Author Archives: georgefishman2

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”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 524) Arthur Conley — “People Sure Act Funny” Arthur Conley was way more than a one (“Sweet Soul Music”) or two (“Funky Street”) hit wonder. His ’68 A-side “People Sure Act Funny” reached #58 (#17 R&B), and, as Lindsay Planer says, was aContinue reading “Arthur Conley — “People Sure Act Funny”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 20, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 523) Hedgehoppers Anonymous — “Daytime” How was this snarling bit of freakbeat not a huge hit, at least in the UK? Its expression of sexual frustration is even more potent than the Stones’ “Satisfaction” because directed at one person. Nick Warburton nails theContinue reading “Hedgehoppers Anonymous — “Daytime”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 19, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD Someone once quipped that many bands could have made their careers off of Lennon and McCartney throwaways. Well, in some cases, they actually did . . . . 520) The Beatles — “Bad to Me” The best thing that Billy J. Kramer andContinue reading “Do You Want to Know a Secret? — Beloved Songs Actually Written By Lennon and/or McCartney #1: The Beatles — “Bad to Me”, The Beatles — “Goodbye”, John Lennon — “I’m the Greatest”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 18, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 519) The Endless — “Tomorrow’s Song” Riveting ‘66 A-side by the Endless, an Ohio garage band formed by two brothers. Sadly, the song talks of not-so-endless love. Buckeyebeat says: The Endless were formed by brothers Jack and Patrick McAfee, who were school students.Continue reading “The Endless — “Tomorrow’s Song”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 17, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 518) Thor’s Hammer — “My Life” “My Life” by Iceland’s Thor’s Hammer entered Valhalla upon placement in the underground garage/freakbeat/psych canon by Nuggets II, which calls it a “wild yet melodic rocker, bursting with harmonies and some crackling fuzz guitar work.” (Mike Stax’sContinue reading “Thor’s Hammer — “My Life”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 16, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 517) The Gordian Knot — “The Broken Down Ole Merry-Go-Round” What do a star college quarterback, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Norman Fell (“Mr. Roper”), Senator Robert Kennedy and Nancy Sinatra all have in common? — the Gordian Knot and a wondrous popContinue reading “The Gordian Knot — “The Broken Down Ole Merry-Go-Round”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 15, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 516) Group 1850 — “Zero” Mystical Dutch space-psych ’68 A-side from Group 1850 — with accordion. And they never did LSD! Per Lenny Helsing: Between 1966 and 1976 Group 1850 blazed an unforgettable path across the Dutch music scene. With mercurial singer/keyboardist PeterContinue reading “Group 1850 — “Zero”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 14, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD Take one fantastic failed solo A-side with one of the greatest bridges of all time by the Yardbirds’ singer and let a French icon incorporate the bridge into an enchanting confection — I’d say that THIS was the greatest Anglo-French alliance that historyContinue reading “Where’s That Confounded Bridge? Special Edition: Keith Relf/Françoise Hardy: Keith Relf — “Shapes of My Mind”, Françoise Hardy — “Empty Sunday”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 13, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 513) Eric Burdon and the Animals — “Year of the Guru” This crazy, and crazy-cool, album track from ‘68 is totally unexpected and seems decades ahead of its time. One YouTube commenter says it was the first rap song. Man, does Eric disContinue reading “Eric Burdon and the Animals — “Year of the Guru”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 12, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 512) Dave Christie — “Penelope Breedlove“ OK, that is Penelope Pitstop, not Penelope Breedlove, but, as Jonathan Calder says, “I can discover nothing about the singer of this, very 1968 song. Even Marmalade Skies calls him ‘the mysterious Mr Christie’.” (http://liberalengland.blogspot.com/2014/01/dave-christie-penelope-breedlove.html?m=1) Christie’s ’68Continue reading “Dave Christie — “Penelope Breedlove”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 11, 2022″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 511) Morning Dew — “Crusader’s Smile” Hypnotic gangsta psych off the Morning Dew’s sole album (‘70). Well, at least their label was owned by a gangster — they’re not in Kansas anymore! Mark Deming says that “songs like hard rocking . . .Continue reading “Morning Dew — “Crusader’s Smile”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 10, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 510) David Ruffin — “The Double Cross” “The Double Cross” is a powerful and heart-rending track from Ruffin’s first solo album, ‘69’s My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me). Of course, Ruffin’s foundational days were with the Temptation. As John LoweContinue reading “David Ruffin — David Ruffin — “The Double Cross”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 9, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 509) The Smoke — “No More Now” Nuggets 2 concludes that this ‘67 Kiwi B-side “features some of the most vicious, overdriven guitar performances ever to be released in the Southern Hemisphere. . . . Brett Tauri’s savage slash ‘n’ burn guitar[,] includingContinue reading “The Smoke — “No More Now”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 8, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 508) The Kinks — “Ring the Bells” Glorious album track from the Kinks’ third album — The Kink Kontroversy (’65). As Andrew Hickey says, it “has one of [Ray] Davies’ loveliest melodic ideas, based around a beautiful acoustic guitar riff”. Of TKK, RichieContinue reading “The Kinks — “Ring the Bells”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 7, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 507) KAK — “Lemonaide Kid” I think someone definitely spiked the lemonade on this gentle but epic psych-folk-rock track from Kak’s only album (’68). Gio Arlotta says that: [“Lemonaide Kid” is] one of the most evocative unknown songs of the late ’60s .Continue reading “Kak — “Lemonaide Kid”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 6, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 506) The Millennium — “I Just Want to Be Your Friend” Sunshine pop went supernova with the Millennium, a 60’s sunshine supergroup that created Begin, the greatest sunshine pop album ever recorded. One of the loveliest songs on the album, and B-side toContinue reading “The Millennium — “I Just Want to Be Your Friend”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 5, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 505) The Liberty Bell — “Look for Tomorrow” Scorching hot ‘68 B-side by Corpus Christi garage band. Bruce Eder talks of the band: With a few breaks, the Liberty Bell might have been America’s Yardbirds — as it worked out, however, the groupContinue reading “The Liberty Bell — “Look for Tomorrow”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 4, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 504) Victoire Scott — “4eme” Victoire’s ‘68 A-side, “The 4th Dimension”, “describes hallucinations following an LSD take” (https://www.last.fm/fr/music/Victoire+Scott/+wiki). Jean-Emmanuel Deluxe proclaims in Yé-Yé Girls of ‘60s French Pop that the song “is a baroque pop masterpiece, a Paris Existentialism-meets-American psych rock kind ofContinue reading “Victoire Scott — “4eme”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 3, 2022”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 503) Serge Franklin — “Exister” This ultra-cool ‘68 A-side by Alain Patrice Amaraggi (AKA Serge Franklin) is the kind of freaky French freakbeat of which we were blissfully unaware. As Mark Deming says of the comp from which I plucked it: Conventional wisdomContinue reading “Serge Franklin — “Exister”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — July 2, 2022″