Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! / Off the Charts: 60s Rock Revelations😊

Victor Brady — “Brown Rain”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 8, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,550) Victor Brady — “Brown Rain”

This “[h]eavy psych funk fuzz eruption” is the “[b]est track [on the LP] by this outer space psychedelic psteel drummer. (happening45, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPVHAyvVi48, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1eqvcatY6A) “The combination of fuzz psych and steel drums sounds terrible on paper, but really works well” (happening45, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1eqvcatY6A), a “[w]ild combination of steeldrums with really cranked fuzzed guitar”. (lyrkoss, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/victor-brady/brown-rain/) “You’ll never hear another album like this one — seriously heavy rock with the lead instrument being steel drums.” (Aaron Milenski, The Acid Archives, 2nd Ed.)

I’ll add hypnotic and intoxicating. More steel drum!

If 11:32 is too long for you, check out the 2:45 single version below!

As to the LP, Ashratom warns you to take it in small doses! —

While doing music research, I sure do run across some weirdo albums, and this has to rank among the top tier for that. At its core, New York City based Brady has created a seriously heavy psych album, with non stop fuzz and plenty of ranting ala Frankie Dymon or Gil Scott-Heron. Some of the material is more pop oriented, but still maintains the heavy fuzz throughout. But we haven’t got to the weird part yet. The lead instrument? Caribbean steel drums! Unfortunately after awhile, it begins to sound more like a gimmick rather than as accompaniment. Perhaps it’s the association of the instrument with island vacations, but it’s disorienting when compared with the rest of the instrumentation and atmosphere. I mean, I wouldn’t want to hear someone wailing on harmonica through a similar set of tunes either. One has to take on a different mindset to appreciate this album. It’s quite a find and definitely recommended. Take it in small doses though.

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/victor-brady/brown-rain/

Aaron Milenski is dubious:

Brady’s band is really hot, and for a song or two this unlikely combination of sounds is exhilarating. A full listen to the LP, though, show’s that it doesn’t really work; it clashes and seems more like a novelty than a really good idea, especially on a few long jams. Recommended to the brave among you.

The Acid Archives, 2nd Ed.

Who was Victor Brady? Progarchives tells us:

Victor Brady hails from St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. He moved to mainland USA sometime in the 60’s, and established himself as a popular and influential performer of the steel drum, performing in Central Park on a regular basis. Brady himself doesn’t quite like the notion of coining his instrument of choice a steel drum – for him that is a cruder instrument consisting of a large 55 gallon steel barrel. Brady prefers to call the more refined instrument he plays a steel piano. Anyhow, his steel drum performances were popular, and he soon became something of a tutor of the instrument – many performers of steel drums today can thank Brady or one of his students from the 60’s and 70’s for their skills in performing on the instrument. Although mostly performing live outdoors or in special events, Brady got the chance to see his work issued on albums as well. . . . [A] talent scout from Polydor . . . offer[ed] him a record deal. The result was the album Brown Rain, released in 1970. On this effort his steel piano was blended with a psychedelic form of heavy progressive rock . . . . In 1976 he would release another album . . . . Classic Soul . . . . [His] take on the classical works covered on this album to be a fascinating sonic experience.

https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=5140

Jason adds:

He was a sensation in Harlem, the Borscht Belt, The Village and on the streets of NYC during a period of more than 25 years. Many of you saw him playing everything from calypso to pop to rock to Gershwin to Mozart on his “steel piano” while he jingled the bells on his stamping boots around town. He knew a lot of the heavies from that whole period. He is often credited with having created the modern street music scene in the village and with having been responsible for Central Park’s being traffic free on weekends.

https://danaherbert.blogspot.com/2009/04/village-interviews-victor-brady.html

Oh, and Historian tells us:

“Superman” Victor Brady, who was the main headliner at the Cafe Wha, is the one who got Jimi [Hendrix] on the stage, and it is through Brady’s band that Chas Chandler eventually discovered Hendrix at the Wha. Additionally, there was no group called the “Blue Flames” at the time that Jimi went to the Cafe Wha as an unknown performer, begging for a chance at the stage.

https://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2009/08/cafe-wha-whys-wheres-whos-and-hows.html

Oh, and Victor himself (I think) wrote in 2009 that:

“I changed Central park and I changed the streets of NY, creating a cultural Renaissance that has continued to this day.” I was looking at the television this morning, and noticed they blocked off 42nd street and made it a pedestrian mall. It is all part of the great chain of events which has taken place since the first day I ventured into Central Park, and the streets of NY. My experience in Central Park, drew such large crowds that eventually, Mayor Lindsay turned Central Park on weekends, from automobile traffic to pedestrian mall.

http://danaherbert.blogspot.com/2009/04/village-interviews-victor-brady.html?m=1

Here is the single version:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term familiar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (“relating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainment” — dictionary.com).

The playlist includes all the “greatest songs of the 1960’s that no one has ever heard” that are available on Spotify — now over 1,000 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.

All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.

When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Focal Point — “Love You Forever”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 7, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,549) Focal Point — “Love You Forever”

This lovely ballad was the only A-side, though not the band’s choice, from one of the greatest coulda/shoulda-beens in the annals of British pop psych (see #4, 43, 198, 538, 747, 991, 1,094). “Despite . . . being given a high profile Soho launch party, the single sold only modestly, and . . . [the Beatles-backed] Focal Point returned to Liverpool soon after, never to return to London.” (Stefan Granados, liner notes to the CD comp Focal Point: First Bite of the Apple: The Complete Recordings 1967-68)

It all started out like a fairy tale when two guys cornered Paul McCartney walking his dog Martha in Hyde Park . . . . As guitarist Paul Tennant recalled:

It was . . . the summer of 1967 . . . . We knew which house Paul lived in due to the large amount of girls hanging about outside. . . . Then all of a sudden the gates opened and a mini shoots out and away. Without a second thought we were on his tail, and there in the back of the car was a large sheepdog . . . . I never let it out of my sight . . . [W]e were at Hyde Park, the mini stopped and out stepped Paul, let the dog out and waved to the driver – Jane Asher and he was away walking the dog. . . . [W]e shouted to [Paul] and he turned around. We then told him . . . we were writing songs and didn’t know what to do with them, could he help? . . . [H]e said to us “I could get you a recording contract just like that” and flicked his fingers. “But why should I?” It was then that he proved to be human by planting a finger up his nostril. Dave [Rhodes] laughed and he laughed. Dave then said . . . “Because we are good, our songs are good.” It was just like that, Paul then wrote down . . . a phone number . . . . “Phone this guy and tell him I sent you[]” and he was then gone . . . . [W]hen we got back to Liverpool, Dave and I phoned . . . . Terry [Doran] listened and told us Paul had told him we were going to ring and when could we go down to London. . . . Out came the guitars and we sang four of our best songs . . . . He said he liked our songs and would like to get acetate done of them. . . . “John loves your songs, he is absolutely going mad over them” said Terry. We were . . . gob smacked. He wants me to play them to Brian”. . . . “Brian agrees with John, your songs are fantastic.” . . . Brian . . . suggested that we should form a band [and] call [it] Focal Point.

http://www.marmalade-skies.co.uk/focalpoint.htm

Then it all came crashing down. I often talk about the singer/songwriters and bands that became collateral damage in the collapse of Andrew Loog Oldham’s Immediate Records. Focal Point, however, fell victims to the demise of Apple and the Beatles.

To read about it all, check out Paul Tennant’s fabulous interviews at Marmalade Skies and in Beatles Unlimited (http://www.meetthebeatlesforreal.com/2022/07/focal-point.html?m=1) and bassist Dave Slater’s great interview at the Strange Brew: https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/interviews/dave-slater-focal-point-apple-the-beatles-pt1; https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/interviews/dave-slater-focal-point-apple-the-beatles-pt2/.

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

The Humblebums — “Saturday Round About Sunday”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 6, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,548) The Humblebums — “Saturday Round About Sunday”

Here is a Billy Connolly-written song off the first Gerry Rafferty/Billy Connolly Humblebums (see #556, 847) LP — The New Humblebums— pondering why a relationship went bad. “Instead of all those endless plans we should have been holding hands just walking.” Exquisite. A longer single version was also released, in which the song became a cello-driven dirge. WTF? The single version was longer and a cello-driven dirge?!

“Billy was actually a very good singer songwriter. But listening to him you still get a strong feeling that he’s suppressing the need to giggle and tell fart jokes all the way through it. :)” (regmunday8354, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LloxUc6No_c) No fart-driven dirge here!

Stewart Mason notes regarding the LP:

Rafferty . . . turned the duo’s original trad folk aesthetic into a prettier, poppier sound. . . . That dichotomy continues throughout, with Rafferty’s unapologetically pop songs and [Billy] Connolly’s folk- and blues-based tunes alternating. Truthfully, Rafferty’s songs are better, with their lightly psychedelic arrangements suiting his whimsical lyrics. . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/album/humblebums-mw0000852108

Whoa there, I think “Saturday” is the equal of any other song on the album.

Steve Huey provides some history of the clan:

Scottish folk outfit the Humblebums aren’t perhaps as well known as their two main individual members: Gerry Rafferty, who later scored hits with Stealers Wheel and as a solo artist, and Billy Connolly, who left music to become an internationally successful stand-up comedian. Connolly actually founded the group in 1965, along with guitarist Tam Harvey; both had been regulars on the Glasgow folk circuit, and Connolly had previously been playing old-time country music in a group called the Skillet Lickers. The duo quickly became a popular attraction in Glasgow’s folk clubs, particularly as Connolly honed his humorous between-song patter, which became an increasingly large part of their already whimsical act. After a few years of local celebrity, the Humblebums recorded their debut album, First Collection of Merrie Melodies . . . . [T]he repertoire was split between traditional folk songs and Connolly originals. Not long after[,] . . budding singer/songwriter . . . Rafferty approached the duo after one of their gigs for feedback on his original songs. He wound up being invited to join . . . . Rafferty’s songs soon took a prominent place in their repertoire, which led to friction with Tam Harvey; he departed around half a year [later]. Toward the end of 1969, [Rafferty and Connolly] entered the studio together and cut the second Humblebums LP . . . . With Rafferty’s pop instincts, the Humblebums grew more popular on the live circuit than ever, and they recorded another album in a similar vein . . . . However, there was growing dissension . . . Rafferty’s material had a more serious bent than Connolly’s lighthearted, dryly witty offerings, and Connelly’s comedy bits were taking up a large portion of the Humblebums’ stage show, to the point where Rafferty wanted him to cut the comedy altogether. . . . [T]he Humblebums broke up in 1971. Rafferty moved on to Stealers Wheel, best known for their hit “Stuck in the Middle With You,” and later went solo, scoring a huge hit with “Baker Street.” Connolly . . . in a few short years became one of the most popular comedians not only in Scotland, but the whole U.K. . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/humblebums-mn0000766545

Here is the single version:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Rick and Sandy — “Lost My Girl”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 5, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,547) Rick and Sandy — “Lost My Girl”

Who’s dat? Super producer to be Alexander “Sandy” Roberton gives us “driving mid to uptempo [‘65] mod beat with very fine ringing and fuzz guitar, powerful drums and an excellent lead vocal” (Bayard, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/rick-and-sandy/lost-my-girl-i-cant-help-it.p/), a “Powerhouse Dancer with a big Northern Sound & Fuzz guitar” (Vintage Vinyl Via Valves, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OKKwrWgFIdU&pp=ygUkUmljayAmIFNhbmR5IOKAlCDigJxMb3N0IE15IEdpcmzigJ06), a “pounding [number that] puts one in mind of early . . . era Pete Townshend. . . . marvel at that scything guitar and drum interplay!”(Dave Thompson, https://www.goldminemag.com/columns/well-kept-secrets-sandy-robertons-uk-folk-treasure-trove).

23Daves tells us of Rick and Sandy:

Hopes were high for th[eir first] single . . . and a slot was arranged on “Ready Steady Go” to promote the disc, but it failed to sell well. Their follow-up records “I Lost My Girl”, “I Remember Baby” and “Creation” received less publicity and subsequently were more ignored still. The final 45 “Creation” was penned and produced by the (then) rising music industry wunderkind Jonathan King, but this wasn’t enough to reverse their fortunes and turned out to be their final release. Sandy . . . and Rick (Tyekiff) went their separate ways, with Sandy going off to become a highly successful record producer . . . .

https://left-and-to-the-back.blogspot.com/2020/12/rick-and-sandy-half-as-much-cottonfields.html?m=1

Warren Huart tells us more:

Roberton was born in Edinburgh . . . and moved to Kenya with his parents when he was just six . . . . [He] returned to London in 1963, when he was 21, intent on a career in music. He formed a duo called Rick & Sandy. They found a manager in Tom Springfield, the brother of Dusty Springfield, who got them signed to Fontana, for which they record several singles. The duo then moved to Decca, and enjoyed some success with the single “I Lost My Girl[.]” Roberton also released two singles as a solo artist, a cover of Neil Diamond’s Solitary Man, on Columbia, under the name Sandy, and under the name Lucien Alexander a cover of the Bob Dylan song “Baby, You’ve Been On My Mind,” on Polydor. Despite TV and radio appearances, Rick & Sandy and Roberton’s solo singles failed to get much traction . . . .

https://producelikeapro.com/blog/sandy-roberton/amp/

Huart writes about the Roberton’s later career:

As a producer, artist manager, and record company owner, Roberton played a central part in the birth of the British folk movement. As a publisher he helped shape some of the most seminal albums ever made. And more than forty years ago, he was the first person to set up a major producer management company. . . . Roberton changed the way the contracts and the careers of engineers, mixers and producers are shaped. . . . the first to negotiate points. He masterminded long-term careers for a large number of top studio professionals . . . . [After the demise of Rick and Sandy,] he decided to get involved in the business side of the music industry. He went to work for Arc Music, which was Chess Records’ London operation . . . . The writers he was representing included legends like John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, and many others. Roberton’s job consisted mostly of convincing UK artists to record songs from the catalogues of these companies. . . . Towards the end of the sixties, Sandy started producing, working with acts like the Chocolate Watch Band, Liverpool Scene and the Ian Anderson Country Blues Band. He formed his own company and via RCA released albums by Shelagh McDonald, Keith Christmas and Liverpool Scene. Roberton had a keen interest in the bourgeoning folk-rock scene in the UK, and discovered Steeleye Span . . . . produc[ing its] first three . . . records . . . . By the early seventies, Roberton had become one of the leading producers of the British folk-rock scene. He co-produced the famous debut album of the Albion Country Band and Shirley Collins, No Roses (1971), and produced the highly-rated debut album by the band Plainsong, In Search of Amelia Erhart (1972). Plainsong was founded by Iain Matthews, who had been in Fairport Convention and Andy Roberts, who came from The Liverpool Scene. Roberton formed long-standing working relationships with Matthews and Roberts, and he produced many solo albums by both artists. . . . By the mid-seventies he had moved into artist management . . . and together with Matthews . . . set up Rockburgh Records, on which they released records by the artists managed by Robertson, as well as by Iain Matthews . . . and others. . . . Roberton set up Worlds End Producer Management in 1980 . . . . the aim was to improve the contracts, working conditions, and careers of engineers and producers. Worlds End called itself “probably the first full-service company to ever solely represent producers, mixers and engineers,” and one of its early clients was Tim Palmer, in the early eighties an assistant engineer . . . . Working together with Roberton, Palmer went on to produce albums for Robert Plant, David Bowie, and U2. . . . Palmer recalled, “. . . . Sandy pushed for better deals and royalties for his producers and succeeded in getting them … even for mixers which was pretty unknown at that time. He basically created the genre of producer management.”

https://producelikeapro.com/blog/sandy-roberton/amp/

For more on Roberton, read Dave Thompson’s piece in Goldmine — https://www.goldminemag.com/columns/well-kept-secrets-sandy-robertons-uk-folk-treasure-trove.

Here are Sweden’s Lee Kings (see #1,524):

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

The Livin’ End — “She’s a Teaser”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 4, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,546) The Livin’ End — “She’s a Teaser”

Texas ‘67 garage bliss. The subject is self-explanatory. “Awesome guitar fuzz. She might have been a teaser but this is a psych pleaser”. “thomassmith8721, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwfB_9EaydA&pp=ygUaTGl2aW4gZW5kIHNoZeKAmXMgYSB0ZWFzZXI%3D) Indeed.

Bolt 24 Hot Sounds tells us:

Wichita Falls Texas USA 1967. A mystery group for quite a while, but it’s the same group who did a half a dozen singles for Major Bill Smith in Fort Worth (most notably “Society”) only they spelt the name “wrong” on this. Damn fine two-sider. The core of the group became hard rockers Baby later on.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwfB_9EaydA&pp=ygUaTGl2aW4gZW5kIHNoZeKAmXMgYSB0ZWFzZXLSBwkJYgAGCjn09Vw%3D

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

The Cherry Slush — “I Cannot Stop You”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 3, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,545) The Cherry Slush — “I Cannot Stop You”

This “classic [Dick Wagner* written] fuzztastic garage smasher”(narinderdhanjal221, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps7nuiVqr-o) by Saginaw, Michigan’s finest features “angry dismissive lyrics of a formerly rejected boyfriend who just just doesn’t care anymore. Brilliantly introduced by a sweeping Fuzz Guitar and drum combination”. (Manshipsrarevinyl, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bqvg8ny7auU&pp=ygUhdGhlIGNoZXJyeSBzbHVzaCBpIGNhbid0IHN0b3AgeW910gcJCWIABgo59PVc) “I grew up with these guys in Michigan. They were local legends.” (tyroneshoes4049, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y8r7gm_Ah0)

Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame tells us that:

In order to get the record distributed nationally, the band signed and the master tape was leased to U.S.A., a small Chicago label that had a # 1 hit in 1967 with “Kind Of A Drag” by The Buckinghams. “I Cannot Stop You” also had all the signs of also being a national hit upon its release. It got airplay in major markets, was a pick hit in both Billboard and Cash Box magazines, and entered Record World magazine as #93 in the nation. Quite unexpectedly, however, the record stalled and failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100 [reaching #119]. The Cherry Slush would go on to record one more single for the U.S.A. label before the company filed for bankruptcy.

https://michiganrockandrolllegends.com/hall-of-fame/legendary-mi-songs/78-i-cannot-stop-you

Jason Ankeny tells us of the Slush:

Saginaw, Michigan garage band the Cherry Slush formed in mid-1965, teaming singer Danny Parsons, guitarist Mark Burdick, bassist Art Hauffe, keyboardist Brian Bennett, and drummer Dick Coughlin. Originally known as the Wayfarers and later the Captives, in late 1966 the group tapped local legend Dick Wagner — of Detroit sensations the Bossmen and the Frost, and later a sought-after session player — to produce their debut single, “She’ll Be Back.” The record earned regional attention, and the Cherry Slush next traveled to Cleveland to cut the follow-up, 1967’s “I Cannot Stop You.” The single was a smash throughout southeast Michigan, reportedly selling in excess of 75,000 copies. With guitarist Gene Bruce replacing Burdick, the band recorded its third single, “Day Don’t Come,” at Chicago’s famed Chess Studios; though another local blockbuster, it failed to garner attention outside of the Detroit scene. In late 1968, the Cherry Slush recorded their final single, a cover of the Beatles’ “Birthday.” The following year, the band dissolved.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-cherry-slush-mn0000111165#biography

* Greg Prato writes:

As one of renowned producer Bob Ezrin’s hired guns throughout much of the ’70s, guitarist Dick Wagner lent his playing (and in some cases, songwriting) talents to some of the decade’s biggest hard rock albums, including Lou Reed’s Rock N’ Roll Animal, Alice Cooper’s Welcome to My Nightmare, and Kiss’ Destroyer.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dick-wagner-mn0000822292#biography

Here are Dick Wagner’s Bossmen’s mellower original version:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

The Impressions — “Ridin’ High”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 2, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,544) The Impressions — “Ridin’ High”

The title track from the Impressions’ (see #118, 285, 1,347) ‘66 LP Ridin’ High tells truth to power — a man who has everything but not love has nothing. I’d add that the man who has everything but doesn’t have this album has nothing!

Ah, the Impressions. Steve Huey puts it well:

The quintessential Chicago soul group . . . . the Impressions recorded some of the most distinctive vocal-group R&B of the ’60s under [Curtis] Mayfield’s guidance. . . . If their sound was sweet and lilting, it remained richly soulful thanks to the group’s firm grounding in gospel tradition; they popularized the three-part vocal trade-offs common in gospel but rare in R&B at the time, and recorded their fair share of songs with spiritual themes . . . . Mayfield’s interest in the Civil Rights movement led to some of the first socially conscious R&B songs ever recorded . . . culminating in the streak of brilliance that was his early-’70s solo work.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-impressions-mn0000082013#biography

Huey gives some history:

The Impressions were formed in Chicago in 1957 as a doo wop group called the Roosters. . . . Lead singer Jerry Butler joined up and soon brought in his friend Curtis Mayfield as guitarist; the two had previously sung together in a church choir and a couple of local gospel groups as youths. Renamed the Impressions by their manager, the group scored a major hit in 1958 with the classic ballad “For Your Precious Love[.]” . . . [Following Butler’s] quick exit for a solo career . . . . Mayfield took over the lead tenor role, eventually becoming the group’s chief composer as well. . . . [He] brought them to New York to record for ABC-Paramount in 1961. Their first single, the Latin-inflected “Gypsy Woman,” was a number two R&B smash . . . . Several follow-ups failed to duplicate its chart success, and the Brooks brothers left the group in 1962; . . . the Impressions . . . . struck gold in 1963 with “It’s All Right,” whose gospel-style lead-swapping helped make it not only their first R&B number one, but their biggest pop hit as well, with a peak of number four.. . . . 1964 brought the hit single “Keep on Pushing,” the first of Mayfield’s numerous Black pride anthems . . . . [T]he best-known Impressions hit, 1965’s “People Get Ready” . . . . became an anthem of transcendence for the civil rights movement . . . . The group recorded prolifically in 1965, but their commercial fortunes dropped off over the next couple of years. When the Impressions returned to the upper reaches of the R&B charts, it was with 1968’s “We’re a Winner,” the most straightforward celebration of Black pride Mayfield had yet composed.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-impressions-mn0000082013#biography

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Iron Butterfly — “Ban Roll On”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — April 1, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,543) Iron Butterfly — “Ban Roll On”

Iron Butterfly’s (see #1,040) most important lyrical statement might not have been about the Garden of Eden or even the nuclear test ban, but about Ban Roll On deodorant — “Ban won’t wear off as the day wears on”. As Wario7793 says, “This is so epic! I wanna call Iron Butterfly a sell-out for doing this, but ya know? I like it so much!!!!” (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4nFCQo8tje0&pp=ygUaaXJvbiBidXR0ZXJmbHkgYmFuIHJvbGwgb24%3D)

“The heavier drench of psychedelic rock may not come to mind when thinking of deodorant, but Ban had other ideas when they enlisted Iron Butterfly to record a [radio] ad for their roll-on and spray in 1968.” (Tina Benitez-Eves, https://americansongwriter.com/7-long-lost-classic-rock-commercial-jingles-from-the-late-1960s/) “The mere concept of using Iron Butterfly’s thudding, heavy psych rhythms to sell deodorant certainly ranks up there as one of Madison Avenue’s greatest WTF? moments. We doubt Don Draper would have approved.” (Dave Swanson, https://ultimateclassicrock.com/rock-star-commercial-jingles/) Hey, I think Don Draper would have loved it!

How did this come about? Freefuture444 tells us:

It’s a fact the Iron Butterfly 🦋 was majorly pissed off and absolutely didn’t want to do this commercial. Their snake of a manager had no vision or concern for the bands credibility or its longevity and did a backroom deal unbeknownst to the band committing them to contract under threat of being sued if they didn’t deliver.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4nFCQo8tje0&pp=ygUaaXJvbiBidXR0ZXJmbHkgYmFuIHJvbGwgb24%3D

The music for the jingle is derived from “So-Lo” [see #1,040] from their 1st album Heavy. Andrija Babovic writes:

When Iron butterfly started playing the club circuit in ’66, there had never been anything that sounded like them. Dubbed “heavy metal”, Butterfly both directly and indirectly influenced more bands than arguably anyone else. . . . Heavy is essentially revolutionary . . . and it reflects the roots of hard rock. This album is definitely the “must have” LP for . . . those who just want to hear how heavy music started its development 45 years ago.

https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2013/05/iron-butterfly-heavy-1968-review-2.html

Joe Marchese chines in:

[Heavy] introduced the band’s dense sound fusing hard rock and psychedelia with a set of original songs plus a reimagining of Allen Toussaint’s “Get Out of My Life Woman.” While three-fifths of the band left after that debut, Heavy nonetheless began Iron Butterfly on a journey

https://theseconddisc.com/2021/01/27/heavy-cherry-red-esoteric-collect-iron-butterflys-unconscious-power-on-new-box-set/

Beverly Paterson enthuses that:

Heavy makes good as a mighty impressive introduction to the band. As the title of the album so openly announces, Iron Butterfly was keen on targeting their music at the burgeoning underground audience of the day. Playing sweet pop little tunes geared for commercial radio was not the band’s motive . . . . Iron Butterfly really had their act together on this album, with each and every entry sporting memorable qualities. . . . Ambitious and enterprising, Heavy is regularly cited as one of the first authentic heavy metal albums. . . . Unified songwriting, strengthened by crack arrangements and some pretty fierce melodies, cause the record to be a brash and brain-twisting collection of sounds that flip back to a time when rules were meant to be broken in rock and roll. And in most instances, as is the case
with “Heavy,” in the end a stunning piece of music was created.

https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2013/09/iron-butterfly-heavy-1968-review.html

Steve Huey gives us some history:

The heavy, psychedelic acid rock of Iron Butterfly may seem dated to some today, but the group was one of the first hard rock bands to receive extensive radio airplay, and their best-known song, the 17-minute epic “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” established that more extended compositions were viable entries in the radio marketplace, paving the way for progressive AOR. The track was written by vocalist, organist, and bandleader Doug Ingle who formed thefirst incarnation of Iron Butterfly in 1966 in San Diego with drummer Ron Bushy. After the group moved to Los Angeles and played the club scene, they secured a recording contract and got national exposure through tours with the Doors and Jefferson Airplane. Following the release of their 1968 debut album, Heavy, original members Jerry Penrod (bass), Darryl DeLoach (vocals), and Danny Weis (guitar) left the band and were replaced by guitarist Erik Braunn and bassist Lee Dorman. Weis went on to join Rhinoceros. The new lineup recorded In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida later that year, which sold four million copies and spent over a year in the Top Ten. . . . A shortened version of the title track, which contained extended instrumental passages with loud guitars and classical/Eastern-influenced organ, plus a two-and-a-half-minute drum solo, reached number 30 on the singles charts. The follow-up album, Ball, showed greater musical variety and went gold, but it also marked the beginning of the band’s decline. Braunn left the group and was replaced by guitarists Mike Pinera and Larry “Rhino” Reinhardt, but the band’s success was largely over. Iron Butterfly broke up in 1971 . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/iron-butterfly-mn0000772567#biography

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Kathy and Larry — “Time”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 31, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,542) Kathy and Larry — “Time”

Former teen idol and ace songwriter Keith Colley, three of whose compositions I have featured [see #718, 862, 1,128], wrote this “great . . . 1967 b-side [by an obscure group that] veers into some pretty flutey Jim Valley territory” (liner notes to Soft Sounds for Gentle People Presents . . . He & She) The flute is groovy, the groove is groovy, the whole song is groovy!

Soft Sounds also tells us that “[l]ooks like the ‘Larry’ of Kathy and Larry might’ve been Keith’s brother, as this tune was co-written by one ‘L. Colley.'”

Jim Valley? Jason Ankeny tells us that:

Best known to garage rock aficionados for his stint playing guitar with Paul Revere & the Raiders [see #109], Jim “Harpo” Valley later enjoyed a flourishing career making music for children. . . . Valley was raised in the Seattle area. At age ten, he picked up the trumpet, but the arrival of rock & roll prompted a move to guitar, and in high school he joined the popular local band the Viceroys, which cut the 1963 regional hit “Granny’s Pad.” In early 1965 Valley joined the Portland beat combo Don & the Goodtimes, sharing lead vocal duties . . . and writing their hit “Little Sally Tease.” A year later, he signed on with the Raiders, replacing lead guitarist Drake Levin. [He was n]icknamed “Harpo” per his physical resemblance to the legendary Marx Brother . . . . He . . . befriended the group’s producer, Terry Melcher, and members of the Melcher-produced folk-rock group the Gentle Soul, who encouraged Valley to write his own songs. When promises that the Raiders would record those songs never materialized, Valley left the group in 1967, writing and singing with folkies the Lamp of Childhood [see #694] while pursuing a solo career. With producer Curt Boettcher, he recorded the Dunhill label single “Try, Try, Try” to little commercial notice, and in the fall of 1968 completed a solo LP, Walking Through the Quiet. When Dunhill declined to release the record, Valley returned to his native Washington, working a railroad job and in 1971 issuing the Christian-themed Family on the Light label.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jim-valley-mn0001460378#biography

Steve Leggett tells us of Keith Colley:

While attending the University of Washington, Colley recorded a version of Dion’s 1959 hit “A Teenager in Love” at a local radio station, and the station promptly put the song in regular rotation. Jerry Dennon, owner of Jerden Records, heard Colley’s version of the song and signed him to the label. Colley’s contract was converted to Era Records, and Colley cut three singles for Era before signing with Unical Records. Legend has it that a song of Colley’s with a pretty melody but rather bland lyrics was translated into Spanish to disguise the song’s lyrical thinness and released as “Enamorado” in 1963 with Colley handling the vocal chores, even though his knowledge of Spanish was sketchy at best. The song was a regional hit in several U.S. markets, and Unical, anxious to follow up on the song’s success, had Colley track a couple more singles in Spanish, but history didn’t repeat itself . . . . Colley next hooked up with Vee-Jay Records, releasing a fine two-sided single, “Billy Girl” b/w “Welcome Home Baby,” a song Colley had written with P.F. Sloan . . . . Colley also signed on with Four Star Music Publishing around this time as a house writer, eventually releasing a pair of singles on Challenge Records, the publisher’s label. Increasingly, though, Colley began shifting his emphasis to songwriting, and in the early ’60s he cut countless demos of his songs, backed by some of L.A.’s finest session musicians, which resulted in his songs being recorded by an impressive list of artists, including the Newbeats, the Knickerbockers [see #718, 862], the Sandpipers, Jackie DeShannon, the New Christy Minstrels, Gene Vincent [see #1,128], and jazz great Chet Baker, who recorded a version of “Enamorado.” . . . Colley turned increasingly to the business side of the music scene as the 1960s waned, becoming an A&R man for Four Star, and eventually became a part of the administrative side of the publishing company.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/keith-colley-mn0000063828#biography

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Ramases & Selket — “(In My) Mind’s Eye”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 30, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,541) Ramases & Selket — “(In My) Mind’s Eye”

Swinging London was not just a powerful and groovy beacon that reaches all the way to Lebanon [see #951, 1,535] — it even reached back in time to ancient Egypt. For after his reincarnation, the pharaoh Ramases came to shop on Carnaby Street and lucky for us left this super cool B-side, “a psychedelic love song with cinematic, eastern-exoticism instrumentation and a wonderfully hypnotic romantic violin riff”. (SwedxSimon, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/ramases-and-selket/crazy-one-minds-eye/)

Acid Drops, Space Dust & Flying Saucers tells us that:

According to press releases of the era, [Ramases and Selket] were the reincarnation of a 3,000-year-old Egyptian pharaoh and one of his 1,200 wives/concubines. However, Ramases was better known in his hometown of Sheffield as central heating salesman and former Army PT instructor Michael Raphael. After a chance meeting with local pop star Dave Berry he decided that the music industry was the most natural medium in which to gain publicity for his claims. With his wife rechristened Selket, he released [a single] shamelessly built around Ram’s exotic, pseudo-Arabian image.

Liner notes to the CD comp Acid Drops, Spacedust & Flying Saucers: Psychedelic Confectionery from the UK Underground 1965-1969

Nigel Camilleri adds that:

[Raphael] claimed to have had a vision from . . . Ramases, who informed him . . . that his duty on earth was to inform the world the truth about the universe. . . . The next step . . . was to . . . try to get himself a recording contract . . . . Incredibly so, he managed to obtain [one] with CBS . . . .

https://www.dprp.net/features/2001/forgotten-sons-ramases

For the story of the two albums that followed, see Camilleri’s post.

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

The Ambassadors — “Ain’t Got the Love of One Girl on My Mind”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 28, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,540) The Ambassadors — “Ain’t Got the Love of One Girl on My Mind”

Ladies, don’t hate this Philly soul stunner even though it advocates the “find ‘em, fool ’em, forget ’em” philosophy! Guess who wrote it — Barbara Mason! Pete Rock loved it so much he sampled it twice. In fact, it’s been sampled 10 times. (https://www.whosampled.com/The-Ambassadors/Aint-Got-the-Love-(Of-One-Girl-on-My-Mind)/sampled/) The horns are killer.

Soul Strut says of the Ambassador’s soul, sorry sole, album:

Quintessential album for fans of the 70s “sweet soul” genre. The Ambassadors released quite a few 45s on Atlantic and the cult Philly R&B label, ARTIC. . . . The harmonies . . . could melt butter and the production is the prototypical Gamble and Huff Philly sound. It was recorded in 1969, so the drums are nice and crisp which made it a favorite for hip hop production.

https://www.soulstrut.com/Archive/the-ambassadors-soul-summit

Richie Unterberger says of the Ambassadors:

The Ambassadors had but one small R&B hit in 1969, “I Really Love You,” a dramatic ballad in the Philadelphia soul style . . . co-written by Kenny Gamble. They did stay together long enough to do an album, Soul Summit, which featured several musicians — including Leon Huff (on piano) and Earl Young (drums) — who were instrumental to the Gamble-Huff productions that epitomized the peak of Philadelphia soul in the early ’70s.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-ambassadors-mn0000042625#biography

FunkMySoul adds:

The Ambassadors are an incredible Philly soul harmony group – of the sort that never made it out of the city in the pre-Philly International years, but who had a polish and quality that was every bit as great as bigger-name acts from Chicago or New York. The harmonies on the record are mindblowing – the kind of raw and sweet at the same time that was the Philly calling card on the group soul scene – and arrangements are by a young Bobby Martin, with help from Philly studio legends like Vince Montana, Norman Harris, Leon Huff, and Bobby Eli. Formed in the mid-1960’s and soon came to the attention of Arctic Record Company co-owner and Philly radio star Jimmy Bishop. Following limited success with their three singles on Atlantic between the end of 1967 and the summer of 1968, they signed to Arctic Record Company. They are best remembered for their one hit, “I Really Love You” which was released in 1969, as well as their sole, highly sought-after album, that have a built a myth of holy grail among the northern soul circles. Three of the Ambassadors . . . later formed Creme D’Cocoa.

https://www.funkmysoul.gr/ambassadors-1969-soul-summit/

Here is Pete Rock — “I Got a Love”:

Pete Rock again (with Camp Lo) — “No Hook”:

Jay Electronica (featuring Jay-Z and the Dream) — Shiny Suit Theory:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Bring a Little Lovin’ Special Edition: Los Bravos/Katty Line: Los Bravos — “Bring a Little Lovin’”, Katty Line — “Un Petit Peu D’Amour”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — February 27, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

Once upon a time in Australia, Harry Vanda and George Young of the Easybeats (see #201, 1,310, 1,359, 1,415) wrote this “incredibly catchy” (Matt Singer, https://screencrush.com/what-are-the-songs-in-the-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-trailer/) song for Spain’s Los Bravos. Thank you, Quentin Tarantino, for reminding us of the genius of the song and of Mike Kennedy and Los Bravos. Katty Line, your yé-yé version takes my breath away.

1,538) Los Bravos — “Bring a Little Lovin’”

“That bass, along with the keys and horns, damn!” (moretoknowshow, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jyw7z4T28nQ) The song hit #51 in the U.S., #22 in Canada, and #48 in Australia. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bring_a_Little_Lovin%27) “[It] became a radio hit in 1968, so it’s also totally appropriate to the period setting of the film. It also strikes me as one of those classic Quentin Tarantino music selections; something incredibly catchy from the past that’s not very well known that he then brings back from obscurity.” (Matt Singer, https://screencrush.com/what-are-the-songs-in-the-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-trailer/)

Richie Unterberger tells us of Los Bravos:

In 1966, this Spanish quintet became one of the very few rock groups from a non-English-speaking country to have an international smash with “Black Is Black,” which got to number four in the U.S. and number two in the U.K. Lead singer Mike [Kennedy, real name Michael Volker] Kogel’s overwrought, pinched vocals sounded so much like Gene Pitney [see #382] that many listeners assumed [it] was a Pitney single, and the strong resemblance remained intact throughout Los Bravos’ career, both in the singing and arrangements. Indeed, with their brassy pop/rock songs and production — which sounded about halfway between New York mid-’60s pop-soul and Jay & the Americans — Los Bravos sounded far more like a mainstream American pop/rock group than a Spanish or British one. Most of their records were sung in English, and although they never made the American Top 20 again, they were far more popular in Europe, even placing another single in the British Top 20 in late 1966 with “I Don’t Care.”

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/los-bravos-mn0000290390#biography

Carlos Marcos tells us of Mike Kennedy:

Michael [Kennedy] was Spain’s first rock star . . . . As a teenager, he rose to fame as the lead singer of Los Bravos. He became known for his wild attitude, his carefree way of living, his persistent rebelliousness and his inevitable decadence. “He was a force of nature. He sang as well as Gene Pitney or Del Shannon, in the same register, but with more volume in his voice. [Nobody had ever heard] such a peculiar voice,” asserts Miguel Ríos, one of the pioneers of rock and roll in Spain . . . . In the 1960s, Kennedy — who was born in Germany — landed in Spain. He brought with him his outlandish character, his hypochondria and an anarchist attitude to a frightened, conservative country living under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. . . . He was born in a dreary Berlin in the 1940s. When he finished school, he moved to Cologne to live with his mother and stepfather. There, he worked serving beer in pubs and performing nightly in the clubs. “I learned to sing because I was a big fan of Elvis Presley. I imitated his voice, his gestures, his makeup. Pat Boone, Eddie Cochran and Ricky Nelson also fascinated me,” he explains. He learned English by listening to the American Forces Network (AFN), the broadcaster for U.S. troops stationed in Germany. His life was transformed when, while performing at a club in Cologne, he ran into some Spanish musicians from Mallorca, who were touring in Germany. They were called the Runaways. And when the group’s singer returned to Spain because his vocal chords were destroyed after working eight-hour-long days, Kennedy was left to occupy the position . . . . And that’s how Mike and the Runaways were born. After their German experience, the band returned to Mallorca, and he went with them. . . . While he was in Spain, Los Sonor, an established ensemble, signed Mike and some of the Runaways. And this is when composer Manolo Díaz comes into play. He had years of experience as the president of CBS Records in Spain and EMI Music in Latin America. “Los Sonor told me that they had gone to see this new singer, who was very good… but he was completely crazy and was a kleptomaniac and an anarchist. [He was] very punk … and we’re talking about the 1960s in Spain. But when he started singing, it was impressive. I recommended that [the members of] Los Sonor bear with him and support him, because his voice and his way of singing were among the best in global pop-rock. I told them: ‘You can’t miss out on this, you’re going to make millions.’” Díaz contacted Alain Milhaud, a Frenchman based in Barcelona who was responsible for getting 1960s Spanish pop to the global market. And then, there was Tomás Martín Blanco, a radio giant in Spain. The plan got quickly underway: with Díaz composing, Milhaud acting as producer and manager . . . and Martín Blanco pushing the songs on the airwaves, a new band was born. “[Los Bravos] became the most successful and international Spanish band of all time,” says Salvador Domínguez . . . . The album Black is Black was composed by a group of writers from Decca Records, based in London. . . . “I didn’t like Black is Black… I followed along without liking it. It seemed to me like an easy melody, [with lyrics] that didn’t say much,” Kennedy shrugs . . . . [He] gave the group a cosmopolitan air: he sang in fluent English and, despite lacking in Spanish, displayed a charismatic, uninhibited character. His songs in Spanish are tinged with the peculiar accent of an outsider. On top of that, at the time, the songs offered subtle messages that managed to get past the formal censorship. In the background, Manolo Díaz composed odes to youth, to fun and to freedom. The success of Los Bravos was ephemeral, lasting only two years, from 1966 until 1968, but intense. . . . Every song that they put out that took advantage of Kennedy’s aggressive and powerful voice — “Black is Black”, “Los chicos con las chicas“, “Bring a Little Lovin’“– had a huge impact, both in English and Spanish. . . . Kennedy assumes that, to a great extent, his own difficult nature caused the band to break up. The singer was spending a lot of time with a doctor, who was basically stuck to him. He explains: “I was a [total] hypochondriac. Everything started before a concert in Istanbul, in 1967. I wanted to try [some hashish] and it was mixed with alcohol and amphetamines. We took amphetamines like candy to hang in there, because we played for eight hours straight. Then, with that cocktail, I went to perform and felt terrible. I had arrhythmias, it felt like my heart was stopping, I had to hold myself up against a wall…” ” [That incident] became an obsession,” he notes. “. . . . I always brought the doctor with me, to be able to calm down.[“] Another incident marked the end of Los Bravos. In April 1968, Manolo Fernández, the keyboardist, had a car accident in which his wife was killed. A month later, Fernández, heartbroken, wrote a farewell note and shot himself in front of an altar in his house, which was covered with photos of his deceased wife. At the time, suicide was a taboo subject. This tragedy – along with the troubles that Kennedy was having with the rest of the group – put an end to the original band. Kennedy published 70 good songs over the course of his solo career, but he never reached the level of success that he had when he was with the band. He also refused to follow the rules, something that also didn’t help. . . . Manolo Díaz adds: “Mike didn’t have the business sense or discipline to move his career along. Milhaud and I took advantage of his enormous ability as a singer, but we weren’t able to help him establish himself. He continued to be an anarchist.”

https://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-04-14/the-extraordinary-life-of-los-bravos-singer-mike-kennedy-a-genuine-musical-rebel.html

Here is a beyond cool TV appearance by Los Bravos:

Here is Los Bravos in the ’68 Spanish movie ¡Dame un poco de amooor…!/Give Me Some Loooove…! Of the film, FlixOlé (courtesy of Google Translate) tells us:

Mike, the lead singer of the famous group Los Bravos, is kidnapped by Chou-Fang, a follower of the doctrines of the fearsome Fu Manchu. Chou-Fang’s goal is to dominate the world through a chemical formula whose secret is known to a retired scientist. The professor’s daughter, the beautiful Sao-Ling, believes Mike is a superhero and involves him in the dangerous story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsmgIu6H6Jc

1,539) Katty Line — “Un Petit Peu D’Amour”/”A Little Bit of Love”

Katty Line’s French yé-yé version of the song is “truly powerful and perhaps superior, intoxicating” (35whirlpools, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtSOfyhakpw) It “rocks like crazy! Fantastique!” (filton0 (courtesy of Google Translate), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtSOfyhakpw)

Line was “a superb, sexy girl. She FLEW to Italy. Where she found fame. Too bad for us.” (Denis-yc6qe (courtesy of Google Translate), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtSOfyhakpw) 35whirlpools writes:

“A sexy pop icon in Op-Art miniskirts” is how Jean-Emmanuel Deluxe ascribes and positions Katty Line in his wonderful and now nearly mythic book, Yé-Yé Girls of ’60s French Pop. Painting the French music scene in 1965 with a coruscating splash of colour in her debut cover of the Supremes hit ‘Back In My Arms Again’ [“N’Hésite Pas Quand L’Amour T’Appelle”] Katty went on to have a brief but dazzling display upon the canvas and galleries of European music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtSOfyhakpw

Wikipedia tells us of Katty Line (courtesy of Google Translate):

Catherine Denise Frédérique Boloban known as Katty Line . . . is a French singer active mainly in Italy, where she is a member of the Clan Celentano [record label]. She published 26 songs in French between 1965 and 1969. . . . Discovered by René Porchet . . . she began her singing career in France in the mid-1960s and achieved success in 1965 with “N’hesite pas quand l’amour t’appelle” . . . and in 1966 with “Ne fais pas la tête”, a cover of “How Does That Grab You, Darlin'” by Lee Hazlewood (launched by Nancy Sinatra), then also performed in Belgium and Switzerland. In 1968, she married Porchet, her producer. In Italy she became famous after participating in the TV show Stasera con Adriano Celentano, where she stood out for her beauty and the miniskirts she wore: the Molleggiato himself released her records with his record company; moreover, following her TV success, Katty Line was hired by Dufour for the show Carosello. She participated in the 1969 Festivalbar [an Italian song festival] with “La Rivale” . . . and in the same year she recorded “Tu vinci sempre”, an Italian cover of “Touch Me” by the Doors . . . . The following year, with In direzione del sole, she participated in the Cantagiro 1970 [an Italian traveling summer variety show]. In 1971 she participated in the television show Incontri d’estate, but in December 1971 she was the victim of a terrible car accident while traveling with her husband: Porchet lost his life and Katty Line was hospitalized for 18 months, after which she decided to return to France.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katty_Line

Here is Katty in Italian — “Portami un Po’ d’Amore”:

Here are the Easybeats. Their demo finally appeared on the Australian version of the ’68 LP Vigil:

Here, from Serbia, is Tamara Šarić with “Čekam Te”/”I’m Waiting For You”:

Here are Las Moskas with “Amor Chiquito”/”Little Love”:

Here are Soul Strings & A Funky Horn (at 24:05):

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

החלונות הגבוהים — (The High Windows) — “יחזקאל”/”Ezekiel”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 26, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,537) החלונות הגבוהים (The High Windows) — “יחזקאל”/”Ezekiel”

From “the most perfect pop [rock] album in the history of Israeli music” (Yair Etziony, https://www.textura.org/archives/articles/etziony_top10.htm), comes some pretty perfect pop about “Prophet Ezekiel[, who] knew how to have fun!”

Yair Etziony writes about the LP:

Shmulik Kraus was already recognized as a known composer in his own right when he returned from the US, heavily influenced by the American psychedelic rock scene. Together with Arik Einstein, probably Israel ‘s most beloved singer, and Josie Katz, they created what to my opinion became the most perfect pop album in the history of Israeli music. Vocal harmonies à la the Mamas and Papas and spectacular arrangements and lyrics by the finest songwriters combined to create an album in which every track became a hit song. This album signaled the beginning of an era in which Israeli culture became more and more engrossed by international culture and music.

https://www.textura.org/archives/articles/etziony_top10.htm

Jazzis adds:

Only album by the Israeli vocal trio, which included Arik Einstein, Shmulik Kraus and Josie Katz, and which is considered as the first original Israeli Pop album ever recorded. Strongly influenced by the Beatles and other (then) contemporary Pop and Rock groups, the High Windows recorded a superb set of songs in Hebrew (all written by Kraus), using vocal harmonies and instrumental arrangements, which were completely revolutionary at the time. Israeli music up to that point was based mainly on East-European melodies and folksy approach and this was the first attempt to create a local scene modeled after Western Pop. The musical “establishment” at the time received this music with harsh criticism (The Beatles were not allowed to play in Israel to avoid the “bad” influence on local youth) and some of the songs were banned by the censor from being played on the radio. But the public loved the songs and the album soon became one of the most popular Israeli albums of all times. It had a crucial influence on the local scene and soon after an entire new generation of local musicians would start to create original Israeli Pop and Rock, including Progressive Rock. It is interesting to notice that the instrumental work and arrangements on this album were done by a brilliant piano player Ziggy Skarbnik, a legendary figure of the early days of both Israeli Rock and Jazz, who unfortunately died of cancer at an incredibly young age. The drummer was no other than Zohar Levy, another legendary figure. Listening to this album 40 years after it was recorded can be quite revealing and the realization of how brilliant this stuff was and still is becomes inevitable.

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/%D7%94%D7%97%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%94%D7%92%D7%91%D7%95%D7%94%D7%99%D7%9D/the-high-windows-2/

And ViperAces tells us that:

It is the album that revolutionized the entire Israeli Rock and Pop scene, much like Rubber Soul did globally. The lyrics were so controversial, criticizing both the religious population and the military, that some of the songs were labeled offensive and banned to play on radio. Nonetheless, some of the songs became Israeli classics, and are loved to this day. The High Windows was also revolutionary musically. Taking a lot from many British acts, and especially The Beatles, the album utilizes vocal harmonies and fresh instrumental arrangements. The dreamy guitar lines . . . are executed perfectly, and fit just right. The sad ballads . . . are extremely gloomy and bleak, marking another high point of the album. . . . The band was firstly named The Windows, as a tribute to The Doors . . . . The High Windows was both musically amazing and very influential on the music scene, starting a Pop, Rock and even Progressive Rock culture in Israel. The album led to the forming of other great Israeli bands like Tamouz and Churchill’s [see #975]. It is an essential piece of history, and a fun album to listen to on its own.

https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/56995/The-High-Windows-The-High-Windows/

Wikipedia tells us of the High Windows (courtesy of Google Translate):

In 1966, Shmulik Kraus and Josie Katz– then a married couple – used to perform as a duo. One day, Kraus invited Arik Einstein to their home to play him songs they were working on at the time and melodies he had written. Einstein heard and spontaneously joined them in singing, the three voices matched, and about a week later, Arik’s wife Alona . . . suggested that they become a band. . . . In April 1967, the band’s only album . . . was released. . . . Many of the songs on the album became hits. Ziggy Skrebnik is responsible for the musical arrangements on the album and also played piano and organ on it. The collaboration came about after Kraus and Einstein were enthusiastic about his playing in one of the nightclubs in Tel Aviv. The band’s style was characterized by unique, innovative and harmonious production and arrangement experiments, unusual in the musical landscape of that time . . . . After the album’s release . . . the band enjoyed great success and was invited to perform in Israel and abroad. The three recorded several more songs . . . . Professional disagreements, mainly between Einstein and Kraus, over the continued activity and promotion of the band internationally, led Einstein back to Israel. In 1968, after about two years of activity, the band disbanded.

https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%94%D7%97%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%94%D7%92%D7%91%D7%95%D7%94%D7%99%D7%9D

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Grupa Skifflowa No To Co I Piotr Janczerski (Skiffle Group No To Co and Piotr Janczerski) – “Z Soboty Na Niedzielę”/“Saturday to Sunday”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 25, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,536) Grupa Skifflowa No To Co I Piotr Janczerski (Skiffle Group No To Co and Piotr Janczerski) — “Z Soboty Na Niedzielę”/“Saturday to Sunday”

From the ‘69 album W Murowanej Piwnicy/ In the Brick Cellar, here is classic Polish melodic hard rock, along with an equally good version in English. This definitely would have been a hit in the States had it been released by an American band.

Of No To Co, Christian Reder tells us (courtesy of Google Translate):

The band . . . was founded in July 1967 by Piotr Janczerski and Jerzy Krzemiski in Lodz, Poland. Janczerski had previously been the singer of the band Niebiesko-Czarni. Musically, the band combined Polish folk music with skiffle and big beat, later turning to beat and rock music. The band initially had no name when they made their first appearance on the TV show “Po szóstej” on December 5, 1967. Only after this TV show and several thousand letters from enthusiastic viewers did the group call itself NO TO CO. The first songs were then recorded under this name. The band’s first two records (two singles/EPs) were released in the same year . . . . The band began touring in 1968, playing first in Poland, but then abroad, including in France, Great Britain, West Germany, Canada, the USA, and almost all socialist countries. The band’s first full-length album, “NO TO CO,” was also released in 1968. In its early years, it won various awards, including a prize at the Opole Festival in 1968. The band also successfully participated in festivals in Sopot, Rome . . . and Cannes . . . . The start of the new decade saw the first personnel changes within the band. Jerzy Grunwald [left] in 1970, and was followed by band founder Piotr Janczerski that same year. Over the course of the 1970s, the band’s musical style also increasingly changed. The folkloric elements faded into the background, and the band began to focus more on rock music. Between 1970 and 1973, NO TO CO managed to release some records abroad. In [East Germany] a song by the group appeared for the first time in 1970 on a sampler by the record label AMIGA. The album “No To Co,” named after the band, was also released by AMIGA. While the songs initially released in [East Germany] were still in their native language . . . from 1973 onwards, NO TO CO also sang their songs in German. These songs were created during their stay in [East Germany], where they re-recorded the songs for their audience [their] in the AMIGA studios. . . . The band also enjoyed great popularity in the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia, where they successfully sold records . . . . NO TO CO records were also available in Western countries, including the 1970 single “Flowers” in England and the 1970 album “So What,” produced on the Polish label Polskie Nagrania Muza, featuring songs sung in English [including “Saturday to Sunday”]. The latter record was pressed as an export version and sold abroad (including in West Germany).

https://www.deutsche-mugge.de/portraits/4882-no-to-co.html

Wikipedia adds (courtesy of Google Translate):

The band, still without a name, debuted on December 5, 1967 in the television program “Po sięj”. In the competition announced at that time, the name “Grupa Skiffowa No To Co” (since 1970 – “No To Co i Piotr Janczerski”) was chosen from several thousand submitted proposals. . . . The years 1968–1970 were the best period in the history of No To Co. The band won major awards, including at the 6th KFPP [ National Festival of Polish Song] . . . in 1968 for the song “Po ten kwiat czerwony”. At this festival, the song “Te opolskie dziouchy” caused a sensation, although without an award. Further awards came a year later – at the 3rd FPZ [Soldiers’ Song Festival] . . , the 5th Bratysławska Lira Festival and the Folk Country Festival . . . .

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grupa_Skifflowa_No_To_Co

Here is the ’70 English version:

On TV:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

The Sea-Ders — “I Don’t Know Why”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 24, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,535) The Sea-Ders — “I Don’t Know Why”

’68 British Invasion gold from the land of the Cedars. Lebanon’s mixed Christian/Muslim Sea-Ders (see #951) made it as far as Swinging London. Anything was possible in the 60’s!

Linda Abi Assi and Bernard Batrouni bring us the Sea-Ders:

[T]he Sea-Ders’ drummer, Zouhair Tourmoche, better known by his stage name, Zad Tarmush. . . . met the other band members in 1961. “Back then, in the late 1950s, early 1960s, there were no radio stations playing rock & roll in Lebanon.” Instead, he eagerly waited to listen to Radio Cairo on Friday nights, hoping to catch . . . Cliff Richard and the Shadows. “I was hanging in a music store one afternoon and in came these two short guys, Raymond Azouri and Joe Shehade. Fats Domino’s “Blueberry Hill” was playing and I started drumming along to it on a wooden bench. Ray and Joe were impressed that I could keep up with the rhythm, and they asked me to join their band. . . . I knew these guys, they were talented. . . . [T]hey used to sing songs by the Everly Brothers with perfect pitch and harmony. They sounded exactly like the original artists. So at the age of 16, I stopped going to the mosque to pray to Allah and rock & roll entered my head in a very big way.”

By 1962, the guys went by the name “Top 5” . . . became the first ever rock band to appear on stage in Lebanon. . . . [and] developed a following, performing in hotels and universities in Beirut and, on weekends, in special clubs where there were no drugs and alcohol allowed . . . . “While people were talking about politics and religion, we didn’t get involved. All we wanted to do was play music . . . . If you were born Christian, you’d tend to suffer little or no hassle if you followed a musical career inspired by European influences. However, as I was the only Muslim in the band, I had to endure a great deal of insults, verbal abuse, and all other forms of stupid prejudices, all of which were hinged on one idea: that a decent Muslim boy would never abandon his culture and follow decadent Western behaviour.” . . .

[A]s Beatlemania swept across the world . . . . [“l]uckily, I had a nose like Ringo Starr . . . . We decided to grow our hair long and we looked just like them[“]. . . . [T]hey made a name for themselves in Lebanon . . . capable of replicating the Fab Four’s sound (and looks) down to a T. “They even called us ‘the Beatles of Lebanon,’” Zad recalls.

In 1966, the band started to write their own stuff. . . . [Their] first [single], “Thanks a Lot,” went on to sell well in the country. . . . [and] ended up on the desk of . . . Dick Rowe at London’s Decca Records, who promptly offered to sign them. . . . Raoul Hajj and Joe Samaha left before the big move and in came lead guitarist Albert Haddad to replace them, with Ray taking up the bass. Albert Haddad also happened to be a good buzuq player, an instrument that soon became ubiquitous to the band’s sound. “It wasn’t intentional[] . . . . We wanted to be a true rock band and never once thought of adding an Oriental twist to our music. . . . We were young, we were hippies and we felt like we belonged to the entire world culture. . . . [The producers at Decca] told us: look, you’re Lebanese so play Oriental music. . . . One of the Decca producers suggested we use the buzuq in our songs, so we did[.]” . . . During a 3-month gig at the PickWick . . . in Leicester Square, actors Victor Spinetti and John Hurt . . . came down to hear them . . . . Paul McCartney and George Harrison stopped by to see the band playing “this weird instrument.” The Sea-Ders released “For Your Information,” their first single in the UK, in 1967. But the record never made it to the charts. Still, Decca followed it up with the release of an EP, which included 8 original songs. “It was a complete and utter failure[“] . . . . In 1969, with their visa coming to an end, Ray, Joe and Albert returned to Lebanon but Zad decided to stay in the UK. . . . He became a British citizen in 1974, and made a living working as a schoolteacher.

https://projectrevolver.org/features/interviews/searching-for-lebanons-sea-ders/

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

The Cleves — “Nowhere”/”Down on the Farm”/”Don’t Turn Your Back”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 23, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,532-34) The Cleves — “Nowhere”/”Down on the Farm”/”Don’t Turn Your Back”

From New Zealand’s Abbey Road, here is part of a suite of perfect pop rock songs written for a short film by the to-be-famous Australian director Peter Weir.

I thought I was so creative in describing the songs as such — until I read Grant Gillanders saying the same thing! —

In 1970 the [Cleves] were commissioned to write and record the music for a short film called Michael, directed by a pre-Hollywood Peter Weir. The resulting soundtrack was released as an EP and is a 16-minute, 10-part suite of near perfect pop music segued together to form a thematic whole in a style not to dissimilar to side two of The Beatles’ Abbey Road.

https://www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/clevedonaires

I thought of it before I read that, I swear!

MilesaGo: Australasian popular music, pop culture and social history 1964-1975 says:

Michael won the Grand Prix at the 1970 AFI [Australian Film Institute] Awards . . . . Along with the Bee Gees-like track “Don’t Turn Your Back”, the EP featured songs recorded for the soundtrack, segued together to form a thematic whole, which “combined certain elements of the British music hall tradition (as espoused by The Beatles) with a more esoteric pop flavour a la The Move”.

http://www.milesago.com/artists/ArtistFrames.htm

The Cleves were a brilliant Kiwi brand composed essentially of three siblings that was destined for great things. But it is a b*tch how things ended.

Grant Gillanders tells us:

[T]he Brown siblings, Graham, Ron and Gaye, grew up on the family farm [in Clevedon]. . . . In the early sixties, with Gaye learning piano and Graham receiving drum lessons . . . Bill Brown arranged for his three children to have singing and choreography lessons with Pat McMinn of ‘Opo the Crazy Dolphin’ fame. It was at an early talent quest when Ron and Graham were performing as a duo, that they were first introduced as “The Clevedonaires” . . . and the name stuck. . . . While still at school during 1963, The Clevedonaires started to become a bit more serious about their music and decided to form a four-piece band. School friend and neighbour Milton Lane was recruited on rhythm guitar and took his place alongside Ron (guitar) and Graham (drums), while Gaye was weened off the piano to handle the bass duties. . . . Proud parents Bill and Joy Brown supplied the emotional encouragement and support while physically handling the day-to-day management and transportation duties. . . . Ron [recalls] “Later on when we got a little bit older it wasn’t very cool to have the olds in view, so we used to send them away and arrange for them to pick us up later.” The Clevedonaires quickly built up a good local reputation with a mix of Shadows instrumentals, pop hits of the day and four-part harmony folk numbers. . . . [B]y late 1965 they were mixing it in the competitive Auckland city scene where they played at some of the top venues . . . . [T]hey were spotted by promoter and record label owner Benny Levin, who signed them to his new record label, Impact Records. Local songwriter Darryl Lawrence submitted two songs in a semi folk style to Benny for consideration as their debut single – ‘How You Lied’ and ‘Rooftops and Chimneys’. Both songs were subsequently recorded and released as the group’s first single. Although not a chart hit the record found favourable reviews . . . . By late 1966 the group had amassed a repertoire of 300 songs with Gaye now assuming the role of musical director . . . . During the day Graham, Ron and Milton helped out on their respective family farms while Gaye finished her schooling. . . . Milton found the workload too heavy and decided to leave. Enter Rob Aickin. . . . [who] took over the bass guitar from Gaye, who in turn introduced keyboards to the group’s sound, which was in the process of changing to a more rockier format. “We decided to drop the folky stuff from our repertoire,” reflects Ron, “and started doing a lot more of the harder edged British stuff from The Animals, The Kinks and The Yardbirds etc.” The new harder-edged sound . . . manifested itself on . . . their second single, released in March 1967. . . . The group auditioned for The We 3, a weekly television magazine show aimed at teenagers. . . . [and were] picked . . . as [the] resident group . . . . [F]our days before their first TV appearance . . . their mother Joy died suddenly. Two further singles were released on the Impact labels . . . The Clevedonaires were approached by an Australian entrepreneur to do a four month tour, entertaining American troops in Vietnam. . . . The group quit their day jobs and canceled all engagements for a month to concentrate on rehearsals . . . . [But] halfway through . . . rehearsals [came] the 1968 Tet Offensive . . . . [T]he group had no option but to pull out of the contract. . . . [They] decided to try their luck in Sydney. . . . head[ing] to the ski resort town of Cooma . . . where Benny Levin had arranged a regular gig at the Cooma Hotel. . . . Gaye recalls . . . . [“]We lasted for about two weeks before it got too much for us, so we rang Benny to get us out of the deal and we ended up playing in the Hume Hotel in the Sydney suburb of Yagoona.” . . . The Cleves (they now shortened their name) built up an unprecedented following among Sydneysiders who nightly would beat a path to the Hume Hotel. . . . [T]he group backed Dinah Lee for several nights at the Hume. Dinah was so impressed that she arranged for her road manager Bobi Petch to hear them perform . . . . [He] worked for Cordon Bleu Promotions, one of the top agencies in Sydney. This resulted in the group becoming the resident band at Lucifer’s, a new discotheque in Sydney, and signing up with . . . Cordon Bleu . . . . [T]he group returned home in December, 1968 . . . . After several engagements in . . . South Auckland . . . the[y] headed to Mount Maunganui for a summer engagement . . . . Once back in [Sydney] . . . they were in constant demand. . . . The Cleves’ first Australian recording was a promotional single made for . . . The Tintookies, a large-scale puppet show on Aboriginal history. The Cleves were approached . . . to perform at the after party for the Australian premiere of . . . Hair on 4 June, 1969 . . . . the party of the decade in Australia, with a veritable who’s who of the Australian music industry in attendance. The Cleves impressed all who attended . . . . [and] were signed by Festival Records shortly afterwards and started working with with ace producer Pat Aulton . . . . The poppy and almost vaudevillian “Sticks & Stones” was released . . . to glowing reviews . . . . Although not a chart hit . . . [it] received enough airplay to keep The Cleves’ name on everybody’s lips and complemented the glowing live reviews . . . . The . . . second single “You And Me” was released during May 1970, the same month that they made their 100th appearance on Australian television. . . . In late 1970 the group started work on their . . . . debut album . . . described by . . . Ian McFarlane as “a prime example of where psychedelic pop gave way to a more progressive aesthetic”. . . . With a heavy touring schedule lined-up, Gaye was exhausted and unwell, so she took four months off and the group recruited Vince Melhouney (ex-Bee Gees) on guitar to fulfill their engagements. With an offer from Helen Reddy’s manager to tour the United States on the table, The Cleves instead took advice from . . . Melhouney who suggested . . . the UK. Recently married, Graham Brown decided to leave and was replaced by Ace Follington . . . The Cleves boarded the ship to the UK with two objectives in mind, first to write a batch of new songs and second to change the group’s name to something a bit more tougher sounding to reflect their new songs.

https://www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/clevedonaires

The new name was Bitch. Gillanders writes that:

Bitch found the biggest PA system they could find and set out to blow the roof off the Speakeasy. This paid instant dividends when several labels started bidding for them before they had even finished their set. In the end Warner Bros. made the best offer and quickly signed them to a NZ$50,000 contract. Warners sent them to Spring Cottage in East Sussex with instructions to take their time, write more material for an album, and – just as importantly – to write a hit record. . . . The single “Good Time Coming’ and tracks for the album were recorded at Morgan Studios . . . . [It] was a regional Top 10 hit in Germany and Holland . . . . With the album in the can and the relative success of the first single, the group was booked into George Martin’s famous AIR Studios in Central London to record the follow-up single “Wildcat” . . . . Bitch did what they did best and hit the club scene with abandon, and as in Australia, soon endeared themselves to fans and journalists alike. . . . Bill Harman, the group’s manager [recalls:] “The band were signed to the Warners arm of WEA records, an English amalgamation of US labels Warner Bros., Elektra and Atlantic. The album had been mastered and was complete, including artwork, when disaster struck. . . . When the A&R department of WEA found a new talent they would, in consultation with the parent companies, sign them to one of their three labels. Around the middle of 1973, when the Bitch album was all ready to go, the bosses of each of the three labels in the US became worried that the next Led Zeppelin would walk through the doors in the London office and promptly get signed to one of the other two labels. Consequently, they agreed to wind up WEA and proceed to operate as three separate labels in the UK. Former CBS UK boss Robbie Robinson, an accountant by trade, was put in as caretaker at Warners . . . . [and] was not prepared to action anything that involved company expenditure. This included distributing the Bitch album. Things dragged on for months and culminated in the Bitch recording deal being scrapped and the album ditched.”

https://www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/bitch

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Barış Manço — “Bebek”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 22, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,531) Barış Manço — “Bebek”

This ’68 A-side by the legendary and beloved Turkish singer-songwriter Barış Manço takes a Turkish folk song and turns it into a haunting and riveting classic, “combining psychedelic elements with the mysticism of Anatolia”. (Wikipedia (courtesy of Google Translate), https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar%C4%B1%C5%9F_Man%C3%A7o)

Stephen Kinzer writes that:

The folk and pop singer Baris Manco . . . had great cultural influence in Turkey and became one of this country’s most beloved figures . . . . [When he died in 1999, t]ens of thousands of people, many in tears, turned out . . . for his funeral, which was broadcast live on national television. ”Today, we as a nation feel pain in our hearts for having lost a great artist and a good friend,” the Culture Minister, Istemihan Talay, said in his eulogy.

https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/07/nyregion/baris-manco-turkish-pop-star-and-television-personality-56.html

My Turkish Rock adds that:

Barış Manço . . . [was a] Turkish musician, poet/lyricist and singer, one of the founders of Anatolian Rock and modern Turkish rock. Also he was known as a television producer and show host . . . . He had an older brother, Savaş (in Turkish, Savaş means war, and Barış means peace[)] . . . . He graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Belgium . . . . In 1966, he was in a car accident that left him with a scar on his face. To hide it, he began to wear a mustache. In the late 1960s, he formed several short-lived bands, and much of his musical style was then an imitation of American rock ‘n’ roll. At that time he found his image, which for Turkey in the 60s was a bit extravagant. He had very long hair, a huge number of rings, bracelets, chains and other jewelry, bright clothes with long capes, during performances special plasticity and gestures. . . . The real beginning of Manço’s musical creativity is 1970 and the song “Dağlar Dağlar” (“Mountains Mountains”), which immediately became very popular upon release . . . .

https://myturkishrock.ru/barış-manço-english

Wikipedia tells us of Manço in the 60s (courtesy of Google Translate):

Barış Manço left Turkey in September 1963 to study at the Royal Academy of Belgium . . . . While studying painting, graphics and interior architecture at the Royal Academy of Belgium, he also worked as a waiter and a car mechanic. During this time, he met the Belgian poet André Soulac. Thanks to Soulac, he improved his French . . . . Soulac wrote lyrics for Manço’s compositions. In 1964, Barış Manço, who wanted to continue his music career, signed a deal with the Rigolo record company and started working with the Jacques Danjean Orchestra. Barış . . . turned from Twist to Rock and Roll . . . . In September 1964, he released two EPs in French with four songs. . . . As a result of the success of the records, he was a guest on a pop music program . . . broadcast on French radio. When this EP came to Turkey, radio broadcasters thought Manço was a French artist . . . . On January 12, 1965, he performed at the Olympia concert hall in Paris before Salvatore Adamo and France Gall [see #36, 1,361] , singing his own composition . . . in French and English. . . . In 1966, he attracted attention by performing examples of Turkish music with the group The Folk 4 at a festival. However, a French musician who did not like Barış Manço’s accent and banned his records from being played deeply affected [him] and was one of the reasons that ended his European career. . . . In 1966 . . . he met the Belgian group Les Mistigris, which means “Wild Cats”, and started working with them. He gave concerts with the group in [Western and Eastern Europe]. Manço, who signed a deal with the Sahibinin Sesi company, releas[ing] singles . . . in 1966. In 1967, he had an accident in the Netherlands, which left a cleft on his lip and he began to grow a moustache. . . . Manço’s last recordings with Les Mistigris were . . . released in an EP towards the end of 1967. . . . includ[ing] Manço’s first Turkish composition “Bizim Gibi”, which would later be known as “Kol Düğmeleri” . . . . Manço and Les Mistigris parted ways due to visa and legal problems. The first psychedelic rock songs in Turkey belong to Manço and . . . Les Mistigris. . . . [H]e started working with the group Kaygisizlar in early 1968. . . . [His] English songs were left as they were, and the Turkish songs were re-recorded and released with Kaygısızlar. [T]his first [LP] that Barış Manço released from Sayan, [including] the song “Bizim Gibi” . . . re-recorded as “Kol Düğmeleri”. . . . achieved great popularity. Since Manço was continuing his education in Liège, the group was able to come together in the summer months and began to release their third single “Bebek”/“Keep Lookin” . . . . He created a unique East-West melody with Eastern music interspersed with psychedelic tones. The group, which released records at intervals, was influenced by the slowly rising Psychedelic music movement, known for its closeness to both Anatolian themes and Eastern motifs. One of Barış Manço’s 45’s with Kaygısızlar, “Ağlama Değmez Hayat”, sold over 50,000 copies in 1969, earning Manço his first gold record. Manço graduated from the Royal Academy of Belgium in June 1969 with first place and returned to Istanbul with his fiancée. Parting ways with Kaygısızlar at the end of 1969, 1970 was a year for Manço, when he moved from psychedelic rock to typical Anatolian pop waters. . . . Manço started working with a new group known in Turkey as “…Ve” and abroad as “Etc”. . . . In November 1970, Manço, who had used Western instruments until then, released “Dağlar Dağlar”. The song, recorded with Barış Manço’s guitar and . . . Cüneyd Orhon’s kemençe, was the beginning of [] own musical style . . . . The . . . record . . . sold more than 700,000 copies, earn[ing] Manço the only Platinum Record Award in his career. . . . [He] decided to join forces with Moğollar, who were already famous . . . . the goal of both groups was to become famous in Europe with Turkish music. Until then, Manço had been making music influenced by the West, while Moğollar was making music in the Anatolian pop style. . . . The first concert of the group called MançoMongol in Turkey took place in April 1971 at Manço’s Platinum Record award ceremony. . . . “İşte Hendek İşte Deve” . . . received great acclaim and was included among Barış Manço’s classics. . . . Mançomongol disbanded in June 1971 due to disagreements in the group and Barış Manço’s health problems.

https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar%C4%B1%C5%9F_Man%C3%A7o

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Los York’s — “La Punta De Mi Lengua”/”The Tip of My Tongue”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 21, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,530) Los York’s* — “La Punta De Mi Lengua”/”The Tip of My Tongue”

Wonderfully moody garage rock by “one of the most successful and groundbreaking [bands] in Peruvian rock”. (Fidel Gutierrez Mendoza (courtesy of Google Translate), https://rockperuanorollos.blogspot.com/search/label/Yorks). “”Much of Los York’s 68 is better than average Latin American garage rock, especially . . . the moody “La Punta de Mi Leguna”. (Mark Deming, https://www.allmusic.com/album/los-yorks-68-mw0000490565) “The York’s . . . make it clear that Lima was the capital of garage music made in the Southern Hemisphere in the sixties, and that it had little to envy the North American totems of the style”. (Javi Sánchez Pons, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywe1fj-Jdas)

Ah, Los York’s. Mon Falcon writes (courtesy of Google Translate):

“Their spectacular live performances, fronted by [Pablo] Luna, led to the label “rhythm sickness” (disease rhythm) being used to refer to their music, eventually becoming known as El Conjunto Enfermedad [Set Disease] as the band’s surname…. Los York’s performances were later compared to those of The Stooges, with Pablo Luna transformed into a spasmodic Iggy Pop, writhing at a frenetic pace during the songs and ending up destroying microphones, sound systems, and lighting equipment.”

https://rockperuanorollos.blogspot.com/search/label/Yorks

And Arturo Vigil write (courtesy of Google Translate):

Pablo Luna is remembered for destroying around 48 microphones, countless fluorescent lights, and light bulbs in various explosive performances. Pablo, a redhead with Afro-Peruvian features, sang with his sweet, warm, and rhythmic voice, which could abruptly shift into a cathartic and furious paroxysm, with doses of true rage and violence. Walter Paz, in charge of the lead guitar and second vocals, contributed a distinctive color and sound with his performance, perhaps due to his musical training and admiration for Ray Charles, The Animals, and the Motown sound in general. He also composed most of the lyrics, arrangements, and musical transcriptions. The guitar complement was provided by Román Palacios with his marked instrumental and stage power. “El flaco” (The Skinny One). As they called Jesús Vilchez, the band’s bassist, he displayed a marked feeling and creativity, which gave the group a very special harmonic depth. His androgynous and provocative movements are remembered, driving mad and desperate, in the irremediable screams of tender teenagers. Pacho Aguilar, a drummer endowed with charisma and a special sense of humor, brought all his personality to the percussion, projected on his wonderful Roxy drum kit, giving the “Sick” Yorks their sound.

https://rockperuanorollos.blogspot.com/search/label/Yorks

Of the LP, Mark Deming writes:

[A]s the decade wore on their music began to take on the influence of the psychedelic revolution, and this album suggests that in 1968 the group was beginning to walk between two worlds at once. Most of Los York’s 68 sounds like the work of a solid, no-nonsense garage band with tough, lean guitar work and a drummer who isn’t afraid to hit, but vocalist Pablo Luna sounds uncommonly passionate on even the most ordinary numbers, and when the band starts to hit a groove on something with a bit more drive, he lets forth with plaintive murmuring and frenetic wails that sound like the cries of a man possessed. And when Luna really hits the top, the rest of the band seems eager to follow him . . . . [I]t’s when these guys stumble into the musical Twilight Zone that this really becomes something special. . . .

While the group began in 1966 playing fairly typical fare inspired by the British Invasion and American garage rock hits of the day, Luna was a powerful vocalist not afraid to make with some freaked-out emoting, and as the band began experimenting with its sound as the decade wore on, Paz started working noise and feedback into his solos. The group’s first album, Los York’s 67, was a strong but straightforward affair; they began dipping their toes into psychedelia and other more adventurous sounds on their next LP, Los York’s 68, which featured . . . some of Paz’s best guitar work.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/los-yorks-68-mw0000490565, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/los-yorks-mn0001881774#biography

Alexz gives us some history (courtesy of Google Translate):

The band’s history begins when Román Palacios and Pacho Aguilar meet, and from there, the idea of forming a group is born. . . . Walter joins the group while still in school. The group was almost formed, but they needed a vocalist, so they began the search. At a matinee at the Tauro cinema, the group Press was performing, in which Pablo Luna sang. Their electrifying performance was what caught Román and Pacho’s attention, and they invited him to rehearse with them. Pablo accepted. . . . Their first recording (a 45 rpm) was released in March 1967. They later recorded a few more 45 rpm records. One of the recordings, “Abrázame,” is said to have sold more than 40,000 copies, a rare occurrence for the MAG label. Pablo Luna later left, but it was only temporary. Enrique Palacios replaced him briefly. With Pablo Luna’s return, Los York’s released their first LP, York’s 67, on the MAG label. This was the album that catapulted them to fame. Radio stations at the time played their songs, and young people enjoyed their music. Songs like “Abrázame,” “Vete al Infierno,” and others received a Gold Record. . . . Fernando Quiroz took part in the recording of this album, replacing Walter Paz. Fernando participated in most of the songs and played second guitar on others. Their fame grew so great that they had their own radio and television show. This program was titled El show de Los York’s on Channel 11. In 1968, they released their second LP, York’s 68. With this album, they established themselves on the rock scene. . . . In 1969, Los York’s signed with El Virrey. Pacho Aguilar left the band. He was replaced by Freddy “Puro” Fuentes Arana, who had previously played in Los Belkings, El Polen, and other important groups of the time. The record label MAG tried to persuade Los York’s to stay, but to no avail. MAG, however, did not stop there and began releasing a Los York’s album, but added a new vocalist, Pablo Villanueva “Melcochita.” . . . [He] had previously participated in the previous album, providing backing vocals and percussion. This album also included some songs that Los York’s had recorded for the label. The album’s title was York’s 69. . . .

https://web.archive.org/web/20071028081004/http://www.rockclasicolatin.blogspot.com/2007/09/los-yorks.html

* “They both agree to name the band after New York City, as they liked the music from that part of the US.” (Alexz (courtesy of Google Translate, https://web.archive.org/web/20071028081004/http://www.rockclasicolatin.blogspot.com/2007/09/los-yorks.html) However, “Pablo ‘Pacho’ Aguilar Salazar, the drummer . . . . says that those who claim that Los York’s is an allusion to the Big Apple are mistaken, but the truth is that it was named that way because the original singer used the stage name Willy York.” (courtesy of Google Translate, https://rockperuanorollos.blogspot.com/search/label/Yorks)

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

“I’ll Stay By Your Side” Special Edition: The Lollipops/The Shiralee: “I’ll Stay By Your Side”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 20, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

This ’65 self-written A-side by “Denmark’s – some would say the world’s – first teenage boy band” (Jan Eriksen (courtesy of Google Translate), https://www.bt.dk/underholdning/en-poppioner-er-doed)) was a hit there and is pure pop perfection. An obscure group from London then gave it a brilliant brassy mod makeover in ’67. And then decades later the song was given new life by punk legend Stiv Bators and Freddy Lynxx and the Corner Gang. WTF?

1,528) The Lollipops — “I’ll Stay By Your Side”

The Lollipops (see #25), Danish boys (starting out at 9, 10, and 12!) were “the subject of a true fan hysteria, especially in Sweden” (Jan Eriksen (courtesy of Google Translate), https://www.bt.dk/underholdning/en-poppioner-er-doed))

Jukka Saarinen writes (courtesy of Google Translate):

The Danish trio Torben, Jörgen and Poul, aka The Lollipops, delighted and amazed both young and old music lovers. The average age of the trio was just over 15, but the . . . band, which had risen to the top in an instant, had already achieved quite a bit of success. Torben Lundgreen, despite being only fifteen years old, had already become one of the most popular singers in the Nordic region. He had also established himself as a serious composer, along with his brother Jörgen Lundgreen, who played guitar and was a year younger. The brothers wrote the music for the 14-track LP Do You Know The Lollipops. The band’s drummer, Poul Petersen, is the brothers’ cousin. The Lollipops’ first hit single, “Do you know”, had been released three years earlier. In addition to the LP, the band also released the single “I’ll Stay by Your Side”, which was also predicted to be an international success immediately upon release.

https://www.ts.fi/puheenvuorot/788699

Dk-rock adds (courtesy of Google Translate):

Debuted at a talent competition held by the Pingklubben in 1960 at the age of only 10, 9 and 12. Attracted attention due to their age, which gave them engagements, including at the Københavnerkroen for a month (where the Swedish impresario Calle Persson heard them, and got them a month-long engagement in Iceland) and in the Swedish folk parks in 1961-62, where teenage girls in particular fell for the group’s boyish innocence. They then got month-long engagements at the American military bases in West Germany and France. Got a record contract with Karusell in 1963, and broadcast the same year [“Lollipops Lips”]. Was launched in Sweden by the Swedish pirate radio station Radio Syd, which in record time started a fan hysteria and idol worship without equal. Record breakthrough in Sweden with [“Do You Know How Much I Love You”], which was the start of a long series of self-composed songs by the Lundgreen brothers, who particularly drew inspiration from The Beatles, Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas and American garage rock groups such as The Knickerbockers. LP debut in mid-1965 . . . which was the first Danish rock LP with exclusively their own compositions. In 1965-67 the group had an active fan club with the magazine Lolli-Posten. In September 1966 Petersen . . . was replaced by Henrik Lund . . . . The group actually had a Danish breakthrough with [“Sussy Moore”], which was followed by a series of successes in 1967-68 ([“SussY”], however, resembled the Tim Hardin song “The Lady Came from Baltimore” more than was good. The copyright case ended in a voluntary settlement in complete silence). . . . Lollipops disbanded in 1971 due to declining success and education (Torben at business school, Jørgen at the Academy of Fine Arts and Henrik studying as a decorator). . . . Lollipops was re-formed in March 1973 in connection with a performance in Cirkus Revyen. In the 70s, they enjoyed renewed success with a long series of Danish-language hits, including “Ung Kærlighed” and “Lorna”.

https://www.dk-rock.dk/dklol.htm

1,529) The Shiralee — “I’ll Stay By Your Side”

The Shiralee’s version — their only A-side — is “[w]onderfully moody intense mod with great ringing guitar, brass stabs and hints of the psych future”. (happening45, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCB3LX6GuyY) It is “[a]bsolutely brilliant, gives me goosebumps! How on earth was this overlooked?” (marshallscott7955, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCB3LX6GuyY) So true.

Apparently, the song “[f]ell through the cracks when Pirate Radio closed. It was played as a climber on Radio London the last week of transmission”. (trevdenman9319, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCB3LX6GuyY)

Twerptwo tells us of the Shiralee:

Originally known as the Albert Square Group, the band later changed their name to The Shiralee and went professional in 1967 upon signing a record deal with Fontana. Group members included Graham Barnes (lead guitar), Kevin Cummings, Peter Rikart, Bernie Clarke, Ken Golding and a member only known as Tim. . . . The single sold relatively few copies for The Shiralee, resulting in its not charting. . . . The Shiralee played the Whisky A’ Go Go on November 7th 1967 and again on March 14th 1968. The group toured throughout the UK during the late 1960’s with bands such as The Nashville Teens, The Swinging Blue Jeans, Cliff Bennett and The Rebel Rousers, Jimmy James and The Vagabonds and supported The Rolling Stones at a New Musical Express Concert in London.

https://www.45cat.com/record/tf855

Chris Clarke wrote in ’17 that “[t]his band were from Acton in West London. Bernie Clarke is my father who we lost earlier this year.” (https://www.45cat.com/record/tf855)

Here are Finland’s Hurriganes with their ’75 A-side cover “I Will Stay”:

Here is Stiv Bators with his ’87 cover demo “I’m No More”:

Here is Freddy Lynxx and the Corner Gang ’04 (“Punk rock’n’roll project by the french guitarist and singer Freddy Lynxx featuring members of Rick Blaze and The Ballbusters, Sour Jazz, Road Vultures, Kevin K Band, The Remains/The Golden Arms, etc.” (https://www.discogs.com/artist/2152069-Freddy-Lynxx-And-The-Corner-Gang)):

Here is Stamping Bricks (Denmark) with their ’66 A-side cover:

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Kissing Spell — “Sueno o Realidad”/”Dream or Reality”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — March 19, 2025

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,527) Kissing Spell — “Sueno o Realidad”/”Dream or Reality”

A beautiful and haunting song from the Chilean band’s (see #360, 453) classic ‘70 psych LP Los Pajaros [The Birds].

The LP “is one of the best and most sought after South American psych albums . . . . [It has w]ell-crafted songs with an attractive dreamy quality enhanced by spacey effects, occasional bursts of well-handled fuzz guitar, and strong harmonies . . . .” (https://johnkatsmc5.blogspot.com/2016/08/kissing-spell-los-pajaros-1970-chile.html?m=1) “Without doubt . . . one of the best 60’s psychedelic albums period! contains beautiful melodic compositions, killer fuzz leads peppering the disc, a superb dreamy atmosphere and great drifty vocals (mostly in English).” (https://www.roughtrade.com/en-us/product/kissing-spell/los-pajaros) Norman Records calls it “a lovely example of hazy late 60’s atmospherics with nods towards Love, Friends era Beach Boys and the Canterbury bands. Vocals are kinda English-as-a-second-language hesitant but there are lots of sweet harmonies. Ah what a vibe. Was life really all as laid back and chilled as this back then?” (https://www.normanrecords.com/records/148773-kissing-spell-los-pajaros)

Ana María Hurtado tells us of Kissing Spell (courtesy of Google Translate):

Like many other Chilean bands of the time, Kissing Spell began performing in 1968, influenced by the likes of the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, although their influences also included certain Argentine and Brazilian music. This mixed origin, coupled with its members’ approach to poetry, made this group one of the most original of its time. Related in sound to the Blops [see #541] and Los Jaivas, Embrujo [Spell, the band’s later name] represents another strain of the fundamental fusion rock that emerged in Chile in the early 1970s, and whose path was interrupted by the 1973 coup d’état. Kissing Spell was originally a trio: Juan Carlos Tato Gómez, Carlos Fernández, and Ernesto Aracena had played Brazilian music together while the former two were still in school. As a quintet, they began producing material primarily in English, in addition to setting poems by Federico García Lorca and Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer to music. In developing their work, they had great support from Fernández’s father, a psychiatrist who ran the Institute of Applied Psychology and who provided them with a rehearsal room in the institute’s building . . . in Santiago. In a studio at the same location, Kissing Spell made a recording that reached the ears of Camilo Fernández, producer of the Arena label, who had previously worked with rock groups such as Aguaturbia and Escombros. Fernández agreed to record the quintet’s first album, Los pájaros (1970). Before recording their second album, the group decided to change their name to Embrujo, and thus released the album Embrujo in 1971. It featured Spanish-language compositions that bordered on progressive rock and displayed a wide range of nuances. . . . The military’s rise to power forced them to put an end to the project. That same year, guitarist Ernesto Murillo left for the United States, followed later by Carlos Fernández. The latter remains connected to music through the production of advertising jingles and has participated in two Blops regroups. Tato Gómez . . . works as a music producer in Germany, where he also formed part of the group Santiago in the 1970s . . . .

https://www.musicapopular.cl/grupo/kissing-spell-embrujo/

Here is a recent cover by the Chilean band Raíz de lo Oculto/Root of the Occult. “’We chose it as a single this time to symbolize that same debut and birth of the group,’ say Raíz De Lo Oculto members Edson [Espinoza] and Francisco [González Ponce], who also highlight the value of the lyrics, which express ‘a pastoral and dreamlike beauty.'” (https://horizontesnacionales.cl/noticias/raiz-de-lo-oculto-embrujo-que-besa/)

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: