THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,908) The Electric Banana/The Pretty Things — “It’ll Never Be Me”
This “has . . . tasty guitar from [Dick] Taylor and would’ve fit nicely on The Pretty Things’ classic album S.F. Sorrow.” (https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2019/11/the-electric-banana-the-complete-de-wolfe-sessions-2019.html) And it’s a hoot seeing the Electric Banana (see #94, 251, 731, 892, 1,001) perform it during a groovy party scene in the classic Swinging London comedy What’s Good for the Goose, in which a “middle aged banker picks up two young free minded women on his way to a banker’s convention and falls head over heels for one of them.” (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065205/plotsummary/?ref_=tt_stry_pl) The EB recorded “It’ll Never Be Me” and five other songs for the movie. David Wells writes that:
Blasting Hammond keyboards, swathes of blistering guitar leads and powerful lead vocals augmented by those soaring, surging harmonies and cryptic, highly literate lyrics — the Banana were clearly working at the peak of their creative powers. . . . “It’ll Never Be Me”, “Blow Your Mind”, “Alexander” (see #94) and the awesome “Eagle’s Son” (see #731) . . . were simply irresistible . . . as important a document of English acid rock as Sgt. Pepper, Piper at the Gates of Dawn or S.F. Sorrow . . . . In the parallel universe that they inhabited, The Electric Banana were superstars.
liner notes to the CD comp The Complete De Wolfe Sessions
The EB, of course, was the Pretty Things (see #82, 153, 572, 1,327) in disguise, making some much needed money by providing songs for films trying to be hip. Wells explains:
[The] Swinging London phenomenon had led to a profusion of groovy movies chronicling life [there] that, naturally enough, required an appropriately switched-on soundtrack for added verisimilitude. However, film companies soon discovered that the cost of licensing bona fide hit singles was prohibitively high [so, the music library de Wolfe] started searching for a young, vibrant pop group who were capable of providing an authentic but relatively inexpensive sound.
liner notes to CD comp The Complete De Wolfe Sessions
Richie Unterberger elaborates:
Asked point blank “did you record them only for the money?” in a 1985 issue of the Gorilla Beat fanzine, singer Phil May replied, “Yeah, because we needed money at that time to continue what we were doing. I mean, nobody gave us any money for S.F. Sorrow, we had it about pencil written, then [guitarist] Dick [Taylor] and I were quite broken at that time and we didn’t get large wages from the records.” Asked Gorilla Beat, “Did they come and say: ‘Write the music for this or that sequence?” May responded, “Every time we made a record and felt we had some songs left over, the guys came into the studio and bought the recordings we didn’t need. These songs were used in films, television series and so on. We were earning good money. This helped us to stay alive, really. What happened was, somebody would ring up de Wolfe saying: ‘Have you got some music backing for us. We got a sequence in a bar where a gangster shoots down another gangster and there is a jukebox playing in the background. So, what can I have?’[“]
http://www.richieunterberger.com/wordpress/the-electric-banana-the-pretty-things-by-any-other-name/
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term Like Thisfamiliar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (“relating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainment” — dictionary.com).
The playlist includes all the “greatest songs of the 1960’s that no one has ever heard” that are available on Spotify — now over 1,200 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.
Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! / Off the Charts: 60s Rock Revelations😊 