Monthly Archives: December 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,446) Boudewijn de Groot — “Apocalyps”/“Apocalypse” The Dutch Master Boudewijn de Groot (see #107, 161, 305, 989, 1,216) — and I’m not talking cigars — is a “[t]roubadour with a Dylan-esque impact, who shoots to fame in [the Netherlands in] the ’60s andContinue reading “Boudewijn de Groot — “Apocalyps”/”Apocalypse”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 31, 2024″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,445) The Remo Four* — “Live Like a Lady” The Remo Four (see #1,437) give us Liverpool’s (by way of Hamburg) “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)”: a raucous, infectious and “really nifty gender-bending original . . . its growling guitar sweetened by organ”.Continue reading “The Remo Four — “Live Like a Lady”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 30, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,444) Kippington Lodge — “Shy Boy” A delightfully twee Tomorrow (see #72) song done best and first by Kippington Lodge* (see #672), 1,156), about a boy whose “hair is never right His acne looks a sight The clothes he buys don′t fit tightContinue reading “Kippington Lodge — “Shy Boy”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 29, 2024″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,443) Norma Tanega — “Jubilation” Norma Tanega was so much more than “Walkin’ My Cat Named Dog”. From a free spirit if there ever was one comes “a free love [folk] anthem” (Quinn Miller, https://www.hoodedutilitarian.com/2014/11/hey-people-come-free-with-me-new-voices-from-1966/) that’s “a sexy-as-hell come-on in which an oboeContinue reading “Norma Tanega — “Jubilation”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 28, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,442) The Candlelight — “That’s What I Want” This ’67 A-side is a marvelous UK folk-rock/baroque pop take on an oft-recorded John Carter (see #1,201, 1,304)-Ken Lewis beat nugget — “[t]he old Carter-Lewis ‘standard’ brushed up and given a cool Pop-sike treatment”. (linerContinue reading “The Candlelight — “That’s What I Want”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 27, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,441) The Seeds — “Gypsy Plays His Drums” (live at Merlin’s Music Box) The supremely seedy Sky Saxon and the Seeds (see #116, 446) “combined the raw, Stonesy appeal of garage rock with a fondness for ragged, trashy psychedelia” (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-seeds-mn0000500664/biography), andContinue reading “The Seeds — “Gypsy Plays His Drums” (live but not really at “Merlin’s Music Box”): Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 26, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,440) The Majority — “All Our Christmases” Written by Barry, Robin and Maurice but never released at the time by the Bee Gees, this delightful Christmas song is “[a] very rare mixing of two different genres, pop/rock and the waltz!”, yet it “[w]orksContinue reading “The Majority — “All Our Christmases”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 25, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,439) The Honeybus — “Do I Figure in Your Life” The A-side of Honeybus’ (see ##6, 52, 207, 434, 562, 605, 764, 1,100) second single (’67) is “not just their, but virtually anybody else’s finest recorded moment . . . a mini-masterpiece .Continue reading “The Honeybus — “Do I Figure in Your Life”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 24, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,438) Louise Forestier — “From Santa to America” OK, I am not playing this song by the great French Canadian singer Louise Forestier (see #44, 149) on Christmas Day. As best I can make out the lyrics by the French Canadian singer, songwriterContinue reading “Louise Forestier — “From Santa to America”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 23, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,437) The Remo Four/George Harrison — “In the First Place” Noel Gallagher is the one who saved from the cutting room floor this “hidden gem”, an “extremely strong piece of psychedelic pop” that “sounds exactly as though it was a track from theContinue reading “I Shall Be Released: The Remo Four/George Harrison — “In the First Place”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 22, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,436) John Fitch & Associates — “Stoned Out of It” “[J]uggernaut funk” (Sounds of the Universe, https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/product/john-fitch-associates-romantic-attitude-stoned-out-of-it), so funky and groovy, you’ll be stoned out of it just by giving this B-side a spin. An American in London “blends rock and soul withContinue reading “John Fitch & Associates — “Stoned Out of It”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 21, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,435) The Chocolate Watch Band — “Requiem” This UK “pop sike orchestrated masterpiece” (Wilthomer66, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkvl8VoAxbE&pp=ygUgVGhlIGNob2NvbGF0ZSB3YXRjaCBiYW5kIHJlcXVpZW0%3D), a “pop gem with . . . strings, mournful vocals, an addictive melody reminiscent of the early Walker Brothers and moderate studio effects” (sound studio snob (courtesy of Google Translate),Continue reading “The Chocolate Watch Band — “Requiem”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 20, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,434) The Rebels — “Šípková Růženka”/”Sleeping Beauty” A gorgeous baroque pop masterpiece by the Rebels (see #1,324), the title song of “one of the most famous records of Czech big beat” (https://www.blackpoint.cz/rebels-sipkova-ruzenka-lp-cd/ (courtesy of Google Translate)). But, be warned, this is not your uncleContinue reading “The Rebels — “Šípková Růženka”/”Sleeping Beauty”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 19, 2024″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,433) Tempus Fugit — “Come Alive” A soaring, anthemic, feel-good ’69 UK pop rock delight. How was this “light poppy number” (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited) not a hit? Joynson tells us that bassist “Brian Howe and the Horne brothers [actually,Continue reading “Tempus Fugit — “Come Alive”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 18, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,432) Hamilton Camp — “Lonely Place” This otherworldly and “[h]auntingly beautiful [’67 folk number] with psychedelic undertones” (Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7wf9_MB7WA) transports me to places unknown, with “period reverb and . . . eerie, swirling flute”. (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/heres-to-you-mw0000864692) As toContinue reading “Hamilton Camp — “Lonely Place”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 17, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,431) American Express — “When the City Sleeps” A late (’69) garage rock/”psychedelic ode to street walkers!” (Chris Bishop, https://garagehangover.com/americanexpress/) But who was Amex, to whom does the credit belong for this killer 45? Max Waller partially uncovers the mystery: Mani-Fournier [the songwriters]Continue reading “American Express — “When the City Sleeps”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 16, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,430) The Byrds — Everybody’s Been Burned” This ’67 B-side (to “So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star”) and track on Younger Than Yesterday is David Crosby’s “ravishing ballad[]” (David Fricke, liner notes to the CD reissue of Younger ThanContinue reading “The Byrds — Everybody’s Been Burned”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 15, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,429) The Four Tops — “Something’s Tearing at the Edges of Time” The Four Tops “go psychedelic”. (Radiognome322, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/four-tops/changing-times/) Fabulous! “Something’s tearing at the edges of time (Bits and pieces of my soul and my mind)” I have added a Facebook page forContinue reading “The Four Tops — “Something’s Tearing at the Edges of Time”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 14, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,428) Hate — “Corridors” There may be a thin line between love and hate, but I definitely love this prog/hard rock delight from Scotland. Why has no one covered it?! The band has a small but devoted following: Israbox: How is it possibleContinue reading “Hate — “Corridors”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 13, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,427) The Spencer Davis Group — “Time Seller” This was the band’s first A-side post-Steve Winwood, and reached #30 in the UK and #100 in the U.S. It is a “stunningly beautiful song” (783nata, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_zgi91D5Ow) and “was quite innovative and progressive sounding forContinue reading “The Spencer Davis Group — “Time Seller”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 12, 2024”