Monthly Archives: August 2023

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 939) The Tikis — “Bye Bye Bye” (Warner Brothers single version) Before turning Bizarre, Santa Cruz’s Beatlemaniac Tikis issued three singles, including this gorgeous pop rock confection following in the long tradition of singers warning girls just how much of a jerk theyContinue reading “The Tikis — “Bye Bye Bye” (Warner Brothers single version): Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 31, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 938) Lynne Hughes — “It Didn’t Even Bring Me Down” A barnstorming, horn-infused take on this cool Sir Douglas Quintet Mendocino (see #383) number, from Lynne Hughes’ 70 solo album Freeway Gypsy. Richie Unterberger tells us: Tongue and Groove were something of anContinue reading “Lynne Hughes — “It Didn’t Even Bring Me Down”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 30, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 937) July — “The Way” Sitar-drenched psych — ’68 B-side and track from “one of the most sought-after British psychedelic sixties albums” (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited). “I stumbled upon this kinda by accident, and HOLY SH*T. Mind. Blown”. (amandabartelmey3458, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86dDqwgJDmk)Continue reading “July — “The Way” (single version): Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 29, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 936) The Invaders — “Cryin All Night Long” If you want to know what is so damn endearing about 60’s garage rock bands, you could do worse than learn about Omaha, Nebraska’s Invaders. They released only one single, financed by the lead singer’sContinue reading “The Invaders — “Cryin All Night Long”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 28, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 935) T. Rex — “Beltane* Walk” The last song (on the first side) of T. Rex’s last album before Electric Warrior, released in the last month of the 60’s (December 1970), is appropriately this “charming little ditty” (Tim Cooper, https://www.eatsdrinksandleaves.com/t-rex-beltane-walk/) — Marc Bolan’sContinue reading “T. Rex — “Beltane Walk”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 27, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 934) The Holy Ghost Reception Committee #9 — “Rise Up” Wonderful “jangling Byrds styled Folk-Rock” (Psychedelic Rock ‘n’ roll, https://psychedelic-rocknroll.blogspot.com/?m=1) by kids at NYC’s Regis (Catholic) High School (see #604). Scott Blackerby says of The Torchbearers — the album from which it isContinue reading “The Holy Ghost Reception Committee #9 — “Rise Up”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 25, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 933) Angel Pavement — “When Will I See June Again” To my ears, this was a surefire power pop hit. In the unforgiving and frequently unfair real world, it was a little noticed ’70 B-side by the UK’s Angel Pavement, whose “elegant mixContinue reading “Angel Pavement — “When Will I See June Again”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 24, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 932) Jon Blanchfield — “Town of Tuxley Toymaker Part 1” Here is some lovely “fairytale psych” (PsychedelicGuy, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuA1gHcy5vs) written by Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb, and performed by Australia’s Jon Blanchfield (’67), the UK’s Billy J. Kramer (’67), New Zealand’s Shane (’68), andContinue reading “Jon Blanchfield — “Town of Tuxley Toymaker Part 1”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 23, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 931) King Floyd — “Together We Can Do Anything” This is no “Groove Me”, but a sweet love song from “The Soulful Highness[‘s]”* first album. As Jason Ankeny tells us: New Orleans soul singer King Floyd . . . . began singing onContinue reading “King Floyd — “Together We Can Do Anything”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 22, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 930) The Jackpots — “Jack in the Box” I think Freddie Mercury and Jeff Lynne must have been big fans of Gothenburg, Sweden’s Jackpots (see #83), cause this “tripped out classic pop psike gem” (https://www.last.fm/music/The+Jackpots/+wiki) sounds “like a mashup of ELO and Queen”Continue reading “The Jackpots — “Jack in the Box”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 21, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 929) The Hep Stars — “Spinning, Spinning, Spinning” How many degrees of separation are there between ABBA and sunshine pop wunderkind Curt Boettcher (see #397, 506, 586, 662, 810)? How about one! Before ABBA, Benny Andersson was already a star, a Hep Star!Continue reading “The Hep Stars — “Spinning, Spinning, Spinning”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 20, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 928) Dogfeet — “Sad Story/Reprise” This is an “attractive atmospheric ballad” (John Dug, https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x10qa23) alright. It is also haunting and disquieting — in a good way! The Shrewsbury prog/heavy psych band (see #593) deserved much better than it got. Last.fm tells us that:Continue reading “Dogfeet — “Sad Story/Reprise”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 19, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 927) Ten Wheel Drive Featuring Genya Ravan — “Tightrope” From the opening bass groove and hand claps, you know this is going to be special. “[F]ive-minutes-and-ten-seconds of psychedelic blues-jazz-funk. This is the sound Janis Joplin would refine for her Kozmic Blues experience”. (JoeContinue reading “Ten Wheel Drive Featuring Genya Ravan — “Tightrope”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 18, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 926) The Attack — “Lady Orange Peel” ’68 B-side was the group’s final attack — “a nice, sultry psych-tinged number” (Mike Stax, https://ugly-things.com/the-attack-an-interview-with-richard-shirman/), on the heavier and trance-like side. Vernon Joynson says the Attack “played a form of guitar-driven mod-rock [and] were oneContinue reading “The Attack — “Lady Orange Peel”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 17, 2023”

The song starts at the 13:24 mark on Mindrocker, Vol. 12. THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 925) Rock’n’Roll Gypsies – “(It’s a) Love-In” After listening to this gentle paean to love-ins for the first time, I had a sneaking suspicion it is a hilarious, but also a bitContinue reading “Rock’n’Roll Gypsies – “(It’s a) Love-In”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 16, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 924) David McNeil — “Space Plane” This is not your daddy’s “Leaving on a Jet Plane”! ‘68 UK B-side by Marc Chagall’s son is “a wholly surreal and twisted mantra and one of the more original and eccentric releases of the psychedelic era.”Continue reading “David McNeil — “Space Plane”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 15, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 923) The Tokens — “The Bathroom Wall” This is 1968’s greatest rock and roll tribute to public bathrooms, where “[p]eople from the finest homes come to write their finest poems” (though the Stones would have put up a fight had they been allowedContinue reading “The Tokens — “The Bathroom Wall”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 14, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 922) Syd Barrett: “Two of a Kind” (Peel Session) A few nights ago, I saw the sad, wistful Syd Barrett doc Have You Got It Yet. While it provides terrific insights into Syd, he still remains an enigma to me.* I do loveContinue reading “Syd Barrett: “Two of a Kind” (Peel Session): Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 13, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 921) Paper Bubble — “You’re Feeling Sleepy” A hypnotic baroque lullaby. A response to the Beatles’ “I’m Only Sleeping” or S&G’s “Feelin’ Groovy”? David Wells says that Paper Bubble’s first album Scenery (see #626) was composed of “elegiac, post-psychedelic baroque pop soundscapes .Continue reading “I Shall Be Released: Paper Bubble — “You’re Feeling Sleepy”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 12, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 920) Pete Dello and Friends — “There Is Nothing I Can Do For You” Delightful whimsy from a Honeybus-man’s holiday. Pete Dello tells us that “[T]his really is a joke song. Lewis Carroll type stuff I enjoyed writing for my girl friend atContinue reading “Pete Dello and Friends — “There Is Nothing I Can Do For You”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 11, 2023”