THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,063) MC Squared* — “Tantalizing Colours”
Get caught in the gossamer web of this “haunting” (Joe Marchese, https://theseconddisc.com/2012/07/26/mc-squared-a-lost-sixties-treasure-unearthed-by-now-sounds/) LA pop-psych production — “an acid trip in sound” (https://theseconddisc.com/2012/07/26/mc-squared-a-lost-sixties-treasure-unearthed-by-now-sounds/) according to band member Michael Clough — from an unreleased “spellbinding lost classic” LP. (Joe Marchese again)
Dusty Groove says of the LP-not-to-be:
Glittering sunshine pop . . . . [A] killer harmony act from late 60s Reprise Records — produced to perfection by Lenny Waronoker, and given the same mix of tight studio and hip undercurrents that you’d find in the hippest of the late 60s Warner generation — that slightly sinister edge that can always make LA pop of the time go a lot deeper than you might expect! . . . a sound that you’d stack proudly next to work by artists like Roger Nichols [see #631, 828, 1,054, 1,332] or Paul Williams [see #24, 1,300] at the time.
https://www.dustygroove.com/item/609830/MC-Squared:Tantalizing-Colours-The-Reprise-Recordings
Horatius Rex adds:
MC Squared — featuring folk renegades from the Back Porch Majority, as well as legendary studio musicians Jim Keltner and Randy Sterling — recorded four exciting singles for Reprise Records during 1967 and 1968. Sounding like a unique hybrid of the Mamas and the Papas [see #1,734] and Jefferson Airplane, the Los Angeles-based quintet failed to generate commercial success, and as a result their long-lost 1968 album has since been confined to the vaults.
Of course, there are haters. Streetmouse writes:
MC Squared is the type of band we used to refer to as ‘plastic people’ during the 60’s, cashing in on the counter culture, heavy on looks and the attitude of the New Christie Minstrels, while drummer Keltner played with the likes of another plastic band, Gary Lewis & the Playboys . . . [The band had] a piercing sound that was certainly not in the same league as Grace Slick or Janis Joplin, often relaying an acid trip vibe, yet only in sound, not from an actual experience. MC Squared was designed as music for older folks who wanted to feel hip, and while their sound may certainly be sunshine pop (sort of) it was not the psych-pop they hinted at. There’s absolutely no reason to own this collection unless you wish to hear the music of older musicians pretending to be ‘with it’.
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/mc-squared/tantalizing-colours-the-reprise-recordings/
Hey, that’s me to a T — I’m older, I want to feel hip, and I wish to hear the music of older musicians pretending to be ‘with it’. I guess you can call me an MC Square!
Joe Marchese:
MC Squared had its roots in the New Christy Minstrels’ sister group . . . The Back Porch Majority. As with the Christies, Randy Sparks kept tight reins over the Majority, and those reins became stifling for two of its members, Michael Crowley and Michael Clough. The friends had developed a songwriting partnership, but there was no place for their original compositions with the Majority. Taking another member, the winsome Linda Carey, with them, the two Michaels impressed Reprise Records A&R man Lenny Waronker enough to receive a contract . . . . Before long, the group had expanded to five members. First came Randy Sterling, who had already proven his considerable ability as an arranger on We Five’s “You Were on My Mind” . . . and would soon assume the producer’s role for the band. Jim Keltner rounded out the group. Then, Keltner was a talented drummer who had played for Gary Lewis and the Playboys; in time, he would become a legendary session man. Ultimately, MC Squared featured Crowley on lead guitar and vocals, Clough on guitar and vocals, Sterling on bass, Keltner on drums and percussion . . . and Carey, on vocals. . . .
https://theseconddisc.com/2012/07/26/mc-squared-a-lost-sixties-treasure-unearthed-by-now-sounds/
* The band’s names is a play on Michael Crowley’s and Michael Clough’s names (and, of course, that Einstein thing).
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