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| THE PRETTY THINGS-Midnight To Six Man/Can't Stand The Pain U.S. Fontana F-1540 1966 |
My introduction to The Pretty Things came via a cassette mix with "Can't Stand The Pain" in about 1985 or so but it wasn't until the following year that my then girlfriend made name a cassette of tracks by them from the recently released Bam Caruso records Pretty Things compilation LP "Closed Restaurant", which became my gateway to the band and also the prefect document to my favorite period of their material.
Towards the end of 1965 The Pretties started to come into their own and started to shed the Chuck Berry/Bo Diddley covers and start recording even more of their own material (as evidenced by their second album "Get The Picture" ). I jokingly refer to it as their "mod years" because of the harder edge some of their material took on. I don't think that is better exemplified by today's topic.
"Midnight To Six Man" was launched in the U.K. in December 1965 as Fontana TF 647, it was not issued in America until February of the following year. Both releases featured the moody "Can't Stand The Pain" as the flip.
"Midnight To Six Man" is an epic mod anthem. Yeah yeah yeah I know, everyone slings that "m" word around a lot. But you know me, I don't. But hear me out. Actually listen to the song first...
"I never see the people I know in the bright light of day....I sleep through the day, I wake around 4.., till tonight comes around, see you downtown, take in some sounds, maybe we'll score..."
If those lyrics aren't tailor made for mods (or any nocturnal subculture for that matter) then I need to give up blogging. This one was a personal message to me at 20 when I first heard it. I was living those lyrics every Friday night after work getting dressed to the nines and heading into the city and out all night with my mod as hell girlfriend getting worse for wear and soaking up sounds until the wee hours with our crowd, getting home and going to bed with the sun coming up, sleeping all day and then getting up and doing it all again on Saturday night! The other "mod" aspect of the song for me is the powerful guitar, especially the rhythm that rings out right after the first time we hear the chorus and Dick Taylor's distinctive repeating guitar lick. The number is fattened up by some piano by Nicky Hopkins that brings to mind his similar ivory tinkling on The Who's "My Generation" LP and Goldie and The Gingerbread's keyboardist Margo Corccito adds some subtle organ to the whole shebang! Ugly Things Mike Stax confirms that it's "new boy" Skip Allan (who recently replaced the errant Viv Prince) on drums and NOT Bobby Graham as is often supposed.
The flip, "Can't Stand The Pain", is a moody piece and as mentioned earlier was the first track I ever heard by the band. There's a desolate feeling of despair to it, maybe it's the muted guitar strings or the bluesy vibrato lick that sounds like the lonely whistle of a distant train. To me it's the eventual next day comedown from the amphetamine bravado that's the A-side
Both sides are available on a variety of Pretty Things compilations, the most recent being the 2017 "Greatest Hits" collection put together by Mike Stax, which is also available on streaming.
Hear "Can't Stand The Pain":
"Midnight To Six Man" live on 1966's "A Whole Scene Going":
For previous Mod Anthems check out David Bowie's "The London Boys", The Who's "My Generation"
and Chris Farlowe and The Thunderbirds "Buzz With The Fuzz".
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