Monthly Archives: July 2023

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 889) Cherry Smash — “Fade Away Maureen” Why this Brit pop psych number wasn’t a hit is beyond me. It’s a “great tune” with an “imaginative arrangement[,] brilliant playing and strong voices”. (Dinnes, Cruickshank, liner notes to the CD comp The Great BritishContinue reading “Cherry Smash — “Fade Away Maureen”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 11, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 885) The Cherry People — “Imagination” An ethereal sunshine pop gem by a band that would rather have been playing hard rock/prog! Rob Fitzpatrick calls the album “really is the most fantastically up-beat and gloriously happy sounding record. . . . So it’s Beatles,Continue reading “The Cherry People — “Imagination”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 7, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 887) Dave Berry — “The Coffee Song” Here is one of Dave’s (see #554, 778) great later pocket symphonies, from ‘68. Richie Unterberger tell us that: Berry’s fourth and final 1960s album was the sound of a man falling behind and out ofContinue reading “Dave Berry — “The Coffee Song”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 9, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 886) Chuck Berry — “It Wasn’t Me” “As legend, or some old music magazine, has it, an interviewer once asked George Thorogood why he didn’t write more of his own songs, to which he replied ‘Because Chuck Berry already wrote all the f*ckingContinue reading “Chuck Berry — “It Wasn’t Me”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 8, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 885) The Banana Splits — “Doin’ the Banana Split” Here is “an absolutely batsh*t slab of heavy, funky soul [by the Banana Splits!] . . . [I]t is without a doubt a killer, and would probably be sought after if the name onContinue reading “The Banana Splits — “Doin’ the Banana Split”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 7, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 884) The Appletree Theatre — “Hightower Square” A favorite of Johns everywhere (well, at least Lennon and Peel), the Appletree Theatre give us a pop classic that “draw[s] from The Beatles’ Penny Lane”. (Kingsley Abbott, https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/playback) The album (see #363) is “a ’60’sContinue reading “Appletree Theatre — “Hightower Square”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 7, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 883) Apple — “The Otherside” This grand ‘68 B-side is an “all-time psych classic[]” (liner notes to the CD comp Chocolate Soup for Diabetics: Vols 1-5) that “beg[ins] with an infectious guitar phrase . . . and [is] propelled by some epic piano,Continue reading “Apple — “The Otherside”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 5, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD Our July 4th Spectacular starts off with the Redcoats — a garage band from Jersey (the English Channel island? Fuhgeddaboudit. I’m talkin’ the State of Springsteen and the Sopranos!). They wanted to — and did — write wonderful Beatlesque songs! Next, from oneContinue reading “July 4th Spectacular! The Redcoats/Paul Revere and the Raiders/Mitch Ryder: The Redcoats — “Sing a Song”, Paul Revere and the Raiders — “Midnite Ride”, Mitch Ryder — “Liberty”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 4, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 879) Hard Meat — “A Song of Summer” A perfect song for summer, a “breezy mid-tempo tune, [a] wonderful mixture of acoustic and electric guitars” (Kevin Rathert, https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2022/11/hard-meat-the-space-between-the-recordings-1969-1970-2022.html) from Hard Meat (see #379), “basically a [Birmingham] hippie outfit who played a brand ofContinue reading “Hard Meat — “A Song of Summer”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 3, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 879) Elvis Presley — “Slowly But Surely” Elvis Presley (#80) used fuzztone before The Rolling Stones? Surely! On the big screen in Fun in Acapulco in ‘63? Surely! “Slowly But Surely” is the “clear standout” on the soundtrack . . . a bitContinue reading “Elvis Presley “Slowly But Surely” — Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 2, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 878) Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon — “Blame It on the Pony Express” OK, this joyous pop soul A-side hit #5 in Ireland, #7 in the UK, #8 in Sweden, #10 in New Zealand, #17 in Australia and #18 in (West) Germany (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Johnson_and_the_Bandwagon).Continue reading “Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon — “Blame It on the Pony Express”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 1, 2023”