Author Archives: georgefishman2

412) The Dave Clark Five — “Maze of Love” This ‘68 B-side and album track is a psychedelic romp by a band not known for their plunges into altered states. But they pull it off like the true professionals they were (see #208, 320, 411). Beverly Paterson raves that: Although the Dave Clark Five neverContinue reading “The Dave Clark Five — “Maze of Love”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 12, 2022″

411) Dave Clark Five — “Your Turn to Cry” “Your Turn to Cry” is a ’65 B-side and album track on two albums. I love the Dave Clark Five, for their glorious hits and underappreciated ballads (see #208, 320), like today’s song. It appears that at least at one time, the band had a moreContinue reading “Dave Clark Five — “Your Turn to Cry”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 11, 2022″

410) New Colony Six — “Love You So Much” Another Chicago classic, this cute/sweet romantic A-side with “jangly proto-power pop guitar and . . . helium-enriched [and possibly-sped up] vocals” (Jeff Jarema’s liner notes to the The New Colony Six at the River’s Edge comp) was released at the end of ’66. It reached #2Continue reading “New Colony Six — Love You So Much”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 10, 2022″

409) The Buckinghams — “Song of the Breeze” Wonderful, wistful ‘68 B-side and album track by Chicago legends the Buckinghams. A song of the breeze for the Windy City. Bull Dahl writes that: Backing Dennis Tufano’s buoyant lead vocals with prominent harmonies and punchy soul-styled brass, the group came across the wistful “Kind of aContinue reading “The Buckinghams — “Song of the Breeze”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 9, 2022”

408) Hat & Tie — “Finding It Rough” This ’67 B then A-side is an “absolutely classic fuzz guitar driven slice of British psychedelia from 1967 [and a]stoundingly obscure”(https://bestmusicofalltime.wordpress.com/2020/08/02/hat-and-tie-finding-it-rough-1967/) Another sad song with a buoyant melody — I’m finding it irresistible. David Wells’s* liner notes to the Let’s Go Down and Blow Our Minds compContinue reading “Hat & Tie — “Finding It Rough”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 8, 2022”

407) The Sorrows — “Take a Heart” Primal freakbeat — as the Nuggets II comp says: “Compelling. Unusual. There was no precedent for [it] when . . . released in August 1965. The throbbing bass-and-drum pattern pulsates with sexual tension, egged on by spiky guitar outbursts, while [the] vocals drip with menace and foreboding. .Continue reading “The Sorrows — “Take a Heart”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 7, 2022”

406) The Perth County Conspiracy — “Lace and Cobwebs” CitizenFreak: The PCC was “[a] true legend of . . . psych-folk rock”. http://www.citizenfreak.com/titles/295575?fbclid=IwAR1i6ppj2qI_l68lfBp0bqNSFUFwxlN3qmVROJO_bf0J0OaKd36s55xzi_k. And its “Lace and Cobwebs” is as beautiful as can be. But where did the PCC come from? Michelle Dionne, Dawn Edwards and Jaimie Vernon write that: Taking their name from theContinue reading “The Perth County Conspiracy — “Lace and Cobwebs”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 6, 2022”

405) Chuck Jackson — “Lonely Lonely Man Am I” From Jackson’s ’68 Motown album Chuck Jackson Arrives, this is a great song by Norman Whitfield, Eddie Holland, and Eddie Kendricks. The Velvelettes did it first as “Lonely Lonely Girl Am I.” The Tenptations did it. Jimmy Ruffin did it. But only Chuck Jackson made itContinue reading “Chuck Jackson — “Lonely Lonely Man Am I”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 5, 2022”

404) Prufrock — “Whisper of Love” From ’67, this song is a truly wonderful plea for reconciliation to a departed lover. RD Records, the label that enabled us to hear this treasure 40 years after its recording, proclaims of the album it rescued that: Here is another lost and unreleased at the time Californian psychedelicContinue reading “Prufrock — “Whisper of Love”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 4, 2022”

403) The Sunsets — “The Hot Generation” Hot ’67 A-side was the theme to the Australian surfing movie The Hot Generation. Mike Stax says the song “is a relentlessly upbeat celebration of [Australia’s] surfin’ lifestyle”. (http://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2012/07/various-artists-hot-generation-1960s.html?m=1) Richie Unterberger describes it as “surf-cum-mod.” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/hot-generation-1960s-punk-from-down-under-mw0000660957) The Pandoras did a fantastic 80’s punk version. Anyway, the Sunsets wouldContinue reading “The Sunsets — “The Hot Generation”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 3, 2022”

402) John Williams — “Can’t Find Time for Anything Now” No, not that John Williams — I’m talkin’ about the one who hung out with Jimmy Page! This ’67 B-side is exquisite baroque pop and I think we can all relate (even though David Wells’ liner notes to the Come Join My Orchestra comp ofContinue reading “John Williams — “Can’t Find Time for Anything Now”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 2, 2022”

401) The Spiders — “Day Tripper” Joe Cocker, please step aside. Richie Havens, please sit down. Noel and Liam, please get outta here and bicker somewhere else. Elton, stage left (Happy birthday, though!). Today, I am featuring the greatest cover version of a Beatles song ever recorded — “Day Tripper” by the Spiders. And I’mContinue reading “April Fool’s Day Special Edition: The Spiders — “Day Tripper”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 1, 2022”

400) The Sunliners — “The Land of Nod” This ‘67 A-side “is a superb club dancer psychedelic number, full of fuzz and ‘out there’ lyrics”. (https://www.popsike.com/THE-SUNLINERS-Well-One-Land-Of-Nod-Detroit-rarity/360302205425.html) Yes, indeed, it is. The song is spectacular. Who were the Sunliners and where did they come from? Ken McIntyre explains: In the beginning they were The Sunliners, aContinue reading “The Sunliners — “The Land of Nod”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 31, 2022”

399) McCully Workshop — “Head for the Moon” “Head for the Moon” is the third song I have featured that was inspired (or, possibly, incensed) by Neil Armstrong’s landing on the moon. The first — “Whitey on the Moon” by Gil Scott-Heron (see #21) — remarked: “I can’t pay no doctor bill, (but Whitey’s onContinue reading “McCully Workshop — “Head for the Moon”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 30, 2022”

398) The Rolling Stones — “Get Yourself Together/I Can See It” One of the greatest Stones songs never to be released — a Between the Buttons outtake. Martin Elliott calls it a “lively rock and roll jaunt” (The Rolling Stones Complete Recording Sessions 1962-2012) and it is #1 on Ultimate Classic Rock’s list of unreleasedContinue reading “The Rolling Stones — “Get Yourself Together/I Can See It”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 29, 2022″

396) The Millennium — “The Island” A 60’s sunshine pop* supergroup creates Begin, the greatest sunshine pop album ever recorded, one that costs more to make than any other album from ’68 other than The Beatles (the White Album) — and no one buys it (at least until era of CD reissues). As Richie UnterbergerContinue reading “The Millennium — “The Island”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 28, 2022”

396) Scott Walker — “The Old Man’s Back Again (Dedicated to the Old Stalinist Regime)” Scott Walker wrote this song in response to the Soviet-Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in ‘68 — with the “Old Man” of course being Josef Stalin. I can’t think of a more appropriate song to feature today — it appearsContinue reading “In Dedication to the People of Ukraine (and Imprisoned Resisters in Russia): Scott Walker — “The Old Man’s Back Again (Dedicated to the Old Stalinist Regime)”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 27, 2022”

395) Brazilia 70 and the Chico Lopez All-Stars — “Trouble Spot” This instrumental is “[e]xtremely funky fuzzed-out UK rocky jazz with a Mexican twist that works on the dancefloor!” (https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/sjr/product/brazilia-70-and-the-chico-lopez-all-stars-south-of-the-border-1970) Abaraphobia calls the song a “wonderful electric guitar freakout”. (https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/417427459182558852/) As to the label, Discogs informs us that: Deacon was a short lived British budgetContinue reading “Brazilia 70 and the Chico Lopez All-Stars — “Trouble Spot”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 26, 2022”

394) The Searchers — “Sea of Heartbreak” Country star Don Gibson’s original recording of Paul Hampton and Hal David’s classic song was a bona fide hit in the summer of ’61 — #2 on the country chart, #21 overall in the U.S. and #14 in the UK. But it was unbearably schmaltzy. There have beenContinue reading “The Searchers — “Sea of Heartbreak”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 25, 2022”

393) The Action — “In My Dream” Stunning song from the lost demos of the Action, former mods who put down some incredible psychedelic sounds in ’67 in hopes of securing a new record deal. Thankfully, the demos were finally officially released in ’02 as Rolled Gold. As to our pick of the litter, DominiqueContinue reading “The Action — “In My Dream”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 24, 2022”