"Life is likea carousel" is thethird album from the group, LosGuajes, passionategaragerevivalandSpanish soundsof the 60's. For recordingthe thirdalbum, LosGuajeshave reliedagain onthe demolishingmachinery of theCircoPerrottianalog studies,and have beenback inthe hands of thegreatJorgeexplosion, whichruns music production.
"Life is likea carousel" albumat hand,isa clear example ofthe qualities of thisconsolidatedcombo.Still applythe immediacy and freshness of thebeginning of the band, anddoes not stopthe imagination tomakehis lyricssunginauthenticdramas,Hispanics vaudevilles .Their songscan range froma pure exercise instyle as "Nothing in the world" tothe vibrantmelodies of "Carousel"or "See youis like dying",without neglectingits mostvillaininsongs such as "Employee of thehome"or "Marcelino"and without sacrificing the rawnessmoregarajeraof its chordsin "Poison"or "nerves",or approachesto thepsychedeliaof"Crazy"and "Fiesta",or musicallandismowho demonstrate, in effectmorethan ever in"Afineguy."And of course,if youforget,his expertisein recovering the classics,whichin thisexampledemonstratesa superbmicrogroovesand riskyversion of"Is ItTrue"by BrendaLee. All this,combined with the excellentartistic design ofthisLPby JohnRoller.
You can find more information about Los Guajes at the bands official website: HERE
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Chusin Crochette is bass player with Mod/Power Pop band "Stanley Road" who you can check out HERE and HERE
After posting the Arthur album yesterday I went off on a right Kinks trip playing all my vinyl albums back to back and wondered what I was missing in amongst all the general releases and bootlegs and after very little research I came across this, I wondered how I managed to miss it.....maybe the clue is in the title?
The Great Lost Kinks Album is an Unreleased Compilation Album by the British Rock Band The Kinks.
The Kinks changed Labels. From Reprise Records they jumped to the RCA Label. Losing The Kinks was of course a great revenue loss at the time, so Reprise in an attempt to continue to capitalize the name, released this compilation, unauthorized by the Band Members. It consists mostly of Songs discarded on some sessions, the ones who weren't removed ended up appearing in the Album The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, alias the name The Great Lost Kinks Album, was the name Fans gave to the Album that was supposed to be released in 1969 but ended up becoming the Village Green Preservation... But this is not the only source, some of them were recorded to appear in British TV and Films, and of course two songs from Singles. Davies and his crew only got to know of the existence of the Album when they saw it on the billboard Charts and they immediately sued the company, forcing Reprise Records to discontinue the Album in 1975. Of course right after this it became a Collector's Item, even though it stayed in circulation for 2 years. As the songs were recorded in a 4 year span it is hard to say who were the Members that participated in this Album. I'll just put the names of the Members of the Band that played at the Time.
Best Tracks - "Til Death Do Us Part", "Lavender Hill", "Rosemary Rose", "Mister Songbird", "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" and "Plastic Man". The Cover is pretty weird, and it isn't as good as most Kinks Covers. Some strange looking ghosts and some Neon Letters with the Name of the Band.
The dozen songs that would have been on the Aerovons' album had it come out (though a couple of the songs did come out on a 1969 single) form the core of this release, Resurrection,the U.K. bonus edition also tacks on four bonus tracks. The Aerovons' unusual story -- a band from the American Midwest recording in Abbey Road in 1969, led and produced by their 17-year-old singer-songwriter -- might be the main reason there was interest in excavating these sessions, but this CD is not a mere curio. It's quite respectable late-'60s Beatles-style pop/rock, if a little green around the edges and pretty derivative. In fact, in a couple of spots it's downright imitative, with "Say Georgia" taking licks from "Oh! Darling," and "Resurrection" itself lifting from "Across the Universe." (Neither of those songs had yet been released by the Beatles at the time of the sessions, but the group heard them by virtue of working in Abbey Road.) Fortunately, those are the only blatant cops, though Beatles comparisons abound throughout, particularly in the Paul McCartney-esque piano-playing. Songs like "With Her" and "The Years" recall the acoustic outings of both John Lennon and Paul McCartney on The White Album, while "Bessie Goodheart" uses McCartney's more vaudevillian Sgt. Pepper-era outings as an obvious launching pad, and "Something of Yours" brings to mind "Michelle." To this list you could also add the very Lennon-esque echo on the vocal of "The Children." The Aerovons leaned more toward wistful and sadness-tinged moods than the Beatles did, though. One of the best tracks, "World of You," brings out that quality very well, recalling the better late-'60s orchestrated Bee Gees opuses. The bonus tracks include both sides of a non-LP 1969 single ("The Train," their poppiest number, which echoes both the Hollies and the Bee Gees), the outtake "Here" (very much like McCartney's piano ballads), and a demo of "World of You."
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) extends the British-oriented themes of Village Green Preservation Society, telling the story of a London man's decision to move to Australia during the aftermath of World War II. It's a detailed and loving song cycle, capturing the minutiae of suburban life, the numbing effect of bureaucracy, and the horrors of war. On paper, Arthur sounds like a pretentious mess, but Ray Davies' lyrics and insights have rarely been so graceful or deftly executed, and the music is remarkable. An edgier and harder-rocking affair than Village Green, Arthur is as multi-layered musically as it is lyrically. "Shangri-La" evolves from English folk to hard rock, "Drivin'" has a lazy grace, "Young and Innocent Days" is a lovely, wistful ballad, "Some Mother's Son" is one of the most uncompromising antiwar songs ever recorded, while "Victoria" and "Arthur" rock with simple glee. The music makes the words cut deeper, and the songs never stray too far from the album's subject, making Arthur one of the most effective concept albums in rock history, as well as one of the best and most influential British pop records of its era. [Castle's 1998 CD reissue of Arthur contained ten bonus tracks, including mono and stereo versions of the non-LP singles "Plastic Man," "Mindless Child of Motherhood," and "This Man He Weeps Tonight," mono versions of "Drivin'" and "She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina," the B-side "King Kong," and the previously unreleased "Mr. Shoemakers Daughter."]
In the spring of 1966, If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears represented a genuinely new sound, as fresh to listeners as the songs on Meet the Beatles had seemed two years earlier. Released just as "California Dreaming" was ascending the charts by leaps and bounds, it was the product of months of rehearsal in the Virgin Islands and John Phillips' discovery of what one could do to build a polished recorded sound in the studio -- it embraced folk-rock, pop/rock, pop, and soul, and also reflected the kind of care that acts like the Beatles were putting into their records at the time. "Monday, Monday" and "California Dreamin'" are familiar enough to anyone who's ever listened to the radio, and "Go Where You Wanna Go" isn't far behind, in this version or the very similar rendition by the Fifth Dimension. But the rest is mighty compelling even to casual listeners, including the ethereal "Got a Feelin'," the rocking "Straight Shooter" and "Somebody Groovy," the jaunty, torch song-style version of "I Call Your Name," and the prettiest versions of "Do You Wanna Dance" and "Spanish Harlem" that anyone ever recorded.
If the material here has a certain glow that the Mamas & the Papas' subsequent LPs lacked, that may be due in part to the extensive rehearsal and the exhilaration of their first experience in the studio, but also a result of the fact that it was recorded before the members' personal conflicts began interfering with their ability to work together. The work was all spontaneous and unforced here, as opposed to the emotional complications that had to be overcome before their next sessions.
Splitsville's fourth album is a complete departure from anything the band had previously done. Originally recorded as a four-song EP to be given away as a sort of party favor at the first International Pop Overthrow festival in Los Angeles, the much-expanded The Complete Pet Soul is, as the title implies, a dual tribute to both Pet Sounds and Rubber Soul. On the original EP, the Pet Sounds influence came through more strongly, thanks to the heavily orchestrated feel, but on this full-length version, the orchestral tracks are nicely balanced with several new songs that recall the low-voltage, almost folk-rock sound that predominated on the original U.S. edition of Rubber Soul. Still, the Pet Sounds pastiche tracks are the real standouts simply for being done with such obvious affection and good humor, especially the swooning "Caroline Knows" and the almost Smile-like multi-part mini-operetta "The Love Songs of B. Douglas Wilson," which is the album's high point. Musically, it should have been the album's closing track, but instead, a cover of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" recorded for the soundtrack of the cheerleading film Bring It On is tacked on at the end. It doesn't quite match the mood of the rest of the album, and it's certainly not a patch on Dionne Warwick's version, so it's an odd, equivocal ending to an otherwise superb album.-AMG
Please could I ask you to take a look at this page Ruby Owen Appeal this little girl desperately needs help, I have made a donation personally for this little girls plight and if you can make a donation however small, it will really help.
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Thank you so much for taking your time to read and see you all soon.
This collection is a slightly expanded version of an LP that first appeared in 1984. There are no notes -- an unthinkable oversight today -- but otherwise, this is one of the best pieces of British beat-style R&B available, a match for the best tracks off The Beatles' Second Album, and any of the best R&B-style numbers by the early Who. The material isn't in chronological order, although that's not a huge problem for CD listeners, but it's heavily scrambled. The stuff stands on its own, in any case -- "Harlem Shuffle," "Since I Lost My Baby," and "In My Lonely Room" are among the finest English R&B covers of the period, and even originals like "Never Ever" (written by Alan King, Reggie King, and Mike Evans and the group-composed "Twenty Fourth Hour" are fine pieces of songwriting, with attractive hooks and choruses, and good soulful performances. One fascinating discovery unearthed on this CD, amid hits that never were (like their cover of the Marvelettes' "I'll Keep on Holding On" and the brooding, modish "Wasn't It You,") is the group's cover of the Spector-Goffin-King classic "Just Once in My Life." In contrast to the Righteous Brothers' Wall of Sound approach, the five-piece band does it by themselves with no overdubbed help, and Reggie King and company are good enough singers to pull it off, despite a few awkward moments on the fade. The attempts at experimental, quasi-psychedelic material ("Shadows and Reflections") are nicely played and sung, but they lack the depth and urgency of the group's earlier material, and it's easy to understand EMI's misgivings over the direction the group was going in, based on this evidence. As an added attraction, the production by George Martin is also among the best work of his career in rock & roll, second only to his work with the Beatles.
Hailing from the famous punk rock town of, er, Portland, ME, the Leftovers released their debut full-length after touring regionally with the likes of the Mopes and Teenage Bottlerocket and putting in their compilation-and-splits dues. "Full-length" is something of an exaggeration (On the Move clocks in at under 30 minutes), but that's part of the charm of bands like this -- there's no time wasted on intros or outros, no stupid "sketches" or "interludes" to weigh things down, just short, sharp, hook-laden tunes all featuring heart-on-sleeve vocals and buzzsaw guitars. There's pure bubblegum lurking underneath the crunchy veneer of "Dance with Me," and the handclaps that you keep expecting throughout that compact gem of a song appear on the next and equally hooky track, "She She She." "Mind Off You" and "See You Tonight" are the band's twin masterpieces, a pair of punk-pop classics that last almost exactly two minutes each (and the second of which, if you listen carefully, evokes Elvis Costello circa Get Happy!). On a few of these songs the hooks could be just a bit sharper and more memorable, but it seems likely that the band is going to progress in just that direction. Highly recommended. (AMG)
By 2005 -- in America, anyway -- hearing the story of how the Boo Radleysdidn't make it was more common than hearing any of their actual music. The recap: the Liverpool band came up shoegazers, became pop songwriters, and blew up with a single that shone like gold. But then they tore stardom to shreds with a brilliantly noisy follow-up, and disbanded soon after releasing a frustrated swan song. Since that awkward end the Boos have been a footnote for some, a pleasant memory for others, and a reason for fanatical devotion to still more. So ideally, Find the Way Out pleases all parties. It's a two-disc, fully remastered, 35-song chronological recap of the band's eight-year career, painstakingly compiled by guitarist/songwriter Martin Carr both to tell the Boo Radley story and satisfy the diehards. It begins with two songs from Ichabod & I, the noisy (and rare) 1990 debut that shoved American alternative rock into a wall of Kevin Shields-ian distortion. The dynamic between Carr's roaring guitar and Sice's effortless songbird vocals on "Catweazle" would define the group's sound. "Happens to Us All" is here too, as is a demo version of "Hip Clown Rag." There are highlights from the Boo Radleys' Rough Trade singles and EPs, including the incredible funky blister of "Kaleidoscope" and "Everybird"'s blend of pedal stomp crunch and twining acoustic strum. The set includes the lengthy 12" version of the 1992 Creation single "Lazarus," as well as its B-side, "Let Me Be Your Faith"; devotees might wonder where "At the Sound of Speed" is, but they'll have to make do with the creaky, gentle "Cracked Lips/Homesick" -- a Giant Steps-era B-side -- or any of the five songs from that album. The brassy, handclapping "Wish I Was Skinny" and "Best Lose the Fear"'s fuzzy psych-pop are highlights, showing off the Boos' songwriting development. Of course Find the Way Out's second disc starts with "Wake Up Boo!" -- it's their career definition and ultimate death knell tied up in an unstoppably glorious pop experience. The nine-minute version here -- subtitled "Music for Astronauts" -- trips out at the end in a way Super Furry Animals would soon perfect. Its flip, "Blues for George Michael," is another epic, and "Find the Answer Within" (from the Wake Up! LP) rarefies Carr's guitar to a conventional jangle. 1995's "From the Bench at Belvidere" is a breezy masterpiece of lilting piano and dripping guitar notes; there's even a flute solo. (Pray that Teenage Fanclub someday covers this.) C'mon Kids, the blaring fame freak-out album that followed the popular embrace of Wake Up!, is represented here by four tracks, and the finale Kingsize gets three. (The previously unissued "Tomorrow" is a faraway trumpet, rainy streets meditation with the gem lyric "trap set in the slums.") By Find the Way Out's end you're either convinced of the Boos' place in the U.K. music canon or mad at Carr because he didn't include your favorite song. But either way you've walked the band's creative arc with one of its creators. And that's way better than just hearing about it.
Following the bungled American release of Twice Removed, it seemed unlikely that Sloan would survive, let alone record an album as wonderful as One Chord to Another. On the group's previous album, Sloan had refashioned itself as a power pop band, often with terrific results, but on One Chord to Another the songwriting blossoms. Filled with catchy, jangling riffs and memorable melodies, the record is a tour de force of hooks and harmonies, filled with exceptionally strong songs and forceful performances, which give the record a firm, rocking foundation. Few power pop records of the '90s are as infectious and memorable as One Chord to Another. -AMG
The Lambrettas are an English mod revival band, first active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Named after the iconic ItalianLambrettascooter brand popular among Mods, the band was formed in Lewes. Their original line-up consisted of Jez Bird (singer/guitarist), Doug Sanders (guitarist/vocalist), Mark Ellis (bassist) and Paul Wincer (drummer).
Their biggest hit was in 1980, with a cover version of the 1950s Leiber and Stoller song, "Poison Ivy", which reached #7 in the UK Singles Chart. They scored a #12 hit with the follow-up, "Da-a-a-nce". In the same year, they released the album Beat Boys in the Jet Age, which reached #28 on the UK Albums Chart, and scored another minor hit single single, "Another Day (Another Girl)" (hastily renamed from "Page 3" after complaints from the Sun newspaper. After the Mod revival faded, subsequent singles, which included a 1982 cover of Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love", and a second album, 1981's Ambience, were commercial failures. The band played their final concert in their original incarnation in London on 14 April 1982. Bird re-formed the band for a time in the 1990s.
The band reformed in 2009 and are busy touring the UK and Europe.
Beat Boys in the Jet Age was the debut album by Englishmod revival band The Lambrettas. It included the bands hit cover of the song "Poison Ivy" which reached #7 in the UK Singles Chart. The band would continue this success with the release of their very own "Da-a-ance", reaching #12 in the UK Singles Chart. The album reached #28 on the UK Albums Chart, and scored another minor hit single, "Another Day (Another Girl)" which reached #45 on the UK Singles Chart.
When the sun is shining, this album ticks every single box, but don't stop here, check out all the other albums by Beulah too!
ALLMUSIC After the dazzling reception of 1999′s When Your Heartstrings Break, Beulah wasn’t concerned with following things up with something fashionable. The bandmembers were near masters of crafting the perfect pop song — for themselves — and quite comfortable with the process. The Coast Is Never Clear captures Beulah’s classy cool indie pop, akin to what came before. Singer/songwriter Miles Kurosky‘s quirky lyrical rants are spry, and the personal experiences behind each song allude to Beulah’s unabashed nature. From the twangy licks of the bittersweet “Popular Mechanics for Lovers” to the psychedelic soul tinker of “A Good Man Is Easy to Kill,” Beulah gives way to a breaking heart. Sulking and wistful, the theme works and it’s not beyond measure. The pop melodies are relaxed; the harmonies are solid. “I’ll Be Your Lampshade” is Beulah’s country take, with sweeping horns and a sad, pathetic harmonica wallowing over a lost love. It’s not necessarily fit for tears, but The Coast Is Never Clear isn’t necessarily joyless. The band is sarcastically sweet on “What Will You Do When Your Suntan Fades?,” while emulating what everyone has faced in the role of eager, adoring wooer. Beulah’s indie cred cannot be tarnished with The Coast Is Never Clear. It’s not strict rock music — it’s basic. And it’s good. [by MacKenzie Wilson]
The Prisoners were a mod revival/1960s garage band formed in 1982 in Chatham, Kent, England. They were a regular live fixture on the London "psychedelic revival" mini-scene of the early 1980s, and often toured with sparring partners The Milkshakes who included Billy Childish on guitar. The Prisoners' sound combined catchy, retro flavoured melodies, punky guitar riffs, a Steve Marriott-esque vocal style and a lead instrument of the then-unfashionable Hammond organ. The Prisoners never met with much commercial success during their original lifespan but have latterly been likened to Paul Weller and The Charlatans. Indeed Tim Burgess of the Charlatans has cited the Prisoners as a major influence.
The band's lineup was: Graham Day (vocals and guitar), Jamie/James Taylor (hammond organ), Allan Crockford (bass) and Johnny Symons (drums). (From Wikipedia).
Saying that a band is power pop may automatically evoke thoughts of Big Star, the Raspberries, or the Knack, but such a narrow definition would completely miss a band like Model Rockets. Yes, they are power pop — whatever that means — but they owe a lot more to late-period dB's than to any of the above. Actually, the dB's comparison is crucial here, as not only does Tell the Kids the Cops Are Here sound pleasantly like Sound of Music-era dB's, but lead vocalist John Ramberg is occasionally a vocal dead-ringer for Chris Stamey. And as if that isn't enough, Scott McCaughey of the Young Fresh Fellows returns to twiddle the knobs on this release. If any of those references sound familiar or give an idea of what to expect, then Tell the Kids the Cops Are Here is almost certainly for you. The Rockets' old sense of humor is intact here, with lighthearted if not explicitly goofy lyrics sprinkled throughout the album, and the songwriting is consistently memorable and upbeat. Model Rockets are very much a jangle pop band, but are easily one of the best bands in that often hit-or-miss subgenre; while many rely too heavily on craft and style, Model Rockets' sardonic wit, unpolished hooks, and willingness to delve into both alt-country and post-punk give this album its vital edge. Even the tracks that don't make an instant impression reveal their charms on repeat listens, establishing Tell the Kids the Cops Are Here as one of those rare pop records that sounds different — and better — on the tenth, 30th, and 50th listens. (All Music Guide)
They say all the best bands come from Scotland, well, that is what The Very Most sang and I wouldn't disagree and nor would Kowalskiy who has compiled over nearly 20 free EP downloads for your listening pleasure, and, it really is a pleasure from EP number one right the way through to number nineteen.
Kowalskiy is, supposedly, a "cult" Scottish music blogger. He's not really though. He does do a fine line in free monthly 5-track Scottish EPs mind you, featuring the best up-and-coming artists from around the country. There's 20 for you to wrap your lugs around. Enjoy!
Download all 19 EP's free and discover some new bands here: Kowalskiy Bandcamp
One of the bands featured on the first EP are one of my favourites, Cancel The Astronauts.
The target audience for this Washington D.C. pop combo doesn't need to be told that Julie Ocean isn't a female solo artist: they already have the Undertones' classic 1981 single of the same name memorized. They're also well familiar with the quartet's previous work, particularly singer/guitarist Jim Spellman's stint in much-beloved alt-popsters Velocity Girl and fellow singer/guitarist Terry Banks' string of cult favorite twee pop acts, including Glo-Worm, the Saturday People and Tree Fort Angst. Happily, Long Gone and Nearly There isn't a throwback, either to the mid-'90s indie pop scene or to '80s U.K. records (like "Julie Ocean" itself) that directly inspired so many of those bands. These ten songs are utterly timeless: the bracing, jangly rush of the barely two-minute opener "Ten Lonely Words" could have been recorded at any point from 1965 onwards. Crucially, however, there is no sense of retro kitsch even on the most overtly backwards-looking tracks here: "#1 Song" and "My Revenge" are pure sweet-tooth power pop, right down to the falsetto harmonies and the fake-out endings, but Julie Ocean are no Flamin' Groovies-style genre copycats. "Here Comes Danny" is so overstuffed with clever turns of lyrical phrase, ear-grabbing production tricks, and good old-fashioned hooks that its five minutes whiz past in a seeming blink, but what's most impressive about Long Gone and Nearly There is that nearly every other track on the album manages the same trick in less than three minutes flat: Julie Ocean understand that brevity is the soul of pop, and that a perfectly constructed two-minute pop song is half as effective at twice the length. When the album's over just barely 25 minutes after it began, the only logical response is to start the whole thing over again. -AMGBuy the album here!
Art School is a Power-pop trio born in Murcia (south-east Spain) towards the end of 1995. Juanfra Godoy (guitar & vocals), Jorge Izquierdo (bass & vocals) and Paco Ruiz (drums) played together for the first time in and they started their never ending trip around Spain, playing their genuine, original music with a smashing attitude.
This is the bands first Long Player launched in 98, and rumour has it, the best LP ever animal records have edited. They were always put into the mod revival, new wave and punk scene, although this album and ,above all, the live shows gave them something else, that made them very genuine. Within the songs here you can find true anthems for the generation like “People talk about us” or “ I don’t care”. The band released three albums on three different record labels and played in Germany twice and once around the US east coast.
Art School- Sound Gallery (98) 1.- Tin Soldier, 2.- I Don´t Care, 3.- My Mind Goes Round in Circles, 4.- Another waste of time 5.- Leaving Home6.- We can work it out 7.- People Talk ABout Us 8.- Stolen Soul 9.- Sounds From Yesterday 10.- Meanings,11.- See12.- Strange Days, 13.-Killed In Action 14.- Wicked, 15 My Little Treasure
The Choir was a garage rock band largely active in the greater Cleveland area from the mid 1960s into the early 1970s. Originally called The Mods, their largest commercial success came with the release of their first single "It's Cold Outside" in December 1966. The song, considered by many to be a classic of the garage rock era, was featured on Pebbles, Volume 2, one of the earlier garage rockcompilation LPs (issued in 1979). The flipside, "I'm Going Home" was included as a bonus track when the Pebbles album was reissued as a CD, and it can also be found on a garage rock compilation LP on Ohio bands, Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 9. The Choir is well known for containing three of the four original members of Raspberries (all except lead singer Eric Carmen).
The first bandleader of The Choir, Dann Klawon (also called Dan Klawon or Danny Klawon) discovered Beatlemania in late 1963 before most of his peers, since a girl he knew had been to England and brought back a copy of the Beatles' first single, "Love Me Do" and one of their early albums (probably With the Beatles) before their release in the U.S.[1] Within months, he had organized a band with three of his friends who all attended Mentor High School in Mentor, Ohio. Dann Klawon began as the drummer for the band, Dave Smalley and Dan Heckel were the guitarists, and Tom Boles served as lead singer. (Randy Klawon, Dann's brother, did not officially join the band until 1968; but he filled in on drums for one concert in 1966 when he was just 14).[2] They called themselves The Mods, and again, Klawon was ahead of his time: although Mod was established in England by the late 1950s, the British band that is most often identified as "mod" in the U.S. is The Who, which was formed in the same year as The Mods.
Soon, The Choir had subtracted Heckel and Boles and added Dave Burke on bass, Wally Bryson on guitar, and Jim Bonfanti on drums; while Klawon moved to the rhythm guitar post. Klawon recalls: So we began playing songs by the Beatles, the Who, Stones, Zombies, Troggs, and Moody Blues. If they were from England, we played it. We had this song list that was unbelievable... And everybody alternated instruments, depending on what song. We'd have that written on [index] cards, as to who played what on what song.[2]
In the summer of 1966, the band traveled to Chicago, where they recorded their first single with "It's Cold Outside" (written by bandleader Dann Klawon) on the "A" side, which was originally released on Canadian-American Records.[3] According to Klawon: I used to write quite a bit then, and one day I was thinking of some sort of theme to use with the moon/spoon, boy/girl lyrics. I decided to go with a weather analogy.[2] While there, they discovered that a Chicago band called The Modernaires had shortened their name to The Mods, so they renamed themselves The Choir.[2][3] The song was hugely popular in Cleveland and topped the Cleveland charts for six weeks; the song did quite well throughout the Midwest, particularly after the re-release of the single on Roulette Records in early 1967. By the spring of 1967, "It's Cold Outside" peaked at #68 on the Billboard Charts and at #55 on the Cash Box charts, and it even made the CHUM Charts in Toronto, Canada.
Not long after the single was recorded, however, Dann Klawon and Dave Burke left the band; and a succession of line-up changes ensued. Ironically, considering that he would later front the Raspberries with three core members of the band, Eric Carmen's audition to join The Choir did not go well; Kenny Margolis was selected instead.[4] Carmen had been a major fan in the band's early years and was hurt by the rejection; not long after he joined Cyrus Erie, Carmen lured former Choir guitarist Wally Bryson to his new band, and they soon eclipsed The Choir as the most popular local band.[4] The band's second and third singles did not have the same success as their first, and in the spring of 1968, The Choir disbanded.[4]
The Choir reformed in late 1968 – for the second time, with the bandleader also being the drummer (Jim Bonfanti) – and regained much of their earlier popularity in the local scene. According to Denny Carleton: The new Choir's repertoire encompassed jazz, R&B, ballads and classical rock, and about 20 original songs. The group had an unusual keyboard-dominated sound, sometimes even using three keyboards on songs like "MacArthur Park" and Traffic's "Colored Rain". While other bands were simply performing standard tunes by The Beatles, Stones and Who, etc., The Choir was attempting projects of some magnitude, like taking "MacArthur Park", which was written for full orchestra, and rearranging it for three keyboards, bass, drums and guitar, or performing a 7-minute concerto with four time changes.[3]
In 1969, the band returned to the studio and recorded a planned album that had a more psychedelic flavor, with eight original songs and a cover of a song by the Kinks. The tape was shipped to several different record labels without success.[3] After releasing a final unsuccessful single on Intrepid Records in 1970 – including a cover of a song by the Easybeats as the "A" side, "Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight" (which was a hit song for INXS many years later) – the band broke up for good. (Wiki)
The Music Machine's "Talk Talk" is one of the epochal moments in '60s garage rock, two minutes of killer fuzztone guitar, roaring organ, stop-on-a-dime bass and percussion, and the angry, frustrated bellow of Sean Bonniwell as he details the myriad ways in which his life stinks. On the surface, "Talk Talk" isn't that far removed from what the Standells, the Chocolate Watch Band, or the Seeds were doing at the time, but there was a precision in the Music Machine's performance that few of their peers could match, and even in a genre that encouraged lyrical and vocal melodrama, Bonniwell was tapping into something deeper, darker, and spookier than other bands of the day. And the group's matching black outfits, complete with a single black glove on the right hand, made them look as dramatic and threatening as they sounded. The Music Machine might have become one of major acts of the garage era if they'd lasted longer, but the group's original lineup was together for less than 18 months, leaving behind just one album and a pair of non-LP singles before most of the band split and the act evolved into Bonniwell's Music Machine (who released an uneven album for Warner Brothers). Many garage rock obsessives champion the debut album, (Turn On) The Music Machine, as one of the overlooked masterworks of the genre, and the British Big Beat label have paid homage to the LP with The Ultimate Turn On, a definitive study of the group's brief golden era. The Ultimate Turn On features the entirety of (Turn On) The Music Machine in both its stereo and mono mixes (the latter sounding noticeably more powerful), as well as both sides of the two non-LP singles, but that's not all. Along with the Music Machine's entire recorded output for Original Sound Records, this set includes a second disc featuring rehearsal tapes, demo recordings, and alternate mixes, offering an intriguing picture of how the Music Machine's original songs evolved and what their second album might have been like if they'd stayed in their original form long enough to record it. While Bonniwell's songs -- which snarl in a literate fashion and openly wear their social and psychological viewpoints on their sleeve -- are often cited as the Music Machine's secret weapon, the rough rehearsal tapes demonstrate what a solid and capable band he had, and the wealth of original material on disc two makes the presence of five covers on Ultimate Turn On seem like a wasted opportunity. The extensive liner notes by Alec Palao and video clips (playable on a personal computer) of the band performing on the television show Boss City are icing on a very satisfying cake. The Ultimate Turn On is the ultimate Music Machine collection, an exhaustive portrait of a band considerably more fascinating than their sole hit single would lead you to expect. -AMG
They say that the best things in life are free, well, Maybe Tonight proves that is just the case, the bands blend of infectious Power Pop driven with great choppy guitars, beautiful vocals and a driving beat are simply uplifting and bring a smile to the listeners face and what is more they are giving their album away for free, so the best things in life really are free!
I know very little about this band, other than that they hail from Madrid in Spain, a country that is throwing some brilliant Power Pop bands out there and Maybe Tonight are in the driving seat here with Weird Past. I have befriended them on Facebook and suggest that you do the same and don't miss a beat from the heart of this band.
A competently energetic but relatively faceless British mid-'60s band, the Rockin' Vickers are mostly remembered today because the guitarist for the bulk of their recording career was Ian Willis, who would eventually gain international fame as Lemmy with Hawkwind and Motörhead. The Blackpool band were still Lemmy-less when they made their debut in 1964 with a supremely raunchy version of Neil Sedaka's "I Go Ape," which was anthologized in the '70s on Hard-Up Heroes, the British equivalent of Nuggets. They'd only record three other singles, all of which had Lemmy aboard on guitar. Although capable of generating respectably raunchy, modish heat, they had nothing in the way of original material. Their third single, interestingly, was a version of a Pete Townshend song called "It's Alright," which sounds like a prototype for the much superior "The Kids Are Alright" (although, puzzlingly, The Who had already released "The Kids Are Alright" by the time the Rockin' Vickers' "It's Alright" appeared in March 1966). Who producer Shel Talmy liked the band and produced their final 45, a cover of The Kinks "Dandy," which actually made number 93 in the States (where it was far outpaced by Hermans Hermits version) before the Vickers split in 1967.
(~allmusic) by Richie Unterberger
The Rockin' Vickers a.k.a. 'The Rockin' Vicars' (or 'The Wild Ones') was a notorious rock'n'roll group from Blackpool, England, whose first record "I Go Ape" was released on Decca in 1964. The Rockin' Vicars had a reputation of a wild and unexpected live band, which they strenghtened by using the priest costumes and dog collars as their stage outfit. However, after visiting in Northern Finland in the mid 1960s, they got the new idea of wearing Lappish national costumes, which no doubt looked even wilder in Britain.
The Rockin' Vickers is also remembered as being one of the first British groups to perform behind the Iron Curtain, when they toured in Yugoslavia in July 1965 as part of a cultural exchange with the Red Army Youth Orchestra. In november 1965, the group was ready to conquer Finland as well. Besides touring here as Rev. Black & the Rockin' Vickers (mostly in Northern Finland), they also appeared at the recording studio, where they cut altogether 8 songs, including "Stella" and "Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart", which were released by Decca of Finland in early 1966, and leased later to Decca of Ireland.
Only a month after the first trip, they toured again around the Southern Finland (towns of Hämeenlinna, Helsinki, Lahti and Turku). At this point they were calling themselves just The Rockin' Vickers, and the line-up consisted of Harry "Reverend Black" Feeney, Nicholas Gribbon, Stephen Morris, Ciggy Shaw and Ian Holbrook. It was unclear, when Ian Fraiser Willis alias Lemmy Kilmister (ex-Rainmakers/Motown Sect), the most famous member (and the son of a vicar!) joined the group. He might have been in the band already during the first Finnish tour, which would mean that he also appears on the Finnish Decca single. However, all the written sources published in Finland during these tours allude to another guitarist Nicholas Gribbon, a steady member of the group until late 1965. In any case, when the Vickers recorded their last recordings (including Pete Townsend-song "It's Alright" and Ray Davies-song "Dandy") in 1966 for CBS, the guitarist was unquestionably Lemmy. In December 1967, The Rockin' Vickers did their last tour in Finland, and quite soon after the group broke up. Lemmy continued working with (Sam) Gopal's Dream, Opal Butterfly, Hawkwind and Motorhead, and Ciggy Shaw for instance with Soloman King. Steve Wilks and Jeff Carter who were one of the last members to join the group, still play in a band called Manitou with another Blackpool music veteran Pete Gurney. Nicholas Gribbon has maintained some music activities as well, and plays nowadays with his band Nick Unlimited. Nod Turner who was also in the Vickers lives on the isle of Man, and Harry Feeney has a large local main dealership for cars.
THEE DIRTYBEATS (Chapel Hill NC) specialize in aggressive, maximally fuzzed-out vintage garage rock from the 60s, the sound that inspired early proto-punk pioneers like the MC5 and the Stooges.
Today would have been Steve Marriots 65th birthday, to celebrate the event I am posting one of the bands finest albums, There are but four Small Faces.
Small Faces' first album for Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label originally appeared in two different forms in England (where it was known as Small Faces) and America, and the two song lineups have been combined on an early-'90s American Sony Music reissue: There Are But Four Small Faces. The music here is much more fully developed and experimental than their preceding album, still largely R&B-based (apart from the delightfully trippy "Itchycoo Park," the band's sole American hit) but with lots of unusual sounds and recording techniques being attempted. - AMG
