THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,125) The Idle Race — “Hurry Up John”
“Then she rolled me up and said I look very strange without a head”
From the Idle Race’s (see #30, 343, 491, 1,246) second LP — The Idle Race — “a brilliant ‘tour de force‘” that “featur[es] an extraordinary guitar riff that mimics the sound of Scottish bagpipes”. (Music for the Bunker, https://musicaparaelbunker.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-idle-race.html?m=1) “Guitars that sound like bagpipes were not invented by Stuart Adamson of the Skids and Big Country. Jeff Lynne did it first.” (frederickharrison3085, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=02Sv_aHT7Qc&list=RD02Sv_aHT7Qc&start_radio=1&pp=ygUbdGhlIGlkbGUgcmFjZSBodXJyeSB1cCBqb2huoAcB0gcJCTUMAYcqIYzv&ra=m)
“Hurry Up John has been called a “phased freakbeat rocker” (Jazz Rock Soul, https://jazzrocksoul.com/artists/the-idle-race/), “crazed, proto-psychobilly” (Lejink, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/idle-race/idle-race/), even “quite unnerving”. (John Reed, liner notes to the CD comp Insane Times: 25 British Psychedelic Artyfacts from the EMI Vaults) Matthew CordIn writes:
Man do I love the deep-pitched guitar solo that blasts the final song onto the scene, a true rock entrance. Then the drums join with equal fervor. When the band sings a surreal song in unison, it hits you with its pop-like harmony and punk energy. The composition is effortless yet somehow also mysterious and wonderful… equal parts mind-blowing and familiar. Lastly, the song naturally shifts into its grand ending and leaves you with a winking, final two notes. “Hurry Up John” is a timeless garage rock song that feels like it could have inspired bands like Nirvana.
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/idle-race/idle-race/
As to the LP, Music for the Bunker writes:
[T]he melodies, arrangements, and production surpass the quality of their previous work, a difficult feat, but one achieved by Lynne and her band. The melodic aspect is particularly brilliant on this album; every track is flawless. As the record spins, one impressive melody follows another.
https://musicaparaelbunker.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-idle-race.html?m=1
James Turner gives a bit of the early history of the Idle Race:
The Birmingham music scene in the early to mid ‘60s was incredibly incestuous, and when Roy Wood, guitarist and vocalist with Mike Sheridan [see #1,299, 1,606] and the Nightriders, left to join embryonic Brumbeat supergroup the Move (so named because all members had ‘moved’ to join this new group), the Nightriders found a new guitarist, lost Mike Sheridan and . . . found themselves advertising for a replacement [guitarist] . . . . Eighteen year old guitarist Jeff Lynne . . . was the successful applicant, and . . . the band found themselves putting [him] front and centre . . . . [T]he band’s name evolved from The Nightriders to the more pastoral Idyll Race before settling on The Idle Race, partly because Jeff didn’t want the 9-5 . . . . Jeff [said]“My Mum would come bounding up the stairs, ‘ Come on you lazy bugger, get out, get to work!’ This time she came up, I was holding the sheets down going ‘ Nope, listen, Mum I’ve never got to get up, ever again. I’m a professional musician now ‘ That was the greatest feeling because I was so fed up with (bang, bang, bang) ‘Get up you lazy git!’” . . .
I’ll now let Mark Deming take over:
Unsung heroes of the U.K. pop-psych community, the Idle Race earned plenty of critical acclaim but little commercial success during their 1966 to 1972 lifespan. They did, however, help launch the careers of several British rockers of note, most significantly Jeff Lynne, who first presented his talents to the world on the group’s 1968 debut album, The Birthday Party. The band also introduced Lynne to Roy Wood, paving the way for their later work together in the Move and Electric Light Orchestra. . . . [T]hey evolved from an early rock combo to a beat group, then into a psychedelic band, and fading into tough, working class rock. Full of sparkling melodies and imaginative arrangements that made exceptional use of the then-novel Mellotron, . . . The Birthday Party was an album whose impact and influence would far outstrip its meager sales figures, and Lynne stepped up to produce their self-titled second LP in 1969. . . . The quartet of Jeff Lynne, Greg Masters, Dave Pritchard, and Roger Spencer found themselves in a changing musical landscape where beat music and R&B were giving way to newer and more innovative sounds, and Lynne’s Beatlesque songwriting reflected the trends towards psychedelic pop. . . . The American label Liberty Records was launching a U.K. branch, and after Roy Wood put the Idle Race in touch . . . the group became one of the new label’s first signings. . . . [T]he Idle Race released their debut single, “Imposters of Life’s Magazine” . . . in October 1967, and “Here We Go ‘Round the Lemon Tree” . . . followed shortly after, though a recording of the A-side by the Move led to the Idle Race’s version stalling on the charts. . . . The Birthday Party was released in October 1968, and quickly earned praise for its witty and sparkling tunes and inventive arrangements and production, many taking advantage of the Mellotron keyboard. . . . Liberty’s misguided promotion of the release and their failure to issue a single from the album after it arrived in stores prevented [it] from finding an audience. After th[is] commercial disappointment . . . Lynne was offered an opportunity to join the Move by Roy Wood, but Lynne chose to stick with his group and work on their second album. Lynne was producer on 1969’s The Idle Race, which put the band’s music into a slightly less eccentric but similarly pop-friendly context. Despite another set of strong reviews, [it] fared no better commercially . . . and Liberty chose not to release it in the United States. Lynne grew increasingly frustrated with the group’s failure to score a hit, and when Wood reached out to him again in early 1970 with another offer to join the Move, he accepted.
In the interest of space, I’ll omit a discussion of the post-Lynne IR.
Top Forty Most Viewed Posts
- Paul McCartney — “Heather” (unreleased) (March 5, 2022)
- Buffalo Springfield — “Flying on the Ground Is Wrong” (July 3, 2026)
- Harumi — “What a Day for Me” (June 3, 2022)
- Bob Dylan and the Band — “Kickin’ My Dog Around” (unreleased) (April 1, 2024)
- Maurice Gibb — “Give Me a Glass of Wine” (unreleased) (May 29, 2022)
- George Harrison — “I Don’t Want to Do It” (unreleased) (June 25, 2023)
- The Action — “In My Dream” (unreleased) (March 24, 2022)
- The Millennium — “The Island” (March 28, 2022)
- The Kinks a.k.a. The Toll-Puddle Martyrs — “Nellie Bligh” (April 1, 2026)
- Do You Want to Know a Secret? — Beloved Songs Actually Written by Lennon and/or McCartney #1: John Lennon — “Bad to Me” (unreleased), Paul McCartney — “Goodbye” (unreleased), John Lennon — “I’m the Greatest” (unreleased) (July 18, 2022)
- The Ides of March — “You Wouldn’t Listen” (January 6, 2024)
- Herman’s Hermits — “Dream on”/”I Gotta Dream On” (October 19, 2022)
- The Rolling Stones — “My Obsession” (September 12, 2022)
- Paul McCartney — “Love in the Open Air”, John Lennon — “Child of Nature” (unreleased), The Idle Race — “Days of Broken Arrow” (August 7, 2021)
- Barry Ryan Remembrance Special Edition: “Eloise”, “Why Do You Cry My Love”, The Hunt” (November 28, 2021)
- Focal Point — “Miss Sinclair” (unreleased), Factory — “Path Through the Forest”, The Honeybus — “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” (July 28, 2021)
- I Get My Kicks on Route 666 Special Edition: Charles Manson — “Cease to Exist”, The Beach Boys — “Never Learn”, David Bixby — “666” (December 12, 2022)
- The Remo Four/George Harrison — “In the First Place” (unreleased) (December 22, 2024)
- Paul & Barry Ryan — “Pictures of Today” (December 16, 2022)
- Maurice’s Gibb-lets Special Edition: Maurice Gibb — “The Loner” (unreleased), Maurice Gibb — “Tough and Understand Love” (unreleased), Tin Tin — “She Said Ride” (February 13, 2022)
- Genesis — “I Am Very Wrong” (March 19, 2023)
- The Bee Gees — “I.O.I.O.” (September 27, 2022)
- The Spiders — “Day Tripper (April 1, 2022)
- Maurice Gibb — “Railroad” (June 14, 2023)
- Public Nuisance — “Strawberry Man” (unreleased) (July 31, 2024)
- The Kinks — “Shangri-La” (May 15, 2022)
- The Beatles — “If You’ve Got Trouble” (unreleased) (June 30, 2024)
- The Bee Gees — “If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else” (January 1, 2024)
- The Humblebums — “Her Father Didn’t Like Me Anyway” (June 2, 2023)
- Where’s that Confounded Bridge? Special Edition: Keith Relf — “Shapes of My Mind”, Françoise Hardy — “Empty Sunday” (July 13, 2022)
- The Rolling Stones — “Downtown Suzie” (unreleased) (November 17, 2024)
- Kinks Kopykats (Bet You Didn’t Know This Was Written by Ray Davies) Special Edition #1 — “This Strange Effect” (unreleased) (October 11, 2022)
- Barry Gibb — “This Time” (April 6, 2022)
- The Bee Gees — “You’ll Never See My Face Again” (September 24, 2023)
- The Majority — “All Our Christmases” (December 25, 2024)
- The Rolling Stones — “Get Yourself Together”/”I Can See It” (unreleased) (March 29, 2022)
- The Aerovons — “World of You”, Jotta Herre — “Penina”, Lee Mallory — “That’s the Way It’s Gonna Be” (August 3, 2021)
- Petticoat and Vine — “Riding a Carousel” (October 21, 2024)
- The Bee Gees — “I Don’t Know Why I Bother with Myself” (June 14, 2022)
- The Rolling Stones/Gene Pitney — “Andrew’s Blues” (unreleased) (March 13, 2022)
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 familiar 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 1,600 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.
