Author Archives: georgefishman2

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 545) The London Phogg — “The Times to Come” A-side of the Phogg’s only single (’68) is a sunshine pop supernova. As Richard Cameron says, it is a “unique juxtaposition of pop harmony vocals and fuzz guitar psychedelia”, a “kind of a sub-genreContinue reading “London Phogg — “The Times to Come”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 9, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 545) George Harrison — “Circles” Unlike The Who’s “Circles”, George Harrison’s “Circles” is no instant party, but rather a haunting and groovy meditation on reincarnation! George wrote the song in Rishikesh and demoed it — with whispered voice and harmonium — at Esher,Continue reading “George Harrison — “Circles”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 8, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 544) McCully Workshop — “Rush Hour at Midnight” A cool boss’s nova rock track . . . from South Africa?! McCully Workshop, Inc. (’70) was the “superb South African band’s stunning debut album.” (The Forced Exposure website, https://mccullyworkshop.wordpress.com/about/) “Of all the albums we’veContinue reading “McCully Workshop — “Rush Hour at Midnight”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 7, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 543) The Lomax Alliance — “Try As You May” A-side of the Alliance’s only single (’67), which, per Steve Leggett, “combine[s] blue-eyed soul with a kind of British Invasion template.” Why wasn’t this a hit? Leggett also noted that: Jackie Lomax . .Continue reading “The Lomax Alliance — “Try As You May”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 6, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 542) The Garden Club — “Little Girl Lost and Found” One of the greatest early pop psych tunes, sung by the writer of “Windy”, with lyrics perfectly balanced between twee and weeeee! Funky16corners says it ‘s “cool . . . early, sing-song popsikeContinue reading “The Garden Club — “Little Girl Lost and Found”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 5, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 541) Los Blops — “Los Momentos”/(“The Moments”)* A stunning folk rock song from Chile that “would become a classic of Chilean popular music” (http://losblops.blogspot.com/) and for Los Blops — the band’s name “inspired by the sound of a drop of water hitting theContinue reading “Los Blops — “Los Momentos”/(“The Moments”): Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 4, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 540) Rainy Daze — “Blood of Oblivion”/”Fe Fi Fo Fum” Fab ’67 A-side was no Apaculco Gold, but much tastier, a great pop-psych track that deserved so much more. Billboard said in July of ’67 that it was a “hot follow-up” and anContinue reading “Rainy Daze — “Blood of Oblivion”/”Fe Fi Fo Fum”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 3, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 539) Black Merda — “Got Me Running” Here is an incendiary funk-rock out-take from Detroit’s legendary Black Merda (see #134, 467) If the song was a fine wine (which it is, and it gets even better with age), I would say that toContinue reading “Black Merda — “Got Me Running”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 2, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 538) Focal Point — “Hassle Castle” A magical, wistful song by Focal Point, one of my favorite bands of all time (see #4, 43, 198). Focal Point only released one single, but it all started out like a fairy tale when they corneredContinue reading “Focal Point — “Hassle Castle”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 1, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 537) The Rolling Stones — “Blood Red Wine” A great unfinished song from May ‘68, apparently too rich for the Banquet, recorded at Olympic Sound Studios in London (Martin Elliott, The Rolling Stones Complete Recording Sessions 1962-2012). Jim Connelly says that: “Despite theContinue reading “The Rolling Stones — “Blood Red Wine”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 31, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 536) The Rose Garden — “Here’s Today” To my mind, the best thing this Byrds-obsessed L.A. group ever did was “Here’s Today”, the B-side to their final single (and one of their only self-penned songs). Michael Doherty calls it “a really cool folk-rockContinue reading “The Rose Garden — “Here’s Today”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 30, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 535) Le Cirque — “Land of Oz” Leon Russell and Marc Benno made quite a team. First, with Le Cirque and then with Asylum Choir — heavenly psychedelia before Russell found fame. “Land of Oz” was the bodacious Beatlesque A-side of Le Cirque’sContinue reading “Le Cirque — “Land of Oz”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 29, 2022*”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD The perfect songs to welcome in the recession! 534) Nobody’s Children — “Good Times” The A-side of the Children’s only single (’68) is a hilarious garage rock classic from the Irving, Texas band about a hardscrabble life. Or is it? “Well, I workContinue reading “The Recession’s Here! Special Edition: Nobody’s Children/The Artwoods: Nobody’s Children — “Good Times”, The Artwoods — “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 28, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 533) Annie Philippe — “Qu’il Le Dise”/(“Till He Tells Me”) This ’65 B-side is another yé-yé delight from Annie (see #206, 328), with a cool promo video of her frolicking on the ski slopes. Elephantsoundz says: Annie Philippe recorded a bunch of reallyContinue reading “Annie Philippe — “Qu’il Le Dise”/(“Till He Tells Me”): Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 27, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 532) The Haunted — “Vapeur Mauve”/(“Purple Haze”)  OK, this has got to be the greatest cover of “Purple Haze” that I have ever heard — and it is sung in French by an English language Quebec band! As their last vocalist Johnny MonkContinue reading “The Haunted — “Vapeur Mauve”/(“Purple Haze”): Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 26, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 531) Harbinger — “Control” This haunting song from Dave Bixby’s ultra-rare ’70 downer/loner folk album Second Coming (by “Harbinger”) sounds eerily similar to “Space Oddity”, David Bowie’s iconic song from ‘69. Bowie’s lyric is “The planet Earth is blue and there’s nothing leftContinue reading “Harbinger — “Control”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 25, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 530) The Spike Drivers — “Strange Mysterious Sounds” As to the B-side of their second (or third) and last single, Superbillie1 aptly describes it as a little like a collision between doomstruck raga rock and Mamas & the Papas harmonies”. (http://poprunners.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-spike-drivers-60s-folkrocking.html?m=1). “Mysterious Sounds”Continue reading “The Spike Drivers — “Strange Mysterious Sounds”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 24, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 529) The Kinks — “Drivin’” Ray Davies’ magnificent ode to escaping one’s troubles through a drive in the country was the first single off ’69’s legendary concept album Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) — and it failed toContinue reading “The Kinks — “Drivin’”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 23, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 526) The Hellers — “This Brand Is My Brand” 527) The Hellers — “Sixteen Tongues” 528) The Hellers — “Eve of Advertising Destruction” Yesterday, I played the Hellers’ “It’s 74 in San Francisco”, which was an actual — and great — pop psychContinue reading “Mad Men Special Edition — The Hellers — “This Brand Is My Brand”, The Hellers — “Sixteen Tongues”, The Hellers — “Eve of Advertising Destruction”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 22, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 525) The Hellers — “It’s 74 in San Francisco” Back when San Francisco was hale and hearty, hip and Haight, and definitely not yet San Fransicko, this breezy ’68 “enjoyable psychy-sunshine pop” (sf scene, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTDSEO95IT4) delight extolled the city’s weather. But who theContinue reading “The Hellers — “It’s 74 in San Francisco”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 21, 2022”