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

Tomorrow — “My White Bicycle”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 31, 2026

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

2,085) Tomorrow — “My White Bicycle”

Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya, Tomorrow (see #72), especially when you’re loaning out “one of the most treasured British singles of the era” (Matthew Greenwald, https://www.allmusic.com/song/my-white-bicycle-mt0005142144), “a fashionable riot of backward tapes, phased drums, extraneous sound effects, guitar heroics . . . and [Keith] West’s [see #1,926] resolutely English enunciation”. (David Wells, Record Collector: 100 Greatest Psychedelic Records: High Times and Strange Tales from Rock’s Most Mind-Blowing Era) Mike Stax writes that:

Perhaps more than any other song, Tomorrow’s “My White Bicycle” captures the unique zeitgeist of the British psychedelic era. Swarming with backward effects and snaky guitar work, the song skillfully blends its experimental edges around an appealing pop melody and mischieveously rebellious lyrics. The song’s title refers to the painted white bikes the Dutch Provos left around Amsterdam for communal use.

liner notes the CD comp Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond 1964-1969

Do you think they’re loaning out white e-scooters today?

Matthew Greenwald adds:

[It was o]ne of the great turntable hits in the U.K. in 1967. . . . Featuring future Yes guitarist Steve Howe, the song is loaded with backwards tape and phasing effects, making it one of the most experimental records of its time. The melody underneath this blinding array of effects is a surprisingly tight pop tune, and is driven by a locomotive (or bicycle) tempo that is part of the hook. The mildly rebellious lyrics comment on the fact that the police can’t find a charge for riding the vehicle, but will make one up in order to keep the youth movement down.

https://www.allmusic.com/song/my-white-bicycle-mt0005142144

David Wells talks to Keith West:

“Mark Wirtz did pull out all the stop on My White Bicycle”, admits West. “He added the backward hi-hats, and the shouts and whispers. We ha a real policman on it, who we dragged in off the street. That was a crazy thing to do as we were all out of it. He could have busted us. He blew his whistle while somebody was body-paining the engineer. Our drummer, Twink, took his hat off and ran around the studio with it.” Immediately adopted upon its May 1967 release as an underground anthem, the song had been inspired by the Dutch Provos’ environmental statement of painting bicycles white and leaving them lying around for casual use. Keith West: “We went to Holland for a gig, and on the way back I wrote ‘My White Bicycle’ in the van. We’d seen all these bikes lying around Amsterdam. I quite liked the idea of that: you could just get on one, ride somewhere and leave it for someone else to use. I thought that was pretty cool[“]. . . . In commercial terms [it] suffered a cosmic flat tyre, and it would take the hard rock bluster of Nazareth to turn the song into a hit nearly a decade later. Still, perhaps more than any other recording of the era, the original neatly delineated the differences between American psychedelia and the British corollary. While the likes of Jefferson Airplane would have transformed such a political statement into a strident, tear-down-the-walls anthem of alienation and repression, the Brits turned in into a willfully daft song about children on bikes ringing bells, knocking over dustbings and annoying people . . .

Record Collector: 100 Greatest Psychedelic Records

Mike Stax reflects on Tomorrow:

Tomorrow had evolved out of London mod band The In Crowd . . . . Their roots in the R&B scene went even deeper . . . with members previously serving time in Four Plus One, The Fairies, and the Syndicats . . . . In 1966 The In Crowd underwent a musical transformation, setting aside soul and R&B for a more colorful psychedelic approach. As Tomorrow, they were soon a popular staple on the London underground circuit at clubs like the UFO. In the studio, producer Mark Wirtz harnessed the group’s energy and Keith West’s songwriting talent to create some thrilling psychedelic pop recordings. After debuting strongly with “My White Bicycle,” Tomorrow’s star seemed to be ascending; it was soon eclipsed, however, when a Keith West solo release, “Exerpt From A Teenage Opera,” became a smash hit, peaking at #2 in August 1967. The blatantly commercial pop sound of “Teenage Opera” was at odds with the group’s more psychedelic slant, and with West’s energies increasingly diverted toward his solo career, Tomorrow lost valuable momentum. A second Tomorrow single flopped, and their album’s release was delayed until February 1968 — too late to make the impact it deserved. The group drifted apart soon afterward. Keith West continued his solo career, and Steve Howe went on first to Bodast and then Yes. Junior Wood and Twink Alder made a one-off single as The Aquarian Age [see #62] after which Twink joined The Pretty Things [see #82, 94, 153, 251, 572, 731, 892, 1,001, 1,327, 1,908] and later formed the Pink Fairies.

liner notes the CD comp Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond 1964-1969

Richie Unterberger adds:

In the early days of British psychedelia, three bands were consistently cited as first-generation figureheads of the London-based underground sound: Pink Floyd [see #13, 38, 87, 315, 360, 922, 1,949], the Soft Machine, and Tomorrow. Pink Floyd became superstars and the Soft Machine influential cult legends, but Tomorrow is mostly remembered (if at all) for featuring Steve Howe as their lead guitarist in his pre-Yes days. Actually, Tomorrow was nearly the equal of the two more celebrated outfits. . . . [T]hey shared a propensity for flower-power whimsy. Though they were less recklessly innovative and imaginative, their songwriting was accomplished, with adroit harmonies, psychedelic guitar work, and adventurous structures and tempo changes. They never succumbed to mindless indulgence or jamming; indeed, their tracks were rather short and tightly woven in comparison with most psychedelic bands. A couple singles (especially “My White Bicycle”) were underground favorites, but the group only managed to record one album before breaking up in 1968.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tomorrow-mn0000621185

Here is Nazareth (’75):

Top Forty Most Viewed Posts

Paul McCartney — “Heather” (unreleased) (March 5, 2022)
Buffalo Springfield — “Flying on the Ground Is Wrong” (July 3, 2026)
Harumi — “What a Day for Me” (June 3, 2022)
Bob Dylan and the Band — “Kickin’ My Dog Around” (unreleased) (April 1, 2024)
Maurice Gibb — “Give Me a Glass of Wine” (unreleased) (May 29, 2022)
George Harrison — “I Don’t Want to Do It” (unreleased) (June 25, 2023)
The Action — “In My Dream” (unreleased) (March 24, 2022)
The Millennium — “The Island” (March 28, 2022)
The Kinks a.k.a. The Toll-Puddle Martyrs — “Nellie Bligh” (April 1, 2026)
Do You Want to Know a Secret? — Beloved Songs Actually Written by Lennon and/or McCartney #1: John Lennon — “Bad to Me” (unreleased), Paul McCartney — “Goodbye” (unreleased), John Lennon — “I’m the Greatest” (unreleased) (July 18, 2022)
The Ides of March — “You Wouldn’t Listen” (January 6, 2024)
Herman’s Hermits — “Dream on”/”I Gotta Dream On” (October 19, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “My Obsession” (September 12, 2022)
Paul McCartney — “Love in the Open Air”, John Lennon — “Child of Nature” (unreleased), The Idle Race — “Days of Broken Arrow” (August 7, 2021)
Barry Ryan Remembrance Special Edition: “Eloise”, “Why Do You Cry My Love”, The Hunt” (November 28, 2021)
Focal Point — “Miss Sinclair” (unreleased), Factory — “Path Through the Forest”, The Honeybus — “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” (July 28, 2021)
I Get My Kicks on Route 666 Special Edition: Charles Manson — “Cease to Exist”, The Beach Boys — “Never Learn”, David Bixby — “666” (December 12, 2022)
The Remo Four/George Harrison — “In the First Place” (unreleased) (December 22, 2024)
Paul & Barry Ryan — “Pictures of Today” (December 16, 2022)
Maurice’s Gibb-lets Special Edition: Maurice Gibb — “The Loner” (unreleased), Maurice Gibb — “Tough and Understand Love” (unreleased), Tin Tin — “She Said Ride” (February 13, 2022)
Genesis — “I Am Very Wrong” (March 19, 2023)
The Bee Gees — “I.O.I.O.” (September 27, 2022)
The Spiders — “Day Tripper (April 1, 2022)
Maurice Gibb — “Railroad” (June 14, 2023)
Public Nuisance — “Strawberry Man” (unreleased) (July 31, 2024)
The Kinks — “Shangri-La” (May 15, 2022)
The Beatles — “If You’ve Got Trouble” (unreleased) (June 30, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else” (January 1, 2024)
The Humblebums — “Her Father Didn’t Like Me Anyway” (June 2, 2023)
Where’s that Confounded Bridge? Special Edition: Keith Relf — “Shapes of My Mind”, Françoise Hardy — “Empty Sunday” (July 13, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “Downtown Suzie” (unreleased) (November 17, 2024)
Kinks Kopykats (Bet You Didn’t Know This Was Written by Ray Davies) Special Edition #1 — “This Strange Effect” (unreleased) (October 11, 2022)
Barry Gibb — “This Time” (April 6, 2022)
The Bee Gees — “You’ll Never See My Face Again” (September 24, 2023)
The Majority — “All Our Christmases” (December 25, 2024)
The Rolling Stones — “Get Yourself Together”/”I Can See It” (unreleased) (March 29, 2022)
The Aerovons — “World of You”, Jotta Herre — “Penina”, Lee Mallory — “That’s the Way It’s Gonna Be” (August 3, 2021)
Petticoat and Vine — “Riding a Carousel” (October 21, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “I Don’t Know Why I Bother with Myself” (June 14, 2022)
The Rolling Stones/Gene Pitney — “Andrew’s Blues” (unreleased) (March 13, 2022)

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New Colony Six — “Love You So Much”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 30, 2026

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

2,084) New Colony Six — “Love You So Much”

WARNING: If you are from Chicago, READ NO FURTHER as this “catchy little number” (Jeff Jarema, liner notes to the CD comp At the River’s Edge) by the New Colony Six (see #410, 1,071) reached #2 on WLS and #4 on WCFL (#61 on Billboard)! (https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2022/05/today-were-talking-about-new-colony-six.html) It “stands as one of the best pop-rock songs of its time, chock-full of incredible three-part harmonies” (Jeff Jarema again), “[o]ne of those upbeat songs from 1967 that hooks you on the first play”. (rod1148, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDwlj1s4wOo) “I trudged through a 11” snowstorm to buy this.” (Dewey Gill, https://www.45cat.com/record/st1205) If only they had slowed it down a tad!

Vocalist Ray Graffia Jr. says he “[w]rote [it] for a gal I still love to the Max!” (NewColonySix-RayGraffiaJr., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iqVpsGxONc) — his wife!

Question #1: But who were the New Colony Six?

In 1964, a sextet of teenagers [from St. Patrick High School] set out to bring the British Invasion to Chicago, establishing their own “Colony” on the northwest side . . . . After a year of relentless gigging through the suburbs, the NC6 released their first single, “I Confess,” on their own Centa[u]r imprint which was collectively funded by the bandmates’ parents. The up-and-coming group caught the attention of Peter Wright, a Chicago music industry titan . . . . Wright stepped in to manage the group and pushed “I Confess,” on the airwaves earning it a spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

https://numerogroup.com/products/new-colony-six-breakthrough

Richie Unterberger adds:

Chicago’s New Colony Six originally emerged as a tough, British Invasion-styled outfit prominently featuring Farfisa organ and a novel (at the time) Leslie guitar. Scoring a huge local hit with “I Confess,” their early recordings . . . featured first-class original material that gave the sound of Them [see #188, 253, 1,252, 1,275, 1,345] and the Yardbirds [see #1,924] a more commercial, American garage-based, vocal harmony approach. The rest of the ’60s saw the band gradually abandoning its roots for middle-of-the-road pop with horns and strings[ and they c]ontinu[ed] to rack up major local hits and minor national ones . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-colony-six-mn0000388416/biography

Question #2: Why did they dress in colonial costumes? When asked “[w]ere you aware at the time that on the West coast a group called Paul Revere And The Raiders were doing the same thing?”, band member Bruce Mattey answered:

Originally, no. It was kind of an odd thing that early on when the Colony was trying to make it and get a record contract, we went to California. At the same time there was a group in the same complex staying there unbeknownst to us called Paul Revere And The Raiders [see #109]. We were trying out for Where The Action Is to get a spot on the show . . . . Here we come in, in colonial outfits and naturally coming in the opposite direction is Paul Revere almost dressed in an identical get-up. Just because the name itself I suppose, naturally Paul Revere, well there you go. So, they were colonial and New Colony actually picked up that name being the answer to the British Invasion, thus the New Colony. So, there was a purpose behind the name. But at the time we didn’t realize that The Raiders and Colony were very similar from that look.

http://www.classicbands.com/NewColonySixInterview.html

Question #3: Why are these Chicago boys in the Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Music Association Hall of Fame?

Bruce Mattey explains: “You know something? That’s a good question. . . . We did a lot of jobs in Iowa, Ohio, Indiana. I have a feeling they kind of took us on as their own. Quite a few of the Colony songs were really big hits there.” (http://www.classicbands.com/NewColonySixInterview.html)

Question #4: What was the Chicago music scene like in the 60’s?

When asked “How would you describe the scene in Chicago for music in the 60s?”, band member Ray Graffia, Jr., responded:

Unbelievably supportive and enthusiastic for their “home team” groups. Those “Midwest farmers’ daughters” Brian Wilson wrote about became rabid supporters of all music that got blessed with airplay from either or both WLS +/or WCFL, which were the two killer AM stations that all of us listened to during that entire decade. Once we hit the airwaves and they could go see us and the other bands who followed us for pennies – no point pursuing outsiders in expensive concerts when you had NC6, followed 9 weeks later by The Shadows of Knight [see #185, 1,075], then in no particular order, The Cryan’ Shames, The Ides of March [see #431, 1,070], American Breed, The Buckinghams [see #409, 413, 632, 730, 1,079] and countless others who garnered airplay on our two 50,000 watt AM stations, essentially right in their own back yards!

https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2023/07/the-new-colony-six-interview.html

Top Forty Most Viewed Posts

Paul McCartney — “Heather” (unreleased) (March 5, 2022)
Buffalo Springfield — “Flying on the Ground Is Wrong” (July 3, 2026)
Harumi — “What a Day for Me” (June 3, 2022)
Bob Dylan and the Band — “Kickin’ My Dog Around” (unreleased) (April 1, 2024)
Maurice Gibb — “Give Me a Glass of Wine” (unreleased) (May 29, 2022)
George Harrison — “I Don’t Want to Do It” (unreleased) (June 25, 2023)
The Action — “In My Dream” (unreleased) (March 24, 2022)
The Millennium — “The Island” (March 28, 2022)
The Kinks a.k.a. The Toll-Puddle Martyrs — “Nellie Bligh” (April 1, 2026)
Do You Want to Know a Secret? — Beloved Songs Actually Written by Lennon and/or McCartney #1: John Lennon — “Bad to Me” (unreleased), Paul McCartney — “Goodbye” (unreleased), John Lennon — “I’m the Greatest” (unreleased) (July 18, 2022)
The Ides of March — “You Wouldn’t Listen” (January 6, 2024)
Herman’s Hermits — “Dream on”/”I Gotta Dream On” (October 19, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “My Obsession” (September 12, 2022)
Paul McCartney — “Love in the Open Air”, John Lennon — “Child of Nature” (unreleased), The Idle Race — “Days of Broken Arrow” (August 7, 2021)
Barry Ryan Remembrance Special Edition: “Eloise”, “Why Do You Cry My Love”, The Hunt” (November 28, 2021)
Focal Point — “Miss Sinclair” (unreleased), Factory — “Path Through the Forest”, The Honeybus — “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” (July 28, 2021)
I Get My Kicks on Route 666 Special Edition: Charles Manson — “Cease to Exist”, The Beach Boys — “Never Learn”, David Bixby — “666” (December 12, 2022)
The Remo Four/George Harrison — “In the First Place” (unreleased) (December 22, 2024)
Paul & Barry Ryan — “Pictures of Today” (December 16, 2022)
Maurice’s Gibb-lets Special Edition: Maurice Gibb — “The Loner” (unreleased), Maurice Gibb — “Tough and Understand Love” (unreleased), Tin Tin — “She Said Ride” (February 13, 2022)
Genesis — “I Am Very Wrong” (March 19, 2023)
The Bee Gees — “I.O.I.O.” (September 27, 2022)
The Spiders — “Day Tripper (April 1, 2022)
Maurice Gibb — “Railroad” (June 14, 2023)
Public Nuisance — “Strawberry Man” (unreleased) (July 31, 2024)
The Kinks — “Shangri-La” (May 15, 2022)
The Beatles — “If You’ve Got Trouble” (unreleased) (June 30, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else” (January 1, 2024)
The Humblebums — “Her Father Didn’t Like Me Anyway” (June 2, 2023)
Where’s that Confounded Bridge? Special Edition: Keith Relf — “Shapes of My Mind”, Françoise Hardy — “Empty Sunday” (July 13, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “Downtown Suzie” (unreleased) (November 17, 2024)
Kinks Kopykats (Bet You Didn’t Know This Was Written by Ray Davies) Special Edition #1 — “This Strange Effect” (unreleased) (October 11, 2022)
Barry Gibb — “This Time” (April 6, 2022)
The Bee Gees — “You’ll Never See My Face Again” (September 24, 2023)
The Majority — “All Our Christmases” (December 25, 2024)
The Rolling Stones — “Get Yourself Together”/”I Can See It” (unreleased) (March 29, 2022)
The Aerovons — “World of You”, Jotta Herre — “Penina”, Lee Mallory — “That’s the Way It’s Gonna Be” (August 3, 2021)
Petticoat and Vine — “Riding a Carousel” (October 21, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “I Don’t Know Why I Bother with Myself” (June 14, 2022)
The Rolling Stones/Gene Pitney — “Andrew’s Blues” (unreleased) (March 13, 2022)

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

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The Guys — “Little Girl”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 29, 2026

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

2,083) The Guys — “Little Girl”

Here is some marvelously moody ‘68 mod beat by a very obscure band led by brothers John and Ricky Burness. “Little girl please go away I don’t want to see you another day” Harsh!

The band “also backed singer John Burness on a solo 45 and toured Bulgaria with him. John and Ricky Burness had both been in The Beat Six.” (Vernon Joynson, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited)

Top Forty Most Viewed Posts

Paul McCartney — “Heather” (unreleased) (March 5, 2022)
Buffalo Springfield — “Flying on the Ground Is Wrong” (July 3, 2026)
Harumi — “What a Day for Me” (June 3, 2022)
Bob Dylan and the Band — “Kickin’ My Dog Around” (unreleased) (April 1, 2024)
Maurice Gibb — “Give Me a Glass of Wine” (unreleased) (May 29, 2022)
George Harrison — “I Don’t Want to Do It” (unreleased) (June 25, 2023)
The Action — “In My Dream” (unreleased) (March 24, 2022)
The Millennium — “The Island” (March 28, 2022)
The Kinks a.k.a. The Toll-Puddle Martyrs — “Nellie Bligh” (April 1, 2026)
Do You Want to Know a Secret? — Beloved Songs Actually Written by Lennon and/or McCartney #1: John Lennon — “Bad to Me” (unreleased), Paul McCartney — “Goodbye” (unreleased), John Lennon — “I’m the Greatest” (unreleased) (July 18, 2022)
The Ides of March — “You Wouldn’t Listen” (January 6, 2024)
Herman’s Hermits — “Dream on”/”I Gotta Dream On” (October 19, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “My Obsession” (September 12, 2022)
Paul McCartney — “Love in the Open Air”, John Lennon — “Child of Nature” (unreleased), The Idle Race — “Days of Broken Arrow” (August 7, 2021)
Barry Ryan Remembrance Special Edition: “Eloise”, “Why Do You Cry My Love”, The Hunt” (November 28, 2021)
Focal Point — “Miss Sinclair” (unreleased), Factory — “Path Through the Forest”, The Honeybus — “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” (July 28, 2021)
I Get My Kicks on Route 666 Special Edition: Charles Manson — “Cease to Exist”, The Beach Boys — “Never Learn”, David Bixby — “666” (December 12, 2022)
The Remo Four/George Harrison — “In the First Place” (unreleased) (December 22, 2024)
Paul & Barry Ryan — “Pictures of Today” (December 16, 2022)
Maurice’s Gibb-lets Special Edition: Maurice Gibb — “The Loner” (unreleased), Maurice Gibb — “Tough and Understand Love” (unreleased), Tin Tin — “She Said Ride” (February 13, 2022)
Genesis — “I Am Very Wrong” (March 19, 2023)
The Bee Gees — “I.O.I.O.” (September 27, 2022)
The Spiders — “Day Tripper (April 1, 2022)
Maurice Gibb — “Railroad” (June 14, 2023)
Public Nuisance — “Strawberry Man” (unreleased) (July 31, 2024)
The Kinks — “Shangri-La” (May 15, 2022)
The Beatles — “If You’ve Got Trouble” (unreleased) (June 30, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else” (January 1, 2024)
The Humblebums — “Her Father Didn’t Like Me Anyway” (June 2, 2023)
Where’s that Confounded Bridge? Special Edition: Keith Relf — “Shapes of My Mind”, Françoise Hardy — “Empty Sunday” (July 13, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “Downtown Suzie” (unreleased) (November 17, 2024)
Kinks Kopykats (Bet You Didn’t Know This Was Written by Ray Davies) Special Edition #1 — “This Strange Effect” (unreleased) (October 11, 2022)
Barry Gibb — “This Time” (April 6, 2022)
The Bee Gees — “You’ll Never See My Face Again” (September 24, 2023)
The Majority — “All Our Christmases” (December 25, 2024)
The Rolling Stones — “Get Yourself Together”/”I Can See It” (unreleased) (March 29, 2022)
The Aerovons — “World of You”, Jotta Herre — “Penina”, Lee Mallory — “That’s the Way It’s Gonna Be” (August 3, 2021)
Petticoat and Vine — “Riding a Carousel” (October 21, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “I Don’t Know Why I Bother with Myself” (June 14, 2022)
The Rolling Stones/Gene Pitney — “Andrew’s Blues” (unreleased) (March 13, 2022)

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 Yellow Balloon — “Stained Glass Window”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 28, 2026

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

2,082) The Yellow Balloon — “Stained Glass Window”

Talk about stained glass windows, here is a baroque pop/sunshine pop triumph that deserves to be performed in a cathedral. This “[p]sychedelic feelgood bubblegum-sunshine pop fused with classical music” is a “rather croony, fairytalish yet interesting piece of fluff.” (Nostalgipalatset, https://www.nostalgipalatset.com/en/vinyl-records/rock-pop/1960-s-singles-ep-s/the-yellow-ballon-stained-glass-window-uk-45-1967.html) Not that there’s anything wrong with that! It “rank[s] high in the sky as [a] blue ribbon pop confection[]” (Beverly Paterson, https://somethingelsereviews.com/2014/01/23/forgotten-series-the-yellow-balloon-the-yellow-balloon-1967/) and is “the standout” track (PROGROCKASAURUS, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-yellow-balloon/the-yellow-balloon/) on the Yellow Balloon’s sole LP.

Beverly Paterson lauds the Yellow Balloon LP:

Spring 1967 saw the Yellow Balloon net a nationwide Top 25 hit single with “Yellow Balloon,” which appeared on the band’s only album . . . . Coated with a bright and breezy sing-a-long chorus, supported by a dizzy psychedelic-buttered break, a carefree gallop, and a parade of cranium-bobbing hooks, the tirelessly catchy tune announced an ardent devotion to the Beach Boys [see #667, 1,825]. In fact, the entire Yellow Balloon album could actually be viewed as a valentine to the Hawthorne heavyweights. From the concentrated song structuring to the sweet and sophisticated harmonies to the sparkling gold textures, each track on the disc apes the Beach Boys in a direct and convincing manner. Aside from the standard pop rock setting consisting of electric guitars and drums, The Yellow Balloon is pockmarked with a variety of cool instruments like a glockenspiel, harpsichords, violins, cellos, trombones, a washboard, and banjos. A chair and an ashtray are even employed in the mix! The record was clearly inspired by Pet Sounds . . . but . . . the tunes never really go off the deep end and are wholly accessible. . . . Radiant vocals are tattooed across the grooves, aided by stabbing melodies, infectious rhythms and pristine padding. . . . Driven by a playful and cheery vibe, alive with color and form, the album is a classic of its genre.

https://somethingelsereviews.com/2014/01/23/forgotten-series-the-yellow-balloon-the-yellow-balloon-1967/

As to Yellow Balloon, the band, Paterson notes that “[c]onceived by producer Gary Zekley, the Yellow Balloon featured an interesting cast of characters, most notably Dick St. John of Dick and Dee Dee, actor Don Grady from My Three Sons, and Daryl Dragon, who later soared to success as one-half of the Captain and Tennille.” Cub Koda writes that Zekley “could grab a bunch of musicians and — filling in the needed holes with his own talent — produce sessions that rivaled Phil Spector or Brian Wilson for big sound and teen spirit.” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-yellow-balloon-mw0000036994)

Linda Seida tells us about the Balloon:

In addition to Grady and Dragon, who both played drums, [the Yellow Balloon’s] membership included lead singer Alex Valdez, keyboardist Frosty Green, bassist Don Braught, and guitarist Paul Canella. Grady . . . played previously with the Palace Guard, a folk-rock band. Yellow Balloon formed during the ’60s when he joined forces in Los Angeles with Gary Zekley, a songwriter and producer who had initially written the single “Yellow Balloon” for surf duo Jan & Dean [see #376, 479]. Zekley also released a version of the song, and when it skipped into the Top 30, he and Grady pulled together a band for live performances and put out an album. Grady culled Braught and Green from a band called Rising Sons in Oregon, and drew Canella and Valdez from Five of Us, an Arizona group. Grady had previously recorded their names in a list he kept of musicians whose skill impressed him when he saw them play . . . . When the time came to pull together the band that would be Yellow Balloon, he gave them a call. After failing to score on the charts again, the group disbanded. Grady went solo for a while . . . . Braught, Canella, Green, and Valdez reformed under the name the Popcorn Explosion. Zekley continued to write hits, among them “Sooner or Later” and “I’d Wait a Million Years” for the Grass Roots.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/yellow-balloon-mn0000490458

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Bob Dylan and the Band — “Kickin’ My Dog Around” (unreleased) (April 1, 2024)
Maurice Gibb — “Give Me a Glass of Wine” (unreleased) (May 29, 2022)
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Do You Want to Know a Secret? — Beloved Songs Actually Written by Lennon and/or McCartney #1: John Lennon — “Bad to Me” (unreleased), Paul McCartney — “Goodbye” (unreleased), John Lennon — “I’m the Greatest” (unreleased) (July 18, 2022)
The Ides of March — “You Wouldn’t Listen” (January 6, 2024)
Herman’s Hermits — “Dream on”/”I Gotta Dream On” (October 19, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “My Obsession” (September 12, 2022)
Paul McCartney — “Love in the Open Air”, John Lennon — “Child of Nature” (unreleased), The Idle Race — “Days of Broken Arrow” (August 7, 2021)
Barry Ryan Remembrance Special Edition: “Eloise”, “Why Do You Cry My Love”, The Hunt” (November 28, 2021)
Focal Point — “Miss Sinclair” (unreleased), Factory — “Path Through the Forest”, The Honeybus — “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” (July 28, 2021)
I Get My Kicks on Route 666 Special Edition: Charles Manson — “Cease to Exist”, The Beach Boys — “Never Learn”, David Bixby — “666” (December 12, 2022)
The Remo Four/George Harrison — “In the First Place” (unreleased) (December 22, 2024)
Paul & Barry Ryan — “Pictures of Today” (December 16, 2022)
Maurice’s Gibb-lets Special Edition: Maurice Gibb — “The Loner” (unreleased), Maurice Gibb — “Tough and Understand Love” (unreleased), Tin Tin — “She Said Ride” (February 13, 2022)
Genesis — “I Am Very Wrong” (March 19, 2023)
The Bee Gees — “I.O.I.O.” (September 27, 2022)
The Spiders — “Day Tripper (April 1, 2022)
Maurice Gibb — “Railroad” (June 14, 2023)
Public Nuisance — “Strawberry Man” (unreleased) (July 31, 2024)
The Kinks — “Shangri-La” (May 15, 2022)
The Beatles — “If You’ve Got Trouble” (unreleased) (June 30, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else” (January 1, 2024)
The Humblebums — “Her Father Didn’t Like Me Anyway” (June 2, 2023)
Where’s that Confounded Bridge? Special Edition: Keith Relf — “Shapes of My Mind”, Françoise Hardy — “Empty Sunday” (July 13, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “Downtown Suzie” (unreleased) (November 17, 2024)
Kinks Kopykats (Bet You Didn’t Know This Was Written by Ray Davies) Special Edition #1 — “This Strange Effect” (unreleased) (October 11, 2022)
Barry Gibb — “This Time” (April 6, 2022)
The Bee Gees — “You’ll Never See My Face Again” (September 24, 2023)
The Majority — “All Our Christmases” (December 25, 2024)
The Rolling Stones — “Get Yourself Together”/”I Can See It” (unreleased) (March 29, 2022)
The Aerovons — “World of You”, Jotta Herre — “Penina”, Lee Mallory — “That’s the Way It’s Gonna Be” (August 3, 2021)
Petticoat and Vine — “Riding a Carousel” (October 21, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “I Don’t Know Why I Bother with Myself” (June 14, 2022)
The Rolling Stones/Gene Pitney — “Andrew’s Blues” (unreleased) (March 13, 2022)

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Clapham Junction — “Emily on Sunday”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 27, 2026

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

2,081) Clapham Junction — “Emily on Sunday”

Who’s in Sydney? Well, Clapham Junction is! This “Aussie mod psych classic with strong Who [see #119, 548, 833, 976, 1,912, 2,055] overtones” (happening45, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7STPaNxVk2E) is “charming and somewhat anachronistic — for 1969 — mod thrash”. (Alec Palao, liner notes to the CD comp Peculiar Hole in the Sky: Pop-Psych from Down Under) I won’t get fooled again!

Kimbo tells us of the Junction:

Pop-psych group Clapham Junction formed in 1968 and for a while ran its own nightclub called the Union Jack in Sydney. Several members originally hailed from the U.K., and they took their name from Britain’s busiest railway station. Original personnel consisted of Dennis Loughlin (vocals), Derek Lewis (guitar), Peter Noble (bass) and David Mills (drums). The band gigged regularly in the city and in regional places like Newcastle and Tamworth. In early 1969, Loughlin left to form Sherbet and was replaced by two vocalists Jim Willebrant and William Mahoney. It was this lineup that released one single, the outstanding The Who influenced ”Emily On Sunday” on the Du Monde label.

https://historyofaussiemusic.blogspot.com/2013/09/clapham-junction.html

Michael Dwyer adds:

[T]the Sydney blues-rock band prided itself on blowing all comers off stage – even if it meant a little power plug mischief when faced with headliners as formidable as the Masters Apprentices [see #297, 1,688] . . . . “Emily On Sunday” has possibly had more plays by random YouTube trawlers in recent times than it enjoyed on Australian radio in 1969. Nonetheless, the Junction’s former bass player, Peter Noble, still likes to brag that they were earning more money than their fathers in their prime. . . . Today, Noble is the director of Bluesfest, the world-renowned international music festival that draws around 100,000 people to the Byron Bay region every Easter.

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/and-the-bands-play-on-20110420-1douw.html

“Several members originally hailed from the U.K.”? Alec Palao notes that:

The rumour goes that the unruly Clapham Junction were refugees from the “old dart”, to the extent that they even promoted a Sydney club entitled The Union Jack. . . . “I’m not sure that [they] were all Brits,” reckons producer Martin Erdman, “but yes, it was a pretty wild session, as I think shows on the disc. They were a crazy band, great guys and a lot of fun to work with. I don’t know why we never did an album.”

liner notes to Peculiar Hole in the Sky

But “[b]assist Peter Noble . . . point[s] out that he was ‘the only Aussie in an all-Brit band'”. (Pop Archives, https://poparchives.com.au/clapham-junction/good-time-music/)

What happened after the Junction? Pop Archives tells us that:

After Clapham Junction, Dennis Laughlin and Sam See [Ruthven] became foundation members of Sherbet in 1969. Laughlin was Sherbet’s original lead singer, heard on their first single “Crimson Ships”, but left after a few months. Later he was in Toby Jugg. (Clapham Junction’s John Foley, Jim Willebrandt and Bill Mahoney also passed through Toby Jugg, as did Garth Porter, later in Sherbet.) Sam See left Sherbet in 1970, before its rise to stardom. He was in The Flying Circus [see #944] and Greg Quill’s band Southern Cross in the 70s and, as Milesago puts it, became a mainstay of the Australian music scene with a bulging CV [http://www.milesago.com/Artists/circus.htm]

https://poparchives.com.au/clapham-junction/good-time-music/

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Herman’s Hermits — “Dream on”/”I Gotta Dream On” (October 19, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “My Obsession” (September 12, 2022)
Paul McCartney — “Love in the Open Air”, John Lennon — “Child of Nature” (unreleased), The Idle Race — “Days of Broken Arrow” (August 7, 2021)
Barry Ryan Remembrance Special Edition: “Eloise”, “Why Do You Cry My Love”, The Hunt” (November 28, 2021)
Focal Point — “Miss Sinclair” (unreleased), Factory — “Path Through the Forest”, The Honeybus — “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” (July 28, 2021)
I Get My Kicks on Route 666 Special Edition: Charles Manson — “Cease to Exist”, The Beach Boys — “Never Learn”, David Bixby — “666” (December 12, 2022)
The Remo Four/George Harrison — “In the First Place” (unreleased) (December 22, 2024)
Paul & Barry Ryan — “Pictures of Today” (December 16, 2022)
Maurice’s Gibb-lets Special Edition: Maurice Gibb — “The Loner” (unreleased), Maurice Gibb — “Tough and Understand Love” (unreleased), Tin Tin — “She Said Ride” (February 13, 2022)
Genesis — “I Am Very Wrong” (March 19, 2023)
The Bee Gees — “I.O.I.O.” (September 27, 2022)
The Spiders — “Day Tripper (April 1, 2022)
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The Kinks — “Shangri-La” (May 15, 2022)
The Beatles — “If You’ve Got Trouble” (unreleased) (June 30, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else” (January 1, 2024)
The Humblebums — “Her Father Didn’t Like Me Anyway” (June 2, 2023)
Where’s that Confounded Bridge? Special Edition: Keith Relf — “Shapes of My Mind”, Françoise Hardy — “Empty Sunday” (July 13, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “Downtown Suzie” (unreleased) (November 17, 2024)
Kinks Kopykats (Bet You Didn’t Know This Was Written by Ray Davies) Special Edition #1 — “This Strange Effect” (unreleased) (October 11, 2022)
Barry Gibb — “This Time” (April 6, 2022)
The Bee Gees — “You’ll Never See My Face Again” (September 24, 2023)
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The Aerovons — “World of You”, Jotta Herre — “Penina”, Lee Mallory — “That’s the Way It’s Gonna Be” (August 3, 2021)
Petticoat and Vine — “Riding a Carousel” (October 21, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “I Don’t Know Why I Bother with Myself” (June 14, 2022)
The Rolling Stones/Gene Pitney — “Andrew’s Blues” (unreleased) (March 13, 2022)

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The Byrds — “You Won’t Have to Cry”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 26, 2026

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

2,080) The Byrds — “You Won’t Have to Cry”

“Arguably the Byrds[‘] [see #1,430, 1,605, 1,965] most underrated song” (Channelllchann, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrfd3-NxqUM), “wonderfully beautiful [and] haunting” (Adrian Denning, https://www.adriandenning.co.uk/byrds.html), with “a quintessential early sixties Beatles-type beat contrasted by the complex vocals of folk trios from the same era”. (Classic Rock Review, https://www.classicrockreview.com/2020/06/1965-the-byrds-mr-tambourine-man/) Matthew Greenwald writes that it is “[o]ne of the more durable songs from the Byrds’ early canon” and has “a certain degree of naïveté in the lyrics, which combine teen angst and a more mature reality-based stance than many of their contemporaries.” (https://www.allmusic.com/song/you-wont-have-to-cry-mt0001980775) “Cry” was written by Gene Clark (see #655) and Roger McGuinn.

As to the LP, Mr. Tambourine Man, Richie Unterberger writes:

One of the greatest debuts in the history of rock, [it] was nothing less than a significant step in the evolution of rock & roll itself, demonstrating that intelligent lyrical content could be wedded to compelling electric guitar riffs and a solid backbeat. It was also the album that was most responsible for establishing folk-rock as a popular phenomenon, its most alluring traits being Rogwer McGuinn’s immediately distinctive 12-string Rickenbacker jangle and the band’s beautiful harmonies. The material was uniformly strong, whether they were interpreting Bob Dylan [see #126, 823, 1,133, 1,162, 1,495, 1,599, 1,711, 1,895, 1,963] (on the title cut and three other songs, including the hit single “All I Really Want to Do”), Pete Seeger (“The Bells of Rhymney”), or Jackie DeShannon [see #1,202] (“Don’t Doubt Yourself, Babe”). The originals were lyrically less challenging, but equally powerful musically . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/album/mr-tambourine-man-mw0000198797

As to Gene Clark, No Depression tells us that he “infused the [Byrds] with much of its soul and vision, establishing himself as a pivotal folk-rock innovator . . . . [but o]verwhelmed by demands of fame and tired of clashing with the contentious Crosby, Clark left the band in 1966”. (https://www.nodepression.com/album-reviews/gene-clark-with-the-gosdin-brothers-self-titled/)

Mark Deming adds that:

Gene Clark will always be best-known for his short stint as lead singer for the Byrds from 1964 to 1966 . . . . [He] helped invent country-rock with 1968’s Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers album, then teamed with Doug Dillard in the late ’60s to make two records that served as a blueprint for Americana. . . . Clark’s clear and true vocals, his poetic turns of phrase, and his skill at weaving melancholy melodies never wavered. . . . [L]ong after his passing in 1991, has remained influential to each new generation of jangle pop artists . . . . Clark . . . [was in] the New Christy Minstrels, a well-scrubbed folk-pop ensemble . . . . However, [he] longed to perform his own songs and didn’t care for life on the road; after hearing the Beatles for the first time, Clark decided he wanted to form a rock band and he quit . . . and moved to Los Angeles. There, he met . . . [Roger] McGuinn . . . . Clark quickly became the Byrds’ dominant songwriter, penning most of their best-known originals . . . . [But] the combination of [his] dislike of traveling (including a fear of flying) and resentment that his songwriting income made him the best-paid member of the group led to tensions . . . and in 1966 Clark opted to leave . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gene-clark-mn0000194036

Here is an alternate version:

From the Byrd’s prehistory:

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Bob Dylan and the Band — “Kickin’ My Dog Around” (unreleased) (April 1, 2024)
Maurice Gibb — “Give Me a Glass of Wine” (unreleased) (May 29, 2022)
George Harrison — “I Don’t Want to Do It” (unreleased) (June 25, 2023)
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Do You Want to Know a Secret? — Beloved Songs Actually Written by Lennon and/or McCartney #1: John Lennon — “Bad to Me” (unreleased), Paul McCartney — “Goodbye” (unreleased), John Lennon — “I’m the Greatest” (unreleased) (July 18, 2022)
The Ides of March — “You Wouldn’t Listen” (January 6, 2024)
Herman’s Hermits — “Dream on”/”I Gotta Dream On” (October 19, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “My Obsession” (September 12, 2022)
Paul McCartney — “Love in the Open Air”, John Lennon — “Child of Nature” (unreleased), The Idle Race — “Days of Broken Arrow” (August 7, 2021)
Barry Ryan Remembrance Special Edition: “Eloise”, “Why Do You Cry My Love”, The Hunt” (November 28, 2021)
Focal Point — “Miss Sinclair” (unreleased), Factory — “Path Through the Forest”, The Honeybus — “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” (July 28, 2021)
I Get My Kicks on Route 666 Special Edition: Charles Manson — “Cease to Exist”, The Beach Boys — “Never Learn”, David Bixby — “666” (December 12, 2022)
The Remo Four/George Harrison — “In the First Place” (unreleased) (December 22, 2024)
Paul & Barry Ryan — “Pictures of Today” (December 16, 2022)
Maurice’s Gibb-lets Special Edition: Maurice Gibb — “The Loner” (unreleased), Maurice Gibb — “Tough and Understand Love” (unreleased), Tin Tin — “She Said Ride” (February 13, 2022)
Genesis — “I Am Very Wrong” (March 19, 2023)
The Bee Gees — “I.O.I.O.” (September 27, 2022)
The Spiders — “Day Tripper (April 1, 2022)
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Public Nuisance — “Strawberry Man” (unreleased) (July 31, 2024)
The Kinks — “Shangri-La” (May 15, 2022)
The Beatles — “If You’ve Got Trouble” (unreleased) (June 30, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else” (January 1, 2024)
The Humblebums — “Her Father Didn’t Like Me Anyway” (June 2, 2023)
Where’s that Confounded Bridge? Special Edition: Keith Relf — “Shapes of My Mind”, Françoise Hardy — “Empty Sunday” (July 13, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “Downtown Suzie” (unreleased) (November 17, 2024)
Kinks Kopykats (Bet You Didn’t Know This Was Written by Ray Davies) Special Edition #1 — “This Strange Effect” (unreleased) (October 11, 2022)
Barry Gibb — “This Time” (April 6, 2022)
The Bee Gees — “You’ll Never See My Face Again” (September 24, 2023)
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The Aerovons — “World of You”, Jotta Herre — “Penina”, Lee Mallory — “That’s the Way It’s Gonna Be” (August 3, 2021)
Petticoat and Vine — “Riding a Carousel” (October 21, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “I Don’t Know Why I Bother with Myself” (June 14, 2022)
The Rolling Stones/Gene Pitney — “Andrew’s Blues” (unreleased) (March 13, 2022)

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“Take Away” Special Edition: The Tams/The Couriers — “Take Away”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 25, 2026

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

A classic but neglected ’64 soul B-side by the Tams magically becomes a classic but neglected ’65 British Invasion A-side by the Couriers. They both put a spell on me!

2,078) The Tams — “Take Away“

Atlanta’s Tams, best known as purveyors of Carolina “beach music”, give us sublime “moody soul blues” (Clegg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaDwJ8Kzwsg), or, as Cash Box put it, a “haunting cha cha blueser that can also make it to Hitsville”. (Cash Box, “Pick of the Week”, July 4, 1964, paulriofski7982, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1Ug16DGKHg) Well, the A-side — Hey Girl, Don’t Bother Me” — certainly did, reaching #41 (#10 R&B).

Ron Wynn writes of the Tams:

A “beach” music favorite, Atlanta’s Tams were among the more popular up-tempo soul groups of the ’60s, although they were never able to break Motown’s pop stranglehold. Joseph Pope’s gravelly voiced leads were their selling point. He was joined by his brother Charles, Robert Smith, Floyd Ashton, and Horace Key. They began on Swan in 1960, then landed their first hit with “Untie Me” for Arlen in 1962. It peaked at number 12 on the R&B charts (number 11 pop). They moved to ABC-Paramount the next year, where they remained until 1968. They scored their biggest hit in 1963 with “What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am).” But many soul fans regard 1968’s “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy” as their ultimate hit, although it only reached number 26 on the R&B charts.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-tams-mn0000569256

Michael Jack Kirby tells us more:

The “beach music” scene along the Carolina shore has been raging for several decades. Partiers danced and romanced to the sounds of specific rhythm and blues groups in the ’60s and continue doing so . . . . The scene’s most popular performers didn’t originate from any points along the seaside yet were destined to perform there again and again. . . . The Tams . . . are . . . the definitive “beach” act . . . . having an ideal vocal technique set in a tempo range just right for “shagging,” the signature swing-step move along the eastern seaboard . . . . Brothers Joseph and Charles Pope started the group around 1952 as The Four Dots, an all-teenage quartet with Robert Lee Smith and Horace Key. Several years later, “Little Floyd” Ashton made the act a quintet. Performing in A-Town dives for minimal pay took its toll; they began wearing patterned, multi-colored Scottish tam o’shanter hats that couldn’t help but attract attention. . . . [I]n ’62, [they] made a demo for former deejay and NRC Records owner Bill Lowery. NRC staffer Joe South, who’d made several recordings of his own but was still several years away from notching a major hit as a singer, penned “Untie Me,” produced . . . by Ray Stevens . . . . Charles handled the lead vocal and the band’s tuba player tingled spines . . . . Exceeding expectations, it hit number 60 on the pop charts and number 12 R&B in the fall of ’62. “Here Am I,” a single credited to Little Floyd, followed; the Tams did backing vocals on the B side, “My Baby Loves Me.” Three more Tams singles appeared on Arlen (most sides were penned by South) before Lowery secured a five-year contract for the group with ABC-Paramount. “What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)” was written by Ray Whitley, a pop-rock singer-songwriter from Atlanta with several singles on Vee-Jay in the early ’60s. . . . Joe Pope handled the lead vocal . . . and owned the frontman spot after the single landed in the pop top ten and became a Cash Box R&B chart topper in the early weeks of 1964. Joe took control on a two-sided charter, “You Lied to Your Daddy” (another Whitley grievance) and “It’s All Right (You’re Just In Love)[.]” Around this time, alcohol consumption got the better of Little Floyd and he was replaced by Albert Cottle. Whitley’s “Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me” . . . nearly reached the top 40 while returning them to the R&B top ten in September. Joe South’s “Silly Little Girl” fit the Whitley mold and the Thomas brothers’ “Find Another Love,” a reissue of an earlier Arlen track, capped an eventful year. The next ten ABC 45s fared poorly . . . . “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy” (penned by Whitley with J.R. Cobb, a guitarist and songwriter with Jacksonville, Florida’s Classics IV) . . . got them back into hit territory in the spring of ’68. Even its quick tempo was surpassed by “Trouble Maker,” their chart swan song…in the U.S., that is. . . . The 1970s were rife with Tams records on Apt, MGM South and several other labels, yet in the U.S. the act mainly catered to the Carolina coast crowd. In England, meanwhile, ’60s soul songs were having a resurgence and “Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me” was one of the hottest, a number one U.K. hit in the fall of 1971. . . . They had another Brit hit, “There Ain’t Nothing Like Shaggin'” in 1987, a top seller despite opposition from the BBC over the improper, non-dance definition of “shag” . . . !

https://www.waybackattack.com/tams.html

2,079) The Couriers — “Take Away”

John Reed writes that:

The Couriers recorded this jazzy version of The Tams’ B-side to “Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me” for release on Ember, who even went to the trouble of promoting the single in a picture sleeve. Sadly, this tactic failed to stimulate sales. [Bill] Kimber [see #646] later went solo before enjoying a successful career in the music busineess.

liner note the the CD comp Looking Back: 80 Mod, Freakbeat & Swinging London Nuggets

Vernon Joynson calls it “a reasonable Zombies [see #1,138] -type beat number.” (The Tapestry of Delights Revisited)

The liner notes to the Piccadilly Sunshine comp tell us that:

South African-born . . . Kimber (real name William Charles Boardman) fronted a London band by the name of The Couriers in 1965. Upon meeting with Johannesburg-born producer Frank Fenter, the group relocated to South Africa appearing in a film that was to mirror the Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night. . . . Come 1967, Kimber departed from the Couriers to seek his fortune with a solo career. This new lease on life resulted in a handful of singles for Parlophone as William E. Kimber including two minor hits . . . . “Lazy Life” [see #646] . . . was issued by Polydor . . . . Kimber embroiled himself in the pop world with many pseudonyms such as: Quentin E. Klopjaeger . . . . [and] Waygood Ellis . . . .

liner notes to Piccadilly Sunshine: A Compendium of Rare Pop Curios from the British Psychedelic Era; Volumes 1-10

The Couriers released much more in South Africa: http://rock.co.za/files/couriers_index.htm.

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Paul McCartney — “Heather” (unreleased) (March 5, 2022)
Buffalo Springfield — “Flying on the Ground Is Wrong” (July 3, 2026)
Harumi — “What a Day for Me” (June 3, 2022)
Bob Dylan and the Band — “Kickin’ My Dog Around” (unreleased) (April 1, 2024)
Maurice Gibb — “Give Me a Glass of Wine” (unreleased) (May 29, 2022)
George Harrison — “I Don’t Want to Do It” (unreleased) (June 25, 2023)
The Action — “In My Dream” (unreleased) (March 24, 2022)
The Millennium — “The Island” (March 28, 2022)
The Kinks a.k.a. The Toll-Puddle Martyrs — “Nellie Bligh” (April 1, 2026)
Do You Want to Know a Secret? — Beloved Songs Actually Written by Lennon and/or McCartney #1: John Lennon — “Bad to Me” (unreleased), Paul McCartney — “Goodbye” (unreleased), John Lennon — “I’m the Greatest” (unreleased) (July 18, 2022)
The Ides of March — “You Wouldn’t Listen” (January 6, 2024)
Herman’s Hermits — “Dream on”/”I Gotta Dream On” (October 19, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “My Obsession” (September 12, 2022)
Paul McCartney — “Love in the Open Air”, John Lennon — “Child of Nature” (unreleased), The Idle Race — “Days of Broken Arrow” (August 7, 2021)
Barry Ryan Remembrance Special Edition: “Eloise”, “Why Do You Cry My Love”, The Hunt” (November 28, 2021)
Focal Point — “Miss Sinclair” (unreleased), Factory — “Path Through the Forest”, The Honeybus — “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” (July 28, 2021)
I Get My Kicks on Route 666 Special Edition: Charles Manson — “Cease to Exist”, The Beach Boys — “Never Learn”, David Bixby — “666” (December 12, 2022)
The Remo Four/George Harrison — “In the First Place” (unreleased) (December 22, 2024)
Paul & Barry Ryan — “Pictures of Today” (December 16, 2022)
Maurice’s Gibb-lets Special Edition: Maurice Gibb — “The Loner” (unreleased), Maurice Gibb — “Tough and Understand Love” (unreleased), Tin Tin — “She Said Ride” (February 13, 2022)
Genesis — “I Am Very Wrong” (March 19, 2023)
The Bee Gees — “I.O.I.O.” (September 27, 2022)
The Spiders — “Day Tripper (April 1, 2022)
Maurice Gibb — “Railroad” (June 14, 2023)
Public Nuisance — “Strawberry Man” (unreleased) (July 31, 2024)
The Kinks — “Shangri-La” (May 15, 2022)
The Beatles — “If You’ve Got Trouble” (unreleased) (June 30, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else” (January 1, 2024)
The Humblebums — “Her Father Didn’t Like Me Anyway” (June 2, 2023)
Where’s that Confounded Bridge? Special Edition: Keith Relf — “Shapes of My Mind”, Françoise Hardy — “Empty Sunday” (July 13, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “Downtown Suzie” (unreleased) (November 17, 2024)
Kinks Kopykats (Bet You Didn’t Know This Was Written by Ray Davies) Special Edition #1 — “This Strange Effect” (unreleased) (October 11, 2022)
Barry Gibb — “This Time” (April 6, 2022)
The Bee Gees — “You’ll Never See My Face Again” (September 24, 2023)
The Majority — “All Our Christmases” (December 25, 2024)
The Rolling Stones — “Get Yourself Together”/”I Can See It” (unreleased) (March 29, 2022)
The Aerovons — “World of You”, Jotta Herre — “Penina”, Lee Mallory — “That’s the Way It’s Gonna Be” (August 3, 2021)
Petticoat and Vine — “Riding a Carousel” (October 21, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “I Don’t Know Why I Bother with Myself” (June 14, 2022)
The Rolling Stones/Gene Pitney — “Andrew’s Blues” (unreleased) (March 13, 2022)

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The Outer Limits — “Great Train Robbery”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 24, 2026

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

2,077) The Outer Limits — “Great Train Robbery”

The Outer Limits’ (see #1,707) final A-side was a “keyboard driven psychedelic pop gem” (Kevin Rathert, https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2025/09/the-outer-limits-just-one-more-chance-the-anthology-1965-1968-2025.htm), “a psychedelic and sunny chamber pop tune” (Fred Thomas, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/outer-limits-mn0000897169#biography) — based on a famous 1963 English train robbery (regarding which, check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Biggs).

Band leader Jeff Christie recalls that “Andrew [Loog Oldham] liked the band and wanted to produce the single himself after we were recommended to Immediate by Tito Burns, our agent at the time. ‘Great Train Robbery’ was on Immediate but they created a sub-label called Instant as it was a little more poppier.” (https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/interviews/jeff-christie-and-the-outer-limits/)

Kevin Rathert explains that:

[T]he Instant Records version of . . . “Great Train Robbery” . . . failed to chart when released in September 1968. . . . [T]he Immediate Records version of “Great Train Robbery” [had] a run time forty seconds longer thanks to the sound effects introduction. Released in April 1968, the single likewise made no impression on the charts.

https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2025/09/the-outer-limits-just-one-more-chance-the-anthology-1965-1968-2025.htm

Why? Jeff Christie’s website says that:

Despite five years elapsing since the heist that made Ronnie Biggs’ name, the BBC wouldn’t play The Outer Limits’ 1968 Immediate/Instant single “Great Train Robbery” and that effectively ended the band’s career. The Immediate Records version starts off with gunfire, but it’s a hugely likeable Pop Sike nugget and unlucky to find itself banned, as it certainly possessed all the qualities to crossover towards mass appeal.

https://www.jeffchristie.com/OL%20anthology.html

I think the real crime here was committed by the BBC, one of many it committed against Swinging London (for others, check out my website’s Swinging London page).

Jeff Christie’s website tells us more:

Clearly signalling the development of Jeff’s melodic songwriting skills, the song is . . . all about a train robbery. All stops were pulled out for this one — the arrangement, by former Shadow Tony Meehan, incorporates lavish orchestral backgrounds and lovely harmonies, and is not unlike some Bee Gees [see #291, 353-54, 439, 466, 484, 497, 570, 594, 717, 861, 962, 1,065, 1,101, 1,125, 1,190, 1,321, 1,336, 1,343, 1,465, 1,584, 1,640, 1,685, 1,843] offerings of the time.

https://www.jeffchristie.com/greattrain.html

Fred Thomas further explores the Outer Limits:

[T]he Outer Limits toured with Jimi Hendrix, played gigs opening for the Who, and released just three singles as they moved from blues- and skiffle-influenced sounds to mod and freakbeat inclinations, and got into mildly psychedelic chamber pop in their final days. . . Their earliest tunes show an affinity for the Northern soul phenomenon happening in the mid-’60s . . . incorporating horn sections and powerful, danceable rhythms along with pop affectations like group harmonies and snappy melodies. . . . The Outer Limits transitioned from Merseybeat-informed styles to freakbeat and mod-pop numbers . . . . The Outer Limits were a hardworking and creatively tireless group during their brief run.

The band was led by songwriter Jeff Christie, and they recorded multiple singles . . . before their dissolution was captured as the subject of the 1969 documentary Death of a Pop Group. . . . The Outer Limits formed in 1965, following the end of Christie’s projects like his skiffle band Three G’s Plus One and his beat band the Tremmers. The group initially made soul-tinged tunes in the style of Merseybeat or early rhythm and blues . . . . They soon transitioned to more of a mod sound, and signed briefly with Deram for their 1967 single “Just One More Chance.” Before 1967 was up, the Outer Limits performed on a package tour that included the Nice, Pink Floyd, and Jimi Hendrix. . . . In 1969, the documentary film Death of a Pop Group included live footage and interviews with the group, delving deep into their struggles with money and keeping the attention of what they felt was a fickle and unadventurous music listening public.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/just-one-more-chance-the-anthology-1965-1968-mw0004589462, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/outer-limits-mn0000897169#biography

Bruce Eder tells us of Jeff Christie’s post-Outer Limits career:

After their breakup, Christie decided to try his luck as a songwriter and cut a demo tape that passed through the hands of Tremeloes [see #1,193] guitarist Alan Blakely and into those of his brother, drummer Mike Blakely . . . . [who] was impressed enough . . . to arrange a recording session in London where the Tremeloes participated as [the] backing band[. N]one of the sides from that session saw the light of day, but inspired by Blakely’s faith in his songs, Jeff Christie decided to put together a group of his own. This ended up as a trio of Christie on bass and lead vocals, Blakely on drums, and his ex-Acid Gallery bandmate Vic Elmes on guitar and vocals. . . . [D]esignated Christie; they were signed by British CBS. Their debut single, “Yellow River,” featured Christie and Elmes’ voices dubbed over the Tremeloes’ backing track cut at Christie’s first session. . . . . [It rode] the U.K. pop charts for 22 weeks and reaching the number one chart spot in several countries. Even in the United States, [it] reached number 23, a very respectable showing for an act that was nowhere near ready to tour the U.S. Their follow-up, a group recording this time called “San Bernadino,” reached number one in Germany and number seven in England . . . . The group carried on for two years, going through several lineup changes leading into 1971 . . . . Their second LP, For All Mankind, abandoned the commercial, pop-oriented sound of its predecessor in favor of a harder, higher-wattage, more blues-oriented sound, and the band’s fortunes rapidly declined. They regrouped . . . . [but] professional clashes between Elmes and Christie signaled an end to the group’s recording history in 1972. Jeff Christie cut songs for Mercury Records in the mid-’70s and kept using the group name as an alias on material recorded for the Epic and Wizard labels, and took back his full name for records on the RK label in the 1980s.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jeff-christie-mn0000221957

Here is the Instant release:

Here is the demo — “a stripped-down preview of the intricate orchestral chamber pop” release. (Fred Thomas, https://www.allmusic.com/album/just-one-more-chance-the-anthology-1965-1968-mw0004589462):

Here is a demo the Searchers recorded:

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The Blues Company — “Experiment in Color”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 23, 2026

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

2,076) The Blues Company — “Experiment in Color”

A true Bay City roller — a “Killer Garage Wah-Wah Mover!!!” (GARAGEKING, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fvsurZ9_tc), an “amazing . . . groover” (Tony Sanchez, Mike Stax and Dan Nowicki, liner notes to the CD comp Tony the Tyger presents Fuzz, Flaykes, & Shakes: Vol. 4: Experiment in Color). Gilesi says that “the wah-wah guitar . . . defines the sound” with “[t]hings actually veer[ing] more towards garage than psychedelia but the chorus of ‘experiment in color…experiment in my brain’ certainly seem[ing] to be a nod towards the mind-expanding mood of the late 60s.” (https://cosmicmindatplay.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/classic-singles-71-the-blues-company-experiment-in-color-shes-gone-1968/)

Gilesi tells us of the Blues Company:

The Blues Company were from Bay City, Michigan and had started out as The Ides of March, releasing the single ‘Life Has Been So Good”/”Playthings 5 x 5″ (no label, 1966). . . . When the band heard about Chicago’s Ides of March [see #431, 1,070] they changed name and ‘Experiment in Color”/”She’s Gone’ was their first 45 as The Blues Company. It was recorded at the studios of Fenton Records . . . and issued on the Great Lakes label in April 1968, then later on AMG Records. . . . Singer, guitarist and songwriter Tim Ward later recorded as Timothy[, issuing a ’72 LP Strange But True . . . .

https://cosmicmindatplay.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/classic-singles-71-the-blues-company-experiment-in-color-shes-gone-1968/

Top Forty Most Viewed Posts

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Bob Dylan and the Band — “Kickin’ My Dog Around” (unreleased) (April 1, 2024)
Maurice Gibb — “Give Me a Glass of Wine” (unreleased) (May 29, 2022)
George Harrison — “I Don’t Want to Do It” (unreleased) (June 25, 2023)
The Action — “In My Dream” (unreleased) (March 24, 2022)
The Millennium — “The Island” (March 28, 2022)
The Kinks a.k.a. The Toll-Puddle Martyrs — “Nellie Bligh” (April 1, 2026)
Do You Want to Know a Secret? — Beloved Songs Actually Written by Lennon and/or McCartney #1: John Lennon — “Bad to Me” (unreleased), Paul McCartney — “Goodbye” (unreleased), John Lennon — “I’m the Greatest” (unreleased) (July 18, 2022)
The Ides of March — “You Wouldn’t Listen” (January 6, 2024)
Herman’s Hermits — “Dream on”/”I Gotta Dream On” (October 19, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “My Obsession” (September 12, 2022)
Paul McCartney — “Love in the Open Air”, John Lennon — “Child of Nature” (unreleased), The Idle Race — “Days of Broken Arrow” (August 7, 2021)
Barry Ryan Remembrance Special Edition: “Eloise”, “Why Do You Cry My Love”, The Hunt” (November 28, 2021)
Focal Point — “Miss Sinclair” (unreleased), Factory — “Path Through the Forest”, The Honeybus — “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” (July 28, 2021)
I Get My Kicks on Route 666 Special Edition: Charles Manson — “Cease to Exist”, The Beach Boys — “Never Learn”, David Bixby — “666” (December 12, 2022)
The Remo Four/George Harrison — “In the First Place” (unreleased) (December 22, 2024)
Paul & Barry Ryan — “Pictures of Today” (December 16, 2022)
Maurice’s Gibb-lets Special Edition: Maurice Gibb — “The Loner” (unreleased), Maurice Gibb — “Tough and Understand Love” (unreleased), Tin Tin — “She Said Ride” (February 13, 2022)
Genesis — “I Am Very Wrong” (March 19, 2023)
The Bee Gees — “I.O.I.O.” (September 27, 2022)
The Spiders — “Day Tripper (April 1, 2022)
Maurice Gibb — “Railroad” (June 14, 2023)
Public Nuisance — “Strawberry Man” (unreleased) (July 31, 2024)
The Kinks — “Shangri-La” (May 15, 2022)
The Beatles — “If You’ve Got Trouble” (unreleased) (June 30, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else” (January 1, 2024)
The Humblebums — “Her Father Didn’t Like Me Anyway” (June 2, 2023)
Where’s that Confounded Bridge? Special Edition: Keith Relf — “Shapes of My Mind”, Françoise Hardy — “Empty Sunday” (July 13, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “Downtown Suzie” (unreleased) (November 17, 2024)
Kinks Kopykats (Bet You Didn’t Know This Was Written by Ray Davies) Special Edition #1 — “This Strange Effect” (unreleased) (October 11, 2022)
Barry Gibb — “This Time” (April 6, 2022)
The Bee Gees — “You’ll Never See My Face Again” (September 24, 2023)
The Majority — “All Our Christmases” (December 25, 2024)
The Rolling Stones — “Get Yourself Together”/”I Can See It” (unreleased) (March 29, 2022)
The Aerovons — “World of You”, Jotta Herre — “Penina”, Lee Mallory — “That’s the Way It’s Gonna Be” (August 3, 2021)
Petticoat and Vine — “Riding a Carousel” (October 21, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “I Don’t Know Why I Bother with Myself” (June 14, 2022)
The Rolling Stones/Gene Pitney — “Andrew’s Blues” (unreleased) (March 13, 2022)

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Brooks O’Dell — “The Lively Ones”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 22, 2026

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

2,075) Brooks O’Dell — “The Lively Ones”

Brilliant ‘66 swinging soul from Brooks O’Dell (see #1,471) for all you lively ones.

As to O’Dell, Steve Leggett writes:

Although he is far from a household name, Brooks O’Dell’s impassioned vocals on a series of singles recorded between 1963 and 1972 for various Northern R&B and soul labels have made him sort of a cult figure among deep fans and collectors of those genres. . . . He’ll forever be remembered for his powerful 1963 hit ‘Watch Your Step[]’”.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/brooks-odell-mn0000626358#discography

Pete Nickols adds:

Brooks was considered one of the more popular club attractions on America’s Eastern seaboard. . . . [with] a penchant for uptown big-city soul stylings, comparable to those of his idol, Chuck Jackson [see #405, 1,174, 2,028]. . . . [His] first professional gig was at a venue in Chicago in 1955 and, in the late 50’s, O’Dell joined fellow-Philadelphian Carl Holmes’ group The Commanders as a featured vocalist . . . . They became very popular on the ‘society’ circuit and this lead to a successful tour of Canada and several of Europe. . . . On his return to the States, O’Dell formed The Majestics but, while gigging in Philly, he was ‘spotted’ and signed to a solo recording deal by Luther Dixon. The resultant 45, “Watch Your Step” . . . . peak[ed] at No. 58. . . . written by Dixon and the then still very young Kenny Gamble and Thom Bell. Sadly this first 45 would be O’Dell’s only ever hit.

https://www.sirshambling.com/articles/quinvy_9/quinvy_9.html#:~:text=for%20Mankind%2C%20namely-,Brooks%20O%E2%80%99Dell,-%E2%80%93%20and%2C%20talking%20of

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Bob Dylan and the Band — “Kickin’ My Dog Around” (unreleased) (April 1, 2024)
Maurice Gibb — “Give Me a Glass of Wine” (unreleased) (May 29, 2022)
George Harrison — “I Don’t Want to Do It” (unreleased) (June 25, 2023)
The Action — “In My Dream” (unreleased) (March 24, 2022)
The Millennium — “The Island” (March 28, 2022)
The Kinks a.k.a. The Toll-Puddle Martyrs — “Nellie Bligh” (April 1, 2026)
Do You Want to Know a Secret? — Beloved Songs Actually Written by Lennon and/or McCartney #1: John Lennon — “Bad to Me” (unreleased), Paul McCartney — “Goodbye” (unreleased), John Lennon — “I’m the Greatest” (unreleased) (July 18, 2022)
The Ides of March — “You Wouldn’t Listen” (January 6, 2024)
Herman’s Hermits — “Dream on”/”I Gotta Dream On” (October 19, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “My Obsession” (September 12, 2022)
Paul McCartney — “Love in the Open Air”, John Lennon — “Child of Nature” (unreleased), The Idle Race — “Days of Broken Arrow” (August 7, 2021)
Barry Ryan Remembrance Special Edition: “Eloise”, “Why Do You Cry My Love”, The Hunt” (November 28, 2021)
Focal Point — “Miss Sinclair” (unreleased), Factory — “Path Through the Forest”, The Honeybus — “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” (July 28, 2021)
I Get My Kicks on Route 666 Special Edition: Charles Manson — “Cease to Exist”, The Beach Boys — “Never Learn”, David Bixby — “666” (December 12, 2022)
The Remo Four/George Harrison — “In the First Place” (unreleased) (December 22, 2024)
Paul & Barry Ryan — “Pictures of Today” (December 16, 2022)
Maurice’s Gibb-lets Special Edition: Maurice Gibb — “The Loner” (unreleased), Maurice Gibb — “Tough and Understand Love” (unreleased), Tin Tin — “She Said Ride” (February 13, 2022)
Genesis — “I Am Very Wrong” (March 19, 2023)
The Bee Gees — “I.O.I.O.” (September 27, 2022)
The Spiders — “Day Tripper (April 1, 2022)
Maurice Gibb — “Railroad” (June 14, 2023)
Public Nuisance — “Strawberry Man” (unreleased) (July 31, 2024)
The Kinks — “Shangri-La” (May 15, 2022)
The Beatles — “If You’ve Got Trouble” (unreleased) (June 30, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else” (January 1, 2024)
The Humblebums — “Her Father Didn’t Like Me Anyway” (June 2, 2023)
Where’s that Confounded Bridge? Special Edition: Keith Relf — “Shapes of My Mind”, Françoise Hardy — “Empty Sunday” (July 13, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “Downtown Suzie” (unreleased) (November 17, 2024)
Kinks Kopykats (Bet You Didn’t Know This Was Written by Ray Davies) Special Edition #1 — “This Strange Effect” (unreleased) (October 11, 2022)
Barry Gibb — “This Time” (April 6, 2022)
The Bee Gees — “You’ll Never See My Face Again” (September 24, 2023)
The Majority — “All Our Christmases” (December 25, 2024)
The Rolling Stones — “Get Yourself Together”/”I Can See It” (unreleased) (March 29, 2022)
The Aerovons — “World of You”, Jotta Herre — “Penina”, Lee Mallory — “That’s the Way It’s Gonna Be” (August 3, 2021)
Petticoat and Vine — “Riding a Carousel” (October 21, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “I Don’t Know Why I Bother with Myself” (June 14, 2022)
The Rolling Stones/Gene Pitney — “Andrew’s Blues” (unreleased) (March 13, 2022)

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Scrugg — “Lavender Popcorn”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 21, 2026

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

2,074) Scrugg — “Lavender Popcorn”

South Africa’s John Kongos [see #1,796], his band Scrugg (see #1,596) and songwriter Scott English (“Hi Ho Silver Lining”, “Bend Me Shape Me”, “Popcorn Double Feature” (see #352)) give us a “psych pop gem” (happening45, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6ZB5pDheCY), “a glorified nursery rhyme . . . [that is] a typical slice of British toytown popsike whimsy given extra punch courtesy of some abrasive guitar . . . and a shameless steal of the melody line from the Who’s [see #119, 548, 833, 976, 1,912, 2,055] . . . ‘See My Way’.” (David Wells, liner notes to the CD comp Hot Smoke & Sassafras: Psychedelic Pstones Vol. 1) I think the link to “See My Way” is a bit of a stretch.

David Wells adds that:

[“Popcorn” d]utifully followed the toytown flower child schtick, emphasising its paisley pop credentials by namechecking such cultural icons as Mr. McGoo. . . . [It] seemed to be tailor-made for saturation radio play and a slow but inexorable rise to the summit of the charts. Instead, it plummeted into obscurity, a US-only version . . . by “Liar Liar” band The Castaways also failing to find favour with the Great Unwashed.

liner notes to the CD comp John Kongos: Lavender Popcorn

Oh, and Vernon Joynson reveals that “[n]o one in the band wanted to record the song because it was a teeny-bopper, bubblegum track, whilst on stage the band played a much more progressive style of music.” (Vernon Joynston, The Tapestry of Delights Revisited)

Andy Kellman tells us of John Kongos and Scrugg:

Before scoring a handful of minor hits in the U.K. in the late ’60s and early ’70s, John Kongos had been the leader behind Johnny Kongos & the G-Men, a prolific beat group from Johannesburg, South Africa that frequently appeared on that country’s charts during the first half of the ’60s. In 1966, Kongos and a number of his associates relocated to London and cut a 1967 single as Floribunda Rose for Piccadilly. . . . [and] eventually morphed into Scrugg, a psychedelic pop band that released a trio of singles for Pye prior to their 1969 breakup. “I Wish I Was Five,” [see #1,596] a 1968 B-side, gained the most attention. Upon Scrugg’s split, Kongos went solo and released a handful of records, including th[ree] albums . . . . The 1971 single “He’s Gonna Step on You Again” registered on the charts in the U.K. and the U.S.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-kongos-mn0000232679#biography

Here are the Castaways:

Here is the Who’s “See My Way”:

Top Forty Most Viewed Posts

Paul McCartney — “Heather” (unreleased) (March 5, 2022)
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Bob Dylan and the Band — “Kickin’ My Dog Around” (unreleased) (April 1, 2024)
Maurice Gibb — “Give Me a Glass of Wine” (unreleased) (May 29, 2022)
George Harrison — “I Don’t Want to Do It” (unreleased) (June 25, 2023)
The Action — “In My Dream” (unreleased) (March 24, 2022)
The Millennium — “The Island” (March 28, 2022)
The Kinks a.k.a. The Toll-Puddle Martyrs — “Nellie Bligh” (April 1, 2026)
Do You Want to Know a Secret? — Beloved Songs Actually Written by Lennon and/or McCartney #1: John Lennon — “Bad to Me” (unreleased), Paul McCartney — “Goodbye” (unreleased), John Lennon — “I’m the Greatest” (unreleased) (July 18, 2022)
The Ides of March — “You Wouldn’t Listen” (January 6, 2024)
Herman’s Hermits — “Dream on”/”I Gotta Dream On” (October 19, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “My Obsession” (September 12, 2022)
Paul McCartney — “Love in the Open Air”, John Lennon — “Child of Nature” (unreleased), The Idle Race — “Days of Broken Arrow” (August 7, 2021)
Barry Ryan Remembrance Special Edition: “Eloise”, “Why Do You Cry My Love”, The Hunt” (November 28, 2021)
Focal Point — “Miss Sinclair” (unreleased), Factory — “Path Through the Forest”, The Honeybus — “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” (July 28, 2021)
I Get My Kicks on Route 666 Special Edition: Charles Manson — “Cease to Exist”, The Beach Boys — “Never Learn”, David Bixby — “666” (December 12, 2022)
The Remo Four/George Harrison — “In the First Place” (unreleased) (December 22, 2024)
Paul & Barry Ryan — “Pictures of Today” (December 16, 2022)
Maurice’s Gibb-lets Special Edition: Maurice Gibb — “The Loner” (unreleased), Maurice Gibb — “Tough and Understand Love” (unreleased), Tin Tin — “She Said Ride” (February 13, 2022)
Genesis — “I Am Very Wrong” (March 19, 2023)
The Bee Gees — “I.O.I.O.” (September 27, 2022)
The Spiders — “Day Tripper (April 1, 2022)
Maurice Gibb — “Railroad” (June 14, 2023)
Public Nuisance — “Strawberry Man” (unreleased) (July 31, 2024)
The Kinks — “Shangri-La” (May 15, 2022)
The Beatles — “If You’ve Got Trouble” (unreleased) (June 30, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else” (January 1, 2024)
The Humblebums — “Her Father Didn’t Like Me Anyway” (June 2, 2023)
Where’s that Confounded Bridge? Special Edition: Keith Relf — “Shapes of My Mind”, Françoise Hardy — “Empty Sunday” (July 13, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “Downtown Suzie” (unreleased) (November 17, 2024)
Kinks Kopykats (Bet You Didn’t Know This Was Written by Ray Davies) Special Edition #1 — “This Strange Effect” (unreleased) (October 11, 2022)
Barry Gibb — “This Time” (April 6, 2022)
The Bee Gees — “You’ll Never See My Face Again” (September 24, 2023)
The Majority — “All Our Christmases” (December 25, 2024)
The Rolling Stones — “Get Yourself Together”/”I Can See It” (unreleased) (March 29, 2022)
The Aerovons — “World of You”, Jotta Herre — “Penina”, Lee Mallory — “That’s the Way It’s Gonna Be” (August 3, 2021)
Petticoat and Vine — “Riding a Carousel” (October 21, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “I Don’t Know Why I Bother with Myself” (June 14, 2022)
The Rolling Stones/Gene Pitney — “Andrew’s Blues” (unreleased) (March 13, 2022)

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Floor — “Little Mr. So and So”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 20, 2026

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

2,073) Floor — “Little Mr. So and So”

Here’s a bouncy Danish delight from the Floor’s only album (see #640, 792), so McCartneyesque that it would fit perfectly on The Magical Mystery Tour. As that denizen of the original Swingin’ London once said, something is groovy in the state of Denmark! Oregano Rathbone calls it “a perky music hall braces-twanger”. (Oregano Rathbone, https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/first-floor) In American English, would a “braces-twanger” be a song that leads men to twang their suspenders to the beat?

As to the LP, Richie Unterberger tells us that:

Evolving out of the Hitmakers, the Danish band Floor made one pop-psychedelic album in 1967, 1st Floor. . . . [I]ndebted to [the] poppier side of British psychedelia, it’s a diverse record with some strong material, incorporating ornate, classical-influenced arrangements, singalong Brit-pop melodies, and cheerful pop/rock harmonies.

[L]ittle of the material was written by the band. . . . [b]ut it’s nonetheless decent, tuneful material with some attractive vocal harmonies . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-floor-mn0001523382; https://www.allmusic.com/album/1st-floor-mw0001449509

Oregano Rathbone adds:

Dating from 1967, the sole album by The Floor has accrued an erroneous reputation as the Danish Sgt Pepper’s. In truth, it’s little more than a cheery beat group bauble with an à la mode ’67-minute makeover. It’s not without a certain gormless [British slang — characteristic of a stupid person] charm, it’s just that hard psych fanatics and lyrical-substance seekers had best lay their carpets elsewhere. Tellingly, The Floor’s origins rest with unassuming pop grinners The Hitmakers, who plied their polite trade in Denmark from 1960 up until the seismic mid-decade pop cultural shift which precipitated a change of name and line-up. In came ex-Clifters guitarist Mogens Petersen, accompanied by a screed of songs submitted by contemporary Scandinavian songsmiths that, taken in tandem, suggest a fever-dream episode of Mr & Mrs. From the left, there’s album highlight “Trusting Mr Jones”, built upon a marshland of backwards guitar seepage, then The Tremeloes [see #1,193] goofiness of “Hey Mr Flowermann” [see #792], the sawmill strings of the Björn Ulvaeus-penned “Mrs O’Grady”, and a perky music hall braces-twanger in the shape of “Little Mr So And So. If “Damned Little Fool” is more Freddie & The Dreamers than Sam Gopal’s Dream, “Turn It On” is at least a serviceable, combo organ-driven dancefloor-filler. Good for a night on the tiles.

https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/first-floor

According to a Danish website (courtesy of Google Translate):

[The Hitmakers made their recording] debut in the summer of 1963 with the Beatles[‘] “I Saw Her Standing There”. In 1963-64 [they] toured a lot in Finland with great success . . . . [T]hey were the warm-up band for the Beatles in K.B. Hallen, 4 June 1964. . . . [T]he Hitmakers had to wait for an actual Danish breakthrough until “Stop the Music”, December 65, which was launched in TV’s Klar i Studiet [Ready in the Studio]. [They h]ad great success in 1966 with the parody album Træd an ved makronerne [Step Up to the Macaroons]. In November 1966, the group was on a short tour in England . . . .

In the summer of 1967, the Hitmakers changed their style to a softer flower-power-inspired pop. Expanded in autumn 1967 with and the group changed its name to The Floor. Despite two singles and the very ambitious 1st Floor-LP . . , which had been one of the most expensive Danish rock productions to date, the group did not manage to maintain its previous popularity. . . . Floor disbanded in the summer of 1968…. The Hitmakers were definitely among the top groups of the barbed wire* era . . . .

http://www.dk-rock.dk/dkhit.htm

* Danish Wikipedia notes that “barbed wire music”/”Pigtrådsmusik” “is a Danish expression from the early 1960s. . . . originally a derogatory term for Danish rock music, which referred to the ‘noisy’ guitar sound.” (courtesy of Google Translate, https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigtr%C3%A5dsmusik)

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The Rolling Stones/Gene Pitney — “Andrew’s Blues” (unreleased) (March 13, 2022)

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The Gremlins — “Blast Off 1970”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 19, 2026

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

2,072) The Gremlins — “Blast Off 1970”

About to stream Bowie’s [see #9, 75, 464, 1,977] “Space Oddity” or Elton John’s [see #175, 1,598] “Rocket Man”? ABORT MISSION! For the real ultimate trip, blast off with the Gremlins’ (see #1,936) “mesmerising slab of primitive pop-psych” (Mark Johnston, liner notes to the CD comp The Coming Generation: The Complete Recordings 1965-68), “[s]upernaturally brilliant blast of psych garage” (happening45, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjS2ley42Vs), “splendid mindwarper” (Baronvonrhubarbpostoffice, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si6UVTRvNg0), “[g]reat slice of rare New Zealand mod psych”. (oscarowski, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_dM2zCdBGs)

Mark Johnston tells us of “Blast Off 1970”:

[It is the Gremlins’] most enduring single . . . . [Singer] Glyn [Tucker] had been inspired by the space race since US President John F Kennedy pledged to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. The record marks a radical departure from the formula of its predecessors, utilizing various studio gimmicks and sound effects to create a mesmerising slab of primitive pop-psych. Engineer John Hawkins even recorded Glyn’s spoken countdown with slapback echo and various filters to achieve that essential sci-fi effect. The record betrays influences of the exploding psychedelic scene that summer.

liner notes to the CD comp The Coming Generation: The Complete Recordings 1965-68

New Zealand Music tells us of the Gremlins:

Glyn Conway, the stage name adopted by Glyn Tucker . . . . successfully auditioned for [the Embers] as a rhythm guitarist/vocalist in 1962. . . . and he stayed with them until they folded in 1964. . . . [H]e got back together with guitarist Paddy McAneney and drummer Roger Wiles, who he had dabbled with earlier, and they added Peter Davies on guitar and Ben Grubb on bass and called themselves the Adventurers. In 1965 they changed their name to the Gremlins. Their first recording was made in late 1965 and consisted of two Glyn Conway originals. . . . [that] disappeared without a trace . . . . They continued to gig around the Auckland suburbs while trying to get a foot into the highly competitive city scene. In early 1966, Glyn meet up again with Gary Daverne, whom he had played with during his days with the Embers. Gary . . . had started a subsidiary label, Viscount, distributed through Eldred Stebbing’s Zodiac label. The Gremlins auditioned for Gary and he got them a recording session at Stebbing’s studio. . . . The boys believed that “Coming Generation” should be released as a single, but Gary deemed that it sounded lacklustre. The song had originally been the B-side of the US group, the Knickerbockers’s [see #718, 862] classic hit single “Lies”. Still believing they could make a hit of it, they re-entered the studio and re-recorded the version that was released in September 1966. [It] . . . was an instant hit, climbing to number 2 on the national charts. . . . The song was also entered in the 1966 Golden Disc Award and made it to the finals. They didn’t win, but as a result found themselves touring the country as part of the Golden Disk show. Before the end of 1966 an EP called The Coming Generation was released. . . . contain[ing] the title song and the rest of the songs recorded from the first session at the Stebbing studios. . . . The next single . . . . went nowhere. . . . At the beginning of 1967, Paddy McAneney left the group. This resulted in a reshuffle within the band. . . . [A] new single, “You Gotta Believe It” . . . was released in April 1967. . . . reach[ing] number 19 on the national charts . . . . The group then turned their attentions to the up-coming Golden Disc Awards for 1967. A new song was written for the event, called “Blast Off 1970” [and made the finals]. . . . Again they toured with the Golden Disc Spectacular and again they missed out on a prize at the awards. After the gruelling touring schedule, the group only gigged occasionally through to the end of 1967. A new single at the beginning of 1968 gave them new enthusiasm. It was “Never You Mind” . . . . [which] unfortunately again went nowhere. . . . Further line-up changes occurred . . . . Another single . . . was released. . . . contain[ing] two songs on the A-side, “Ballad Of A Busker” and “Listen To Me”. . . . another flop. The group decided to give it one more go and released their final single called “Kingsforth Hemmingseen” . . . late in 1968. As good as their songs were, the record buying public didn’t want to know . . . . Gremlins disbanded at the beginning of 1969.

https://www.sergent.com.au/music/gremlins.html

“Glyn Tucker carried on playing in several bands before starting a long and distinguished career on the production side of the music industry.” (Grant Gillanders, https://www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/the-gremlins)

Here they are on TV:

Here’s the Auckland International Airport video. Grant Gillanders tells us that:

After producing the successful 1966 Loxene Golden Disc award, Wellington-based TV producer Christopher Bourn was put in charge of the 1967 programme. Bourn decided to make a drastic change and go outdoors. “The previous year’s event was a rather staid affair,” he recalls. “I wanted to escape the confines of the studio. The Monkees weekly television series was also an inspiration with its mix of slap stick and outdoor shoots.” Bourn’s brief was to produce a clip for each of the 1967 Loxene finalists for an early November screening. . . . [H]e was given a the list of finalists in early August, just three weeks before the public announcement, and a month before the public were invited to vote for their favourite disc. All clips were to be filmed on location on 16mm film. The Gremlins’ clip for . . . “Blast Off 1970” was shot at Auckland’s International airport at Mangere. . . . Glyn Tucker recalls: “I’m not sure if any permission was sought – we just bowled up, had a look around and set up on the tarmac outside the terminal. Chris had one shot in mind that he wanted, which was to have a Boeing 737 taking off behind us as we played. At the time I had some reservations about it, thinking that a Boeing 737 at Mangere did not come close to space travel, which is what the song was about, but I decided not to rock the boat”.

https://www.audioculture.co.nz/articles/loxene-golden-disc-chris-bourn-and-the-first-nz-music-videos

OK, 2001: A Space Odyssey [see #135] it’s not!

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Scott Harris — “Barry Johnson’s Sad Eyes Inn”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 18, 2026

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

2,071) Scott Harris — “Barry Johnson’s Sad Eyes Inn”

I’ve played the B-side (see #2,014), here’s the A-side. Scott Harris, actually John Vis, sends us some exquisite pop psych from . . . the Netherlands. Vis was also a member of Disillusion ‘21. (https://www.nldiscografie.nl/scott-harris) “Sad Eyes” is “a minor production from the Netherlands which made it onto a UK pressing . . . . and sank into obscurity immediately”. (liner notes to the CD comp Piccadilly Sunshine:Volumes 11-20: A Compendium of Rare Pop Curios from the British Psychedelic Era) I’d take that as a badge of honor.

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Focal Point — “Miss Sinclair” (unreleased), Factory — “Path Through the Forest”, The Honeybus — “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” (July 28, 2021)
I Get My Kicks on Route 666 Special Edition: Charles Manson — “Cease to Exist”, The Beach Boys — “Never Learn”, David Bixby — “666” (December 12, 2022)
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Paul’s Collection — “Music Is My Life”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 17, 2026

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

2,070) Paul’s Collection — “Music Is My Life”

Killer hard pop psych out of Antwerp. “The opening of this song always fuzzes my brain to such a degree I’m totally intoxicated when I deejay this killer 45”. (narinderdhanjal221, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW_-f2SChT0) “[It’s t]he best thing ever made in Belgium.” (JohnvanEggelen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW_-f2SChT0) What — ever hear of Belgian waffles, Belgian chocolate, Belgian beer, Belgian fries?

Belgian Metal History tells us:

The story of Antwerp-based Paul’s Collection is in fact that of singer Paul Syniawsky. He started singing in local bands [in] 1967, until he grounded his “collection” in 1969 to find manager Louis Devries immediately interested in his cracking rock tunes. It was the big RCA-Victor label who decided to add the band to their roster. So the next year there already was a first single in the shops entitled “Music In My Life” backed with “Man”. Both numbers showed off early influences of such acts as The Who [see #119, 548, 833, 976, 1,912, 2,055], Iron Butterfly [see #1,040, 1,543], Cream or Blind Faith. This single was well received so RCA decided to stumped up the money for a second release. After a bit of restructuring as the keyboard player left the band, Paul’s Collection retuned as a four-piece with “Time For A Change”/“What Have I Done”, where this time they skirted around the edges of Savoy Brown or once more The Who. Quite fast after this second single the third “Who Could See”/”Song for the Lonely” was already for sale in May 1971. This 45-er contained for the first time Koen De Bruyne’s piano and organ playing while it also sounded more progressive than the first two vinyl’s. Especially “Who Could See”, a song in the vain of Spooky Tooth really had potential, although it failed to climb the charts. Manager Louis Devries got them a lot of concerts at gigs or festivals he organised, as a Paul’s collection concert was known to be a pretty intense event, a truly heavy concert-experience with a lot of solo’s. . . . Early 1973 Paul decided to stop the band while right after he started singing jazz-rock with a band named Artisjok . . . . When in 1976 this band finally scored a recording contract, they decided to change name once more to Paul’s Collection as also main composer Paul Geluykens suited this name. . . . The single who came out in March 1977 “Losing”/“Kill Me With Your Love” . . . turned out to be much more than jazz-rock; a true commercial pop-soul approach not exactly what record-buying Belgium wanted to hear. The single never made it to the charts and although there were plans for a follow up (a song named “Smile”) this never materialised as Paul’s collection probably fell apart early 1978.

https://belgianmetalhistory.be/pauls-collection/

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Bob Dylan and the Band — “Kickin’ My Dog Around” (unreleased) (April 1, 2024)
Maurice Gibb — “Give Me a Glass of Wine” (unreleased) (May 29, 2022)
George Harrison — “I Don’t Want to Do It” (unreleased) (June 25, 2023)
The Action — “In My Dream” (unreleased) (March 24, 2022)
The Millennium — “The Island” (March 28, 2022)
The Kinks a.k.a. The Toll-Puddle Martyrs — “Nellie Bligh” (April 1, 2026)
Do You Want to Know a Secret? — Beloved Songs Actually Written by Lennon and/or McCartney #1: John Lennon — “Bad to Me” (unreleased), Paul McCartney — “Goodbye” (unreleased), John Lennon — “I’m the Greatest” (unreleased) (July 18, 2022)
The Ides of March — “You Wouldn’t Listen” (January 6, 2024)
Herman’s Hermits — “Dream on”/”I Gotta Dream On” (October 19, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “My Obsession” (September 12, 2022)
Paul McCartney — “Love in the Open Air”, John Lennon — “Child of Nature” (unreleased), The Idle Race — “Days of Broken Arrow” (August 7, 2021)
Barry Ryan Remembrance Special Edition: “Eloise”, “Why Do You Cry My Love”, The Hunt” (November 28, 2021)
Focal Point — “Miss Sinclair” (unreleased), Factory — “Path Through the Forest”, The Honeybus — “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” (July 28, 2021)
I Get My Kicks on Route 666 Special Edition: Charles Manson — “Cease to Exist”, The Beach Boys — “Never Learn”, David Bixby — “666” (December 12, 2022)
The Remo Four/George Harrison — “In the First Place” (unreleased) (December 22, 2024)
Paul & Barry Ryan — “Pictures of Today” (December 16, 2022)
Maurice’s Gibb-lets Special Edition: Maurice Gibb — “The Loner” (unreleased), Maurice Gibb — “Tough and Understand Love” (unreleased), Tin Tin — “She Said Ride” (February 13, 2022)
Genesis — “I Am Very Wrong” (March 19, 2023)
The Bee Gees — “I.O.I.O.” (September 27, 2022)
The Spiders — “Day Tripper (April 1, 2022)
Maurice Gibb — “Railroad” (June 14, 2023)
Public Nuisance — “Strawberry Man” (unreleased) (July 31, 2024)
The Kinks — “Shangri-La” (May 15, 2022)
The Beatles — “If You’ve Got Trouble” (unreleased) (June 30, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else” (January 1, 2024)
The Humblebums — “Her Father Didn’t Like Me Anyway” (June 2, 2023)
Where’s that Confounded Bridge? Special Edition: Keith Relf — “Shapes of My Mind”, Françoise Hardy — “Empty Sunday” (July 13, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “Downtown Suzie” (unreleased) (November 17, 2024)
Kinks Kopykats (Bet You Didn’t Know This Was Written by Ray Davies) Special Edition #1 — “This Strange Effect” (unreleased) (October 11, 2022)
Barry Gibb — “This Time” (April 6, 2022)
The Bee Gees — “You’ll Never See My Face Again” (September 24, 2023)
The Majority — “All Our Christmases” (December 25, 2024)
The Rolling Stones — “Get Yourself Together”/”I Can See It” (unreleased) (March 29, 2022)
The Aerovons — “World of You”, Jotta Herre — “Penina”, Lee Mallory — “That’s the Way It’s Gonna Be” (August 3, 2021)
Petticoat and Vine — “Riding a Carousel” (October 21, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “I Don’t Know Why I Bother with Myself” (June 14, 2022)
The Rolling Stones/Gene Pitney — “Andrew’s Blues” (unreleased) (March 13, 2022)

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The Plastic Cloud — “Bridge under the Sky”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 16, 2026

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

2,069) The Plastic Cloud — “Bridge under the Sky”

This Canadian pop psych/folk rock gem is a glimpse of the Plastic Cloud’s (see #172, 1,628) “dreamy, softer folk-rock side . . . [with] a nice trippy production and attractive ringing guitars” (Jason, https://therisingstorm.net/the-plastic-cloud-the-plastic-cloud/), “evok[ing] memories of the Youngbloods.” (Bruce Eder, https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-plastic-cloud-mw0000309274)

Allied Records’ press release informed the buying public (what there was of it) that:

“Bridge Under the Sky” is an inquiry, a quest for a better place for everyone to live, a “sun” if you want. You need only listen to the final verse of the song to dig the group’s message. “you might as well be dead without a bridge under the sky”.

Allied Record Co. News Note, liner notes to the CD reissue of The Plastic Cloud

Wait, did Robert Moses write this song?

Patrick Lunsford says of the Cloud’s sole LP — The Plastic Cloud:

The Canadian late 1960s freak scene produced several terrific LPs and here’s one of the ultimates, with an appeal to both garage fuzz-heads and psych album collectors. The mix of dreamy [West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band (see #197, 488)]-style vocals with ripping fuzz and sub-Dylanesque lyrics works better than one might imagine possible, and the LP gains appeal from its youthful basement edge. This is one of the big, mandatory pieces of the field . . . .

The Acid Archives, 2nd Ed.

Bruce Eder writes that:

The Plastic Cloud’s self-titled album is a strangely compelling and overall delightful mix of West Coast ’60s sounds, without any two songs sounding exactly alike, or even displaying the same attributes. Not that any fan of that era will mind any of it . . . . [Its] all enjoyable and full of pleasant surprises. . . . They were signed to Allied Records in Ontario and got one self-titled LP out which, sadly enough, never found an audience, despite beautiful production and some bold, ambitious use of psychedelic effects. Their vocals were pretty and they played better than that, and the results, with a sympathetic producer in charge, were mighty impressive — their one album is worth hearing a lot more than once, and you get the feeling that if these guys had been working out of, say, L.A. or the Bay Area and been signed to a label with some real marketing power, they’d be a lot more than a footnote today with exactly the music they did leave behind.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-plastic-cloud-mw0000309274, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-plastic-cloud-mn0000894455#biography

Michael Panontin adds:

[Singer Don] Brewer penned all eight songs on The Plastic Cloud, which like most of the records released . . . on Allied was extremely limited, with allegedly just 500 copies pressed up. The album sort of feels like two discs in one, bookending the summer of love with alternating mid-sixties folk-rock gems and extended tracks of blistering late-sixties guitar work. . . . [T]he bucolic guitar of “Bridge under the Sky” . . . [is a] fine examples of the former, recalling the pre-psychedelic work of the early (pre-Grace Slick) Airplane or the starry-eyed folk of the Youngbloods.

According to RPM, the group had “taken a plunge into the unwelcome world of Canadian originality for which they deserve an ‘A’ for effort”. . . . [The LP] drifted into the bargain bins without much notice.

https://www.canuckistanmusic.com/index.php?maid=143

And Jason adds:

[Their] sole album has languished in obscurity. Psych fans and collectors remain divided, however: collectors consider Plastic Cloud one of Canada’s best psych albums (or indeed the best from anywhere) while some jaded day-trippers merely find it just ok/nothing special. . . . At first listen I was not impressed with the Plastic Cloud’s only offering. After reading all the hype about mind-jarring fuzz guitars and John Lennon-like vocals I found the disc rather mediocre and unimpressive. After several more spins I began to appreciate the band’s intensity and lysergic charm: this disc truly does deliver the goods if you’re into hardcore, late-night psych sounds. . . . While not a major classic, Plastic Cloud is surely one of the better Canadian psych albums and is consistently good throughout. . . . these guitar tones coil, uncoil, and burrow deep into your head like all great psych guitar solos should.

https://therisingstorm.net/the-plastic-cloud-the-plastic-cloud/

As to the Cloud, Michael Panontin tells us:

[T]he Plastic Cloud (from Bay Ridges in present-day Pickering) recorded [a] superb and highly sought-after psychedelic LP[] for the Allied label . . . . There hasn’t been a lot of ink spilled on the Plastic Cloud, and so the group remains one of the true remaining mysteries out there in the Canuck cyberlands. The group were a four-piece led by their 22-year-old guitarist and lead vocalist Don Brewer, with guitarist Mike Cadieux, bassist Brian Madill and drummer Randy Umphrey rounding things out. They formed in 1967, and by the tail end of 1968 . . . the guys had issued their only LP . . . .

https://www.canuckistanmusic.com/index.php?maid=143

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Focal Point — “Miss Sinclair” (unreleased), Factory — “Path Through the Forest”, The Honeybus — “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” (July 28, 2021)
I Get My Kicks on Route 666 Special Edition: Charles Manson — “Cease to Exist”, The Beach Boys — “Never Learn”, David Bixby — “666” (December 12, 2022)
The Remo Four/George Harrison — “In the First Place” (unreleased) (December 22, 2024)
Paul & Barry Ryan — “Pictures of Today” (December 16, 2022)
Maurice’s Gibb-lets Special Edition: Maurice Gibb — “The Loner” (unreleased), Maurice Gibb — “Tough and Understand Love” (unreleased), Tin Tin — “She Said Ride” (February 13, 2022)
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The Kinks — “Shangri-La” (May 15, 2022)
The Beatles — “If You’ve Got Trouble” (unreleased) (June 30, 2024)
The Bee Gees — “If I Only Had My Mind on Something Else” (January 1, 2024)
The Humblebums — “Her Father Didn’t Like Me Anyway” (June 2, 2023)
Where’s that Confounded Bridge? Special Edition: Keith Relf — “Shapes of My Mind”, Françoise Hardy — “Empty Sunday” (July 13, 2022)
The Rolling Stones — “Downtown Suzie” (unreleased) (November 17, 2024)
Kinks Kopykats (Bet You Didn’t Know This Was Written by Ray Davies) Special Edition #1 — “This Strange Effect” (unreleased) (October 11, 2022)
Barry Gibb — “This Time” (April 6, 2022)
The Bee Gees — “You’ll Never See My Face Again” (September 24, 2023)
The Majority — “All Our Christmases” (December 25, 2024)
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Petticoat and Vine — “Riding a Carousel” (October 21, 2024)
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The Rolling Stones/Gene Pitney — “Andrew’s Blues” (unreleased) (March 13, 2022)

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Flamengo — “Co Skrýváš V Očích”/”What You Hide in Your Eyes”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 15, 2026

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

2,068) Flamengo — “Co Skrýváš V Očích”/”What You Hide in Your Eyes”

Czechoslovakia’s Beatles, Stones and the Who were Olympic (see #635, 831), the Matadors (see #1,505) and Flamengo (see #1,857). This ’68 pop psych A-side is one of Flamengo’s great songs, “mark[ing] a turn toward fatalistic and psychologically driven lyrics” (Jazz Rock Soul, https://jazzrocksoul.com/artists/flamengo/), with “a certain air of mystery (complemented . . . by the buzzing guitar in the background)”. (tykeww, https://rockboard.cz/album.php?aid=4738)

“I know the songs you sing I know the paths you walk But what you hide in your eyes
Is what I’d love to know” (courtesty of Google Translate, https://www.google.com/search?https://genius.com/Flamengo-czech-band-co-skryvas-v-ocich-lyrics)

Jazz Rock Soul tells us:

Flamengo formed in August 1966 in Prague under the direction of drummer and manager Přemysl Černý, who reconfigured the rhythm-and-blues group Mahagon into a new soul-rock act. Guitarist Pavel Fořt, a student of classical composition and orchestration at the People’s School of Art, had just begun his musical career in Mahagon and became a founding member of Flamengo. Early vocal duties rotated between Petr Novák [see #1,369], Viktor Sodoma, and Karel Kahovec, with occasional appearances by beat scene peer Pavel Sedláček. The band’s early repertoire drew from UK and US R&B, including songs by John Mayall. After Novák’s departure in June 1967, Flamengo deepened their focus on soul and blues, gradually moving away from standard beat music. Between 1967 and 1969, Flamengo released a sequence of singles that reflected their shift from beat-rooted repertoire toward a heavier, blues-influenced sound. Early recordings featured alternating lead vocals by Petr Novák, Viktor Sodoma, Karel Kahovec, and occasionally Pavel Sedláček. Their first 1967 single, “Já budu chodit po špičkách”/“Povídej,” adhered to standard beat phrasing with Czech lyrics. This was followed by “Vyber si palác”/“Svou lásku jsem rozdal” and “Náhrobní kámen”/“Paní v černém,” both issued the same year. The band began introducing darker lyrical imagery and more minor-key melodic content on “Džbán”/“Poprava blond holky,” with the B-side in particular suggesting a stylistic break from early pop influences. In 1968, Flamengo continued this trajectory with “Co skrýváš v očích”/ “Zavraždil jsem lásku,” whose themes marked a turn toward fatalistic and psychologically driven lyrics. This period culminated in the 1969 single “No Reply”/“The Way for Horses.” The A-side was a Czech-language cover of John Mayall’s “No Reply,” performed with amplified instrumentation and phrasing aligned with British electric blues. The B-side, sung in English, extended this approach with a harder rhythmic framework and blues-oriented delivery. A second 1969 release, “Summertime”/“Too Much Love Is a Bad Thing,” paired a Janis Joplin–derived cover with another English-language track, confirming the band’s transition into a blues-rock format and increasing use of non-Czech material. These singles document Flamengo’s gradual departure from mainstream beat structures toward a denser, imported electric sound that prefaced the lineup changes and compositional developments of the next decade. Flamengo released their singular album, Kuře V Hodinkách[/Chicken in the Clock], in May 1972 . . . . The album marked a departure from their earlier beat and blues-based singles, integrating brass arrangements, electric jazz textures, and a denser, lyrically structured format anchored by the writing of poet Josef Kainar. . . . Lyricist Josef Kainar wrote all texts except [with one exception] . . . . [and his] literary stature helped secure the album’s release despite restrictions on rock output in early-70s Czechoslovakia.

https://jazzrocksoul.com/artists/flamengo/

Here is a nice history of the band: https://historieceskoslovenskehobigbeatu.blogspot.com/2020/01/flamengo.html.

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The Jackpots — “Miss Judith Lee”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 14, 2026

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

2,067) The Jackpots — “Miss Judith Lee”

Gentle pop psych with glorious harmonies from Gothenburg, Sweden’s Jackpots (see #83, 930).

MONOLOVER tells us (courtesy of Google Translate):

Their mix of perfect high pitch vocals and psych is rather unique. They all sing like graduates from boys choirs, with very tender yet strong voices, sometimes harmonies up to five layers. Song list consisting of covers and self-penned, all blending pure pop with psych. It’s not violent in any way, more like multi-colored spun sugar flowing from the speakers. Most of its strength comes from the partly adventurous production. The group, Roger Wallis and Perry Ford are credited, but I’m certain studio engineer Michael B. Tretow was behind some of it. He was known for his experimenting back then and later famous as ABBA producer and creator of the “ABBA-sound”.

https://monolover.blogspot.com/2012/09/jackpotsjack-in-box-slp-68-68-sweden.html

Christian Colliander laments (courtesy of Google Translate):

Jackpots were Sweden’s most underrated band. A great shame that they never made it here. I remember that in Gothenburg we loved them for their fantastic vocals that sounded just as good live as on record. It’s a scandal that Stockholm’s top 10 never caught on. Was it because they weren’t from Stockholm?

https://www.blaskoteket.se/artiklar/idolnytt/1967-13/jackpots-ska-bli-nagot/

Svenskpophistoria tells us (courtesy of Google Translate):

The Jackpots came from Gothenburg and w[ere] formed . . . in 1964. . . . The[y] became one of Sweden’s most celebrated pop bands. Their superb falsetto and vocal vocals were in a class of their own, and they were deservedly praised by the pop critics of the time. . . . The[y] became very popular in [Norway] in 1964-65. The Jackpots were also discovered in Denmark and there they were stationed for months on end for several tours. In Denmark they also met the English record producer Jimmy Campbell who came to produce the first record for Danish Sonet . . . . [which] led to contact with Svenska Sonet and the[y were] discovered by the rest of Sweden. Once in Sweden, The Jackpot’s records were produced by Claes Clabbe Geijerstam from Ola and the Janglers [see #196, 323, 1,568] . . . . The Jackpots were . . . a hard touring pop band during the mid and late sixties with gigs both in Sweden and abroad. Tours in Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium and England were replaced by long folk park tours at home. . . . The Jackpots gained an increasingly growing fan base and . . . seemed to be on their way to the big breakthrough. But the successes on the popular and important Top Ten list of the time did not happen. . . . When the Swedish pop wave ebbed in the late sixties, The Jackpots continued their career as a successful dance band.

https://www.svenskpophistoria.se/JACKPOTS/info.html

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Maurice Gibb — “Give Me a Glass of Wine” (unreleased) (May 29, 2022)
George Harrison — “I Don’t Want to Do It” (unreleased) (June 25, 2023)
The Action — “In My Dream” (unreleased) (March 24, 2022)
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Do You Want to Know a Secret? — Beloved Songs Actually Written by Lennon and/or McCartney #1: John Lennon — “Bad to Me” (unreleased), Paul McCartney — “Goodbye” (unreleased), John Lennon — “I’m the Greatest” (unreleased) (July 18, 2022)
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The Rolling Stones — “My Obsession” (September 12, 2022)
Paul McCartney — “Love in the Open Air”, John Lennon — “Child of Nature” (unreleased), The Idle Race — “Days of Broken Arrow” (August 7, 2021)
Barry Ryan Remembrance Special Edition: “Eloise”, “Why Do You Cry My Love”, The Hunt” (November 28, 2021)
Focal Point — “Miss Sinclair” (unreleased), Factory — “Path Through the Forest”, The Honeybus — “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” (July 28, 2021)
I Get My Kicks on Route 666 Special Edition: Charles Manson — “Cease to Exist”, The Beach Boys — “Never Learn”, David Bixby — “666” (December 12, 2022)
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The Spiders — “Day Tripper (April 1, 2022)
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The Bee Gees — “I Don’t Know Why I Bother with Myself” (June 14, 2022)
The Rolling Stones/Gene Pitney — “Andrew’s Blues” (unreleased) (March 13, 2022)

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Barış Manço — “Trip (Fairground)”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 13, 2026

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

2,066) Barış Manço — “Trip (Fairground)”

From the beloved Turkish singer-songwriter Barış Manço (see #1,531), here is a “fantastic psych rocker [in English] with a distinctly Turkish flavor” (happening45, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKhV1jEEkqA), a “magnificent song that transcends time”. (right here in my arms (courtesy of Google Translate), https://eksiseyler.com/baris-manconun-hak-ettigi-degeri-gorememis-mukemmel-sarkisi-trip-fairground). “Damn, this piece is freaking good!” (p1ko_bello, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEzVc0T5B-I). Indeed. I could swear it was Hendrix.

Manço first recorded a version of the song that was released as a ’68-side B-side (with a YouTube video found below). The version above was recorded later in ’68 and first appeared in the ’75 Turkish film Baba Bizi Eversene/Daddy, Why Don’t You Get Us Married (with a YouTube clip from the movie found below) “A hopelessly yearning hippie is left alone with a newborn baby when his just married parents go for a vacation, but wittily he finds a solution to get back his expatriate girlfriend, utilizing the baby who has no idea what is going on.” (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0276793/) Yusufpiskin explains:

In 1975, the sole raison d’être for the creation of Baba Bizi Eversene (Father, Make Us Marry) was to capitalise on the immense popularity of Baris Manco and Kurtalan Ekspres, the musical sensations of the era. Rival film companies had cultivated their own star power, churning out films that dominated the Anatolian box office, thus feeding the lifeblood of Yesilcam, the Turkish film industry. Erman Film, in a desperate gamble, took a monumental leap of faith with this production. The grandest mansions of Istanbul were rented . . . , a few scenes were even shot on location in Izmir, and astronomical fees were paid to Baris Manco and Kurtalan Ekspres, who had never before (and would never again) accept film offers. However, the film’s Achilles’ heel lay behind the camera. Oksal Pekmezoglu, a director with a less-than-stellar career both before and after this project, was placed at the helm. Pekmezoglu, whose trajectory began as an illustrator and later plunged into the realm of erotic films, left his mark on the film, even with the presence of the conservative Baris Manco in the cast. The film possesses a semblance of a story, but the script is virtually nonexistent. It’s essentially a Baris Manco concert thinly veiled as a narrative, complete with fourth-wall-breaking moments. In essence, it’s a quintessential Yesilçam production. . . . The film’s cinematography, while not groundbreaking, captures the essence of 1970s Istanbul with its vibrant colors and bustling streets. The soundtrack, featuring original songs by Baris Manco and Kurtalan Ekspres, is undoubtedly the film’s saving grace. The music is infectious and memorable, and it’s easy to see why it resonated with audiences at the time. Despite its flaws, “Baba Bizi Eversene” remains a fascinating time capsule of Turkish pop culture in the 1970s. It’s a testament to the power of star power and the enduring appeal of Baris Manco’s music. While it may not be a cinematic masterpiece, it’s a cultural artifact that offers a glimpse into a bygone era of Turkish cinema.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0276793/reviews/?featured=rw9942089&ref_=tt_ururv_c_2

As to Barış Manço, 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. . . . 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 (no longer an active website)

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 met the Belgian poet André Soulac. Thanks to Soulac, he improved his French . . . . Soulac wrote lyrics for Manço’s compositions. In 1964 . . . 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] “Bizim Gibi” . . . 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 . . . 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

Here is the ’68 B-side version:

Here is the song in a clip from Baba Bizi Eversene:

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King Fox — “Unforgotten Dreams”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 12, 2026

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

2,065) King Fox — “Unforgotten Dreams”

It seems almost miraculous that “a group of [15 and 16 year old] Sydney high school students” could write and perform such an “[i]ncredible [five minute] psych-pop [verging on prog] track . . . [r]eminiscent of the Moody Blues in some ways” (akent, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/king-fox/unforgotten-dreams-alone-so-alone/), a “masterpiece of lo-fi psychedelia”. (Alec Palao, liner notes to the CD comp Peculiar Hole in the Sky: Pop-Psych from Down Under) “Unforgotten Dreams” is “Great. Like an iron fist in a velvet glove. K-I-L-L-E-R”. (thomassmith8721, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT9s9pjwBsE) It seems almost miraculous that the song could reach #8 in Sydney and stay on the charts for 18 weeks and #27 nationally in Australia and stay on the charts for 18 weeks. (Badger45, https://www.45cat.com/record/sdm307) It seems almost miraculous that the band could then lay down the tracks for an extraordinary LP, pointing toward future prog rock glory. It is tragic that the band then broke up before their tracks were even mixed. As the definitive Milesago: Australasian Music & Popular Culture 1964-1975 puts it, “King Fox would almost certainly have gone on to greater things if the band had endured”. (http://www.milesago.com/artists/king-fox.htm)

Milesago writes of “Unforgotten Dreams”:

[It] remains a much-admired and groundbreaking Aussie record, long acknowledged as one of the classics of Australian ‘psych/prog’ genre — Ian McFarlane rates it alongside Russell Morris’ “The Real Thing” [see #2,000] and The Dave Miller Set’s “Mr Guy Fawkes” [see #1,010] . . . . [T]he group had the song down on tape within an hour. . . . [I]t was a strikingly accomplished effort for such young musicians, and frankly incredible for a first effort in the studio. The atmospheric arrangement was highlighted by [co-writer] Paul[ Radcliffe]’s haunting flute, which was counterpointed by [co-writer] Dave[ King]’s stinging guitar lines. As producer and engineer, Martin Erdman achieved amazing results, especially considering the relatively basic [studio] equipment . . . . [It] generated a tremendous response when it was played on air . . . . [R]eleased as a single in April 1969 and shot into the Sydney Top 40 . . . and stayed in the charts for more than four months. This was an extraordinary achievement in many respects: King Fox was a virtually unknown amateur band with an average age of 16. Even more significantly, [it] was an original Australian composition . . . that achieved great success in a period when local bands were expected to record covers of proven songs by overseas acts. . . . [It] clocked in at a whopping 4’56” . . . . at a time when the ‘standard’ 3-minute duration was an unspoken industry law that only a handful of major groups (like The Beatles) had been able to flout with impunity.

http://www.milesago.com/artists/king-fox.htm

Milesago tells us the story of King Fox:

The nucleus of King Fox was multi-instrumentalist Paul Radcliffe and guitarist Dave King (then aged 14). Ca. 1967 they formed a casual band with schoolmates . . . . gigg[ing] for about six months, honing their chops on the obligatory blues and R&B repertoire . . . . Dave and Paul wrote their first song together, “Timepiece”, and they recorded a rough demo at [singer] Billy[ Field]’s house. . . . [T]he boys spotted drummer Andy Evans playing at a neighbour’s house. He impressed them with his ability . . . and they immediately “begged him” to join. Andy’s friend Peter Muller was a guitarist, but since King Fox already had three guitarists, Peter was persuaded to buy an organ and became the group’s fifth member. . . . [A] few months later, [Muller] entered the band in . . . a talent competition being run by Sydney commercial radio station 2UW. . . . the brainchild of enterprising independent producer Martin Erdman, owner of the World of Sound record store and studio . . . . who had recently launched his own label, Du Monde[. I]n early 1969 he . . . . approached 2UW (then Sydney’s top pop station) with the idea of a band competition, in which new groups would tape studio recordings at Martin’s studio. The best tracks would then be played on 2UW every Friday afternoon . . . the ten acts who generated the biggest response would have their songs released as singles by Du Monde. The reality turned out to be a mammoth undertaking . . . . Over the weeks of the competition, almost two hundred local bands descended on the . . . studio, with . . . just one hour to set up, record two songs and lug out . . . . Band and producer felt that they were on a winner with the track, and the public backed them up. . . . [Its] success . . . swept King Fox up into a whirlwind of public attention, with concert performances in front of thousands of people, press interviews, radio spots and TV appearances . . . . Over the Xmas holidays in January 1970, they cut a series of ambitious tracks . . . . Unfortunately, it was at this point that reality intruded . . . . It’s long been reported that the band broke up because the members were devoting too much time to music, and that their instruments were confiscated after their parents discovered that the boys had failed their end-of-year exams. . . . [But a]s Paul and Dave . . . recalled . . . the boys’ parents had been happy for them to pursue their music as long as it didn’t intrude on their families’ privacy or involve their schools. Unfortunately . . . Sydney tabloid The Sunday Mirror published an intrusive article . . . that named the boys’ schools and mocked their supposedly affluent backgrounds. This proved too much for their parents, and just days after they taped the last track . . . King Fox broke up. The multitracks — which had not even been mixed — were put into storage, but when Martin moved his studio some years later, the tape went missing. . . . [T]he King Fox album became one of the great lost artefacts of Australian pop. . . . [T]he ambitious album was a truly impressive and groundbreaking effort . . . . [O]ne can’t help but be impressed by how adventurous and accomplished the music is. . . . The sophistication . . . is remarkable, considering that the five lads were all still under 18 at the time.

http://www.milesago.com/artists/king-fox.htm

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