copy on Chess a few months ago that I heard it for the first time.  I was immediately struck by it's  jolly demeanor, power pop precision and the fact that it told a story, which as research proved, turned out to be 100% true lyrically! The precision production (by old hands Howard Blaikey and Co.) adds to the catchiness of the tune and is a perfect late 60's British pop record.  There were no more 45's by Balloon Busters (though the single was released in the US, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Portugal and Canada, the last four having the same catalog number as the U.K. release).

U.S. Pressing

The flip side, "Bluer Than Blue" is sadly quite lame.  It's a piece of undistinguished pop/pap akin to something foist on late era Dave Dee and Co. or The Herd.  It doesn't work for me, sorry.

The original U.K. single was released on May 2, 1969.  Former member Colin Fox commented on YouTube:

"The band I was playing with at the time was called St. Johns Wood, but for "Alcock and Brown" Howard Blaikley decided they wanted to name us Balloon Busters, for obvious reasons. Although we were professional for a time, we never made it to the big time. All the band members I´ve played with in the past came from Eastbourne in East Sussex. "

Hear "Alcock And Brown":

http://youtu.be/Llwy5GlsNHY

Alcock and Brown's Vickers Vimy

Mick & Keith Got To Jail And The Who Pick Up The Slack....

THE WHO-The Last Time/Under My Thumb France Polydor 421 148 1967 

Certainly one of the most well meaning but misguided publicity stunts of the 1960's occurred when Keith Richards and Mick Jagger were sent down for drug related charges from the infamous Redlands bust on June, 28, 1967 and The Who rush recorded and released a 45 of covers of "The Last Time" and "Under My Thumb" as a show of solidarity and as their press release claimed "to keep their work before the public until they are again free to record for themselves again".  It was released on June 30th, luckily for the public The Stones were bailed before it actually hit the streets and we were spared any more half assed Who versions of Stones tracks.  Bassist John Entwistle was away at sea on the QEII on his honeymoon at the time the light bulb lit in manger Kit Lambert's head and he rang him via ship to shore phone asking his permission to have Pete double over on bass.  Entwistle assented but was none too happy being woken to take the call wrongly assuming the call was a result of someone having  died!

"The Last Time" is not bad thanks to Pete's hypnotic lead riff on what sounds like a Fender twelve string while Moon thumps along (with too much tambourine way too high in the mix) and plenty buzzing, feedback laden '67 Who for you. The usual crash, bang, wallop, and pretty darn cool actually!

"Under My Thumb" is less interesting, in fact it's damn lackluster. The acoustic guitar and mixing sound like the same formula used on "Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand", it's just so empty, sparse and Pete's backing vocals do zilch for it.  Again thankfully The Stones made bail!

Mr. & Mrs. Moon protest Mick & Keef's lock up down at the local Wimpys. June 29, 1967

Both cuts were resurrected for the deluxe edition CD of their "Odds And Sods" collection (alongside similar period killers like "Little Billy" and "Glow Girl").

Hear "The Last Time":

http://youtu.be/j4apZAmIsa4

Hear "Under My Thumb":

 http://youtu.be/EeMC9VjtVag

Great Obscure U.K. 60's Sides: The Explosive

THE EXPLOSIVE-Cities Make The Country Colder/Step Out Of Line U.K. President PT 244 1969

One of the great things about the amazing "Looking Back" 3 CD set is that it turned me onto a great many bands, a few on the President label, like The Explosive.  I can't tell you much about them other than the fact that they were British.  They cut just 3 singles of their own on President '69-'70, cut two backing one Watson T. Browne (both in '68) and one in '70 backing Del Taylor (all on President as well).

"Cities Make The Country Colder" , penned by Canadian singer-song writer Tom Northcott, hit the public in April 1969.  It's intro, a groovy Small Faces style instrumental of twangy guitar and grooving go-go style organ being played through a transistor radio sounds more like '66.  That fades out and it kicks into this amazing Brit Pop ('66-'74 version) type thing that sounds almost proto-glam thanks to the lead singer's heavily Anglicized, well enunciated vocals and the production. It's got a jolly little jaunty Move '67 style melody that's equally cool (think "Wave Your Flag And Stop The Train").  And then it all winds down with the intro coming back through it's tinny sound before that too fades out.  Pure magic!

The flip side "Step Out Of Line" starts out cool enough with a funky bass line but the track somehow sounds like a half assed Gary Glitter number.  What's entertaining about it however is the delivery TOTALLY predates glam rock by a few years with the twangy Steve Marriott does Steve Cropper '66 licks of the A-side intact.

"Cities Make The Country Colder" and "Step Out Of Line" appear on the President records CD comp "Sometimes I Wonder"  (along with another Explosive A-side cut, "Who Planted Thorns In Miss Alice's Garden?") and "Step Out Of Line" appears on the essential above mentioned "Looking Back" CD comp.

TRIVIA NOTE: 
"Cities Make The Country Colder" composer Tom Northcott released a groovy version of Donovan's "Sunny Goodge Street" in the U.S. on Warner Brothers in June 1967 (WB 7051).  It's flip was a Northcott original called "Who Planted Thorns In Miss Alice's Garden?" which The Explosive used as the A-side of the single preceeding this (PT 262).

Hear "Cities Make The Country Colder":

http://youtu.be/bAG-BIaFOOc

The Action on "Where The Action Is"

Maybe I'm a little late on this but I've just stumbled upon footage of The Action on Dick Clark's "Where The Action Is" TV program that some friends have shared today on Facebook. The segment was recorded for broadcast here in the States and was filmed outside Albert Hall March 17, 1966 alongside The Small Faces, The Yardbirds, The Spencer Davis Group, Them,Unit 4 + 2, The Mindbenders, The Nashville Teens, The Moody Blues and The Zombies.  Still photos of many of these acts performing for the show cropped up in Rhino's excellent pictorial "The British Invasion" (featuring a tasty live shot of  five piece Action onstage at The Marquee).  The clip quality is shit but still amazing to see!

 The band also "recorded" "Land Of 1000 Dances" for the broadcast but that has yet to surface. "I'll Keep Holding on" was broadcast in a May episode of the show while "Land Of 1000 Dances" was shown in June.

David Bowie + Acid Jazz

THE RIOT SQUAD-"Toy Soldier E.P." Toy Soldier/Silly Boy Blue/I'm Waiting For My Man/Silver Tree Top School For Boys Acid Jazz AJX329S 2013

Few folks are aware that for a brief period in 1967 The Riot Squad included David Bowie in their line-up. Thanks to Acid Jazz and their excellent E.P. series we can now hear a few examples of what their brief liaison produced. The Riot Squad were without a record contract following their last 45, January 6, 1967's "Gotta Be A First Time" b/w "Bittersweet Love" (Pye 7N17237), one of the next to last recordings produced by Joe Meek who shot himself on February 3.  David Bowie had sacked his backing group The Buzz (Dek Fearnley-bass, Derek Boyes-organ and John Eager-drums) having completed the recording of his soon to be released Deram records debut LP with them and was, for a time, no longer playing live gigs (his gigs with The Buzz ceased at the close of 1966).  His involvement with The Riot Squad began in March of '67 and was kept from both his manager Kenneth Pitt and his former band mates The Buzz (Eager and Boyes were, at this time backing The Truth).  Their collaboration was short lived with a handful of gigs, which appear to have ceased by the time  his LP was launched on June 1st. However unknown to many on April 5, 1967 Bowie convinced his Deram engineer Gus Dudgeon to turn a blind eye to him bringing the Riot Squad in off the books to lay down some tracks during some down time at Decca's studio.  This E.P. is the first legitimate airing of the fruits of this session (although there is a Riot Squad CD available through Amazon called "The Last Chapter:Mods & Sods" of questionable legality containing variations of all four tracks, though some, like "Little Toy Soldier" differ from the version here on this E.P.).

What we have here is the results of that April 5th session (it is reported that only three tracks were recorded at that session: "Toy Soldier" , "I'm Waiting For My Man" and "Silly Boy Blue") . The E.P. contains three David Bowie originals and a Velvet Underground cover (though one might cynically observe it contains two Bowie originals and two V.U. covers but more on that later).  The quality surpasses that heard on any bootlegs of "Little Toy Soldier" and "I'm Waiting For My Man" (leaked when Dungeon duped the two tracks for a friend in the 80's and available on a widely distributed bootleg CD of Bowie's 60's material titled "The Forgotten Songs Of David Robert Jones") while I've not heard the version of "Silly Boy Blue" here before the version of "Silver Tree Top Boys"  previously appeared on the above mentioned Riot Squad comp.

The Riot Squad May 1967(D.B. second from left top)

In December 1966 Bowie's manager Kenneth Pitt returned from a trip to New York bringing with him a test pressing of The Velvet Underground & Nico's LP which Bowie admittedly wore the grooves off of.  His use of bits of "Venus In Furs" in "Toy Soldier" is quite evident (it "borrows" a line or two here and there, namely "taste the whip and bleed for me.." line).  Bowie uses the original's S&M theme to take it one step further and concocts a tale of a little girl named Sadie who would come home from school each day and take off all of her clothes and wind up a toy soldier who would whip her. Not content with the level of pain she winds him harder and harder till he beats her to death!  One can not easily imagine the prudent folks at Deram ever releasing that. Regardless it's a great slice of '67 Bowie not at all out of place amongst "The Gospel According To Tony Day" or "Join My Gang". "Silly Boy Blue" would get it's first airing on David's debut LP, the version here is him accompanied only by acoustic guitar which leads me to believe it was perhaps his demo for the track, or perhaps a run through he did to teach it to The Riot Squad during the session, though I suspect the latter. "I'm Waiting For My Man" is fairly uninspired but at least amusing to hear David's Lou Reed fixation began long before the 70's and it's interesting to hear a guy who was still living with his parent's in Bromley singing about scoring on Lexington Avenue! Bowie is NOT playing sax as often believed but is blowing harp (the sax was played by Riot's member Bob Evans). "Silver Tree Top School For Boys" holds the distinction of being the first Bowie track recorded by two artists in the same time period.  First released by studio concoction The Slender Plenty on September, 15, 1967 (Polydor 56189) and later by fellow Ken Pitt stablemates The Beatstalkers in December '67 (CBS 3105).  The version here is not sung by Bowie but by one of The Riot Squad in the camp/cheeky manner both of the previously mentioned versions were. It sounds half baked, like a run through rather than a properly recorded number like the two V.U. pieces.  The lyrics were inspired by a newspaper article on weed smoking at the prestigious Lancing College (ie "public school").

The E.P. is available from Acid Jazz or you can download the tracks via iTunes or Amazon where you can hear snippets of all four tracks as well.

Hear "Little Toy Soldier":

http://youtu.be/-JAvtM_K3_c

Hear "I'm Waiting For My Man":

http://youtu.be/lPwCSem3cUQ

*******We here at "Anorak Thing" are gratefully indebted to the excellent book "David Bowie Any Day Now: The London Years" by Kevin Cann for all of the facts and dates.  Fans of 60's David Bowie should acquire this book post haste!*************

Local Heroes: James Gandolfini R.I.P.

"You better get me 100 faces to show up for the weekender and tell 'em to come heavy because there's gonna be alotta drunk gavones lookin' for trouble there. Make it fuckin' happen..."

Not a lot of cool people come from my home state of New Jersey.  We're cursed with fucktwits like Whitney Houston, Jon Bon Jovi, John Travolta, socially conscious yet musically boring  Bruce Springsteen, a Jonas Brother, Susan Sarandon (went to high school with my best friend's dad in Edison, NJ)....yeah you get the picture. Who do we have to brag about? Frankie Valli (true story he sang at a B-day party for a classmate in grammar school who was his niece) and that's about it. Last night FaceBook was abuzz with word that one of our favorite sons, actor James Gandolfini had died at the age of 51. I'm not the type to get misty when celebs die.  The passing of Joe Strummer, Syd Barrett and Reggie King were about the only times I've ever been moved. But I liked Gandolfini, especially when he played the complex hard nut Tony Soprano on HBO's series "The Sopranos" and it struck me because he was only a few years older than me.

I've been a life long New Jerseyite and there's two very important stereotypes about my fellow Garden State residents: they've all got a story about meeting Bruce Springsteen (accurately portrayed on "The Ben Stiller Show" in their "Tales From Springsteen" sketch) and everyone knows someone who is either in the mob or knows someone who knows someone....Organized crime is steeped in our marrow, which explains the mass appeal to myself and the rest of the state with "The Sopranos".  Growing up as a kid in Jersey the mark of success in a diner or restaurant was to have a framed, signed potrait of Frank Sinatra on display .  These days it's one of James Gandolfini(my octagenerian Aunt and Uncle's fave Central Jersey Italian bistro proudly displays a framed shot of the owners with Gandolfini standing between them in their foyer) . His "Tony Soprano" character was one of the finest I've ever seen on a TV show.  His butchering of the English language was always a constant source of amusement ("my ma, she's like a freakin' albacore around my neck..."). He was a brute who had soft spots for children and animals, would screw anything that took his fancy and wouldn't think twice about unflinchingly putting a bullet in your face (and once beat Ralphie Ciffaretto to death for killing his racehorse). Each week I'd tune in to see what sort of drama he'd be under secretly praying we'd get to watch him "whack" (that's murder to you non-Americans) somebody because he did it so well.  One of my fave scenes was him offering a wanna be wiseguy who was tied up in a chair a can of warm diet soda asking him  if it was okay, when the hapless victim says "Thank you T", Tony quips "Cause that sugarless motherfucker, it's the last fucking drink you're ever gonna have" before emptying a clip from an automatic in his chest. My home team/local heroes The Swingin' Neckbreakers even got five seconds of fame on an episode rocking out to "You", one of their best tracks from their killer debut LP "Live for Buzz".  He  produced a moving documentary on wounded Iraqi War vets called "Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq" and later another on post traumatic stress disorder called "Wartorn 1861-2010", which wins kudos from me because, well I've got a soft spot for anybody who's concerned for Veteran's. James Gandolfini was a Jersey boy, born and bred, went to Rutger's University and played one of TV's most famous fictional New Jersey character. We loved him for that.  Salute Tony Soprano, wherever you are....

The Best 1960's Sides: Checker

1. THE KOLETTES-"Who's That Guy" Checker 1094 1964
One of my fave Checker sides, I can't tell you much about the Kolettes, in fact from what I can tell this was their one and only single. But with a single like this you needn't worry about shortness of your discography as this is a killer and a classic mod/r&b dancer if ever there was one.

http://youtu.be/Nnma9TRmnu4

2. SUGAR PIE DeSANTO-"I Don't Wanna Fuss" Checker 1093 1964
Picking a fave Sugar Pie DeSanto single was tough. The diminutive Ms. DeSanto proves that you can't judge a book by it's cover and there's a whole lotta soul packed into this petite lady.  This one is definitely my fave by her!

http://youtu.be/XEspOHuIfYo

3. BOBBY MOORE & THE RHYTHM ACES-"Try My Love Again" Checker 1156 1966
Hands down my fave Checker 45.  It's almost Latin flavored rhythm with some jazzy brass punctuations and 1,000 times better than their "hit" single "Searching For My Love"". I got a heavy duty amount of mileage out of this 45 on the floors in the late 90's/early 2000's and if I was still spinning it'd be in rotation.

http://youtu.be/7u7IjxveJI4

4. KO KO TAYLOR-"Wang Dang Doodle" Checker 1135 1966
This is some raw stuff kids.  Veteran blueslady Ko Ko serves it up raunchy and gritty. The record does not sound like it's from the date it was released and could've easily come from 3 or 4 years earlier!  If you don't know what I'm on about well there's nifty little clip below for you to suss!

https://youtu.be/qyUHkY0K8HE?si=6V0byp6eHy_F7Lu9

5. ANDRE WILLIAMS-"The Stroke" Checker 1187 1967
A bit of groovy blues and funk with some sitar like guitar warbling while Andre croons about a groovy little juke joint where everybody gets down and dirty (with some annoying screams by some over excited female). I'm rarely impressed with Andre Williams because he's one of those cats everyone goes on about to the point that he's more legend and image than substance to me but this one I dig.

http://youtu.be/BwKOYmcYL-s

6. STEVE ALAIMO-"Everyday I Have To Cry" Checker 1032 1962
I'm rarely a fan of white guys covering r&b originals but I've got to say I prefer this version to the Arthur Alexander original,maybe more to do with the strings and brass than Steve's voice but hey I'm being honest. But I'm a fan of this version. So was Dusty Springfield who's version uses this arrangement as her template.

http://youtu.be/dfMRv_g7SIM

7.  TOMMY TUCKER-"Hi-Heel Sneakers" Checker 1067 1964
This was probably the first r&b 45 I owned after scoring an "oldies" reissue shortly after acquiring the "Quadrophenia" soundtrack in '81 and hearing this covered by some band called The Cross Section.  A prototype/blueprint for aspiring white (British) r&b bands everywhere.  Simplistic, almost predictable but delightful.

http://youtu.be/8bmbSC9c2ys

8. BO DIDDLEY-"Pills" Checker 985 1961
Bo's ode to pills should've been an amphetamine mod anthem of sorts owing to the original 60's modernists supposed predilection for the stuff.  Delivered tongue and cheek it's Bo's finest track in my humble opinion.  U.K. mod/r&b/ska boys Mickey Finn and the Blue Men dug it so much they cut it with a ska flavor which you can dig here.

http://youtu.be/BIloBBBHJsg

9. FONTELLA BASS-"Safe And Sound" Checker 1147 1966
Poor Fontella Bass.  She's forever linked with perhaps the most overplayed soul track of all time, "Rescue Me", which somewhere in America right now is playing on an "oldies" radio station.  Well she had a lot more to offer boys and girls. This being one of them, dig the congas! Though the refrain sounds a bit like "Rescue Me"......

http://youtu.be/8CYcejSMr1E

10. LITTLE MILTON-"If Walls Could Talk"  Chess 12226 1969
Little Milton's blues shouter style comes in loud and clear in this ode to sneaking around on the down low.  A bit late (December 1969) but it doesn't sound like it!

http://youtu.be/MXryfSdhkLM

Maxwell's R.I.P.

I read the news today...Maxwell's, a rock n' roll institution in Hoboken, New Jersey is shutting it's doors at the end of July.  Maxwell's looms large in my music life from the first time I set foot there in December 1985 to see Lord John open for Mod Fun (I only know it was December as there were Xmas wreaths hanging on the stage in pics I've seen of the show and it was fucking freezing in there!).  I had my very first DJ night there in 1994 ("**** ******'s Mad Mod Ball"), tried (unsuccessfully) to pull my wife at a gig there once (five years prior to our first date), met good friends there for the first time and rang in my 21st B-Day there (two years after I'd been drinking there illegally already) with my pal Larry Grogan one sleepy Sunday night where we downed pint after pint of John Courage on draught and played "Downtown" on the juke so many times the bartender unplugged it.  The food and drink were always great, the jukebox was the best in the world . I remember playing the shit out of The James Taylor Quartet's debut 45 "Blow Up" one night right after it was released about half a dozen times, swilling pint after pint and leaning on the wall next to it that led to the basement there thinking I was "the face" in my dark silver grey mohair jacket and backcomb. I saw some of the best gigs I've ever seen there and the sound was almost always exceptional. The place was always in good shape, it wasn't some hole in the wall and there was very rarely ever any issues with the crowd. I remember watching The Secret Service's debut gig there opening for what would be one of Mod Fun's last gigs there in June of 1986 and then I remember what would be one of The Secret Service's last gigs at Maxwells in late 1988. All of my friends who were friends before they had bands gigged there, like The Insomniacs debut gig there on an opening slot for The Fleshtones where they were introduced by Pete Zaremba. I remember the night The Grip Weeds played on a weeknight in early 1989 and I had several hundred dollars in my pocket from a scooter I'd got the final payment on at the gig (my beloved but maligned Vespa P200E) and drank a record 14 pints of John Courage and went home penniless! I watched my pals and one time "local team", Trenton's own Swingin' Neckbreakers play their very first gig there on a weeknight opening for The Lyres to about 25 punters, six months later they were packing the place. I remember S.F's Loved Ones and The Insomniacs playing to about 25 people on a Sunday night and being out of my brain on Double Diamond.  I remember having a drink with Phil May and talking about psychedelia. I remember Mole from The Embrooks being surprised that my friend Haim and I were drinking Double Diamond and saying "That stuf'll kill ya, navvies drink that!".

I grew away from Maxwell's eventually, moved too far away, was put off by the long drive, the nightmarish parking situation there and just grew tired of going to gigs even before the need for a babysitter or a hotel room came into the picture.  The Dive on New York's West side (257 West 29th Street to be exact) might've been my own version of The Scene Club of the 80's but Maxwell's was my Marquee, for the 80's, the 90's and the 2000's. Farewell old friend.

AND my old pals the Insomniacs and The Swingin' Neckbreakers are playing a last gig there on June 22:

https://www.facebook.com/events/596802763677540/?ref=2

With that in mind I'd like to pay tribute to all the bands (that I can pull from my memory) I was privileged to see there (in no order of preference, chronology or even like, hell at least a quarter of these I didn't like but shared a bill with someone I did!):

The Mod Fun, The Lyres, The Secret Service, The Embrooks, The Friggs, The Swingin' Neckbreakers, The Insomniacs, The Electric Nubians, The Stairs, The Loved Ones, El Vez, The Grip Weeds, The Muffs, Laika & The Cosmonauts, The Omega Men, The Kaisers, The Anderson Council, The Psychedelic Furs, Lord John, The Grievous Angels, The Vipers, The Fleshtones, Untamed Youth, The Real Kids, The Television Personalities, Mooney Suzuki, The Black Hollies, The Nashville Ramblers,The Rising Storm, The Spectors, The Creatures of the Golden Dawn,  The Gants, Clive Pig, The Pretty Things, The Chesterfield Kings, The Trashwomen, The Cynics, The Loved Ones, Holly Golightly, The Woggles, The Dirty Knees, Man Or Astroman, Slaughter & The Dogs, Southern Culture On the Skids, Tiny Lights, The Press, The Monomen, The Makers, The Flat Duo Jets, The Hentchmen, The 27 Various, The Neaderthals, Los Straitjackets.....



October 1994 the men behind "Anorak Thing" and "Funky 16 Corners" and "Iron Leg" compare close cropped haircuts at a Spectors gig at Maxwells.

More U.K. Obscurities On U.S. Labels: The Uglys

THE UGLYS-A Good Idea/The Quiet Explosion U.S. ABC-Paramount 45-10773 1966 

Birmingham beat act The Uglys (also listed as The Uglies) cut 4 singles in the U.K. for the Pye label. Oddly the first 3 of them were released here in the States on the ABC-Paramount label (for a full Ugly's discography pop on over to our fave site which we're a frequent contributor to: 45cat).

The Uglys are best known to the world as the launch pad for one Steve Gibbons, a name that means virtually nothing to me but I've heard bandied about quite often. The band had a revolving line up but thanks to the Brumbeat website I've been able to nail down the personnel on this 45 as : Steve Gibbons (vocals/guitar), John Hustwate (bass), Jimmy O'Neill (keyboards) and Jim Holden (drums).

"A Good Idea" was their last of 3 U.S. releases (launched in February 1966). It's a mid tempo number driven along by some Farfisa and some cracking drumming behind Gibbon's laid back vocals.  The backing vocals are pretty slick too.  I like it but my real fave is on the flip and has been a fave ever since the early 90's when I first heard it on a slapdash CD comp Sequel did called "Paisley Pop". "A Quiet Explosion" could be considered a social commentary of sorts lyrically, but all that's swept aside by the absolutely insane, hypnotic carnival organ on speed trills being played beneath some amazing drumming and manic basslines.  Production is credited to one Alan A. Freeman, he was not the same as Alan Freeman the 60's British DJ, but is better known as Petula Clark's producer in the 60's prior to Tony Hatch.  Both sides incidentally are group originals.

Both sides were issued on the long out of print CD compilation "Paisley Pop" and on a out of print Ugly's CD retrospective "The Quiet Explosion".


Hear "A Good Idea":

http://youtu.be/T--Iw5dMf-M

Hear "The Quiet Explosion":

http://youtu.be/H6OYKtdotwo

Farewell To The Kidd: Johnny Kidd's Posthumous U.K. 45

JOHNNY KIDD AND THE PIRATES-Send For That Girl/The Fool U.K.  HMV POP 1559 1966

Johnny Kidd will forever be remembered for perhaps the first classic British rock n' roll record, 1960's "Shakin' All Over". But by 1966 Johnny Kidd was, by all accounts a has been. The hits were gone and life was a revolving door of 45's that went nowhere, backing band members that came and went and incessant spotty gigs up and down Great Britain for chump change.  Today's subject is his final 45, released posthumously on November 11, 1966 following his death in an accident in the group's van on October 7th on the way back from a gig in Lancashire. It also marks a milestone in my record hunting as I recently secured a copy of this 45 thanks to the eagle eye of one Sean Cavanaugh who spotted it on E-bay and gave me a bell.  I'd been seeking this single ever since I first heard it back in 1985 on See For Mile's Johnny Kidd LP comp "Rarities".

The Pirates saw many a person in their line up (the most famous being Mick Green who left to go back Billy J. Kramer as one of The Dakotas).  I think Kramer and Kidd have some interesting career parallels.  Both saw their glory days eclipsed by 1966 and both issued their final 45's with them and their backing band sharing label credits on one side and being billed as a solo performer on the other (you can read about Billy's final single with The Dakotas here) and both of their 45's attempted "new" sounds.

Johnny Kidd 1966

By the time this single was recorded (August 1966 according to the meticulous liner notes of "The Complete Johnny Kidd" CD set) The Pirates were Mick Stewart (guitar), future Deep Purple member Nicky Simper (bass) and Roger Pinner aka Roger Truth (drums). "Send For That Girl" was nothing like anything Kidd had ever recorded.  At some moments the backing brass at times sounds almost phased like the horns on The Byrd's "Artificial Energy"  meets Brian Jones "Pipes Of Pan At Joujouka" on others (during the chorus for instance ) they're playing in almost Stax style.  Kidd's voice is strong as ever and beneath it all The Pirates hold down an almost folk rock feel with a nice twangy guitar solo from Stewart.  Lee Hazlewood's "The Fool" is the complete opposite.  It starts out with a "Smokestack Lightning" style lick and is far more slower and subdued than it's top side. In fact it's pretty pedestrian, Kidd sounds boozy or bored or both and Stewart plucks along in an almost Mick Green style which is about the only thing of interest in this number.   Presumably the band's former keyboardist (who left prior to their fateful final gig) Ray Soaper supplies the organ.

Both tracks can be found on the essential EMI double CD compilation "The complete..." which contains every track ever recorded (including an alternate take of "Send For That Girl" minus the horn overdubs).

Possibly the last Johnny Kidd and The Pirates photo. Taken at Kidd's home 1966.
Left to right: Nicky Simper, Roger Truth, Mick Stewart and Johnny Kidd.

Hear "Send For That Girl":

https://youtu.be/wgt336ITeH8


Hear "The Fool":

https://youtu.be/ePyy7rir1d8

Motor City Appreciation: The Roulettes

THE ROULETTES-The Tracks Of My Tears/Jackpot U.K. Parlophone R 5419 1966

The Roulettes have always been a fave of mine since stumbling upon "The Long Cigarette" on an EMI compliation album called "My Generation" which soon sent me off to purchase their archtype compilation LP on Edsel "Russ, Bob Pete and Mod". No strangers to Motown (they'd previously tackled "Stubbon Kind Of Fellow on their 3rd Parlophone single back in December of '64 as R 5218), this would be their seventh and next to last 45 for the label.  You can read a bit about them after Parlophone here.

"Tracks of My Tears" faithfully follows the pace of the original but is interpreted in the two guitar/bass and drums formula with special use of the band's talent for harmony vocals.  It's soulful but still punchy enough to keep their "beat group" tag and no one can accuse them of attempting a Smokey Robinson & Co. carbon copy that's for sure.

It's flip, "Jackpot" is another guitar vs electric piano number in the vein of "Junk", the B-side to "The Long Cigarette". Not as gritty (or as good) as "Junk" but still pretty interesting.

Both sides are on BGO's CD reissue of their rare as hen's teeth LP "Stakes And Chips" as bonus cuts (which covers their entire Parlophone output).

Hear "The Tracks of My Tears":

http://youtu.be/VDoL0VJoQTo

Some Cool 60's Euro Francoise Hardy Picture Sleeves!

Meow!

U.K.

FRANCE

GERMANY

U.K.

FRANCE

ITALY

U.K.

U.K.

FRANCE

FRANCE

The Roulettes Fini

THE ROULETTES-Help Me To Help Myself/To A Taxi Driver U.K. Fontana TF 876 1967

The Roulettes were one of those bands who sadly never had the hits they deserved.  When the changing tide on the British music scene occurred in '66 or so even the beat groups with hits  weren't able to adapt (exceptions being of course, The Beatles and The Hollies).  They sadly wasted away on the panto circuit with Adam Faith (with whom they had a dual career backing on recordings until late '65 and still accompanying him onstage after). Members Russ Ballad (guitar) and Bob Henrit (drums) were part time members of Unit 4 + 2 (becoming full time members after this single's failure). By the end of 1966 The Roulettes ended their 8 single stretch on EMI's Parlophone without a hit to their credit.  They signed with Fontana in early '67 and released "Rhyme Boy Rhyme" b/w "Airport People" (TF 822) in April of 1967.  It sank without a notice.

In October they released what would be their last 45. Unlike the un-spectacular, innocuous pop sounds of their preceding Fontana 45 this one actually sounded "with it". "Help Me To Help Myself" sounds very much like the Unit 4 + 2 and their penchant for harmonies on their '66-'68 material. The number starts with some trippy period phlanged piano and is carried by some subtle muted trumpet (straight out of some mid 60's U.K. TV show and culminating with a solo accompanied by some guys impersonating a trumpet by humming)) and the band's precise poppy harmony vocals.  It's a great departure from their beat sounds and an improvement on their M.O.R. pop of the preceding Fontana 45.

"To A Taxi Driver" is sadly not as exciting, it's okay but more of a mid tempo mundane exercise. Written by Unit 4 + 2's Tommy Moeller and Brian Parker (interestingly their previous single had a B-side called "Airport People" as mentioned earlier, were they on a "public transport" song kick?).  It's got these muted trumpets that sound like something you'd hear on a Les Reed score and has this lazy Ray Davies '67 B-side feel punctuated by these backing vocals that periodically chant "Taxi driver!" multiple times.

"Help Me to Help Myself" was comped on Psychic Circle's "Fairytales Can Come True Volume 1" (the best of the series on my book), whilst "To A Taxi Driver" is still unreissued to my knowledge.

Hear "Help Me To Help Myself":

http://youtu.be/ME5FDSl_cNg