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| THE VIRGIN SLEEP-Love/Haliford House US Deram 45-DEM-7514 1967 |
I've long been enamored by freaky British 60's records cut by straight looking mod guys in immaculate back combed or center parted hair, Hush Puppies, patterned trousers and plaid or op art shirts (Herbal Mixture, The Score, The Flies, to name but a few). Enter The Virgin Sleep (Tony Rees, Rick Quilty, Alan Barnes and Keith Purnell) from Richmond, Surrey. One look at their photo of them below would lead you to believe they were just another Small Faces/Action aping "mod" band. One listen and you know right away that this is NOT a "mod" band. Their debut single was released in the UK as Deram DM 146 in September 1967 and was simultaneously issued here in the States.
The A-side, "Love" loosely follows a chord progression and tempo not too dissimilar to The Trogg's hit "Love Is All Around". Strangely it's Deram release date was 9/1/67, a month and a day prior to The Trogg's number! It is doubtful that they influenced each other, but still a strange coincidence to note. It's backed by a string section that reeks of The Trogg's hit but also echoes The Left Banke and some of the more orchestral moments of David Bowie's debut LP (also on Deram), while the backing vocals have an eerie Buddhist chant meets Franciscan monk quality to them, with some sitar thrown in there for either good measure (or trendiness?). The whole mix is absolutely hypnotic and I find it to be among the greatest of British 60's psychedelic singles issued and it jumped straight out at me when I first heard it in 1985 on See For Miles marvelous LP compilation "The British Psychedelic Trip 1966-1969".
The B-side, "Haliford House", is more somber and definitely not a very joyous tune. It's about a mental institution where children's toys are manufactured. It's vocals are monotone, as if the lead singer is heavily sedated and other than a brief, blistering freakbeat guitar riff here and there it's pretty low key and uneventful. The Virgin Sleep cut one more single ("Secret"/"Comes a Time" UK Deram DM 173, January 1968) but this was not released in the United States. We will be discussing this in a future post!
"Love" has popped up on both the "The Great British Psychedelic Trip Vol. One " CD compilation and Mojo magazine's box set " Acid Drops, Spacedust & Flying Saucers: Psychedelic Confectionery from the UK Underground, 1965-1969", while "Haliford House" has appeared in bootleg form only on one of the "Hen's Teeth" CD compilations and the "Justafixtion" 3 CD box set.
Hear "Love":
Hear "Haliford House":
