Author Archives: georgefishman2

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 905) Tony Rivers and the Castaways — “Mr. Sun” Here’s a really neat unreleased in the ‘60s UK pop psych nugget with a total Beach Boys vibe. Maybe if it were named “The Warmth of Mr. Sun” . . . David Wells writesContinue reading “I Shall Be Released: Tony Rivers and the Castaways — “Mr. Sun”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 27, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 904) Fortes Mentum* — “Marrakesh, Pt. 1” This is not your daddy’s “Marrakesh Express”! This exquisite ‘69 B-side by London’s Fortes Mentum has more of a “Charge of the Light Brigade” vibe! Maggie Regan tells us that: Danny Beckerman was a staff writerContinue reading “Fortes Mentum — “Marrakesh, Pt. 1”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 26, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 903) Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band — “Hi Hi Hazel” This hilarious A-side by American expatriate soul stomper Geno Washington and his Ram Jam Band reached #45 in the UK, and jumped an additional three spots to #42 when released asContinue reading “Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band– “Hi Hi Hazel”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 25, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 902) Tangerine Peel — “Talkin’ ‘Bout a New Day” From the pen of ’70s superstar songwriter/producer Mike Chapman comes this ode to mindfulness (starting at 20:54 on the album) with a propulsive groove and the immoral words “I walked to the corner, lookedContinue reading “Tangerine Peel — “Talkin’ ‘Bout a New Day”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 24, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 901) The Strawberry Alarm Clock — “Sit with the Guru” This ’68 A-side (reaching #65) and track from the Strawberry Alarm Clock’s second album (see #127, 272) is “jaunty and poppy, with an aggressive guitar vying for supremacy with the lovely, melodic vocalContinue reading “The Strawberry Alarm Clock — “Sit with the Guru”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 23, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 900) Jon Plum — “Alice” UK baroque splendor! “Alice” is “a heavily orchestrated melancholic pop ballad” (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited) “with [an] intense Barry Ryan-ish vocal and a superb production courtesy of Ray Singer, an acolyte of Mark Wirtz”. (BonContinue reading “Jon Plum — “Alice”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 22, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 899) 1910 Fruitgum Company* — “Mr. Cupid” Not bubblegum — power pop — from 1910 Fruitgum Company, who would rather have been playing Vanilla Fudge anyway! Jason Ankeny tells us: The prototypical bubblegum group, the 1910 Fruitgum Company was the brainchild of BuddahContinue reading “1910 Fruitgum Company — “Mr. Cupid”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 21, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 898) Moby Grape — “Murder in My Heart for the Judge” ’68 B-side and track from the second album Wow is “a tough and funky blues number” Mark Deming, https://www.allmusic.com/album/wow-mw0000780808), “a fabulously hilarious story of being dressed down in a court by aContinue reading “Moby Grape — “Murder in My Heart for the Judge”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 20, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 897) Marmalade — “Kaleidoscope” The Poets (see #47, 86, 223, 489) and Marmalade were Scotland’s greatest bands of the 1960’s. Marmalade’s “Kaleidoscope” is magnificent pop psych — “stupendous and exhilarating” (sara-lorrainegannon8024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KSBhb_ettw), “ transcenden[t] . . . [o]ne of the most overlooked gemsContinue reading “Marmalade — “Kaleidoscope”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 19, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 896) Lemon Fog — “Lemon Fog” The A-side of the first of the Fog’s (see #26) three singles is a “psych-pop flower power masterpiece” (https://www.rockadrome.com/store/lemon-fog-the-the-psychedelic-sound-of-summer-cd.html) “It reached number eight on the regional and local charts in the Houston area.” (Bruce Eder, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-lemon-fog-mn0000091696) EderContinue reading “The Lemon Fog — “Lemon Fog”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 18, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 895) The Lemon Drops — “Talk To the Animals” This is definitely not Dr. Doolittle talkin’ to the animals! It’s a wild psych/garage freakout from some high school kids from a far northern Chicago suburb who became heroes to their classmates when theyContinue reading “The Lemon Drops — “Talk To the Animals”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 17, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 894) Grapefruit — “Lullaby” (unreleased version produced by John Lennon and Paul McCartney) You can’t get more Beatlesque than this: the only song produced by both John Lennon and Paul McCartney, by a band named after Yoko Ono’s book! “In a single session,Continue reading “I Shall Be Released: Grapefruit — “Lullaby” (unreleased version produced by John Lennon and Paul McCartney): Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 16, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 893) The Electric Prunes — “You Never Had It Better” This ’68 B-side is a “dynamic slab of bluesy psych-pop with . . . quite ferocious . . . fuzz and distortion” (Richie Unterberger, http://www.richieunterberger.com/underground.html) and “[t]he fuzz break is nothing but aContinue reading “The Electric Prunes — “You Never Had It Better”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 15, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 892) The Electric Banana — “If I Needed Somebody” From the Electric Banana (see #94, 251, 731), which was the Pretty Things (see #82, 153, 572) in disguise, making some much needed money by providing songs for films trying to be hip. AContinue reading “The Electric Banana — “If I Needed Somebody”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 14, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 891) Dead Sea Fruit — “Time Waits for No One” Take a bite of the Dead Sea Fruit’s “first-rate rocker. . . . [k]icked along by . . . killer drums and nice electric keyboards[,] this one should have been tapped as aContinue reading “Dead Sea Fruit — “Time Waits for No One”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 13, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 890) Cranberry Moustache — “Far from Home” A haunting and hypnotic ’70 A-side from a totally obscure group from Dayton, Ohio called Cranberry Mustache. The Stache was pretty much Bob Steele. A Dayton newspaper from December ’69 had a column by Dan GeringerContinue reading “Cranberry Moustache — “Far from Home”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 12, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 889) Cherry Smash — “Fade Away Maureen” Why this Brit pop psych number wasn’t a hit is beyond me. It’s a “great tune” with an “imaginative arrangement[,] brilliant playing and strong voices”. (Dinnes, Cruickshank, liner notes to the CD comp The Great BritishContinue reading “Cherry Smash — “Fade Away Maureen”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 11, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 885) The Cherry People — “Imagination” An ethereal sunshine pop gem by a band that would rather have been playing hard rock/prog! Rob Fitzpatrick calls the album “really is the most fantastically up-beat and gloriously happy sounding record. . . . So it’s Beatles,Continue reading “The Cherry People — “Imagination”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — June 7, 2023”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 887) Dave Berry — “The Coffee Song” Here is one of Dave’s (see #554, 778) great later pocket symphonies, from ‘68. Richie Unterberger tell us that: Berry’s fourth and final 1960s album was the sound of a man falling behind and out ofContinue reading “Dave Berry — “The Coffee Song”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 9, 2023″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 886) Chuck Berry — “It Wasn’t Me” “As legend, or some old music magazine, has it, an interviewer once asked George Thorogood why he didn’t write more of his own songs, to which he replied ‘Because Chuck Berry already wrote all the f*ckingContinue reading “Chuck Berry — “It Wasn’t Me”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 8, 2023″