THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,676) The Spectrum — “Portobello Road”
Utterly delightful, “a nice slice of whimsydelia it is” (zabadak, https://www.45cat.com/record/rca1619), “a song about London’s then fashionable street market, which surprisingly failed to chart despite considerable airplay on pirate radio [including Radio London]”. (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited) “Never understand why this wasnt a hit, much played on Radio Caroline in August 1967 – and the Admiral Robbie Dale’s sureshot too!” (Paul Rusling, https://www.45cat.com/record/rca1619) “The record itself was a sly dig at consumerism that was even then nudging in on the counter-culture, hidden in a stately 60s Pop shell – ‘when business starts, the friendship ends’.” (Ian Canty, https://louderthanwar.com/the-spectrum-all-the-colours-of-the-spectrum-album-review/) “Feeling good but at a price”!
As to the Spectrum, Fred Thomas writes:
British pop/rock band the Spectrum were formed in 1964, first going under the name the Group 5 with a lineup of vocalist Colin Forsey, guitarist Tony Atkins, bassist Tony Judd, keyboardist Bill Chambers, and drummer Keith Forsey. After issuing one single in 1965 . . . the band changed its name and achieved a number one hit in Spain with the debut single “Samantha’s Mine,” though the Spectrum would linger in relative obscurity in their home country for the remainder of their existence. Though their songs failed to chart in the U.K., they were featured performing the title song to the popular children’s television program Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, as well as contributing to various film soundtracks. Subsequent singles charted in Spain and Germany, and a self-titled full-length was issued only in Spain in 1969. After some minor lineup changes, the group released full-length The Light Is Dark Enough in 1970 and split up shortly thereafter.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-spectrum-mn0001270069#biography
Ian Canty gives the full Spectrum:
[T]he Spectrum story begins at the very start of the 1960s. Early participants included . . . Charlie Watts, but the band settled itself around singer/guitarist Colin Forsey, lead guitarist Tony Atkins and bass player Anthony Judd. They supported the Beatles in 1963 working under the name of Dale Stevens and the Group Five, but generally busied themselves with live work in and around the capital. . . . [T]heir first recording action was a cheapo LP of covers cut for the European market . . . under the snappier sobriquet Group Five. . . . After a debut single release with the oddly dated, Doo Wop-tinged “Little Girl” on EMI, they were snapped up by RCA, who through some sort of agreement with Screen Gems (“The Monkees” makers) decided that the time was right to repeat the Monkee modus operandi with a British band. Around this time both Colin’s brother Keith came in on drums and keyboard player Bill Chambers . . . also joined the band. Though trumpeting the band as the new Monkees the bands didn’t actually have much in common, the Spectrum being a working group in their own right for 7 years before the bigwigs at RCA “discovered” them. Around this time too came possibly the Spectrum’s biggest break, via a link up with the Gerry/Victoria Anderson “supermarionation” tv series “Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons”. Apparently the Andersons heard the group on the radio and seeing they shared names with the security organisation in the show, decided the Spectrum should record a new end theme for the programme as well as having a Monkees’ like tie-in to the show. This resulted in the band having to wear Captain Scarlet outfits (well it was the 60s!), which meant the odd spectacle of the band being filmed messing about Monkees-style on the Portbello Road (the title of their current single at the time), dressed in their puppet uniforms and driving about in a Mini-Moke.
https://louderthanwar.com/the-spectrum-all-the-colours-of-the-spectrum-album-review/
Discogs adds that:
But their third single, “Headin’ for a Heatwave,” hit number one in Spain, and their fifth single, a cover of “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” reached the top spot in Germany during 1968. The group was also featured in the closing credits of the Gerry Anderson-produced series Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons, singing the title song, but this exposure failed to get them any significant sales and the song was never issued commercially . . . . This early record of mixed success seemed to be nothing up a hiccup in the career of Keith Forsey, who went on to play drums with numerous other artists, in addition to becoming a major songwriter (including co-authoring “Flashdance (What a Feeling)” and “Don’t You Forget About Me”) and producing Billy Idol, Nina Hagen, the Pointer Sisters, and the Psychedelic Furs, among numerous other artists, and writing several movie soundtracks.
1,677) The Gathering — “Portobello Road”
The Gathering’s cover is even better. Pop Archives writes that:
The Gathering had the original single by The Spectrum as a reference, thanks to Perkins’s brother who would ship him the latest singles from England. This wasn’t a slavish copy of the original’s wistful Toytown sound, though: the Aussies made it their own with stronger rhythm and lead vocals.
Kimbo tells us of the Gathering:
The Gathering, formed in 1967, were a covers band from Melbourne. The original lineup was Col Perkins on lead vocal and guitar (ex-The Outlaws, Cherry Stones), Cliff Newby on lead guitar (ex-The Outlaws, The Beavers), John “Hank” Wallis on drums (ex-The Flies with future solo pop star Ronnie Burns [see #1,657]) and Barry Patterson on bass (ex-The Outlaws). Their first single “Portobello Road” was released in 1968 on the Astor label and made the lower end of the charts [#87]. Festival signed them up and their second single “Lovely Loretta” . . . fared much better. They played this song on the ABC show Hit Scene. Their final charting single was “Rosetta” (1972, #21 Melbourne). Two more singles followed but they went nowhere. Other TV shows they appeared on were Uptight, Happening 71 and Turning On. They disbanded in 1973. Wallis and Perkins would later form Wallis and Matilda who had a hit with the Banjo Patterson poem “Clancy Of The Overflow” in 1980.
https://historyofaussiemusic.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-gathering.html
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