Author Archives: georgefishman2

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 885) The Banana Splits — “Doin’ the Banana Split” Here is “an absolutely batsh*t slab of heavy, funky soul [by the Banana Splits!] . . . [I]t is without a doubt a killer, and would probably be sought after if the name onContinue reading “The Banana Splits — “Doin’ the Banana Split”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 7, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 884) The Appletree Theatre — “Hightower Square” A favorite of Johns everywhere (well, at least Lennon and Peel), the Appletree Theatre give us a pop classic that “draw[s] from The Beatles’ Penny Lane”. (Kingsley Abbott, https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/playback) The album (see #363) is “a ’60’sContinue reading “Appletree Theatre — “Hightower Square”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 7, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 883) Apple — “The Otherside” This grand ‘68 B-side is an “all-time psych classic[]” (liner notes to the CD comp Chocolate Soup for Diabetics: Vols 1-5) that “beg[ins] with an infectious guitar phrase . . . and [is] propelled by some epic piano,Continue reading “Apple — “The Otherside”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 5, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD Our July 4th Spectacular starts off with the Redcoats — a garage band from Jersey (the English Channel island? Fuhgeddaboudit. I’m talkin’ the State of Springsteen and the Sopranos!). They wanted to — and did — write wonderful Beatlesque songs! Next, from oneContinue reading “July 4th Spectacular! The Redcoats/Paul Revere and the Raiders/Mitch Ryder: The Redcoats — “Sing a Song”, Paul Revere and the Raiders — “Midnite Ride”, Mitch Ryder — “Liberty”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 4, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 879) Hard Meat — “A Song of Summer” A perfect song for summer, a “breezy mid-tempo tune, [a] wonderful mixture of acoustic and electric guitars” (Kevin Rathert, https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2022/11/hard-meat-the-space-between-the-recordings-1969-1970-2022.html) from Hard Meat (see #379), “basically a [Birmingham] hippie outfit who played a brand ofContinue reading “Hard Meat — “A Song of Summer”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 3, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 879) Elvis Presley — “Slowly But Surely” Elvis Presley (#80) used fuzztone before The Rolling Stones? Surely! On the big screen in Fun in Acapulco in ‘63? Surely! “Slowly But Surely” is the “clear standout” on the soundtrack . . . a bitContinue reading “Elvis Presley “Slowly But Surely” — Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 2, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 878) Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon — “Blame It on the Pony Express” OK, this joyous pop soul A-side hit #5 in Ireland, #7 in the UK, #8 in Sweden, #10 in New Zealand, #17 in Australia and #18 in (West) Germany (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Johnson_and_the_Bandwagon).Continue reading “Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon — “Blame It on the Pony Express”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 1, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 877) The Truth — “Baby You’ve Got It” Roger Dopson calls this ’66 B-side a “fearsomely good — if wholly uncharacteristic [for the band] — slice of Freakbeat” (liner notes to the CD comp Freakbeat Freakout) while Vernon Joynson calls it an “uncharacteristicallyContinue reading “The Truth — “Baby You’ve Got It”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 30, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 876) The Cops ‘n Robbers — “I’ve Found Out” This ‘65 B-side is a “Real UK Beat Group gem, a Subtle Soulful Ballad Gem with a Lotta Magic, Dreamy Psych mood.” (Vintage Vinyl Via Valves, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvybezASxLk) It inexplicably starts with a musical quoteContinue reading “The Cops ‘n Robbers — “I’ve Found Out”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 29, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 875) Tim Dawe — “Junkie John” This “catchy, psychedelic folk-rock tune” (Craig Harris, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tim-dawe-mn0001559315/biography) by a future nuclear physicist was a “masterpiece” from “a superb debut, full of psychedelic folk rock with lots of organ, harpsichord and brilliant acid guitar”. (Stephane Rebeschini, https://www.donlope.net/fz/notes/penrod.html).Continue reading “Tim Dawe — “Junkie John”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 28, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 874) Tina & David Meltzer — “Hungry” Yesterday I featured a lovely song off of Serpent Power’s sole LP, and today we turn to Tina & David’s solo LP, not 69’s Poet Song, but rather the one that stayed in the can forContinue reading “Tina & David Meltzer — “Hungry”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 27, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 873) Serpent Power — “Up and Down” This “gorgeous” (Alec Paleo, liner notes to the CD comp Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets: 1965-1970) and “winsome . . . lost [folk rock] classic” (David Fricke and Robert Christgau, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/50-essential-albums-of-1967-198515/the-beach-boys-smiley-smile-199475/) comesContinue reading “Serpent Power: “Up and Down”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 26, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 872) George Harrison — “I Don’t Want to Do It” Bob Dylan wrote but never recorded this “lost gem” (Andrew Grant Jackson, https://solobeatles.com/2015/06/02/harrison-revives-an-unfinished-gem-by-dylan/) about not wanting to go on the road and leave his family. Dylan gave it to George Harrison, who demoedContinue reading “George Harrison — “I Don’t Want to Do It”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 25, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 871) Nick Garrie — “Stephanie City” Another song about a prostitute (see #41) by Nick Garrie (see also #3, 19, 65, 104, 137, 245, 362, 493), unforgettable, wry and delightful. The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas is one of the great lost albums ofContinue reading “Nick Garrie — “Stephanie City”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 24, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 870) Perpetual Langley — “Surrender” How was this ’66 A-side not a hit?! It is a “rare R&B treat”, “sung . . . with raw passion” (Joe Marchese, https://theseconddisc.com/2017/07/07/anyway-anyhow-anywhere-ace-collects-shel-talmy-productions-from-the-who-david-bowie-more/) by a teenager from Belfast named Perpetual Langley (real name: Mary Langley). And theContinue reading “Perpetual Langley — “Surrender”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 23, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 869) Rare Earth — “Long Time Leavin’” Chris Rizik perfectly sums up Rare Earth in one extraordinary sentence: “Whereas a number of white acts spent the 50s stealing hit blues and soul songs and sanitizing them for pop audiences, Rare Earth largely madeContinue reading “Rare Earth — “Long Time Leavin’”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 22, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 868) Los Saicos — “Fugitivo de Alcatraz” Peru’s Los Saicos (see #746) — the Psychos in English, and, yes, pronounced “psychos” — very well may have been the world’s first punk band. The band was “[p]rimitive to the point of primordial” (Lindsay Hutton,Continue reading “Los Saicos — “Fugitivo de Alcatraz”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 21, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 867) The Original Caste — “Highway” This ‘70 B-side to the Original Caste’s Canadian hit “Mr. Monday” (see #659) is pure pop pleasure that gives the listener a portal into the Fifth Dimension. Band founder Bruce Innis says “I wrote it for DixieContinue reading “The Original Caste — “Highway”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 20, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 866) The Dovers — “What Am I Gonna Do” This is a song in “the pantheon of sixties garage rock classics. . . . [f]ew tracks of the decade are so plaintively innocent, and almost none are so perfect.” (Matt Ryan, http://strangecurrenciesmusic.com/on-distant-stations-the-dovers/) ItsContinue reading “The Dovers — “What Am I Gonna Do”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 19, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 865) The Kinks — “Mr. Pleasant” This “[i]nsanely catchy Music Hall whimsy” (Thomas Martinussen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwpJGewUyYk) by the Kinks (see #100, 381, 417, 450, 508, 529, 606, 623, 753) displays Ray Davies “penchant for sarcasm. Even before the end of the song, with allContinue reading “The Kinks — “Mr. Pleasant”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 18, 2023″