THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,733) Thomas and Richard Frost — “Gotta Find a New Place to Stay”
From another contender for the greatest lost album of the 1960’s — Thomas and Richard Frost’s (actually Thomas and Richard Martin) psych pop classic Visualize (see #209, 211, 247, 385, 595, 775, 967), here is a ’69 B-side that shifts back and forth between being 1) bouncy and vivacious and 2) dirge-like — the story of a down on his luck guy who ends up in jail.
Richard Frost recalls:
We always referred to this song as our The High and the Mighty. Al Capps’ string arrangement on the chorus remined us of the tune John Wayne whistled at the end of that movie. I remember doing this song on The Real Don Steele dance show and noticing that it was a very difficult song to dance to. As I lip-synched the record, I saw the kids were having trouble. I was thinking that choosing this song to perform on a dance show was not one of our better decisions. The last line in the song is “This world is only meant for a sucker!” A girl . . . looked at me with a puzzled expression on her face, as if to say “What the hell are you singing about?” I started wondering the same thing myself!
liner notes to the CD “reissue” of Visualize
Alec Palao says that “[t]he unreleased album Visualize . . . taken with its attendant singles . . . is a sparkling and heartwarming gem of late 1960s pop”. (http://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2013/12/thomas-and-richard-frost-visualize-1969.html?m=1)
Palao gives some background:
[T]he thundering mod sound of the Martins power trio Powder; whose own LP, recorded while the group was based in Los Angeles and employed as Sonny & Cher’s road band, remained frustratingly unissued, and indeed acted as a precursor to the creation of the masterpiece [Visualize]. [A]fter the Powder debacle, the Martins returned to northern California to lick their wounds and demo some more introspective material. . . . [Their] innate . . . pop sensibility lingered in new compositions like “She’s Got Love” [see #211]. It was to be the latter tune that caught the ear of promo man John Antoon, who signed the Martins to his . . . publishing imprint, assumed managerial duties and got the duo signed to Imperial Records under the nom de disque Thomas & Richard Frost. As a single, the simple, catchy “She’s Got Love” was to achieve a modicum of success as a turntable hit, reaching only the lower half of the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1969, but with strong regional airplay across the country, upon the back of which the Frosts were able to tour. Back in LA, Rich and Tom made the scene with their pals Rodney Bingenheimer and Frank Zinn, enjoying a brief but eye-opening spell as bona fide pop stars. Plans were big for the Frosts, with a full, lavishly orchestrated, album release, but it was all to fall apart as the follow-up singles stiffed and parent label Liberty/UA decided to wind down Imperial.
The proceedings are imbued with the Zeitgeist of Los Angeles in its last throes of pop innocence, and the Martins heart-on-their-sleeve Anglophilic sensitivity is less derivative then remarkably refreshing, with superbly recorded arrangements that any late 1960s pop fan will cherish.
http://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2013/12/thomas-and-richard-frost-visualize-1969.html?m=1
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
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