Exclusive Shindig! Qobuz playlist #17: Try It – Crunchin’ bubblegum, proto-powerpop & heavy-glam
We’re very excited to be media partners with the truly unique online streaming platform and download store Qobuz. This month, the 17th of our monthly bespoke playlists, which take in all manner of genres and sub-genres, scenes and beyond, then and now, focuses on a blinding mix of late ’60s and early ’70s sounds that cast a different light on these well-known genres
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Bubblegum. It was always something of a dismissive term, even then; music aimed at kids and the hit parade, ultimately disposable. There’s the whole Super K story (read the article in Shindig! #155) and myriad spin-offs, all vying for attention during the final throes of the ’60s by pre high schoolers buzzing on candy. However, as any fan of vital music forms from the late ’60s will know, a lot of the “bubblegum thing” stemmed from confused garage bands in search of late in the day fame, happy to be exploited (see The Shadows Of Knight and The 1910 Fruitgum Company). But let’s face it, so much of the contrived music compiled on copious “bubblegum hits” is pretty icky, deserving of the sneers. I guess the bands had no illusions of grandeur either when cutting this flash in the plan stuff, but the ones gathered here all display ambition. This playlist goes someway to separate the wheat from the chaff.
The Shadows Of Knight perennial ‘Shake’ should be no stranger to fans of the bubblegum genre, but it’s also something of an outlier. Jim Sohns maintains the same snarl and attitude that marked his earlier garage-punk smashes. Likewise, the late in the day Tommy James & The Shondells’ belter ‘Gotta Get Back To You’ is a far cry from ‘Mony, Mony’. And what about the album cuts from Ohio Express, Crazy Elephant, and The Lemon Pipers? All of these “bands” sought credibility. The 1910 Fruitgum Company clearly wanted to be brass-rock and progressive by the time of their very unbubblegum fifth album. Backtracking, cuts from We The People, Paul Revere & The Raiders and the UK’s Love Affair all offer tough garage-punk that had enough chewiness about them to excite the kids. Even the utterly fabricated Archies step it up a gear with ‘You Make Me Wanna Dance’. Bubblegum was an evolutionary progression from garage anyway. The tinny combo organ, fuzztone riffs and repetitive grooves, which had been the staples for so many a few years before, remained. It was a throwback to simpler times. The Jimmy Radcliffe penned ‘I’m Gonna Find A Cave’ was decidedly tough in the hands of The Banana Splits. Fuzztone stomp made be men in animal costumes. This was a unique byproduct of the counterculture.
The Cowsills were bubblegum by nature, but as the siblings matured they wanted to be taken seriously. ‘Signs’ from 1969’s excellent II x II album sank without a trace. Shame, as although no serious scribe could take once toothy kids seriously, their blend of folk-rock and Beatles-tinged pop was excellent. And, if talking about kids with pearly white teeth, The Osmonds were the antithesis of the long-haired rock scene of 1972, but ‘Hold Her Tight’ does new things with ‘The Immigrant Song’, and it rocks like hell. The three albums the family band made over this period were genuinely great. The kids of the ’60s were now teenagers and the vestiges of the bubblegum explosion was rapidly adapted into now sounds. Todd Rundgren could never ever be considered a part of the teenybop scene of the late ’60s, yet his first band Nazz were signed to Screen Gems Columbia, a record company tied to Colgems who were in search of another Monkees. The young modish looking moptops had teenage appeal and pop tunes, but they did it their own way. ‘Forget All About It’ would have been a great choice for any teenager moving towards something more grown up. Todd also produced The American Dream, who like Nazz stemmed from Philadelphia. The powerpop-ish ‘Big Brother’ would satiate the needs of those not quite ready for the Dead but wanted something a bit hippie. Elektra’s Crabby Appleton fit in this camp too. ‘Go Back’ was even a minor hit in 1970, reaching #36 on the Billboard Hot 100. Soon to be hunk Don Johnson fronted the Los Angeles band Horse, who were put together by John Carter and Tim Gilbert following their Strawberry Alarm Clock success. Horse were on the face of it cool, but clearly aimed at the hit parade, as all bands were at that time, even the weirder ones. Take The Stalk Forrest Group, who would soon become Blue Oyster Cult. ‘Arthur Comics’ straddles eccentric Who-ish pop with Grateful Dead guitars.
Even moving into what would become glam (bubblegum’s next step) and “powerpop”, the market was young and constantly adapting to new trends. Slade were very much a singles band, and even at the height of their fame they cast off some incredible flipsides, such as the excellent ‘Candidate’, a track that harked back to their mod-ish roots. Sweet, before becoming glitter legends, were Brit-league bubblegum controlled by Chinn & Chapman. ‘Spotlight’, penned by drummer Mick Tucker, shows what the band could do when left to their own devices. And it really is rather good.
As always, quite a bit of ground is covered here. Anyone seeking ‘Simon Says’ and ‘Yummy Yummy Yummy’ may be a bit surprised, but for me the winning parts of a genre are always the neglected areas, and even the bits that don’t quite fit. There is a clear link between bubblegum, glam and powerpop, even psychedelia and funky-rock. Hopefully this 35-track playlist goes someway of addressing that.
© Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills /Shindig! magazine in partnership with Qobuz
