ANGEL PAVEMENT
Maybe Tomorrow (10th Planet; LP)
     Without wishing to build expectations too prematurely, I have to say that this is a real beauty of an album. Long believed to be little more than a studio aggregation (see Angel Pavement article in Sweet Floral Albion #13), they were in fact a York based five piece unit. David Wells' liners explain all, along with a cache of group pics, (posed and live) and ephemera. Their chief songwriter and guitarist Clive 'Alfie' Shepherd named the group after a 1930 J.B Priestly novel. They played in London at Sibylla's, the trendy Regent Street club part owned by George Harrison, before being offered work in Mexico, which ended up lasting five months. They were refused visas for the US after invitations to play the west coast and returned home in 1969, and after some line-up changes, recorded their projected album at the Morgan studies in Willisden during dead air time once the paying customers (such as Jethro Tull) had gone home. Label folds, interest fades, band falls apart, end of story. Thirty years later however, this sounds to me like one of the strongest projects ever to come out of a Morgan act.
     This is baroque harmony pop with strong tunes and five-part harmony singing which just makes you smile as you listen. It's hard to pick favourites or even a standout as they are all strong contenders in their own right. Themes run from the period toytown psychedelic in opener 'The Man In The Corner Shop' (who sells second-hand furniture and other sundry junk) and 'Little Old Man', a genuinely whimsical pop-psych number through to the Cliff Wade penned 'Jennifer' which has all the hallmarks of his 'Looking For Shirley' and is a strong pop number with depth. 'Water Woman' which opens side two, has an opening and recurring motif which for some reason reminds me of early 70s Fairport Convention with a smidgen of Introspection era End in other places. 'Socialising' is mid paced soft pop of a high order which half way through doubles in time and ends with a nice bit of guitar and bass interplay. 'Green Mello Hill', perhaps their best known number is a tour de force of pacey harmony pop. 'Carrie' is a pretty descending scale soft pop pledge of love whilst 'I'm A Dreamer' is a fast paced number with a 'Billy Liar' theme (or lyrically like the Dentists 'I'm An Unskilled Worker'). 'Baby You Gotta Stay' has a Robin Gibbness to the lead vocal and a Foundations tinged chorus. Finally 'I'm Moving On' goes country with its pedal steel lead melody and has definite tinges of Crosby Stills & Nash about it. In the round, this is an exquisite piece of vinyl without a dull moment anywhere. There are a number of tunes here which have a lot more going on in them than you might at first think, and repays repeated listening. This is my record of the month without a doubt!
Paul Martin

PETER BARDENS
The Answer (Get Back; LP)
     Throw a bunch of beat band reprobates in a studio late at night. Give 'em a table full of booze, a bag full of grass, a few lines of speed… and what do you get? This friends, this is what you get. And as one would imagine, it's rambling, indulgent and shambollic. But when the players are this good, so what. For all the aimless wanking you do actually get some stellar moments. Steve Ellis on vocals (fresh from a hit), Peter Bardens on Hammond, piano and vocals, Linda Lewis on vocals and Peter Green on guitar! A fine vintage if ever there was. Just imagine that night… it's the sort of 'let's do it' session that could have only happened in '69. Getting it together with your mates, making some music and having a good laugh. 'The Answer' has a marvellous wailing Ellis vocal and Green hammers away on the fret board whenever the mood takes him. Sure, the bloozey 'I Can't Remember' is a drag with Barden's vocal (?) coming across like a drunken Jim or stoned Iggy. It's more than anyone wants, but hey, what can be expected? It was very late in the day, and Pete was clearly was under the influence. But he was having a good time! And isn't being under the influence what it was all about, after all? However, 'I Don't Want To Go Home' is a joy. It's made up on the spot feel and floating flute sound like Traffic warming up… and again, it's a perfect reminder of the looseness of the music at the time. The epitome of excess can be heard on 'Homage To The God Of Light' which is an astounding stoned groove just begging to be DJ'ed (and showing my affinity to our era, sampled Yes, sampled). The chugging wah-wah, cool Hammond, Linda Lewis' subtly placed vocals, and a ramshackle 'let me be heard' attitude as each member gives it their all and tries to out do the other makes this the late '60s jam to rival all others…. Over the top? You bet. Few tunes? Yes… Bombastic? Certainly…. Well, wotcha bloody expect? 'Please Please Me'.
The '60s ended here.
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

DEAN CARTER
Call Of The Wild (Big Beat; CD)
     Although 'Jailhouse Rock' Carter-style has been a hit with the garage crowd, I've never got off on its 100mph crazed rockin' energy. Flip 'Rebel Woman' however has always been a fave and I must admit to have being kinda intrigued when I heard that Big Beat were releasing a full length Carter collection. Would it be all rockablilly-punk madness? I must say that I was very pleased to discover that it wasn't and that Carter did in fact record a slew of stellar garage punk sides. Songs such as 'Mary Sue', 'I Got A Girl', 'Call Of The Wild', 'Sizzlin' Hot', 'Love's A-Workin'', 'Good Side Of My Mind', 'Would You Believe' and 'Sock It To Me Baby' are all great hybrids of snarling garage-punk, Eric Burdon-esque white man R&B and a hint of psychedelia and '50s rock! Bloody good stuff! However, the earlier sides included are capable but unexciting '50s styled rockabilly very unlike the adventurous material I have mentioned. But what with 28 tracks the CD programme button can be used to select my picks and make one helluva cool garage/punk disc. Advised if curious!
www.acerecords.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE CYRKLE
The Minx: Original Soundtrack (Sundazed; CD)
     The Cyrkle were on a downward curve (sorry!) when they cut this, the soundtrack to a no-budget soft-core movie in 1967. Their second album Neon had been a critical success and an artistic leap forward but the hits had dried up.
     Initially contracted to appear in the obligatory club scene performing one song, 'Squeeze Play' (the original title of the movie), the band became so immersed in the project that they'd soon cut enough material for a complete soundtrack. They plainly had a ball (ouch!!), utilising their freedom to write and produce a mixture of complete pieces and thematic fragments which showed a bolder and more eclectic approach than their previous work.
     The aforementioned opener 'Squeeze Play' is pure 1967 pop, cramming punchy hooks and bendy instrumental breaks into an action-packed three and a half minutes. 'The Minx' appears twice, first as a jazzy acoustic reading and later in a more bouncy, almost Herb Alpert-esque guise. The obligatory (for 1967) slow sitar groover, 'Nicole', whirls round and round (stop me!!!) and features an effective, if amateurish, droning flute. 'It's A Lovely Game, Louise' is possibly the highlight of the set, a wonderfully warm and uplifting vocal piece, which accompanies one of the film's more heated, er, 'action' sequences.
     Throw in a bunch of instrumental romps with titles like 'The Party' and 'The Chase' which evoke scenes of the Keystone Cops being pursued around a blow-up doll factory by Country Joe & The Fish and you have not only a bona fide 60's curio but also a virtual third album by this likeable and under-rated band.
www.sundazed.com
Andy Morten

MARTIN DENNY
The Exotic Sounds Of…
MAYA ANGELOU
Miss Calypso (both Revola; CDs)
     Whether in vogue or not -- there was quite an Exotica revival in the mid-'90s -- the South Pacific flavoured creations of Martin Denny always sound good. This music creates a certain mood that can command visions of Easter Island and Tiki gods. A perfect compilation to play when drinking cocktails and seeing the world in Technicolor!!!
     Calypso was also big in the late 1950s when fantasies of drinking from a coconut on the Caribbean must have been perfect escapism for a mid-western yank tired of working hard to keep his family up to date with all of the burgeoning consumer goods! If life was becoming modern, this realised music wasn't! Maya Angelou was in fact an American academic (who later starred in TV show Roots and presented Sesame Street), but for a few years in the late '50s she was the Calypso singer that America loved! Innuendos ensue, and a nicer version of Peter Tosh favourite 'Scandal In The Family' is performed in a breathy, minimal manner. Not one to play everyday, but nice for barbecues and cold drinks!
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE ECHOE BAND
The Complete Recordings (CD; Gear Fab)
     The 23 cuts of garage/psych from this talented young band ranks pretty high on the teen-band-ometer. Whereas so many garage bands recorded maybe one really good song and a slew of embarrassing covers Miami's The Echo(es) recorded three decent singles which epitomise the heart and soul of the American teen garage band. Primal out-o'-key punker debut 'Every Second Of Every Day' (1966) will be known to some from its inclusion on Garage Punk Unknowns Vol. 7 and the more psych-punk orientated 'Shadows' (b-side of final single, 1968) was featured on Psychedelic States In The '60s: Florida Vol. 1. Along side the 45s are an abundance of acetate recordings that cover the bands entire 1966-1969 lifespan. Earlier sides are in the teen-punk/beat/frat mould and the post '68 material display how much the band had developed, and display strong vocals (now in key), searing fuzz guitars and swirling psychedelic organ. All splendid, I must say.
     A damned solid anthology.
www.swiftsite.com/gearfab/
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

FRUMIOUS BANDERSNATCH
Golden Sons Of Libra (Get Back; LP)
     Frumious Bandersnatch were a San Fran band who never made it, though should have. Arriving later on the scene than Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Grateful Dead or Moby Grape, they unfortunately missed the gravy train. Nevertheless, they still managed to impress record labels, but nothing ever came to fruition. In their short career they only managed to release one self-released EP. Although they did venture into the studio a few more times - the recordings on this album are taken from these sessions.
     This deluxe purple vinyl takes the best from Big Beat's 1996 CD A Young Man's Song, along with the addition of the stunning 'Hearts To Cry' (an alternative version of the EP lead off track. And it's absolutely superb, coming across not unlike Moby Grape or early Airplane with its searing guitars and mellow, stoned harmonies. Brilliant!) Even if sounding a little too like their heroes they played equally as well, and the best parts of these tracks are comparable to any of the bigger fish on a good night. However, like their contemporaries (bar the Grape) they did get a little excessive in the jamming. But hey, man. It was San Fran! If given adequate studio time and a producer they could have turned out a decent album. Still, it didn't happen and this is as good as it gets. And at that it's pretty neat stuff.
getback@tin.it
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

GENTLE SOUL
Gentle Soul (Epic; vinyl/Sundazed; CD)
     Baroque flower folk? Did I just coin a new sub-sub-genre? From the ornate sleeve design in, Gentle Soul's sole album is indeed an exceedingly gentle artefact.
     Reminiscent of Richard and Mimi Farina minus the exotic instrumentation or fellow sunshine state renegades Blackburn & Snow's more Celtic moments, the duo's songs are rooted in the early 60's folk sound and brought to life by delicate string accompaniments, flashes of hip dialect and a crystalline production.
     Pamela Polland's warm, sultry tones provide a sweet counterpoint to the more rough hewn voice of Rick Stanley while song titles like 'Song For Eolia' and 'Renaissance' nod to the prevailing period vibe.
     The bonus tracks on the Sundazed issue are equally satisfying, showcasing the band's earlier electrified recordings, particularly the wonderful 'Our National Anthem'.
Andy Morten

FRANCOISE HARDY
The Francoise Hardy Collection (CD; HMV Easy)
     Extra, extra, read all abaaart it, high street record retail chain stock something you actually want and at a budget price, shock horror! Firstly, it should be said this is not exactly a 'new release'; it's been available for three years. However, its charms I am quite sure have lain relatively undiscovered by those who would cherish it most - us! Why? Well, thanks to some informed opinion and enlightened information over on the Regal Zonophone notice board, (thanks guys), I have discovered that this innocuous looking five-incher contains some beautiful soft pop gems which raise it far above the usual grating detritus stocked in easy listening sections of chain store record shops. The CD's 22 tracks are actually two distinct albums One Nine Seven Zero (1970), sung in English, and Star (1977), sung in French, and indeed only originally released in France. Although song writing duties are credited to 'unknown' for the first twelve numbers (the whole of the 1970 album), RZ opinion has it that some of these were penned by Tommy Browne and Micky Jones (as in The State of Micky And Tommy). This album is wistful, lightly orchestrated, flute inflected, acoustic guitar led pop balladry. Anything heavier sounds as if it would drown Hardy's delicate even timorous voice, which is the aural equivalent of butterly catching an updraft. Standouts in this set include 'In The Sky', 'Magic Horse', 'Song Of Winter', 'Strange Shadows' and 'Times Passing By', all of which are very FY friendly and along with a micro light version of Leonard Cohen's 'Suzanne' will have you ooohing and aaahhing all over the sofa.
     The second album is a somewhat different brand of toothpaste -- still with acoustics and light orchestrations -- but a more solid second line, insistent bass to the fore in places. It may not be to everyone's taste, but it has its moments. 'A Vannes' is a bass driven retro bossa track that if performed by a Brit would no doubt sound nearer to Chas and Dave backing a Carmen Miranda miming drag artist, but which in French is a beautiful and exotic creature. 'Drole De Fete' by comparison is almost proggish and as someone on the RZ board noted sounds nearer to a Mellow Candle out take than anything else, 'Star' is a welcome guest on this disc for this track alone. 'Enregistrement' is a nicely syncopated and orchestrated rhythm (a Serge Gainsbourg song) whilst 'Je Ne Suis Que Moi' intros with a lightly phased guitar, leading into a brash male choral piece and which thereafter becomes a piano led piece with masses of presence. 'L'Impasse' which follows, is like a starker vocal part two of this and would make the perfect ending as the last two tracks can easily be skipped.
     All in all this a delightful find and at only £5.99 who's the victim? One, Nine, Seven Zero indeed is otherwise unavailable except in this package and the set as a whole deserves a far worthier home than HMV's easy section, so go any buy it! If however, like me you're local HMV does not have a single Francoise Hardy CD under either its easy or world sections, you can order direct from www.hmv.co.uk, postage is only a quid. Be quick, as if HMV get wind of this, I am sure they will take steps to rectify the situation an ensure that nothing the likes of us would be interested in will ever stack in their racks again - Not 'arf!
Paul Martin

ALEX HARVEY
Considering The Situation; (Universal; 2-CD)
     The press release for this compilation compare Alex Harvey to Zelig, such was his ubiquity during the significant musical events of British pop of the 1950s and 1960s. But the man's early career is relatively unknown outside his native Scotland and accordingly the first CD covers these years - though not as far back as his sojourn in skiffle - beginning with his time as leader of a soul band. We're assured he was known as 'Scotland's Tommy Steele', but this is actually a complete misnomer. There's no way this raucous voice and personality could ever have been co-opted as a popsie pleaser and all-round family entertainer. Just listen to his rendition of 'Penicillin Blues'...Mr Steele could have taken a 24-hour mudbath and never been so filthy. Alex Harvey And His Soul Band, as their rather unimaginative name suggests, did pretty much what you could expect from good British soul/r'n'b acts of early 1960s. A couple of originals (including the first recording of 'Framed'), but mainly cover versions of 'Shout', 'Reelin' And A Rockin'', 'I Just Wanna Make Love To You', etc. They do them with verve and gusto. Alex wasn't a great singer, but his vocals are powerful and distinctive. It's easy to understand why they were a popular live act in Scotland and Germany. Things start getting more interesting during the late 1960s with a couple of tracks from the 'Hair Rave Up' album - he played guitar in the band for the London production of the musical - and then three real wallopers from 'Roman Wall Blues', a 1969 solo album, including another song that would later be reworked by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, 'Midnight Moses'. This version is actually superior to their rendition, being a full-on blue-eyed soul stomper in the vein of Blood, Sweat And Tears. Fantastic. The upturn continues through a couple of tracks from Rock Workshop, with whom AH guested on vocals. 'Wade In The Water' features Alex, horn section and frenzied guitar solos well to the fore. Then two previously unissued tracks: the rather more 'progressive' and folky 'Isobel Goudie' and 'The Harp'. Finally, we get on to the real meat of the set: disc two and AH's years in the Sensational Alex Harvey Band...
     For some reason, when it comes to great British rock bands, the SAHB always seem to be overlooked. They've never exactly been namedropped in the same way as contemporaries like Mott The Hoople or even Nazareth. But this half of 'Considering The Situation' reminds one that The Datsuns should acquire trendy retro-styled SAHB shirts to go with their AC/DC and Motorhead gear, because these songs are up there with anything yer Deep Purples or Status Quos recorded. It's blues-based rock alright (alright? definitely!!), but stands out because of the collision between straightforward groove and the whackier elements indulged by SAHB. My brother has a theory that the band missed out on more acceptance because a guitarist in clown makeup and a lead singer who looked like Rab C. Nesbitt after a lock-in in a theatrical outfitters didn't exactly entice the punters - 'weirdos' was the exact term he used. But on the other hand, that's pretty cool. It certainly made them stand out. And it applies to the music as well: sounds like Alex Harvey must have spent a lot of time in Glasgow music halls and cinemas during his youth, judging by the cod-Busby Berkeley soundtrack that is 'Sergeant Fury' and the Wilson Kepple & Betty Egyptian dance routine in the middle of 'Action Strasse'. You could probably Charleston along to 'There's No Lights On The Christmas Tree Mama (They're Burning Big Louie Tonight'), one of the most inspired songtitles of all time. It wasn't all japery though. 'Swampsnake' is sterling 12-bar hard rock, 'Faith Healer' inspired a carbon-copy cover by The Cult - well, how can you improve on perfection? There's no 'Gang Bang', which is a strange omission, but they have included the live version of 'Delilah', pretty much the only SAHB track which ever gets played nowadays. Great as Tom Jones and his HUGE larynx are, this is for me the definitive version of that song. Zenith of this half of the compilation is the magnificent cover of 'Next', Jacques Brel's account of the trauma caused by losing one's virginity during National Service (!), a song whose strange lyrical theme, 1930s-cabaret string arrangement and wailing Harvey vocal exemplify the unique musical approach of the SAHB. Undoubtedly the peak years of Mr Harvey's long and eclectic career.
Jane Farrell

THE LAST
L.A. Explosion! (Bomp; CD)
     One of Bomp's finest releases finally gets a CD re-issue. The Last arose from the late '70s LA scene that gave birth to 20/20, The Nerves, Plimsouls etc and like their contemporaries looked behind punk to the '60s. L.A. Explosion has a thin production, some quirky Jonathan Richman elements, and a great deal of '60s inspirations: Beach Boys surf vocals, garage punk, folk-rock and psych. It's all done with wild abandon and comes off as far more than the 'rose coloured glasses' retrospective parody that most of the '80s revival bands forged.
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE LOVE GENERATION
Let The Good Times In: The Best Of… (Revola; CD)
     Practically the same set of songs gathered from this harmony pop act's three albums that Sundazed released a few months back (see Sept 2002 reviews for full review). Rather enjoyable at times, but you won't need both this and the Sundazed version.
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

NASHVILLE WEST
The Legendary Nashville West Album (Rev-Ola; CD)
     Now THIS is how you do a live country-rock album! Forget the dreadful Randy Meisner set reviewed last month (the only appropriate response to that one being 'oh dear'). Nashville West are proper! Comprising future Byrds Clarence White and Gene Parsons, Gil Guilbeau of Linda Ronstadt's band, and Wayne Moore, it's actually a reissue of a 1978 posthumous (sadly literal, in the case of Clarence White) release taped during a 1967 gig. Most of the band would go on to make a major contribution to the Bakersfield country sound as session musicians, which gives you a clue as to where the country element in this music comes from. Very much more West Coast than Nashville, and apparently highly influential on the Californian country-rock brigade (Parsons and Kleinow amongst others had certainly checked them out). The show is half cover versions of current hits like Mel Tillis' 'Mental Revenge', 'Ode To Billie Joe' (performed here as an instrumental) a magnificent arrangement of 'Green, Green Grass Of Home', 'By The Time I Get To Phoenix' and Merle Haggard's 'Sing Me Back Home' which both the Byrds and Burritos would subsequently crib. The remainder is 'trad arries' such as 'Greensleeves' and 'CC Rider' and a few self-composed numbers which easily stand up against any of the other classics the band played that night. Guilbeau's Cajun work 'Sweet Susannah' is lovely. For something recorded live to 2-track, the sound quality is amazing - perhaps the only criticism being that the vocals sound low in the mix compared to the guitar. But when Mr White was playing, that's not exactly a problem. Oh boy was he on form for that gig. What's surprising is quite how much 'rock' Nashville West injected into their country - this is far harder-edged music than the records other more well-known bands would make in subsequent years. Perhaps that's because this album represents a bunch of country musicians kicking back and rocking rather than what became the norm, i.e. musicians of a rock/pop background introducing country into their music. That alone would make the CD interesting, but the quality of these performances make it essential.
Jane Farrell

THE MOONDOGS
The John Peel Sessions (Detour; CD)
     Produced by Ray Davies, Todd Rundgren and Pete Waterman (!). Stars of their own 1981 TV show. Loved by John Peel… The Moondogs may not be a household name today, or credited in the manner of their peers The Undertones, but this Derry trio did indeed make some sprightly records. The eight songs on offer here were all recorded for BBC Radio 1 for the legendary overseer John Peel in 1980-81. This CD is lovingly assembled with tons of pics, a detailed band history and a foreword from Peel, who states, 'To my amazement, I still remember the words to 'Who's Gonna Tell Mary?''.
     And it's all good pop punk. Who in their right mind could not enjoy the pounding tom-tom led 'Schoolgirl Crush' or the buzzsaw pop of Mr Peel's fav 'Who's Gonna Tell Mary?'
www.detour-records.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

PAPER GARDEN
Paper Garden (Gear Fab; CD)
     The Paper Garden's sole 1968 album is a pretty decent attempt at British psych-pop and will definitely be of interest to fans of the genre. British ex-pat Geoff Turner's production is laden with the exemplarily strings, harpsichords and sitars, and throughout more than a mere echo of Macca can be heard, although there are hints of other key figures such as Buffalo Springfield, Donovan, and the goodtime sound prevalent in the states. But first and foremost it's The Beatles. Sergeant Pepper must have made a tremendous impact on these lads. If open to some unknown psych that won't change your life, but may offer a few surprises, this will be a perfect companion to The Merry Go Round and the recently discovered Aerovons.
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

PHILWIT & PEGASUS
Philwit & Pegasus (RPM; CD)
     Wirtz was once labelled as the Cecil B Deville of pop, and this ambitious album from 1970 is certainly grandiose. The press praised it, but like the 'Teenage Opera' and 'Sam' singles before it, it failed to elevate Wirtz to star status and he left Britain after its release to seek fame fortune in Hollywood. But what of the album? Well, it's a varied affair that ranges from Wirtz's typically 'kitchensync' fare through to retrospective post-Beatles pop (best represented by the fabulous 'Pauper's Son') and epic piano ballads, such as the almost 'TV charity advert banner song' 'And I Try' (which is maybe a tad too bombastic for it's own good!) In fact, much of the material could have easily worked as incidental or film themes. 'Winter Face' is a string laden affair, with subtle jazz guitar and emotional vocals that would have perfectly fitted a deep early '70s Euro Art House movie whilst the ingenious 'A Lonely Flower' takes off from where Brian Wilson left off with Pet Sounds, and even manages to blend West Coast US harmonies with all manner of musical manoeuvres. Words cannot describe the intricacies and beauty of this piece. At 27, Wirtz had done something that most musicians can only dream of.
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE SCRUFFS
Teenage Gurls (Revola; CD)
     This 'unreleased' album carries on the proceedings from Wanna Meet The Scruffs but with a markedly cleaner, crisper production in response to leader Stephen Burns growing appreciation of the power pop discs of Nick Lowe and The Knack. The bouncy melodies are still in place, but the tougher sound of the debut has been softened to a Mersey Beat / New Wave guitar sound, that you will either like or not. Think The Byrds played by The Searchers in the late '70s. And, the drums are far too compressed with too much of that sound which ruined so many decent recordings. Nevertheless, there are still a few tunes here and this album, which is heralded by a number of power pop forums and expert and liner note writer John M. Borack, should impress fans of late '70s / early '80s power pop. Yet for me, Stephen Burns' voice is still a real problem
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

SKIP BIFFERTY
The Story Of Skip Bifferty (Castle; 2-CD)
     After months of set backs it’s finally here. And for those who, like me, enjoy Skip Bifferty’s powerful, yet thoughtful brand of British psych it’s been well worth the wait. For some, the entire 1968 album (with direct from the master tapes sound quality) would be enough, but John Reed and David Wells have pulled out all the stops with this one and added the band’s stellar 45s, BBC radio sessions and both sides of the excellent post-Biff singles by Heavy Jelly and Griffin (who also contribute a BBC session). The packaging is great, the liners tell the story and there’re some nice pictures of the band in dandy regalia; but it’s the music that speaks loudest.
     CD one opens with the 1968 album, which captures the band in soulful post-Pepper mood coming off not unlike Traffic or Spooky Tooth (‘Come Around’, ‘Jeremy Carabine’, ‘Inside Secret’) and more poppy elsewhere, most notable on the beautiful ‘Orange Lace’, which displays some sweet harmonies and delicate instrumentation, somewhat like fellow ‘orange’ lovers The End. Erstwhile tinkling piano and fuzz bass on a number of tracks (‘Planting Bad Seeds’, ‘Yours For At Least 24’) has the same Stones’ ‘Let’s Spend The Night Together’ styled instrumentation that The End also picked up on. ‘Yours For At Least 24’ combines psychedelic lyrics about ‘orange chimpanzees’ with a song structure that veers from driving bass to spooky harmonies. Wonderful, and I guess the band had been listening to such bands as The Jefferson Airplane judging from the feel of this track. The incredibly deep ‘Follow The Path Of The Skies’ makes fabulous usage of Graham Bell’s strong voice, and is perhaps the most compelling cut on the album. Producer Vic Smith was so impressed by it that he got George Martin to record a version with Cilla Black.
     From the schizophrenic album closer ‘Clearway 51’ through to more thoughtful ballads and typically technicolored ’68 affairs Skip Bifferty may not be the finest British psychedelic album, but it is a bloody good one. These guys had musical ability, power and a blessed vocalist, and they avoided the more syrupy route that many contemporaries were taking.
     The remaining eight tracks consist of the incredible single sides ‘Man In Black’ and ‘On Love’, the camper, poppier ‘Happy Land’, accompanying b-sides and three unreleased studio tracks, which are bound to cause some excitement. ‘Round And Round’ is an abrasive piece of freakbeat, resplendent with both a tough edge and a flute and ‘la lala’ choruses. Fab, and not at all unlike The Creation! ‘This We Shall Explore’ suffers from a dreadfully out of tune piano, but is well executed and neat song idea. Last track of disc one, ‘Schizoid Revolution’ is exactly what the title suggests and is an EXCELLENT foray into swirling Hammond-led, ascending bass line, erratic madness with a marvellously uncontrolled freak-out segment at the end. Sounds like it was a live take too, proving that Biff were a formidable act. If only Arden had tapped them better!
     The first 13 of disc two’s tracks are BBC Session recorded in 1968 for Top Of The Pops and Top Gear. Most of these are unreleased songs that add yet more credence to their repertoire (‘The Hobbit’, ‘Aged Aged Man’, ‘Higher Than The Clouds’, ‘Once’, ‘The Lion And The Unicorn’, ‘Disappointing Day’, ‘I Don’t Understand It’, ‘In The Morning’, ‘The Other Side Of Jesus Smith’ and an excellent version of ‘Please Don’t Le Me Be Misunderstood’ are all worth the price of admission alone. This really is a case of two CDs for the price of one. And I don’t think it’d be unfair to say that many of these radio sessions are actually better than material from the album). Single ‘Man In Black’ is performed with much more gusto than the studio versions, and the Heavy Jelly single cuts,‘I Keep Singing The Same Old Song’ / ‘Blue’ are intelligent heavy-pop gems that sound like a darker and heavier Skip Bifferty. Better still is the proto-metal 1969 single by Griffin, which is far more guitar based, but still features the magnificent pipes of Bell, who is very suited to the more wailing style of rock vocals! The final threetracks map what the unit would have sounded like if they had made it into the ‘70s. And man, I wish they did!
     Two crammed CDs full of great late ‘60s British music. What more could you ask for? Ten or so pounds won’t buy you anything better. Buy now!
www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Clarion Call: R&B, Mod and Pop Psych From Down Under (RPM, CD)
     Although a record label anthology, RPM have chosen to put this in their Bam Caruso rather than their record label series, presumably because it's not a UK label as the others in that series have so far been. The Clarion label was the brainchild of Perth native, Martin Clarke (b.1940) who owned Western Australia's only real recording studio for the whole of the 1960s. Alec Palao wrote the (copious!) liners with assistance from Clarke himself and reveals the whole story with his usual attention to detail. As a label anthology and as is RPM's tradition now, you get a lucky dip approach, although there is perhaps a little more consistency here than on some of RPM's other label anthologies. Spanning the period 1965-70 we are offered a smorgasbord of pop, beat, r&b, pop psych and the occasional beat ballad. The set kicks off with a 1967 outing by Robbie Snowden 'No One Really Loves A Clown' which was supposedly an update of a 1962 Johnny Crawford number, but which still manages to sound a few years earlier than the original! A 'Peggy Sue' drum beat and Drifters / Shadows guitar stylings make in sumptuously out of kilter with the prevailing musical ethos of the time. This is also the case for showband cum folk-beaters The Troupadours whose 'Near To Me', also from '67 sounds four years older (although their second offering here 'Little Boat' from the following year incorporates trademark period harmony vocals and a more soulful rhythm). I never realised just how tuff sounding Ray Hoff And The Offbeats were until now. To look at the titles written down they don't promise more than generic cover versions, but their versions of 'Bama Lama Loo' and 'Tossin' & Turnin', are righteous r&b fuzz guitar barnstormers of the first order (think in terms of Gene Vincent's 'Bird Doggin' from '66 for instance and add a horn section).
     On the later 60s pop and pop-psych side of things, there are three offerings from The Valentines, who if no currently available anthology exists, it damned well should! This is soft pop (and not so soft in the case of their cover of Soft Machine's 'Love Makes Sweet Music' - think Grapefruit's 'Elevator' and add fuzz guitar!) of a high calibre. Charmingly, future AC/DC lead ranter, Bon Scott, turns up on their decidedly Donovan-esque 'She Said' playing recorder!! There are nice pop psyche contributions from The Proclamation and The Vegitable Garden, but these have already appeared on the Forest of Goldtops and Daytura Dreamtime comps. We learn here as well that the Vegetable Garden were not actually a band at all but a studio experiment in phasing (or 'skying') by Clarke and songwriter Bill Miller. The results though are no less pleasing for that fact. There are quirky numbers like the aforementioned Robbie Snowden's 'Talkin'' which seems less of a song and more of an improvisation, and Maggie Hammond's 'Go Laddie', the trad folk 'Wild Mountain Thyme' sang a la Vashti Bunyon and backed by an anonymous beat group with a pop sensibility. There are three previously comped contributions from the (Australian) 'Birds' whose claims to have been in or associated with the UK act of that name are not resolved here. The rest of the set is a good-enough menu of r&b, beat and pop. Overall what you get is an entertaining and at times charming overview of a record 'industry' in isolation and microcosm. It's the story and the sound of both those who would forever stay parochial and out of the loop and those, like The Valentines, (who used their local battle of the bands prize of a expenses paid trip to the eastern seaboard as one-way ticket to where the action really was) who made the break for a bigger pond to swim in. As a piece of musical history and aural entertainment, this a more than worthwhile collection. It would be nice as well, to see similar treatments of other Australian imprints such as Sunshine, Kommotion and Spin.
www.rpmrecords.co.uk
Paul Martin

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Love That Louie (Ace; CD)
     Love That Louie does exactly what it says on the tin. A collection of 24 recordings directly covering or owing much to the most fumbled chord change in guitar shop history. Whilst Richard Berry & The Pharoahs' original version is still arguably the best it's The Kingsmen's version that remains epochal and incalculably influential, inspiring a million bands and a million dodgy versions in garages and studios forever. So here it is, 'Louie Louie' in many shapes and sizes; versions from Rocking Robin Roberts & The Wailers, Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Sonics, The Beach Boys, The Sandpipers, Swamp Rats, Travis Wammack, The Kinks, Sounds Orchestral, Otis Redding and splendidly Toots & The Maytal's terrific 1972 take. You get its sequels; included are Berry's 'Have Love Will Travel' and Paul Revere's 'Louie Go Home', and its precursors (Rene Touzet, Chuck Berry, even Johnny Mercer). Probably foolish attempted in one go, but great fun and a great idea well executed.
Slav Tabernacle

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Pet Projects: The Brian Wilson Productions (Ace; CD)
     Never one to spend time sitting down for long, bless him, Brian Wilson was on the go 24/7 in the early to mid-'60s. Not only was he touring and recording non-stop with The Beach Boys, he spent the rest of his time writing songs and producing material for other artists, including his wife Marilyn's The Honeys and numerous girl singers, surf groups etc. Not all is great. But how could it be? These were factory pieces - written and recorded in the shortest possible time ready to get on the shelves and make money. Amongst the chaff however are some classic Wilson pieces that have his angelic touch written all over them: 'Thinkin' Bout You Baby' Sharon Marie's 1964 single is in fact a proto-type version of 'Darlin', which The Beach Boys recorded on Wild Honey. The Survivor's shaky instrumental 'After The game' has musical phrases that would later become a part of Pet Sounds and the 1973 effort by The American Spring (in fact Marilyn and sister Diane), although from a time when Brian was less than compes mentus it is still a wonderful production - as were The beach Boys cuts he worked on. 'Shying Away' is Marilyn's plaintive message to Brian regarding the disharmony of their relationship, yet it conveys the love she still bore for him. As a reply, Brian's production is a heavenly, gentle muse that like only he can do, actually sounds like LOVE! An absolutely beautiful piece that has been ignored far too long! Dennis' 'Fallin' In Love' is also served well by Marilyn's breathy vocals and Brian's heart rendering ecclesiastical production. Yes, Brian may have done many crazy things in his time, but the craziest of them all was giving away 'Guess I Was Dumb' to his Beach Boy stand in Glen Campbell. As it is, it's Campbell's finest performance. Yet if Brian had kept if for himself it may have been a highlight of Pet Sounds. Either way, it's astounding and epitomises the subtle, yet daringly complex Wilson production.
     Okay, there is some fluff, but this is an education. You can actually hear Brian Wilson being inspired on some early songs, and in turn him learning his craft that he would fully realise with Pet Sounds.
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

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Required Etiquette (Big Beat; CD)
     Alec Palao seems to be busy these days. Not content with his own Big Beat label's Northwest Battle of The Bands series he's writing liners for other people's comps (see Clarion Call review) and now comes up with this pacific north-west collection as well. What we have here is a roundup of the short-lived Etiquette label, operating out of Takoma by Wailers mainstays John 'Buck' Ormsby and Kent Morrill. Between 1964 and 1966. Long-time Sonics and garage fans in general will be familiar with the gist of the tale; regional megaband the Wailers (or parts thereof) start their own label for their own albums and as a platform to nurture other local talent. Local talent is duly nurtured, most notably The Sonics, but commercial success is unforthcoming and the label folds. In between some voluble and raw sounds were laid to tape and it is the best of these that are on show here. Palao even helpfully provides a complete Etiquette release history at the back of (the again substantial) liners.
     There are four Sonics cuts here ('Psycho', 'The Witch', 'The Hustler' and 'Shot Down') which have for the first time, been taken directly from the pre-mixdown two track masters. The difference in sound is one of presence and a lack of compression. Just dig the way the bass fills the speakers up! The set kicks off with The Wailers amazing (but of course previously comped) 'Out Of Our Tree' and the fuzz monster that is Paul Bearer & The Hearsmen's 'I've Been Thinking', previously comped on a Teenage Shutdown volume (but here taken from the master tapes) is not far behind. The Wailers crop up again with Rockin' Robin Robert's 1961 take on 'Louie Louie' (the version the Kingsmen copied a few years later) and I have to say that is a very soulful voice for a white boy in 1961! Of the previously uncomped tracks (the majority), The Bootmen's 'Ain't It The Truth Babe' bites as hard as any Sonics number in my book, whilst their 'Off The Hook' has a fuzz guitar so compressed it sounds like amplified frying bacon! The Galaxies 'On The Beach' has a strong taste of Searchers about it whilst their 'She Said Yeah' is a beat ballad that rocks. Ron Davies's 'Mistake' is a moody and downbeat teen angst ballad and The Bootmen's 'Love You All I Can is a sing-a-along a Diddley rouser. The rest of these tunes are swinging soulful r&b with a couple of keys led instros and a girl pop number in Mayalta Page's 'Don't Worry About Me Babe' to finish off with, albeit with a trademark rawness to the backing band. Northwest fans will know what they're in for here, other's more curious than initiated into the experience of the north-west crunch should simply note that nearly all these number bear the imprint of high energy good time garage and beat. Play loud!
www.acerecords.com
Paul Martin

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Tales From The Australian Underground: Singles 1976-1980 (Feel Presents; 2 CD)
     I am becoming increasingly self-conscious about using the term 'a labour of love' as a descriptive term for fear of devaluing its currency. Having qualified myself however, I feel I have to use it again for this musical garden of delights, as it is more or less self-evident. As a thirteen year-old schoolboy in 1977, compiler Tim Pittman scored a copy of Radio Birdman's Radios Appear and never looked back. The package that is TFTAU is the result of a five-year odyssey by Pittman to collect and collate some of the most quintessential (not to mention rare) Australian 45s of the era to represent the punk and post-punk underground scenes in Australia. Does he succeed? - Hell yeah! One eyeful of the chunky 36-page booklet will tell you this is serious stuff. Not only is it full of cool band photos and colour pic sleeve repros, but the attention to biographical detail shouts 'I mean it maaaan', it's almost a book in its own right! What's actually on these two discs then? Well, there are the usual suspects of course. Radio Birdman ('Burned My Eyes') and The Saints ('This Perfect Day') kick off CD one because they have to; these are year zero bands for Australia's '70s punk and '80s (third generation by the end of that decade) post-punk scenes. Then those familiar with The Shock label's recent Do The Pop double CD set or Raven's Born Out Of Time comp (if not the original records) will recognise The Celibate Rifles, Scientists, Psycho Surgeons, Died Pretty, The New Christs, The Hard Ons, The Eastern Dark, La Femme and Lipstick Killers, but there is very little duplication in selections with either of these comps here. Then there are the parallel universe songs; Venom P Stinger's 'Walking About', The Exploited's 'Dead Cities' (but not nearly as dumb, just as vitriolic that's all!) and The Mark Of Cain's five minute opus 'Lords Of Summer', despite its cheery power-pop sounding title, is actually Joy Division doing 'Dead Souls and Sardine V's 'Sudan' is The Cure (take your pick from anything on their Pornography album). You also get the Birthday Party's debut 45 from 1980 ('Happy Birthday') and two post Saints contributions from Ed Kuepper in the form of The Laughing Clowns 'Sometimes (I Just Can't Live With Anyone)' and 'Also Sprach The King Of Euro Disco' (which is anything but, it's actually an excellent pop confection) all of which slot in perfectly.
     Unlike Shock or Raven though, Pittman has a broader agenda in which he seeks to both chronologically and stylistically demonstrate the development of his beloved indie scenes. This for the sake of diversity occasionally results in a dead end (Makers of The Dead Travel Fast's 'Tales Of The Saeghors' or Thug's 'Dad' for instance) but these are the exceptions, as you also get sublime and beautiful quieter moments in the form of The Passengers' 'Face With No Name', The Triffids' 'Beautiful Waste' and Lighthouse Keeper's 'Ocean Liner'. CD one takes us from 1976-1982, and CD TWO from 1983-89 and all inclusions are strictly 45s only, an exposition on which opens the liner notes. The overwhelming majority of these cuts are the kind of high velocity and energy rock 'n' roll and pop we associate with the Australian independent scene of the 1980s. Whereas CD ONE, excellent almost throughout, rather dissipates at its end with a brace of more experimental and maybe (depending on your outlook) nonessential tracks ('Sekret Sekret', 'Pel Me'l, 'Makers of The Dead Travel Fast' and 'Sardine'), CD two ratchets up the intensity level and delivers the goods in terms of pop, garage r'n'r and general adrenaline until the very last chord fades. Overall, we're taken on a journey that (founder groups apart) leads from the feral '70s punk guitar sounds of The Victims 'I'm Flipped Out Over You' to the Cosmic Psychos' 'Lost Cause' which almost brings us back there in its intensity and feel..
     Personally, I think Flaming Hand's 'I Belong To Nobody' on CD one is worth the price of admission on its own. I want this set to sell well simply so a Volume two will be realised, Pitmann assures us there is a whole load more where these 45s came from and I wanna hear 'em! With a double CD of the Sunnyboys As& Bs in the pipeline as well, he certainly gets my vote!
www.feelpresents.com
Paul Martin

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Velvet Tinmine: 20 Junk Shop Glam Ravers (RPM; CD)
     There was once a time (the early 1970s) when flared trousers and shirt collars were as big as the state of Texas and tanks tops were a teen high street fashion accessory, not culturally symbolic of retarded emotional development in middle aged men. It is into this land of the three-day week, the miner's strike, oil price hikes and power cuts (in the UK anyway) that RPM have set up their main stage. Whilst Dig The Fuzz are busy excavating the musical sarcophagi of progressive pop singles from the early-mid 1970s, RPM seek here to reconfigure the validity of the spangley ones of the same period. Does it work? In the main, yes, I think it does. One thing that RPM liner writer stalwart Bob Stanley is quick to point out is that there was more to glam than the arty Bolan, Bowie, Roxy Music triptych. Another (God helps us) was kiddie pop and another was the brickies in stack heels brigade, and that is what is largely on offer here. One salient issue this set does raise is the nature of 'rock' at the time. It is easily forgotten that whilst bands such as The Sweet, Slade (most of all), Geordie et al were basically hard rock bands who 'glittered up' for publicity and hence teen popularity, (and were / are the most insistent in retrospect about how their live act was more representative than their records of what they could really do) other more openly hard rock bands who shared nary a sequin between them such as Status Quo, Thin Lizzy and Nazareth, shared an equal amount of singles chart action throughout the first half of the seventies, achieving a crossover audience they would probably not otherwise have had as a result of surfing the crest of the glam rock wave without having to don or daub themselves in its outward expressions.
     So, onto what's on the menu here. The general thrust of this package is the dust-strewn played only once 45s that once littered the floors of every Sue Ryder shop in Britain, but which now RPM would have us know, are becoming cherished items amongst a growing cadre of collectors. Most of these 45s adopt the Glitterband approach to drumming (i.e. big Burundi beat, a decade before Adam and his Ants or Bow Wow Wow recycled it), minimal vocals and big fuzz toned power chords. Some of these acts come off pretty well and actually sound like they mean it. The best of these are Iron Virgin, Hello, Arrows (a very stylish 'Toughen Up'), Bearded Lady (an ideal candidate for a League of Gentlemen (Ed: ingenious UK comedy show) spoof band name if ever I heard one!) and Sisters, who bizarrely, do sound not a million miles from 80s retrogressive glam metallers Twisted Sister!
     Then there are those which are more mid paced and adopt a kind of Smokey (the group that is) vocal approach, blending acoustic with electric guitars and sound like country pop with a somewhat thicker skin (Warwick, The Damned, Shakane, Washington Flyers). Then there are those who sound like a bunch of studio musos (even if they're not) out for a bit of extra wonga off the back off the latest fad (Stavely Makepeace, Fancy, Tub Thumper). Stavely Makepeace (later to morph into Lieutenant Pigeon) sounds like a 45 comprised of Gary Glitter's 'Rock 'n' Roll Part 2' and any Chicory Tip single you care to mention, but all but played at 33.1/3. Tub Thumper rip off both The MC5 ('Kick Out The Jams') and T Rex ('Solid Gold Easy Action') to come up with good stomping rhythm but which is otherwise redundant. Then there's the kiddy contributions. Big Wheel sound like the Hansen of the 70s, perfectly okay for what it is, but let's not go there too often if this is going to be a series (vol. two is in the pipeline) whilst in a parallel universe Ricky Wilde would have been Little Jimmy Osmond after he'd ditched his toothy older brothers and incongruously become lead warbler for ZZ Top! Brett Smiley (perhaps the only example of the arty glam school here) has a fey and feeble voice (so much so, the band has to bring the sound right down in order for him to be audible on the verses), but at least he sounds like he has bought into the Ziggy zeitgeist for real. The Tartan Horde turns out to be Nick Lowe doing a '70s Kim Fowley in eulogising the Bay City Rollers (some bands are beyond redemption in my book, and the BCR are one of those!) for presumably an attempt at grabbing a few quid off the (yet to be labelled as such) 'tweeny' boomers of the time. The biggest and bestest number on here though is The Plod (aka Martin Newell) with an unissued 45 side 'Neo City'. (Ed: Bloody right!!! It's the best cut on the album!) Pure 70s power pop and exactly what Newell (still) does best. All in all, what you get on this CD for the most part is thumping, stomping rhythm and beat from a bunch of (largely) unknowns. Whether out of curiosity about them specifically, or from nostalgia for the period, this is a pretty interesting collection, which grows on me more with each play. I do find that the early-mid 70s Mickie Most-like studio sound takes a bit of adjusting to, but once tuned in, it's a fun time -- which after all, is what it was supposed to be.
www.rpmrecords.co.uk
Paul Martin

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Wizards And Demons: Music Inspired By The Writings Of J.R.R. Tolkien (Sanctuary; CD)
     'Our compilation...is primarily intended to celebrate the latest wave of increased interest in Tolkien'. Well yes. It's a bit tenuous, isn't it Sanctuary? Any excuse to repackage a load of 1970s stuff from the catalogue, eh? Having said that, it works pretty well as a collection, despite the fact that a lot of the songs could quite easily have been inspired by Arthurian legend, Enid Blyton or a mushroom breakfast as much as the work of the tedious Oxford don (Editor: Tedious?? Eh, watch it!). Man (a pleasant revelation to this neophyte) and Trader Horne (offshoot of Fairport Convention and Them) have two excellent songs included - TH's 'The Mutant' is great, though probably nowt to do with Middle Earth (Gollum? more Grendel, surely?). Other stand outs are Uriah Heep's 'The Wizard', the only real piece of ROCK amongst the progressive folk dominating the rest of the album, Sam Gopal's 'The Dark Lord' (from the highly recommended Escalator album), The Hollies-styled 'Traveller' by Quiet World (who apparently featured Steve Hackett) and Sally Oldfield's vocal swooping on the pretty but overlong 'Songs Of The Quendi'. The main problem, however, is that 14 tracks and 63 minutes of such a homogeneous style does get rather cloying - by the end one is desperate to hear something a bit more energetic. Quite an effective sampler for those interested in checking out the music of the period though.
Jane Farrell