Monthly Archives: December 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,831) Information — “Oh Strange Man” Here is “[o]ne of the rarest and best on the Beacon label released in 1969, [a] lovely mellotron soaked slice of psych pop” (happening45, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4zw3U0WXtc) Vernon Joynson says it “is reputed to be good”. (The Tapestry ofContinue reading “Information — “Oh Strange Man”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 31, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,830) Chris Britton — “That Was the Time” Troggs’ guitarist Chris Britton released a little-noticed but stunning solo album, As I Am (see #15, 980), including this little layover at the village green’s bandstand. Is that Chris playing the classical guitar? Dig that arrangement by TroggsContinue reading “Chris Britton — “That Was the Time”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 30, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,829) The British Lion Orchestra — “Big Bare Beat” From the movie Girl on a Motorcycle starring Marianne Faithfull (see #111, 430) and Alain Delon, here is a “[b]ig beaty and grooving to the max – fab!!!!” (narinderdhanjal221, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yap7FwYnQX4) orchestral number written andContinue reading “The British Lion Orchestra — “Big Bare Beat”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 29, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,828) Thoughts and Words — “Back in 1939” Oh so gorgeous UK baroque folk rock. Vernon Joynson says, “[Martin] Curtis and [Bob] Ponton had been the founders and mainstays of Pandamonium [see #115] but, tired of record company inteference, resolved in 1969 to proceedContinue reading “Thoughts and Words — “Back in 1939”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 28, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,827) The Gang of Saints — “Yes, It’s Too Bad” Yes, it’s too badass groovy, with such a slinky badass groove it should have been in a David Lynch movie. Maybe it was! This garage great with “an outstanding bass and lead guitarContinue reading “The Gang of Saints — “Yes, It’s Too Bad”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 27, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,826) Billy Mitchel — “Electronic Dance” This jazz-rock/psych pocket symphony ended up on the soundtrack of Nicolas Roeg’s Australian new wave film Walkabout. It is “[j]azzy folky dreamy hippie goodness” (newarkpsych, https://rateyourmusic.com/account/login), “[a] forgotten slice of late 60s lysergic studio-psych”. (Soul Jazz Records,Continue reading “Billy Mitchel: “Electronic Dance”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 26, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,825) Brian Wilson — “Surf’s Up” Brian Wilson’s greatest achievement? Quite possibly. Rock music’s single greatest achievement? Quite possibly. “Absolutely perfect song. Sometimes I think it’s the best song ever written.” (Versionsound, https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/what-is-it-about-surfs-up-the-beach-boys-song.1228202/) “There is no better song in the history of theContinue reading “Brian Wilson — “Surf’s Up”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 25, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,824) Roberta Flack — “I Told Jesus” Here is Roberta Flack’s (see #61, 701) “quietly spine-tingling” (Richard Williams, https://thebluemoment.com/2025/02/24/roberta-flack-in-london/) “arrangement of the traditional ‘I Told Jesus'[, possessing a] simmering power”. (John Bush, https://www.allmusic.com/album/first-take-mw0000193572) Ethan Iverson writes: “A slow waltz with Flack’s piano andContinue reading “Roberta Flack — “I Told Jesus”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 24, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,823) Tina Charles — “Bo Bo’s Party” Warning: If you are from France, read no further. For a weird, irritating, and “engagingly unconventional” (Jonny Whiteside, https://www.latimes.com/socal/glendale-news-press/tn-gnp-me-melanie-safka-20161004-story.html) song by Melanie that somehow became a number one hit in France* (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie_(singer)) is transformed into aContinue reading “Tina Charles — “Bo Bo’s Party”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 23, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,822) Blues Section — “End of a Poem” This “seminal and ground-breaking [Finnish] band” (Aleksi, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOdXm6rhtRM) with a British singer gives us a wistful and simply gorgeous breakup song in English. “Let me be Set me free” Wigwam tells us (Translation checked byContinue reading “Blues Section — “End of a Poem”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 22, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,821) Vashti Bunyan — “Winter Is Blue” Winter is here, and winter is blue. Vashti’s (see #204, 1770) “haunting 1966 rendering . . . continues to inhabit the season existentially. Culled from an unreleased acetate . . . the track cuts right throughContinue reading “Vashti Bunyan — “Winter Is Blue”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 21, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,820) The Dutch Masters — “The Expectation” This “incredible 60’s Punk Gem” (HemjVic, https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Sj1T661JnYQ&list=RDSj1T661JnYQ&start_radio=1) has an insistent groove that just socks it to you. Bayard writes: [It] is outstanding, mid to uptempo, garage rock with a great beat, performed by sustained Hammond organ,Continue reading “The Dutch Masters — “The Expectation”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 20, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,819) Sunset Love — “Run to the Sun” Here is a real treat. The best sounding version I have ever heard of this haunting, “sweet and slightly spooky” (Dusty Groove, https://www.dustygroove.com/item/215159/Sunset-Love:Run-to-the-Sun) pop psych jewel just landed on YouTube a few weeks ago. ThankContinue reading “I Shall Be Released: Sunset Love — “Run to the Sun”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 19, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,818) Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera — “Mary Jane” Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera (see #375, 688) — EGVO — it sounds like an olive oil, though I doubt any of them were extra virgin! Anyway, here is “dreamy, potfuelled Edwardianism”* (Jan Zarebski, https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/elmer-gantrys-velvet-opera) withContinue reading “Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera — “Mary Jane”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 18, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,817) Duncan Browne — “Alfred Bell” I’ve played the A-side (see #155), here’s the B-side from Duncan Browne (see also #357), one those beautiful souls who was lost to us all too early (in ‘93). “Bell” is “[p]erfect UK Baroque psych folk” (robison5396,Continue reading “Duncan Browne — “Alfred Bell”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 17, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,816) Blue-erebus — “Willowgreen” From ’67’s killer garage of “Thoughts of a Madman” (see #1,268) to ’68’s gentle and whimsical pop psych of “Willowgreen” — what a difference a year made in 1960s’ Mount Airy, North Carolina! The Nomads’ line-up consisted of “LarryContinue reading “Blu-Erebus — “Willowgreen”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 16, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,815) Renato E Seus Blue Caps — “Para me abandonar”/”To Abandon Me” A wonderful track by Renato E Seus Blue Caps (see #1,011), a Brazilian “Young Guard” group specializing in Portuguese versions of Beatles songs. This is no Beatles song, though it doesContinue reading “Renato E Seus Blue Caps — “Para me abandonar”/”To Abandon Me”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 15, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,814) Juan and Junior — “Anduriña” Warning — If you are from Spain, read no further, because songs don’t get more famous than this beguiling and mysterious ballad with a melody for the ages. Baladas Inolvidables De Siempre/Unforgettable Ballads of All Time writesContinue reading “Juan and Junior — “Anduriña”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 14, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,813) Cinnamon — “You Won’t See Me Leaving” This “excellent” (http://www.dustedmagazine.com/features/642) and “infectious” (Kieron Tyler, liner notes to the CD comp Dreambabes Vol. Six: Sassy and Stonefree) UK blue-eyed “bubblegum soul” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/lets-copp-a-groove-lost-uk-soul-1968-1972-mw0000432434) was written by the great Barbara Ruskin (see #1,078,Continue reading “Cinnamon — “You Won’t See Me Leaving”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 13, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,812) The Astral Projection —  “(Astral Exploration) … Overture Dreams, Shadows, And Illusions” For song number 1812, “Overture Dreams, Shadows, And Illusions” by the Astral Projection (see #1,191), is from “one of those weirdly compelling pop albums that could have only emanated fromContinue reading “The Astral Projection —  “(Astral Exploration) … Overture Dreams, Shadows, And Illusions”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 12, 2025”