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

The Strawberry Alarm Clock — “World’s on Fire”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 27, 2025

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

1,700) The Strawberry Alarm Clock — “World’s on Fire”

Light some incense and pop some peppermints, here is an “epic psychedelic jam” (The Recoup, https://therecoup.com/2013/11/01/strawberry-alarm-clock-incense-and-peppermintswake-up-its-tomorrow-tune-in/) off of the SAC’s (see #127, 272, 901, 1,111) first LP that “the listener is assured of getting blissfully lost in” (ochsfan, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-strawberry-alarm-clock/incense-and-peppermints-1/), “[o]ne of the grooviest song ever!!!” (mixaliskokkinos1496, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbMxAfHNcjc), “Tapping into the[ir] improvisational side . . . [it is] an 8 minute plus track assembled of thrashing congas, weaving guitar escapades and repetitious but right on drumming. Hypnotic to the core, the long winded piece demonstrates just how good the fellows were at doing the jam thing.” (Beverly Paterson, https://somethingelsereviews.com/2012/01/18/the-strawberry-alarm-clock-incense-and-peppermints-1967-2011-reissue/) The SAC’s 7th best song ever! — “I love the psychedelic opening of this grand track.” (Millie Zeiler, https://www.classicrockhistory.com/top-10-strawberry-alarm-clock-songs/)

“[I]t’s the classic cosmic Krautrock sound years before anyone would know what that meant.” (ashratom, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-strawberry-alarm-clock/incense-and-peppermints-1/) What?! Don’t listen to ashtatom, fake news!

Bassist George Bunnell describes how the song came to be:

It was originally called “Colors on the Wall”. . . . [T]hat one we wrote . . . it was like we were probably in the 11th grade or something like that. We were probably 16 or 17. That one there, it was from taking pot and taking acid and that thing. It was “Colors on the Wall”. It was written by the keyboard player in my other band, The Waterfront Train Band, Fred Schwartz. . . . [H]e’s the one that had the idea of it. He and I sat. I have a cassette tape of him and I figuring out the bass part to that song and his organ part. He did the organ. He mostly wrote the lyrics about that thing. Then [our] manager [Bill Holmes] said, No, it’s about drugs. We can’t use it. So he changed the lyrics to… He called it… What did he call it? “A Beautiful World” or something first. And then he changed it to “Worlds on Fire”, and dancing flames. So he changed the lyrics. Oh, and there was a reason behind him, abruptly changing the lyrics. . . . [T]he manager told Fred . . . that we finished recording the music, and Fred said, “Well, you can’t have the song. We’re going to record it, and our band is going to do it. You guys can’t have it”. The manager got really mad at him, and then Fred chased him around the dressing room with a phone. It had a cord attached to it then. He was chasing him with the receiver. It was nuts. . .. So that night, Bill Holmes went home and wrote “World’s on Fire”, those lyrics. We went in the next day, basically, or the day after that, and did the vocal sessions with all the harmonies and stuff. Wow. Yeah, that’s how that came about, and he didn’t take credit for it.

https://psychedelicscene.com/2024/07/07/interview-george-bunnell-of-strawberry-alarm-clock/

As to SAC, Bruce Eder tells us that:

Strawberry Alarm Clock occupies a peculiar niche in the history of ’60s rock. Their name is as well known to anyone who lived through the late-’60s psychedelic era as that of almost any group one would care to mention, mostly out of its sheer, silly trippiness as a name and their one major hit, “Incense and Peppermints,” which today is virtually the tonal equivalent of a Summer of Love flashback. But there was a real group there, with members who had played for a long time on the Southern California band scene, who were proficient on their instruments and who sang well and generated four whole LPs . . . . The band’s origins go back to Glendale, CA, in the mid-’60s, and a group then known as the Sixpence. It was 1965 and all things British were still a selling point, so the name made as much sense as anything else. . . . They mostly did covers of then-popular hits and developed a considerable following in Glendale and also in Santa Barbara, playing there so often that a lot of histories have them coming out of Santa Barbara.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/strawberry-alarm-clock-mn0000633079/biography

Here is the short version:

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The Koobas — “Royston Rose”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 26, 2025

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

1,699) The Koobas — “Royston Rose”

This “[o]utstanding piece of Mod/Psych!” ( EdwinJack64, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l__wcl2UUcM), is a “[p]owerhouse psych rocker, not forgetting its mod roots . . . their crowning achievement” (happening45, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpZGu6VOSuw), “resplendent in rippling guitar parts, lots of fuzz-tone, searing breaks that sound like George Harrison’s or Tony Hicks’ playing pumped up by a few hundred amps, and drum patterns lifted right out of ‘Rain'” (Bruce Eder, https://www.allmusic.com/album/koobas-mw0000068921), with “one of the best bass lines ever” (beezlus_, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpZGu6VOSuw)

Bruce Eder writes that “[t]he Koobas [see #178, 1,008, 1,472] were one of the better failed rock bands in England during the mid-’60s[, what an epitaph!] They were f]avorites of the press and popular for their live shows, they somehow never managed to chart a record despite a lot of breaks that came their way, including a tour opening for the Beatles, top management representation, and a contract on EMI-Columbia.” (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-koobas-mn0000774106#biography) In fact, “Brian Epstein saw Beatle-sized potential . . . . Through him, they landed nine dates on the Fab Four’s last UK tour, going down so well that a golden future was predicted by both the music press and the in-crowd that frequented the Scotch of St. James, the Speakeasy and other fashionable London clubs.” (Alan Clayson, CD reissue of Koobas)

Pop Thing adds:

[They] are . . . clear proof of the existence of R&B in Liverpool, an essential component of the Mersey Sound. . . . [T]he evolution of The Koobas is worth following, because they began in 1965 as a group that seemed like a mix of The BBC Beatles and London R&B groups, then they became very close to The Who and the mod-pop of 1966, they flirted with Motown, recorded exciting ballads and then drifted towards more particular records starting in ’67. And all this accompanied by a careful image, supervised by Epstein and then by Tony Stratton-Smith, The Creation’s [see #129, 165, 1,502, 1,643] manager, which included bold floral-print pants, military-cut shirts, turtlenecks and two Rickenbackers . . . . They also composed . . . and, to round it all off, they were a group with a very forceful live performance.

https://www.popthing.com/pop_thing/noticias/the_koobas_singles_1965_1968.php

Eder gives more history:

The group was formed in 1962 by . . . veterans of Liverpool bands such as the Thunderbeats and the Midnighters. The band, known at one point as the Kubas, did a three-week engagement at the Star Club in Hamburg in December 1963 and out of that built up a serious reputation as performers. They had a sound that was comparable to the Beatles [see #422, 1,087, 1,256], the Searchers [see #352, 394, 636, 1,278], and the Mojos, as Liverpool exponents of American R&B with a strong yet lyrical attack on their guitars and convincing vocals. It wasn’t until after Brian Epstein signed them a year later, however, that a recording contract (with Pye Records) came their way. They got one false start with an appearance in the movie Ferry Cross the Mersey . . . playing one of the groups that loses a battle-of-the-bands contest, but the Koobas’ footage ended up being dropped from the final cut of the film. Their debut single . . . failed to chart, as did its follow-up, despite the exposure the group received opening for the Beatles on their final British tour. Coming off those nine shows, the group was booked into the most prestigious clubs in London and started getting great press, but two more singles failed to dent the charts in 1965 and 1966. They jumped from Pye Records to EMI-Columbia in 1966, and continued to get good, highly visible gigs, including a January 1967 appearance with the Who [see #548, 833, 976] and the Jimi Hendrix Experience at the Savile Theatre . . , and a tour of Switzerland with Hendrix [see #1,577]. The group’s sound was a lean yet melodic brand of R&B-based rock & roll, similar to the Beatles, though the Koobas didn’t start to blossom as songwriters until fairly late, which may have been part of their problem. They recorded good-sounding and very entertaining songs, but somehow never connected with the right sound at the proper moment. By the middle of 1967, they’d altered their look and their sound, moving away from American-style R&B and toward psychedelia. The group members also began writing their own material, sometimes with help in the lyric department from their new manager, Tony Stratton-Smith. Their singles still utilized outside songwriters, however, and the group’s best crack at the chart came early in 1968 when they recorded Cat Stevens’ [see #1,458] “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” complete with heavy fuzztone guitar. Their single garnered some airplay but was eclipsed by P.P. Arnold’s Top 20 version of the same song. Despite his best efforts, Stratton-Smith couldn’t help the group overcome the failure of their last single. The quality of their gigs and the fees they were earning began declining, and their morale soon followed. By the end of 1968, the Koobas had agreed among themselves to go their separate ways. Ironically, the group’s split coincided almost perfectly with Stratton-Smith’s final effort on their behalf. . . . EMI-Columbia agreed to let the band cut a long-player in late 1968. The group lasted just long enough to finish the album . . , a mix of topical songwriting, psychedelia, R&B, and nostalgia that might’ve found an audience if only there had been a Koobas still together to tour behind it and promote the record in early 1969.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-koobas-mn0000774106#biography

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The Majority — “Charlotte Rose”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 25, 2025

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

1,698) The Majority — “Charlotte Rose”

The Majority’s (see #1,440, 1,624) “particularly impressive” (Stefan Granados, liner notes to the CD comp Majority One: Rainbow Rocking Chair) song is a “fab slice of Pop-sike” (liner notes to the CD comp Fading Yellow Vol. 4: Timeless UK 60’s Popsike & Other Delights), “fantastic well produced late 60’s pop . . . that somehow evaded a UK release” (freakbeatjames, https://www.45cat.com/record/22207), only seeing release in “Holland, Belgium and perhaps a few other territories.” (Stefan Granados again) It was written by George Alexander of Grapefruit (see #894, 1,462).

As to the Majority, Richie Unterberger tells us:

The Majority issued eight U.K. singles on Decca between 1965 and 1968 without reaching the British charts, though they were a reasonably accomplished band, especially in the vocal harmony department. . . . [It] sounded more American than the typical British Invasion band, with harmonies and, usually, material more in line with U.S. pop/rock acts like the Beach Boys and sunshine pop groups than most of their U.K. peers. While it’s fairly enjoyable stuff, it’s easy to hear why they became a sort of “in-between” group, with too much going for them to get dropped from their label, but not enough going for them to score hit records. One reason is that they didn’t establish much of an identity, their arrangements veering from mild British Invasion sounds to quasi-Walker Brothers productions and late-’60s British orchestrated pop with the slightest of psychedelic touches. Another is that none of their material, most of it supplied by outside writers, was particularly great, though it was usually pleasant (if not much more). They did do songs by some outstanding composers, including Chip Taylor, who co-wrote “Wait by the Fire [see #1,624],” and the Bee Gees, whose “All Our Christmases” [see #1,440] was never issued by the Bee Gees themselves. . . .

Of the many British Invasion-era bands that never had a hit . . . the Majority had more staying power than most . . . . They never quite found a consistent stylistic direction or great material, however, before changing their name to Majority One in the late ’60s. Formed in Hull, England, as the Mustangs in the early ’60s, they changed their name to the Majority around the time they moved to London in 1965. . . . [T]hey tried their hand at a variety of material over the next few years, most of it coming from outside songwriters. As a minor coup of sorts, for their second single, 1965’s “A Little Bit of Sunlight,” they managed to gain access to a Ray Davies composition that never found a place on a 1960s Kinks [see #100, 381, 417, 450, 508, 529, 606, 623, 753, 865, 978, 1,043, 1,108, 1,302, 1,330, 1,591, 1,697] record . . . . In search of chart material, the Majority also tried compositions written or co-written by such luminaries as John Carter [see #1,201, 1,304, 1,632], Twice as Much, and Chip Taylor. But they never hit a commercial or artistic gold mine, the production varying from the lush to straightforward mod-ish rock. . . . After some major lineup shuffles and work backing singer Barry Ryan [see #88, 264-66, 317, 671] in concert and in the studio, the Majority relocated to France, where they renamed themselves Majority One in 1969 and continued their recording career with a similar but more sophisticated musical approach.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-decca-years-1965-68-mw0000824899, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-majority-mn0000058153#biography

“Charlotte Rose” was the band’s first single issued by the French label Pink Elephant. Road manager John Turner explains that:

The move to France was a last attempt at making it “big”. The band had done quite a lot of work in Paris, Lyon, etc. and had gone down really well there. The agent who booked them over there wanted to take them on and it was decided they had nothing to lose.

liner notes to Majority One: Rainbow Rocking Chair

Richie Unterberger sticks a serrated spoon into Grapefruit:

Grapefruit were one of the better Beatlesque late-’60s British pop-rock bands. In 1968 they seemed on the way to stardom, with a couple of small hit British singles and, more importantly, some help from the Beatles themselves. Led by George Alexander . . . the group were at the outset cheerful harmony pop/rockers . . . skilled at blending melodic pop with sophisticated arrangements that employed baroque/psychedelic touches of strings, orchestration, and several varieties of keyboards. A disappointing second album, however, helped sink them out of sight, and the Beatles couldn’t be of help as they were preoccupied with their own imminent dissolution. George Alexander . . . [who] wrote most of the[ir] songs . . . was signed to Apple Music Publishing in 1967 by Terry Doran, who had been affiliated with Brian Epstein and the Beatles’ organization for some time. Doran also managed the band . . . . John Lennon named the[m] (after Yoko Ono’s book [Grapefruit]) and went to press receptions introducing the band to the media. Members of the Beatles pitched in ideas for Grapefruit arrangements and recording sessions, and Paul McCartney even directed a promotional video for their single, “Elevator.” . . . [After “Delilah”, a] cover of the Four Seasons’ “C’mon Marianne” just missed the Top Thirty . . . [but] nothing else made the charts. . . . [T]heir second album, 1969’s Deep Water, was [comprised of] routine late ’60s rock . . . . John Lennon did suggest in early 1969 that the band should record the then-unreleased . . . “Two of Us” (which they didn’t). Following some personnel changes, the group broke up around the end of the 1960s . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/grapefruit-mn0000988692/biography

Oh, and Richard Porter tells us that:

Not long after the formation of the group, Grapefruit were taken to meet Paul McCartney. Paul was supervising the editing of The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour film . . . . [The band’s rhythm guitarist] Pete [Swettenham] remembers that they were led past lines girls who were sitting on the stairs waiting for Paul to emerge. On 24^th November 1967, Grapefruit did their first recording session at IBC Studios . . . . Pete remembers: “We’d been recording for about half an hour when, on the stairs leading up to the control room, suddenly in walked John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who had been our heroes for years![“] . . . [Pete’s brother Geoff, the drummer, says] “We’d been drinking scotch and coke and Paul asked for a drink. He took one sip and asked if there was any scotch in it. He then proceeded to fill the glass up with scotch and said ‘Now that’s what I call a scotch and coke’. They remained in the studio for some hours”. According to Geoff, even though they didn’t actively participate in the recording of ‘Dear Delilah’, John and Paul produced a track on Grapefruit’s first album, called ‘Lullaby’.

https://beatlesinlondon.com/a-meeting-with-half-of-grapefruit/

Here is Grapefruit:

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I Shall Be Released: The Kinks — “Rosemary Rose”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 24, 2025

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

1,697) The Kinks — “Rosemary Rose”

The Kinks (see #100, 381, 417, 450, 508, 529, 606, 623, 753, 865, 978, 1,043, 1,108, 1,302, 1,330, 1,591) give us “a real joy” (David Levesley, https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/the-kinks-songs), “two minutes of pure genius” (MickBokulich-gg1ro, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmuKGpxYpAs), “a great song, the kind that leaves me shaking my head in amazement that it could just end up discarded and unheard. Extremely catchy. Very characteristic of [Are the Village Green Preservation Society] musically, and preferable to a bunch of VGPS songs to my mind.” (Vagabone, https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-kinks-album-by-album-song-by-song.1075714/page-272). Is that Nicky Hopkins on harpsichord? Is that the “You Really Got Me” riff? So many unexpected and delightful surprises . . .

David Levesley writes:

The first verse starts off so conventional – “Rosemary Rose / Nature sure gave you such a beautiful nose” – and then subverts it immediately: “‘Though you’re not beautiful as someone would know / That Rosemary Rose.” It starts off like a cover of a Restoration ballad and then descends into a strange, oddly sinister look at obsession and desperation. Nobody gets to be loved in a Kinks song if they can help it.

https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/the-kinks-songs

Fortuleo adds:

You look nothing like a child / Yet you’re such a little baby. How great is this line? How sublime are the little harpsichord arpeggios? While it’s clear he doesn’t sing about his sister this time, Ray is back in a Rosie Won’t You Please Come Home [see #623] mode. Melodic chamber verse with a bluesy bridge/chorus, and some sumptuous Nicki Hopkins flourishes before the guitar chords take over. This doesn’t sound 100% finished or fleshed out (especially the lyrics), but unlike “Berkeley Mews”, it’s definitely in a Village Green vein, as evidenced by the pastoral feel of the music, the reference to “pictures taken when you were just three”, and the overall old-fashioned sensation.

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-kinks-album-by-album-song-by-song.1075714/page-272

“Rosemary” was finally released in ’73 on The Great Lost Kinks Album. Matt_K tell us:

The Kinks actually recorded two albums in 1968 – before The Village Green Preservation Society an LP entitled Four More Respected Gentlemen was recorded to honour an agreement with American distributor Reprise for an original US market release. However, it was not published at the time (it’s thought the poor performance of single “Plastic Man” gave Reprise cold feet) and sat in a vault for five years until Reprise issued it (without The Kinks’ involvement or approval) to make a buck under its new fan-baiting name.

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-kinks/the-great-lost-kinks-album/

Richie Unterberger writes more on The Great Lost Kinks Album:

An aptly titled collection; out of print for many years, there are even some Kinks cultists who have never been able to hear this ragtag but worthy collection of late-’60s and early-’70s outtakes and rarities. Most of these were recorded around the same time as the 1968 LP Village Green Preservation Society; these low-key, wry, bouncy tunes would have fit in well with that record. Lyrically, they’re on the whole slighter than much of their late-’60s work, perhaps accounting for why the group did not deign to release them at the time. Still, songs like “Rosemary Rose,” “Misty Water,” and “Mr. Songbird” would have hardly embarrassed the group, and rank as the highlights of this anthology. Besides 1969-era outtakes, it includes the single “Plastic Man,” a couple of okay, way-obscure B-sides featuring Dave Davies, and some songs penned for long-forgotten film and television productions. It also has the dynamite 1966 B-side “I’m Not Like Everybody Else,” though that’s easily available on reissue these days. That’s not the case for most of the rest of this album; Kinks fans will find it quite worthwhile, and should be on the lookout for it in the used bins.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-great-lost-kinks-album-mw0000842127

Here is the longer stereo mix:

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Stone Country — “Time Isn’t There (Anymore)”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 23, 2025

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

1,696) Stone Country — “Time Isn’t There (Anymore)”

Exquisite ’67 folk rock A-side from Stone Country, one of outlaw country great-to-be Steve Young’s first bands — “an accomplished, jangly guitar number with a fine melody” and “excellent vocal harmonies out front”. (bayard, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/stone-country/time-isnt-there-anymore-life-stands-daring-me/)

As to the Stone Country’s only LP — Stone Country — from which the song was drawn, Jason writes:

Stone Country’s only album contains some of Steve Young’s earliest known recordings. RCA released this strange melange of psychedelia, country, soft-pop and jangly folk-rock back in 1968. This record is by no means a cohesive effort as it sounds like the work of 5 different groups. At first I wasn’t so sure about the album but multiple listens reveal a good record with very solid performances. So while the album itself might not gel together as a finished product, about 90% of the songs are strong and hold up well individually. . . . The album, while not a lost classic is very solid and thoroughly enjoyable. It was clear from the beginning that Young was the group’s most distinctive songwriter and vocalist. . . . Stone Country hits all the right bases that were common in 60’s American rock music: psychedelia, country-rock, folk, blues, airtight harmonies, adventurous arrangements, and great musicianship. This record is well worth a spin.

https://therisingstorm.net/stone-country-stone-country/

And Mark Deming says:

[Stone Country was] a short-lived pop group that fused country and rock in a very different way. Stone Country’s sole album, released in the spring of 1968, is a polished but intriguing mixture of sunshine pop, progressive country, blue-eyed soul, and folk-rock, all wrapped up in a slick package created with the best of L.A. studio craftsmanship . . . . Stone Country goes in too many directions at once for its own good, but it’s clear that this was a band packed with talent and full of great musical ideas . . . . The trouble with Stone Country is that while the bandmembers do everything here quite well . . . the eclecticism feels like a lack of clear focus and vision by the end of the album, and this sometimes sounds more like a bunch of talented individuals than a real group. But the best moments are a splendid example of prescient country-rock and West Coast studio polish, and Stone Country is a superb memorial for a group that had the talent and potential to do some pretty remarkable things.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/stone-country-mw0000585827

As to Stone Country, Jason tells us that:

Stone Country were a Los Angeles CA sextet that only existed for a little less than 2 years. Steve Young had headed out to LA from Alabama in 1963, looking to secure a recording contract. The group was founded in 1967 when the management company of Denny Bond and Ken Mansfield were in the beginning stages of putting together a new group that would combine elements of both country and rock n roll. Steve Young was chosen as lead guitarist and vocalist while the rest of the group’s lineup looked something like this: banjo player Don Beck, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Doug Brooks, drummer Dennis Conway, vocalist and bassist Dann Barry, and guitarist Richard Lockmiller.

https://therisingstorm.net/stone-country-stone-country/

Bryan Thomas adds:

Stone Country was a Hollywood, CA-based psychedelic country-rock outfit led by gifted singer/songwriter and guitarist Steve Young. Young, who grew up in the south, moved to New York City in the early ’60s, where he became affiliated with the burgeoning Greenwich Village folk music scene. He later moved to Los Angeles in 1964 and began working with Van Dyke Parks and Stephen Stills while still working his day job as a mailman. He formed Stone Country in 1967 and soon thereafter the band was signed to RCA Records. After releasing several singles, RCA issued the group’s only album, Stone Country, in March 1968 . . . . The group disbanded when, in 1969, Young signed as a solo artist with A&M Records. . . . In 1971, Young signed to Reprise, and eventually recorded a series of critically acclaimed albums in the country-rock style, his most well-known song being “Seven Bridges Road,” recorded by Rita Coolidge, Joan Baez, and the Eagles.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/stone-country-mn0000558381#biography

Adam Sweeting gives us some of Young’s early history:

[Young] played gigs in Texas before moving back to Alabama, but his fondness for playing politically charged folk songs, including some of Bob Dylan’s, made him unpopular in the reactionary Deep South. Having received threats from the Ku Klux Klan, he fled to California with two local folk musicians, Richard Lockmiller and Jim Connor, who had a deal with Capitol Records as Richard & Jim. . . . He played lead guitar in the Skip Battin Band . . . and joined Van Dyke Parks and Stephen Stills in the Gas Company. Then he was invited to join Stone Country, who recorded an album for RCA that brought Young to the notice of other record companies. He signed a solo deal with A&M and recorded his debut album, Rock Salt & Nails (1969); it comprised mostly cover versions, and featured two former member of the Byrds [see #1,430, 1,605] , Gene Clark [see #655] and Gram Parsons, but also contained the first recording of “Seven Bridges Road”. Young’s evocative mix of country, gospel, folk and bluegrass styles was already forming. The album failed to sell, and Young, already tired of the music business, moved to San Francisco with his new wife, the folk singer Terrye Newkirk.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/mar/27/steve-young-obituary

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Tracy Rogers — “Baby”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 22, 2025

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

1,695) Tracy Rogers — “Baby”

British actress Tracy Rogers gifts us a “glorious” (Mikey Dread, https://www.45cat.com/record/bm56077) and “great version of the Sorrows” [see #407, 567, 1,597] song. (teabiscuit, https://www.45cat.com/record/bm56077) “Oh Yeah. Cool as f*ck. (tonymack66, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiO6azwjQhg) Indeed! I love the Sorrows, but Rogers outfreaks’ the Sorrows’ freakbeat. Well, she did have a little help from the great freaks Les Fleur de Lys [see #32, 122], who frequently backed up Sharon Tandy [see #371, 441, 442, 741, 1,485]. All pretty freaky for a song co-written by famed pop songwriters Mort Shuman and Clive Westlake!

Ready Steady Girls! writes:

Tracy Rogers had an air of Brigitte Bardot about her, and both worked as actresses and singers. The major difference was that Brigitte was hugely successful while Tracy languished in obscurity. The fact that, of the pair, only Tracy could hold a tune must have been cold comfort for the Briton. She is perhaps best known for her version of the Sorrows’ “Baby”, on which she is thought to be have been backed by Les Fleur de Lys.

https://www.45cat.com/record/bm56077

Discogs tells us that:

Tracy Rogers had a successful career as a singer and actress on the West End stage in the sixties and also starred in the original Broadway production of Noel Coward’s musical, The Girl Who Came to Supper . . . . [S]he trained for the stage as a child at the Italia Conti School. At 18, she went to Broadway to appear in The Girl Who Came to Supper and on her return to London starred in shows such as Will O’ the Wisp, Where the Rainbow Ends . . . The Roar of the Greasepaint and . . . Oh! What a Lovely War. She also appeared at the London Palladium in variety with Danny La Rue and Des O’Connor. As a singer she was signed to Polydor Records and had a chart hit with “Love Story”. She made several films, including What a Crazy World, Rattle of a Simple Man and the gay cult classic The Leather Boys, with Rita Tushingham. TV appearances included Z Cars, Emergency Ward 10, Dixon of Dock Green, No Hiding Place, The Troubleshooters and Softly Softly.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/1735278-Tracy-Rogers?srsltid=AfmBOorUOmxHPiA5PvGHS05Iq2MbZDwzRomT_L_VIoBc537e2I68yw-g

Steve Kurutz tells us of Shuman:

While either on his own, or teamed with songwriting partner Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman has authored some of the most lasting songs in pop music, including “Save the Last Dance for Me” and “Teenager in Love.” Born in Brooklyn to Jewish immigrant parents, Shuman studied at the New York Conservatory but felt rejected and alienated by his peers in Brooklyn. Identifying with the black community in Harlem, Shuman’s true musical education came within that area’s raucous R&B clubs . . . . Shuman started penning lyrics at 18 and found success when his songs such as “Surrender” were recorded by Elvis. In 1958 the songwriter met fellow white R&B devotee Doc Pomus and the two took up residence in a small Greenwich Village flat, forming a successful songwriting partnership. Together the duo signed on as writers at the Brill Building, penning hits for the Drifters (“Save the Last Dance for Me” and “Sweets for My Sweet”), Elvis (“Little Sister”) and Dion & the Belmonts (“Teenager in Love”). Those early-’60s songs represented the zenith of Shuman’s creative output . . . but the songwriter continued to write for Janis Joplin, Andy Williams, and the Small Faces, among others. In 1966, Shuman had somewhat of an epiphany when he heard the work of Belgian composer Jacquees Brel. He immediately moved to France and began translating Brel’s work into English. In the early ’70s, he wrote and directed a musical around his translations of Brel’s songs and titled it Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. Shuman also became a star in his own right in France when several of his French-language songs (filtered through a New York accent) became hits.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mort-shuman-mn0000591723#biography

Here are the Sorrows:

Here is a cool hard rock version by Billings, Montana’s Frantic (’70):

Here are Sweden’s Panthers (’65):

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Ernie K-Doe — “A Certain Girl”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 21, 2025

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

1,694) Ernie K-Doe — “A Certain Girl”

An Allen Toussaint-written “classic[] of New Orleans R&B with the same laid-back, sheepish finesse that made ‘Mother-In-Law’ such a hit” (John Bush, https://www.allmusic.com/album/absolutely-the-best-mw0000016107), which, along with its B-side (“I’ve Cried My Last Tear”), gave us “one of the greatest R&B singles of the early ’60s”. (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-real-mother-in-law-for-ya-the-allen-toussaint-sessions-1959-63-mw0000225575) “Girl” reached #71 and was covered by the Yardbirds and other ’60’s UK groups, but none approached the original.

Steve Huey writes about Ernie K-Doe:

Ernie K-Doe scored one of the biggest hits . . . in the history of New Orleans R&B with “Mother-in-Law,” a humorous lament that struck a chord with listeners of all stripes on its way to the top of both the pop and R&B charts in 1961. The song proved to be K-Doe’s only major success, despite several more minor hits that were equally infectious, yet he remained one of New Orleans’ most inimitable personalities. Born Ernest Kador, Jr. in New Orleans . . . he began singing at age seven in the Baptist church where his father served as minister. During his teen years, Kador performed with local gospel groups . . . . He entered and won talent competitions and became more interested in secular R&B and blues, and at 17, he moved to Chicago with his mother and began performing at local clubs. Thanks to connections he made there, he got the chance to sing with the Flamingos and Moonglows, as well as the Four Blazes, a gig that earned him his first recording session in late 1953 . . . . Kador returned to New Orleans in 1954 and honed his flamboyant stage act at numerous local hangouts . . . both solo and as part of the vocal group the Blue Diamonds. The Blue Diamonds cut a couple of sides for Savoy in 1954, and the following year, Kador . . . recorded his first solo single, “Do Baby Do[]” . . . . Finally, in 1959, he caught on with the newly formed Minit label and hooked up with . . . Allen Toussaint. His first Minit single, “Make You Love Me,” flopped, but the follow-up, “Hello My Lover,” was a substantial regional hit, selling nearly 100,000 copies. K-Doe struck gold with 1961’s “Mother-in-Law[]” . . . . That, coupled with the playful cynicism of the lyrics, made for a rollicking good time in the best New Orleans R&B tradition, and K-Doe was rewarded with a number one record on both the pop and R&B charts. He toured the country and landed a few more follow-up hits — “Te-Ta-Te-Ta-Ta,” “I Cried My Last Tear,” “A Certain Girl” . . . “Popeye Joe” . . . . Minit soon went under, and K-Doe followed Toussaint to the Instant label, but two 1964 singles failed to revive K-Doe’s chart fortunes, partly because the early prime of New Orleans R&B was fading as Motown gained prominence. . . . He reunited with Toussaint for a brief period in the early ’70s, to no avail, and drifted into a long period of alcoholism. Fortunately, K-Doe was able to reclaim some of his popularity around New Orleans when he began hosting a radio program in 1982, earning an audience with his wild antics and blatant self-promotion.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ernie-k-doe-mn0000169677#biography

And Huey tells us of Toussaint:

Producer, songwriter, arranger, session pianist, solo artist — Allen Toussaint wore all these hats over the course of his lengthy and prolific career, and his behind-the-scenes work alone would have been enough to make him a legend of New Orleans R&B. Thanks to his work with numerous other artists, Toussaint bore an enormous amount of responsibility for the sound of R&B in the Crescent City from the ’60s on into the ’70s. . . . As a composer, Toussaint proved himself a consistent hitmaker . . . . Toussaint waxed his own records from time to time, enjoying a creative peak in the ’70s with several albums that highlighted his laid-back vocals and elegantly funky piano work. Even if he wasn’t always the most visible figure, Toussaint’s contributions to New Orleans music — and to rock & roll in general — were such that he earned induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Toussaint was born . . . in New Orleans, and began learning piano at age seven . . . . [F]amed producer/songwriter Dave Bartholomew . . . hired him to lay down the piano parts at a Fats Domino recording session . . . . Bartholomew made regular use of Toussaint . . . and demand for the young pianist’s services grew quickly . . . . In 1958, Toussaint recorded an instrumental album . . . one of his original compositions for the record, “Java,” went on to become a smash hit for Dixieland jazz trumpeter Al Hirt five years later. . . . In 1960, Toussaint was hired by Joe Banashak as an A&R man for the brand-new Minit label; in practice, he wound up masterminding most of the label’s recording sessions. It was here that Toussaint truly began to build his legend. His first national success as a producer came with Jessie Hill’s R&B Top Five smash “Ooh Poo Pah Doo” in 1960, and the classic hits came fast and furious after that: Ernie K-Doe’s pop and R&B number one “Mother-in-Law” . . . Benny Spellman’s “Fortune Teller,” and “Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette)” (both Toussaint tunes . . . ), Chris Kenner’s original version of “Land of 1000 Dances,” Lee Dorsey’s “Ya Ya,” and numerous sides with New Orleans soul queen Irma Thomas. Toussaint’s singular touch on all these records redefined the sound of New Orleans R&B for a new decade. When Banashak left Minit to found another label, Instant, Toussaint went with him to fulfill much the same duties; he also freelanced elsewhere, most prominently with Dorsey’s recordings for the Fury label, and cut a few low-profile singles of his own . . . . “Whipped Cream[]” was covered by Herb Alpert in 1965 for an instrumental hit, which was in turn later adopted as the theme for TV’s The Dating Game. Upon his discharge in 1965, Toussaint teamed up with fellow producer Marshall Sehorn to form a production company and record label, Sansu Enterprises. . . . Their most profitable association was with Lee Dorsey, who returned to the upper reaches of the R&B charts with Toussaint-penned hits like “Ride Your Pony,” the oft-covered “Get Out of My Life Woman,” the immortal “Working in a Coalmine,” and “Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky (From Now On)” . . . . In 1966, Sansu also engaged the services of a house band dubbed the Meters[. A]fter the Meters started making their own records in 1969 (produced by Toussaint), they developed into arguably the top instrumental funk ensemble of the ’70s outside of the J.B.’s. In 1971, Toussaint recorded his first solo album in over a decade . . . . In addition to his solo records, Toussaint was getting more high-profile offers for outside work during the first half of the ’70s. He did horn arrangements for the Band, Paul Simon [see #1,621], Little Feat, and Sandy Denny, and his continued work with the Meters was moving him into contemporary funk with a harder edge than his own albums. In fact, he wound up producing two of New Orleans’ greatest funk records: Dr. John’s [see #177, 769] Top Ten hit “Right Place, Wrong Time” and LaBelle’s number one disco-funk smash “Lady Marmalade.” In 1975, Toussaint released what many regarded as his finest solo album, Southern Nights; the title track went on to become a huge hit for country-pop superstar Glen Campbell . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/allen-toussaint-mn0000933172#biography

Here are the Yardbirds:

Here are Wayne Fontana & the Mindbendes:

Here are the Paramounts:

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Lee Mallory — “Take My Hand”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 20, 2025

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

1,692) Lee Mallory — “Take My Hand”

This “joyous explosion of pop” (Andrew Sandoval, liner notes to the CD comp A Whole Lot of Rainbows: Soft Pop Nuggets from the WEA Vaults), as instantly appealing as “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, was sung by Lee Mallory (see #18) and produced by Curt Boettcher. Andrew Sandoval writes that:

[“Take My Hand” is] a classic slice of Curt Boettcher via his artist-of-choice, Lee Mallory. . . . [Boettcher’s] soul is literally embedded in every magnetic particle of the master[, f]rom the Boettcher-sung backing vocals to the hand claps that sound as if someone is beating the microphone with their hands . . . . For his part, Mallory is almost a guest on his own record . . . .

liner notes to A Whole Lot of Rainbows

Richie Unterberger writes of Mallory:

Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Lee Mallory might be best known as a member of the Millennium [see #397, 506, 586, 662, 810, 1,002], the late-’60s sunshine pop group . . . . Mallory wrote or co-wrote some of the material for the elaborately produced band, which crossed the sound of the 1966-1967 Beach Boys with more pop-oriented Southern California harmony pop. On the Millennium’s Begin album, Mallory was the sole writer of the tracks “I’m with You,” “Sing to Me,” and “Some Sunny Day,” co-authoring some of the other tunes as well. Mallory also did a couple of singles under his own name for Valiant Records in 1966-1967. The most successful of these, “That’s the Way It’s Gonna Be,” [see #18] reached number 86 and was a big hit in Seattle. It was also the most notable of his recording efforts, with a buoyant yet complex production heavy on producer Curt Boettcher’s trademark high vocal-harmony arrangements. Surprisingly, this was a cover of a song written by Phil Ochs and folk musician Bob Gibson . . . though its folk roots were pretty unrecognizable by the time Mallory and Boettcher had made it over into a densely produced pop/rock single. Mallory had in fact been a folk musician in the early and mid-’60s, though he went in a very pop direction after hooking up with Boettcher. Mallory also contributed to various other Boettcher-associated groups, including the Ballroom [see #707], Summer’s Children, and Sagittarius. Mallory did quite a bit of recording in the 1960s that was never issued at the time.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lee-mallory-mn0000189312#biography

Jason Penick chimes in:

An introspective folkie with an innate desire to rock . . . Lee Mallory is one of the great troubadours of his era. Born to cab driver parents . . . Lee was raised in Berkeley, California. He first picked up the guitar at the age of sixteen, and by nineteen he had begun playing local venues . . . in . . . San Francisco. In 1965 Lee journeyed to Greenwich Village in order to sing and play alongside folk musicians like the Lovin’ Spoonful (whom he opened for at their first gig at the Cafe Bizarre). After spending time in New York, Chicago and Boothbay Harbor, Maine, Lee ventured back to California later that year. It was at Claudia Ford’s . . . home that Lee would first meet the man who would help guide his early career, Ford’s boyfriend Curt Boettcher. Lee and Curt’s first evening together was apparently a prolific one, as the duo penned four songs that night including the gorgeous “Forever”. When Lee explained to the young producer that he was in town looking to get something started musically, Curt suggested that Lee accompany him back to Hollywood, and the rest is music history. . . . Lee was already a prolific writer by the time he met up with Curt. Some early Lee Mallory compositions include “Better Times”, which was recorded by The Association [see #1,264] for their Boettcher-produced debut album. Though The Association would ultimately pass on “Better Times”, the song was picked up by another band named The Brothers Cain . . . . Another one of Lee’s early songs, “Sing to Me”, was given to the popular vocal group The Clinger Sisters for an unreleased, Curt Boettcher-produced single in 1966. In between penning songs, Lee was building up his chops by jamming with the Our Productions House Band and was starting to lay down some of his own tunes in the studio. Lee’s early recordings had a style all their own; a sparkling brand of modern folk music, infused with a groovin’ rock backbeat and topped off with a dollop of majestic, Boettcher arranged vocal harmonies.

http://therockasteria.blogspot.com/2017/07/lee-mallory-many-are-times-1966-69-us.html?m=1

The glorious “Take My Hand” was written by the Addrissi brothers — Don and Dick, and covered multiple times. Bruce Eder writes that:

The Addrisi Brothers are best remembered today for their early-’70s Columbia hit “We’ve Got to Get It on Again,” and for writing the Association/Fifth Dimension hit “Never My Love.” Don Addrisi . . . and Dick Addrisi . . . actually date back as a musical team to the 1950s. Their parents were part of a family acrobatic act, the Flying Addrisis, but Don and Dick chose music as their career, and by the mid-’50s, with the help from comedian Lenny Bruce, who was a fan, they got their first professional representation. The family was initially lured out to California by the prospect of Don and Dick getting parts on The Mickey Mouse Club — that didn’t work out, but they were eventually signed to Bob Keane’s Del-Fi label, where they recorded a series of singles that veered from Everly Brothers-style rock & roll to somewhat more cloying teen-pop numbers. They never really hit it big, however, and after further attempts at recording success on Imperial and Warner Brothers, they turned their attention to songwriting — both were natural musicians and Don was a music school graduate, and they were signed to Valiant Records. During this period, they signed up a new vocal act called the Association, who eventually recorded “Never My Love,” an Addrisi Brothers original that went to number two on the charts and put them permanently on the map of songwriters. They re-emerged briefly as recording artists in their own right in the early ’70s with a one-off hit single for Columbia entitled “We’ve Got to Get It on Again,” and were probably most visible during that period as authors and singers of the title theme to the ABC series Nanny and the Professor — their harmony singing was as good as ever.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-addrisi-brothers-mn0000035013#biography

Here are the Montanas:

Here are the Avengers:

Here is Lee Grant:

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Chills and Fever Special Edition: Ronnie Love/Tom Jones/The Serfmen: “Chills and Fever”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 19, 2025

Tom Jones performing on the British television series “The Beat Room” on October 5, 1964

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

Man, this song gives me chills and fever. Ronald Dunbar (“Ronnie Love”) released the original version as a soul A-side at the end of ’60, then two scintillating Tom Jones covers were released (including Jones’ first ever A-side in ’64), and then Fort Wayne, Indiana’s Serfmen released a cool garage rock cover in ’65. Chills and fever three ways, it’s making me delirious!

1,690) Ronnie Love — “Chills and Fever”

Ronald Dunbar (as “Ronnie Love & His Orchestra”) released the original version in December ’60. His only charting song as a performer, it reached #15 on the R&B charts and #72 on Billboard (https://www.musicvf.com/Ronnie+Love.songs#gsc.tab=0), was a big hit in Chicago (#5 on WLS) (MrPedantic, https://www.45cat.com/record/4516144), and was a “[b]ig hit in the teen dance clubs in Pittsburgh back in the 60’s”. (davidoswald5293, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NNb-mhWJfE) Dwightwest6358 writes “Are you kidding me?? Tom Jones?? I am Welsh but the Ronnie Love/Dove New Orleans R&B is Freakin Killer!!! Can’t sit still when it’s on!! I do get Chills, without the Fever!!!!”(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NNb-mhWJfE)

“Chills” was written by Bobby Rackep and Billy Ness. Mickey Rat explains that:

Bobby Rackep was a pseudonym of one Herman Peckar (name reversed) and Billy Ness was a pseudonym of Eddie Mesner (current BMI database renames him Billy Ross). The music publisher was Hermes (probably derived from Herman and Mesner). The record first came out on Startime 5001 as by Johnny Love. Startime was a Los Angeles label started by Eddie and Leo Mesner after their Aladdin label fell in a heap. The Mesners leased the record to Dot.

https://www.45cat.com/record/hld9272

Dunbar “received a 1970 Grammy award for R&B songwriting as the co-writer (with General Johnson) of ‘Patches’ – recorded by Chairmen of the Board (B-side) and Clarence Carter (#2 [R&B] hit).” (Noomz-of-Earl, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw2yQz9N_BQ) Daniel Slotnick writes:

Mr. Dunbar started working with Berry Gordy soon after Mr. Gordy founded Motown Records in 1959. He worked closely with the production and songwriting team of Lamont Dozier and the brothers Brian and Eddie Holland, better known as Holland-Dozier-Holland, and he received more recognition after he left Motown with them in the late 1960s. At Holland-Dozier-Holland Productions, Mr. Dunbar worked with artists as an executive and was credited with writing several hits released on the company’s Invictus label. He and Edythe Wayne . . . were listed as the writers of “Give Me Just a Little More Time,” a plaintive but upbeat single by Chairmen of the Board, and on Freda Payne’s [see #794] “Band of Gold,” a tale of marital desertion, both of which reached No. 3 on the Billboard singles chart in 1970. Because the Holland brothers and Mr. Dozier were involved in a legal dispute with Motown at the time, they were unable to release recordings on which they were credited by name. Edythe Wayne is widely acknowledged to have been a pseudonym the three used, and Mr. Dozier has cast doubt on Mr. Dunbar’s involvement with the songs. Mr. Dunbar shared a songwriting Grammy with General Johnson, Chairmen of the Board’s lead singer, for best rhythm-and-blues song in 1971, for the hit “Patches,” a rustic lament sung by the blues and soul singer Clarence Carter [see #296, 1,652]. The song, about an impoverished young farmer struggling to care for his family after his father dies, became a crossover hit, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard pop chart in 1970. After Invictus went out of business in the late 1970s, Mr. Dunbar became an artist and repertoire director for George Clinton’s expansive roster of funk musicians. He was one of the credited writers of the Parliament [see #249, 308, 723, 1,080] song “Agony of DeFeet” (1980) and the Brides of Funkenstein song “Never Buy Texas From a Cowboy” (1979). He continued working with Mr. Clinton off and on, and in the late 1990s he came full circle, working for Eddie Holland at Holland Group Productions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/17/obituaries/ronald-dunbar-dies-producer-and-grammy-winning-songwriter.html

Here’s a list of Dunbar’s charting songs: https://www.musicvf.com/songs.php?page=artist&artist=Ronald+Dunbar&tab=songaswriterchartstab#gsc.tab=0.

Here it is on the Startime label (by “Johnny Love”):

Here it is on the Dot label (by “Ronnie Love”):

1,691) Tom Jones — “Chills and Fever”

Tom Jones (see #330, 380) had two versions of the song. The first recording was produced by “Joe Meek . . . made in 1963, when [Jones] was still called Tommy Scott & The Senators, but not released until 1965 by which time Tom Jones had already released his 1964 re-recording of this with Decca.” (Buzzer365, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chh7wz5bO-k)

The Decca version is “a great cover with girls backing, the energy in his performance is a joy, clearly he put the meters into the red a few times. Powerful voice.” (teabiscuit, https://www.45cat.com/record/f11966) I prefer the Decca version, but it is Jones’ “Beat Room” performance which has the impact of an A-bomb. Talk about A-Tom-Ic Jones!

(https://www.discogs.com/release/3661894-Tom-Jones-A-Tom-Ic-Jones/image/SW1hZ2U6Mjc5NTIzMjY=)

Noomz-of-Earl explains:

In 1964, Tom Jones’s first record was a startlingly strong R&B-rocking cover version . . . which represented exactly the type of young recording artist he wanted to be. Unfortunately the record didn’t sell in acceptable numbers on either side of the Pond [though it did reach #125 in the U.S.], putting him in a position whereby he had no choice (not wanting to return home to Wales and give up the dream of being a recording artist) but to record the pop tune he was offered: “It’s Not Unusual.” It went straight to #1 in the UK and Top Ten in the US , propelling him down the path of major pop stardom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw2yQz9N_BQ

Stephen Thomas Erlewine adds:

Born Thomas John Woodward in Wales, Jones began singing professionally in 1963, performing as Tommy Scott with Senators, a Welsh beat group. In 1964, he recorded a handful of solo tracks with record producer Joe Meek and shopped them to various record companies to little success. Later in the year, Decca producer Peter Sullivan discovered Tommy Scott performing in a club and directed him to manager Phil Solomon. It was a short-lived partnership and the singer soon moved back to Wales, where he continued to sing in local clubs. At one of the shows, he gained the attention of former Viscounts singer Gordon Mills, who had become an artist manager. Mills signed Scott, renamed him Tom Jones, and helped him record his first single for Decca, “Chills and Fever,” which was released in late 1964. The track didn’t chart, but “It’s Not Unusual,” released in early 1965, became a number one hit in the U.K. and a Top Ten hit in the U.S.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tom-jones-mn0000609396#biography

Here is the Joe Meek version:

Here is the Decca version:

Here is another live version, from ’66:

1,692) The Serfmen — “Chills and Fever”

Fort Wayne, Indiana’s Serfmen released this cool garage take on the song in ’65. “[T]he vocals are totally gnarly!” (CydnotCharrise1, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjy3dMs0NLw) Indeed — it sounds like Dr. John [see #177] to me!

The Serfmen later became the Olivers and the Triad. (Discogs, https://www.discogs.com/artist/356107-The-Olivers?redirected=true) Ankimo1957 writes that “I was at this recording session when I was 8 years old. My dad is Al Russell, and it was recorded in his studio at WGL radio in Fort Wayne, IN.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjy3dMs0NLw)

Here are other cool versions:

Jet Harris (’62):

Allen Wayne (’65):

Samantha Fish (’17):

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Peter Tilbrook — “All Mine to Play With”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 18, 2025

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

1,689) Peter Tilbrook — “All Mine to Play With”

Ex-Masters Apprentice [see #297, 1,688] guitarist/bassist rips it up with a “superb fuzz psych” (Popsike.com, https://www.popsike.com/PETER-TILBROOK-All-Mine-To-Play-With-FANTASTIC-OZ-FUZZ-PSYCH-SOLO-45-HEAR/331633292550.html) solo B-side, “[a] ton o’ fuzz – monster”. (narinderdhanjal221, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTikC8cO_I8) Indeed. Oh, and it’s funky as heck.

Peter Tilbrook’s website tells us that:

Peter’s very first two bands were The Avengers with his best friend Graham Cox and later Roger Ball & The Bouncers, but his first serious and highly successful band was called The Bentbeaks. The Bentbeaks played regularly at top Adelaide Club the Oxford Club and went on to come equal second in the South Australian heat of Hoadley’s Battle of the Bands in 1966 the prize being a trip to Sydney to record on the Spin label and was produced by Nat Kipner. . . . They recorded one single . . . called “Caught Red Handed”/”Raining Sunshine”[, the latter being] the first song Peter wrote in collaboration with Steve Adorian the singer of the band . . . . The Bentbeaks played in Sydney, in Melbourne and all over country Victoria, and in Adelaide and all over country South Australia. The Bentbeaks broke up when the singer’s girlfriend got pregnant and Peter quickly changed from lead guitar to bass guitar and joined top Adelaide band The Sounds of Silence who were about to leave for Melbourne where all the music action was at the time. The Sounds of Silence recorded . . . two singles “Running High” and “Mary’s got a daisy” . . . . Whilst living in Melbourne and playing in The Sounds of Silence, Peter was approached to join The Masters Apprentices that were also in Melbourne at the time. The Masters knew of Peter Tilbrook from his days in the Bentbeaks. . . . [and his] wild guitar playing and on-stage antics . . . . Peter was in the Masters Apprentices in 1967 and 1968 . . . . When Peter eventually decided to leave the Master’s Apprentices at Xmas time in 1968, he left to form a duo with another great Adelaide singer Richard Hay . . . . called Paradise and [they] were immediately signed to the Sweet Peach record label for recording, song writing and management. They recorded two singles on the Sweet Peach label called “Jessie” and “Sin”. . . . [the latter] ended up being banned. Paradise played all over Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide and did countless television appearances. . . . After Paradise ended, Peter went solo and recorded two singles “Stop the time”/”All Mine to Play With” and “I Wonder Why”/”A Madman Roams Tonight” all written by Peter. “Stop the Time” was on the Australian charts for about 4.5 months and reached number 8 and because of its success, he was offered a contract to be a regular singer on the popular Channel 7 Adelaide tonight show . . . The Barry Ion Show . . . . As a solo act, Peter performed in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. When disco came in in the 70’s, Peter’s career went quiet from around 1973 like so many other’s in the music industry at the time and he didn’t start playing again until around 1986 when he joined a band called Crosstown with Attilla Deveney. Subsequently he played in a duo called The Spoilers with Jok Howlett. . . . [and then] teamed up with Brian Davidge to form The Party Cats . . . . They played together for almost (26) years and were one of the most successful acts in Adelaide. . . .

https://www.petertilbrookentertainment.com/biography

As to Tilbrook’s departure from the Master’s Apprentices, Glenn Baker writes that “[d]issatisfied with Peter Tilbrook’s songwriting (and his demands for recording of same), the new group prepared to dismiss him by recruiting Bay City Union bassist Gregg Wheatley . . . .” (liner notes to the CD comp Hands of Time: The Masters Apprentices 1965-72)

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The Master’s Apprentices — “Brigette”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 17, 2025

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

1,688) The Master’s Apprentices — “Brigette”

This pop psych/baroque pop masterwork by Australia’s Master’s Apprentices (see #297) reached #27 in Melbourne. It was “the first [Doug] Ford/[Jim] Keays collaboration and it was a[] pleasant dose of flowerpop with a Beatlesque melody line, wafting lyrics, and extravagant string arrangement and lively female backing vocals.” (Ian McFarlane, liner notes to the CD reissue of The Master’s Apprentices)

The definitive Milesago: Australasian Music & Popular Culture 1964-1975 says of the song that “Keays reckons the song was partly inspired by [his] love of Donovan’s ‘Mellow Yellow’, although it bears a suspicious resemblance to some of The Move’s earlier singles, particularly ‘Night Of Fear’. The chintzy, go-for-baroque arrangement included a string section scored by The Strangers’ [see #1,675] John Farrar . . . .” (http://www.milesago.com/MainFrame.htm)

Richie Unterberger writes of the Masters:

One could easily make the case for designating the Masters Apprentices as the best Australian rock band of the ’60s. Featuring singer Jim Keats and songwriter/ rhythm guitarist Mick Bower, the band’s earliest recordings combined the gritty R&B/rock of Brits like the Pretty Things with the minor-key melodies of the Yardbirds. . . . Bower left the group after suffering a nervous breakdown in late 1967, and the Masters grew steadily less interesting, moving from flower pop and hard rock to progressive and acoustic sounds. Plagued by instability (undergoing eight personnel changes between 1966 and 1968), the group moved to England in the early ’70s, achieving some cult success with progressive rock albums before breaking up in 1972.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-masters-apprentices-mn0000399622#biography

Milesago:

If The Easybeats were “Australia’s Beatles”, then there is no doubt that, as Stan Rofe said, The Masters Apprentices were Australia’s Rolling Stones. . . . Along with the Easybeats and the Twilights, they were one of the “could-have-been” bands, who tried valiantly to break into the British and international charts. Like both those bands they were ultimately unsuccessful in their attempts . . . . The Masters were hugely popular throughout Australia, releasing hit after hit in their seven-year career, and they were consistently hailed as one of Australia’s best live and recording acts. Their career encompassed all the changes in Australian music from 1965 to 1972; they started out as an instrumental band, rose to prominence during the beat boom, moved through psychedelia and “bubblegum’ pop, finally became one the first and best progressive hard rock groups of the early Seventies.

http://www.milesago.com/MainFrame.htm

Kimbo gives some history:

The Mustangs were a surf music instrumental/dance band formed in Adelaide in 1964 with Mick Bower on rhythm guitar, Rick Morrison on lead guitar, Brian Vaughton on drums and Gavin Webb on bass guitar. Initially they played covers of The Shadows and The Ventures songs. The Mustangs changed style and took on a lead singer, Scottish immigrant, Jim Keays. The Mustangs established themselves on the thriving Adelaide dance circuit by playing in suburban halls and migrant hostels. They built a following with local teenagers, including migrants from the UK, which were an early influence on the band as they were directly in touch with current mod fashions, not as widely known in Australia. In late 1965, The Mustangs renamed themselves as The Masters Apprentices . . . . By early 1966 they were one of the most popular beat bands in Adelaide, later in 1966, The Masters Apprentices shared a gig with pop star Bobby Bright of Melbourne duo Bobby & Laurie, who was impressed and recommended them to his label, Astor Records. A few weeks later, they were contacted by Astor, which requested a four-track demo. The band went to a local two-track studio to record it but realised that they had only three suitable songs to record. Needing a fourth track, guitarists Bower and Morrison wrote a new song, “Undecided”. The band relocated to Melbourne in February 1967 . . . . “Undecided” raced up the Melbourne charts to peak at #9 locally. In May 1967 “Buried and Dead” was released as their second single . . . . In June, Astor released the group’s self-titled debut LP, The Master’s Apprentices . . . . Their next single, Bower’s “Living in a Child’s Dream”, is regarded as an early example of Australian psychedelic rock and one of their greatest pop songs. . . . Released in August at the peak of the Summer of Love, it reached Top Ten in most Australian capitals and peaked at #9 on Go-Set’s Top 40. . . . The loss of Bower was a blow that threatened to end the band’s career as it was taking off. Bower . . . ha[d] written (or co-written) all their singles and all original tracks on their debut album. His forced departure left the group floundering, and they continued with de facto leadership passing to Keays. At the end of September, Keays and Webb chose Bower’s replacement, guitarist Rick Harrison . . . from Adelaide. Harrison quit soon after and they recruited another lead guitarist, Peter Tilbrook from Adelaide . . . . As 1967 ended the band’s career reached a critical juncture. In Sydney, Keays met two brothers, bass guitarist and singer Denny Burgess . . . and drummer Colin Burgess, both had played in a support band, The Haze, at a gig in suburban Ashfield. Keays was impressed and considered them for possible new members. Keays then approached Doug Ford, an innovative electric guitarist from the second line-up of Sydney garage rock band The Missing Links [see #1,328, 1,684] . . . . The new recruits revitalised the band’s career. Ford was a strong songwriter, a good singer and an accomplished electric guitarist who brought a new depth to the band’s sound. He and Keays began working as a writing team. Ford’s arrival filled the gap left by Bowers’ departure and made possible their transition from pop band to rock group. “Elevator Driver”—written for them by Brian Cadd of The Grooop . . . went #27. In April 1968 bassist Gavin Webb . . . was forced to quit, suffering from stomach ulcers. Tilbrook switched to bass guitar for a few months before Glenn Wheatley . . . joined them on bass and Tilbrook reverted back to guitar. In December 1968, Tilbrook left . . . . 1969 began with The Masters Apprentices signing with record giant EMI, settling their new line-up and the Ford/Keays writing team hitting its stride. The band now moved to its best-remembered and most successful phase. The long-awaited first EMI single was moderately successful . . . [but] was something of a false start artistically, “Linda Linda[“] . . . . Their next single, the rocky “5:10 Man” . . . peaked at #16 on the Go-Set Singles Chart. In 1969 the band left for the UK by ship. They entered the studio at Abbey Road studios in London in September 1970 to record the album Choice Cuts. . . . The songs they brought to the sessions—many written during the voyage—were original and distinctive, distilling their recent musical influences. . . . . includ[ing] the heavier sounds of Hendrix, King Crimson and Free, as well as the acoustic styles of Donovan, the Small Faces and Van Morrison . . . . [T]he first single . . . “Because I Love You” . . . became a popular and enduring recording. In January 1972, EMI issued the new album, A Toast to Panama Red, and . . . they lifted a single from it, the anthemic “Love Is” . . . . Without adequate support, both LP and single sank without trace in Australia, in spite of their high quality. . . . The band] finally split[] in mid-1972.

https://historyofaussiemusic.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-masters-apprentices.html

As to Ford and Keays, Glenn Baker writes that “the partnership, formed out of sheer necessity, went on to become one of the most acclaimed Australian writing teams ever.” (liner notes to the CD comp Hands of Time: The Masters Apprentices 1965-72)

Milesago adds:

Doug Ford . . . . [was] already recognised as one of the strongest and most innovative electric guitarists on the scene. . . . His recruitment helped to revitalise the Masters in many ways: he was a proficient songwriter, a good singer, his mastery of the guitar brought a new breadth to the band’s sound and — most importantly for Keays — he was “keen as mustard”. . . . [O]nce in the band, Doug and Jim worked on developing as a writing team. Ford’s presence was crucial to filling the gap left by Mick Bowers’ departure and making the transition from pop band to rock group. As the partnership developed, Keays and Ford created a repertoire of memorable songs which balanced heavy guitar rock with lyrical acoustic touches. . . . [When] the Ford/Keays writing team hitting its stride, the band now moved into its best-remembered and most successful phase.

http://www.milesago.com/mainframe.htm

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Zoot — “Little Roland Lost”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 16, 2025

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

1,687) Zoot — “Little Roland Lost”

Classic Australian pop psych pre-Rick Springfield, written by band members Beeb Birtles and Darryl Cotton with a guitar solo by the Twilights’ (see #563, 1,667) Terry Britten. The chorus “I’m lost, I’m lost, find me” found its way into Land of the Lost: “[T]he 70’s American Sid and Marty Kroft show . . . featured someone doing a song that nicked the chorus from “Little Roland Lost” over the end credits of the show!!” (wilthomer, https://www.45cat.com/record/do8801) Hey, I used to watch that as a kid — little did I know!

Milesago puts on its zoot suit:

Zoot started out as one among scores of hopeful young beat groups who that formed in and around the migrant settlement suburbs . . . . The founder members of Zoot were English-born John D’Arcy and Netherlands-born Gerard Bertelkamp, who became mates at Plympton High School. . . . Together with drummer Ted Higgins . . . [they] formed their first band, named Times Unlimited in 1966. They only played one gig at a scout hall before the bass player decided to leave. John told Gerard (who was universally known [as] “B.B.”) that he would have to learn to play bass guitar and sing at the same time. Fortunately, B.B. was up to the task . . . . [T]hey recruited singer Darryl Cotton from another local band . . . changed the name to Down The Line . . . . [and] played regularly around Adelaide during 1966, and they became friendly with local heroes The Twilights . . . . [T]he group would tape the ABC radio replay of British TV’s Top Of The Pops and work out their own stage versions of hits by the mod icons of the day, The Move, The Small Faces The Who and their beloved Hollies, songs that would usually not be released until weeks or months later in Australia. . . . [Their] ability to perform note-perfect renditions of current overseas hits gave them a strong appeal with local Mods. . . . By 1967 Down The Line had become a hot live attraction, and like many other bands they supplemented their gigs by backing visiting solo singers. . . . [including] Johnny Farnham . . . . [The band] changed its name [to Zoot and] continued to perform around their hometown for another year. . . . [but it] was clear [they] would have to leave Adelaide if they wanted to further their careers. In mid ’68, EMI producer David McKay was on the road with The Twilights, and when the tour hit Adelaide he was finally introduced to Zoot . . . by Twilights vocalist Paddy McCartney. . . . He was suitably impressed, and immediately offered them a recording deal: Daryl [Cotton]: “We only had homemade guitars and amps and hardly any money to go to Melbourne to make our first single. So The Twilights loaned us their incredible Marshall amps and paid our train fares across” . . . . [T]hey recorded the tracks for their first single — a dynamic psych-pop cover of Jackie Lomax’s “You’d Better Get Going Now ” . . . . [which] showed off their formidable musical chops, and especially the high, bright harmonies that have become a trademark of Beeb’s work. Zoot returned to Adelaide to await its release. This was to be the only commercial recording by the original Zoot lineup and John D’Arcy then left the band, to be replaced by Steve Stone. . . . “McKay was pleased with the record” says Cotton, “but he insisted we needed management. The next day a fellow called Wayne de Gruchy knocked on our door”. Wayne was the manager of Berties Disco and, together with owner, Anthony Knight, he came up with a masterstroke of promotion: “Think Pink – Think Zoot”. Zoot’s debut single was launched at a now-legendary media party at Berties . . . . Knight decked out the disco in pink, adding accessories like pink champagne and pink carnations. The launch didn’t do a great deal for the single in Melbourne — although it reached #12 in Adelaide — but the night was a huge success from a promotional stance — although in the long run it took on a life of its own and became a millstone around the boys’ necks. Beeb: “It was this outrageous thing where the band dressed up in all-pink clothes, which of course, y’know, all the young girls loved us in these ridiculous outfits and all their boyfriends hated our guts, y’know? (laughs) . . . . I always felt very, very uncomfortable dressing that way, ‘cos it wasn’t me. But, at the same time, it worked, and you can’t knock the success that the band had over that two-year period between ’69 and ’71 when we travelled all over Australia and became a very popular teenybopper group …” A second single was quickly recorded, but this time both sides were produced and written by Twilights guitarist Terry Britten . . . . “1 x 2 x 3 x 4” . . . was released in December ’68 and it became a moderate Melbourne hit (#32). However but combined with the “Think Pink” campaign, it cemented Zoot’s image as an lightweight bubblegum pop outfit. . . . Shortly after the second single was recorded Higgins and Stone left the band and returned to Adelaide, but Beeb and Daryl were determined to continue, so they recruited Roger Hicks, a talented young classically-trained guitarist . . . and Rick Brewer , an experienced . . . drummer . . . . [T]he group parted ways with de Gruchy and signed with Johnny Farnham’s management team, Darryl Sambell and Jeff Joseph . . . . Zoot’s third single came out in June ’69. The jaunty . . . “Monty & Me” was an engaging ditty . . . . The psyched-up production . . . . only made [it to] #33 in Melbourne, [but] surprisingly shot to #1 in Brisbane. . . . It was backed by . . . “Little Roland Lost” . . . . In July they took to the road on their first major tour, slogging through the backblocks of Queensland . . . generating teen frenzy all along the way. . . . [I]n September, they joined Russell Morris, Johnny Farnham, Johnny Young, Ronnie Burns, The Valentines, The Masters Apprentices and Doug Parkinson In Focus on the famous Operation Starlift, a huge (but financially disastrous) national capital city tour by the top echelon of the Australian pop world. . . . Just before the Operation Starlift tour, Roger Hicks decided he had had a gutful of the “pretty pink pansies” ridicule and defected to The (Brisbane) Avengers. Ironically, The Avengers settled on Hicks after missing out on their first choice, Rick Springfield. . . . [B]oth The Avengers and The Valentines were vying for Rick’s services and they were soon joined by Zoot, who had first met him during their Queensland tour. . . . Rick considered all the offers and decided that his best chance lay with Zoot. If they had been good teen-idol fodder before, the arrival of Springfield took it to new heights. . . . Zoot’s desire to rid themselves of the ‘Think Pink’ gimmickry . . . was given added impetus by Springfield’s arrival. . . . [H]is distaste for the teenybopper image was obvious and in early the new year the group ceremonially burned all the hated pink gear on camera during a TV appearance . . . . As Rick began adding his considerable creative input, Zoot set to work on their first and only album – Just Zoot . . . . For Zoot fans, their first obvious shift in direction came in April with the release of the . . . fifth single, “Hey Pinky”. It marked a sea change for them– the Rick Springfield song was a blistering piece of riff-driven heavy rock, its lyrics a caustic and vehement attack on their former image and their manipulation by management and the media. It was promoted by a cheeky Go-Set ad sporting a nude rear-view shot of the group . . . . [O]n June 20 . . . Zoot played at the nationally televised Go-Set Pop Poll and literally stopped the show with a defiant performance . . . . With backs to the audience they slammed into a pounding, heavy-metal rendition of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” that brought the house down. . . . . Two months later they . . . narrowly lost Hoadley’s National Battle of the Sounds to The Flying Circus [see #944]. . . . After the strong reaction to the Pop Poll performance, Gable insisted on “Eleanor Rigby” as the next single and it was duly released in December 1970. . . . eventually peaking at #3 during its 21-week chart run. . . . Their excellent follow-up single, the Springfield-penned concept piece “The Freak”/”Evil Child” . . . reaching #27 in Melbourne only. . . . [B]y early 1971 the frustrations of their loss to Flying Circus . . . and the poor showing of “The Freak” led to rumours of an impending break-up, fuelled by reports that Birtles might be called up for National Service, and that Springfield was being courted to pursue a solo career (which was true) and that he had threatened to leave the band unless they went to the US. The crunch came in May when RCA America — who were very excited about “Eleanor Rigby” — were thwarted in their attempts to secure Zoot for a US deal because of work visa problems. With their chances of heading overseas success thwarted, Zoot announced their split later that month.

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

Here are the end credits to Land of the Lost:

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Like Nobody Else Special Edition: The Bee Gees/Los Bravos: The Bee Gees — “Like Nobody Else”, Los Bravos/The Brave — “Like Nobody Else”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 15, 2025

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

1,685) The Bee Gees — “Like Nobody Else”

Freakbeat by the Bees Gees?! Yes, indeed. This ‘66 demo — not “officially” released until ‘70 — is smoking!

Wikipedia tells us that:

Inception/Nostalgia is a 1970 compilation album of previously unreleased songs recorded by the Bee Gees in 1966. . . . contain[ing] a mixture of both self-penned songs and covers. The first LP in the set is titled Inception while the second LP is titled Nostalgia, hence the album title. . . . [It] was first issued by Karussell in Germany and by Triumph in France, both being Polydor budget labels and therefore linked to their licensing deal with Festival Records. The Gibb brothers were unaware of its release until Maurice saw one during a skiing holiday in Switzerland. It did not remain in print for long . . . . The original songs, those written by one or more Gibb brother, were all written and recorded during or shortly after the recording of what made up the Spicks and Specks album . . . . Those twelve songs could have made up the contents of a subsequent Bee Gees album, but were ultimately turned over as demos for other artists to record . . . .

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inception/Nostalgia

1,686) Los Bravos/The Brave — “Like Nobody Else”

Los Bravos [see #1,538] turn “Nobody Else” “into . . . Hollywood-ized Kinks” (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, https://www.allmusic.com/album/to-love-somebody-the-songs-of-the-bee-gees-1966-1970-mw0003021427), pop rock extraordinaire as only Mike Kennedy could do it on a ‘67 A-side.

Here is an utterly fab clip of Los Bravos performing the song in the ‘68 Spanish comedy Dame un poco de amooor…!/Give Me a Little Loooove…!

As to the plot, Jsanchez writes:

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

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0063852/plotsummary/?ref_=tt_ov_pl

BRAINIAC-2 enthuses:

This wild rock-n-roll spy comedy starring Spanish rockers “Los Bravos” plays almost like a hyper-paced extended Spanish “Monkees” t.v. episode but with really decent production values! The Los Bravos music is a bit on the “pop” side of rock-n-roll but still has it’s charm. There are some wild psychedelic effects, some very groovy sets and an awesome animated sequence towards the end done in a sort-of psychedelic rotoscope style! Los Bravos perform several of their hits and if you are a fan you will want to seek this one out.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0063852/reviews/?featured=rw1573198&ref_=tt_ururv_c_1

Richie Unterberger tells us of Los Bravos:

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

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

Carlos Marcos tells us of Mike Kennedy:

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

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

Here they are:

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The Missing Links — “You’re Drivin’ Me Insane”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 13, 2025

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

1,684) The Missing Links — “You’re Drivin’ Me Insane”

The Missing Links’ (see #1,328) first A-side is “a wild, pile-driving original . . . totally unique in Aussie rock in 1965” (Peter Markmann, http://www.milesago.com/artists/missinglinks.htm), “tremendous ’60s punk, with blistering, feedback-ridden guitar and cord-shredding vocals”. (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-missing-links-mw0000884876).

Mike Stax writes that:

The song churns on a crude two-chord riff, with urgent Morse code organ, jungle drums, and swaths of feedback threatening to engulf the vocals. The track reaches a crescendo of savagery . . . . It was extreme stuff for 1965 . . . .

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

As to the Links, Richie Unterberger writes:

One of the best Australian bands of the ’60s, though they weren’t even stars in their home country, the[y] started as a very raw, Kinks-like combo, gaining a number two hit in New Zealand with “We 2 Should Live”/”Untrue.” The first lineup folded in 1965, and a second, with entirely different personnel, took the name. This aggregation cut the rawest Australian garage/punk of the era, and indeed some of the best from anywhere, sounding at their best like a fusion of the Troggs and the early Who, letting loose at times with wild feedback that was quite ahead of its time. They didn’t find commercial success, and split after several singles, an EP, and an album. Various members turned up in other Australian groups like Running Jumping Standing Still and Python Lee Jackson; the most notable of these was guitarist Doug Ford, who joined Running Jumping Standing Still and then graduated to the Master’s Apprentices [see #297] . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-missing-links-mn0000498637#biography

Peter Markmann tells us in the definitive Milesago: Australasian Music & Popular Culture 1964-1975 that:

In 1965 when they were billed as “Australia’s wildest group” it wasn’t just the usual “industry” hyperbole or rhetoric – it was a statement of fact. . . . In early 1964 nothing unbelievably wild, frenzied or manic had happened in the Australian music scene. It was just about to. . . . . Although their fame never spread far beyond Sydney . . . and their career lasted barely more than two years, they’ve achieved a mythical status in the history of Australian rock. . . . Glenn A Baker . . . : [“They were] the first to play guitars like The Rolling Stones used . . . the first guys to sport very long unruly hair . . . the first group to implement destruction into a stage act . . . the first with a lot of things, bless their pioneering souls.” The Missing Links’ are widely acknowledged as the first Aussie band to deliberately use feedback as part of their music, and they were almost certainly the first local band to use reverse tape effects on record. They were one of the first Australian bands to tap into the tough new blues/R&B style being pioneered by the Stones, The Pretty Things and The Yardbirds. They were writing and playing their own extraordinary original material, plus a selection of highly idiosyncratic covers of acts as diverse as Bo Diddley, James Brown and Bob Dylan . . . . [There were] two distinct line-ups . . . . The first lasted from early 1964 until March 1965 and . . . . the second line-up settled into place around July 1965, lasting until April 1966 . . . . an even wilder outfit than the original. . . . [T]he new Links were signed to the Philips label, and . . . [then] began recording tracks for an album. . . . produc[ing] some of the seminal artefacts of 60s Australian rock. . . . The songs are firmly rooted in blues and R&B, yet the album also predates whole slabs of Sixties rock which were yet to come. The buzzing guitar feedback and echo-laden Farfisa organ anticipates Pink Floyd by a good two years; Doug Ford’s slashing guitar work is pure heavy metal, and there’s a strong psychedelic feel to the whole affair. . . . The new Links built up a small but rabid following with their over-the-top shows . . . . [c]ommon stage exploits includ[ing] . . . swinging from the rafters . . . . They . . . frequently appeared in fancy dress outfits, dressed as gorillas, pirates, gangsters or mummies. . . . “Wild About You” . . . [the second A-side is] as Peter Markmann succinctly puts it, an “unadulterated slice of 60s punk mayhem … almost too crazed for words.” . . . The third single . . . was perhaps the most outrageous of all. “H’Tuom Tuhs” . . . is in fact the band’s 5’40” version of Bo Diddley’s “Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut” [see #1,326, 1,328]— except that the entire track is played backwards! The idea originated . . . when the boys heard the tape of “Big Mouth” being rewound by the engineer and liked the sound of it! It is surely one of the earliest uses of reverse tape in rock history . . . . [I]t naturally enough sank like a lead balloon . . . . In mid-December [came] the classic The Missing Links LP . . . . one of the primal Australian Albums of the 60s . . . . [T]he Links splintered due to the increasing personality conflicts.

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

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I Shall Be Released: The Easybeats — “Johnny No One”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 12, 2025

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

1,683) The Easybeats — “Johnny No One”

The Easybeats get incredibly funky on this ‘68 demo recorded at Central Sound Studio in London, not released until it showed up on ‘77’s The Shame Just Drained compilation LP. And they didn’t even have Billy Preston!

The definitive MILESAGO: Australasian Music & Popular Culture 1964-1975 explains:

Through late 1968, the formerly tight-knit band began to drift further apart. Drugs were a factor, along with the growing independence of the [Harry] Vanda/[George] Young axis. By this time they were working substantially on their own, and between them they could now play almost any instrument they needed. They were writing prolifically, but were reluctant to do more a few gigs per month, and so the band only came together for the occasional gig or for demo sessions at Central Sound studios in Denmark St.

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

MILESAGO states the importance of the Easybeats:

To describe The Easybeats as “Australia’s Beatles” is not to damn them with faint praise. They were without question the best and most important Australian rock band of the 1960s, and their string of classic hit singles set the benchmarks for Australian popular music. They established a unique musical identity, and they became our first homegrown rock superstars, and for quality, inventiveness and originality their work is arguably unmatched by any other Australian band of the period. The Easybeats scored fifteen Top 40 Singles in Australia between 1965 and 1970, including three No.1 hits. Chief among their many achievements, the Easybeats hold the unique honour of being our first bona-fide rock group to have an major overseas hit record – the legendary “Friday On My Mind”. They were also one of the few major Australian bands of their day to perform and record original material almost exclusively.

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

Bruce Eder tells us:

The Easybeats . . . met in Sydney . . . [but] lead singer Stevie Wright originally came from England . . . and bassist Dick Diamonde hailed from the Netherlands, as did guitarist Harry Vanda, while the others, guitarists George Young and drummer Gordon “Snowy” Fleet, were recent arrivals from Scotland and England . . . . [They were] a piece of authentic Brit-beat right in the heart of Sydney. . . . After honing their sound and building a name locally . . . in late 1964, the group was signed to [Ted] Albert Productions who, in turn, licensed their releases to Australian EMI’s Parlophone label. . . . Working from originals primarily written by Stevie Wright, by himself or in collaboration with George Young, the group’s early records . . . were highly derivative of the Liverpool sound . . . . [but] they were highly animated in the studio and on stage, they looked cool and rebellious, and they sang and played superbly. . . . [T]heir debut single [was] issued in March of 1965 . . . . “She’s So Fine,” their second . . . two months later, shot to number one in Australia and was one of the great records of its era . . . . Their debut album Easy, issued the following September . . . . [Their] attack on their instruments . . . coupled with Wright’s searing, powerful lead vocals, made them one of the best British rock & roll acts of the period and Easy one of the best of all British Invasion albums . . . . In Australia, they were the reigning kings of rock & roll . . . assembling a string of eight Top Ten chart hits in a year and a half . . . . Their second album, It’s 2 Easy, was a match for their first . . . whose only fault . . . was that it seemed a year out-of-date in style when it was released in 1966. . . . [They] could do no wrong by keeping their sound the same . . . . [but] George Young . . . had ideas for more complex and daring music. By mid-1966, the Wright/ Young songwriting team had become history, but in its place Vanda and Young began writing songs together. . . . In the fall of 1966, the Easybeats were ready to make the jump that no Australian rock & roll act had yet done successfully, and headed for England. In November of 1966 . . . the group scored its first U.K. hit with “Friday on My Mind[“, which] embodied all of the fierce kinetic energy of their Australian hits but . . . at a new level of sophistication . . . . It rose to the Top Ten . . . across Europe and much of the rest of the world, and reached the Top 20 in the United States . . . . The group spent seven months in England, writing new, more ambitious songs[, ] performing before new audiences, most notably in Germany . . . . [and] mov[ing] their base of operations to London . . . . Some of the songs were superb, but the[ir] . . . charmed existence . . . seemed to desert them in 1967-1968 — their single “Heaven and Hell” was banned from the radio in England for one suggestive line, and a six-month lag for a follow-up cost them momentum . . . . [But] the songs . . . were as good as anything being written in rock at the time. . . . By mid-1969, the band had receded to a mere shadow of itself, and their music had regressed to a form of good-time singalong music . . . . The band decided to call it quits following a return to Australia for one final tour . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-easybeats-mn0000145086#biography

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Gene Pierson — “Matchstick in a Whirlpool”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 11, 2025

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

1,682) Gene Pierson — “Matchstick in a Whirlpool”

This New Zealand-only B-side by Venice-born immigrant to Australia Gene Pierson — in NZ to escape being drafted — is a soaring pop rock confection.

Kimbo writes of Pierson:

Gene Pierson was born Giancarlo Salvestrin . . . in Venice . . . . [H]is father . . . migrated to Australia and in January 1950, when Giancarlo was four, Pierson and his mother followed, settling in Griffith. In 1963 Pierson, under the stage name Gene Chandler, won a talent quest at Skelseys Hotel, singing “Mashed Potato”, in the western suburbs of Sydney . . . . He was given a regular solo spot at the hotel, where he was approached by guitarist Graham Ford to [join] . . . The Inturns. . . . Pierson was then offered a six-month resident spot at The Bowl nightclub in Pitt Street, Sydney. In December 1965 Pierson received news that his father . . . had a brain tumor and meanwhile Pierson was due to be conscripted into the army to serve in Vietnam. . . . [F]ollowing advice from The La De Das [see #216, 846, 946] guitarist Kevin Borich, he travelled to New Zealand . . . . Running low on cash in Auckland, he bluffed his way into the Galaxie nightclub, saying he was Gene Chandler, a top performer from Sydney, and would do a guest spot for free entry. In the audience was Eldred Stebbing who managed and recorded Ray Columbus [see #1,014] , Max Merritt & The Meteors and the La De Das on his Zodiac label. Stebbing was impressed and ended up managing Pierson encouraging him to change his stage name as there was already a US singer named Gene Chandler [see #347, 1,062] . . . . He . . . appeared regularly with Wellington group, Cheshire Katt. Pierson had success with a Bobby Hebb song, “Love, Love Love”, which become a #1 hit on the Radio Hauraki charts in October 1967. . . . followed by “You Got To Me” which reached the #2 spot. This was first time anyone had done a cover version of a Neil Diamond song outside of the US . . . . In 1968 Pierson released, “Toyland” [with today’s song on the B-side] originally recorded by UK group The Alan Bown [see #1,213, 1,414, 1,583] . . . which was then followed later that year by “If You Only Loved Me” . . . neither of which had the same success as the earlier singles. . . . He was working four nights a week, regularly appearing on television and touring with artists including Tommy Adderley, Larry’s Rebels [and] Shane . . . . Pierson learned of his father’s death and returned to Australia for the funeral. He quickly leveraged his New Zealand success, signing with Festival Records and releasing a psychedelic make-over of the Four Tops [see #1,148, 1,429] song “Reach Out” . . . . However, a long-standing disagreement between radio stations and record labels put an end to the song’s journey up the charts. It did peak at #12 on the Sydney chart. Record companies were refusing to supply free new release records unless radio stations agreed to pay a new royalty, resulting in a six-month radio ban on airplay for Australian and British recordings released by major labels. . . . . [After h]e . . . ended his contract with Festival [he] went on to co-host the nationwide weekly pop gossip programme the Today Show . . . . The same year, he also hosted his own weekly segment, Today Pop, on Channel 7’s Today Show and wrote for Go-Set pop paper. . . .

https://historyofaussiemusic.blogspot.com/2013/09/gene-pierson.html

Grant Gillanders adds that:

By late 1966, Gene was on the brink of Australian pop stardom. He was offered a permanent gig at Sydney’s Bowl nightclub, owned by Ivan Dayman who also ran the Sunshine record label. Gene’s music and family world came crashing down in with one phone call from his mother in early 1967. Not only had his father been diagnosed with a brain tumor, but an Army conscription letter had arrived by post that instructed Gene to report to the nearest Army base – in seven days. Pacifist Gene was shattered and . . . . realized quickly that he had to avoid conscription at all costs. During this period, draft age males in Australia couldn’t travel abroad without an Army exemption form. The one exception to this was to New Zealand. Twenty-four hours later Gene arrived in Auckland with $200 in his pocket and made a beeline to the Galaxie nightclub where he approached owner Eldred Stebbing and introduced himself as one of Australia’s biggest pop stars. The Layabouts were on stage so Stebbing invited him to sing a few numbers with them. A suitably impressed Stebbing signed Gene to a two-year recording contract. . . . The subsequent release of the single “Love, Love, Love” . . . brought instant success for Gene. The record received healthy airplay via a supportive Radio Hauraki in the top half of the North Island where it made the No.2 spot on the Auckland and Hawke’s Bay charts. Gene flirted with danger, and on several occasions returned home to see his parents, who were being constantly hounded by the Australian Military Police. On one such visit home his parents’ home was raided. Gene avoided arrest by passing himself off as the famous New Zealand pop singer “Gene Pierson” and just by chance he had a dossier of press clippings and records to prove the point. . . . Gene returned to Australia in September 1969 to attend his father’s funeral and even though he was still a fugitive he decided to stay . . . safe in the knowledge that as “Gene Pierson” he could remain undetected until the political climate changed. This was a hard decision as Eldred Stebbing had already started planning an album for Gene on the back of the nationwide tours that had brought Gene to a wider audience than the top half of the North Island – a stronghold for Gene. . . . Gene eventually reinvented himself as a pop music reporter for magazines, newspaper and television before becoming booking agent for the up-and-coming AC/DC then moving into a long and lucrative career as a promoter, agent and artist manager, which continues to this day.

https://www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/gene-pierson

Here is the original by Greenwich Village’s Roman Numerals (the A-side of their only single (’67)). Thanks to Lego Blockhead for turning me on to the original. DennisG-tb1kx tells us that:

[T]he group was called The Roman Numerals They were a Clive Davis pick and also one of his first as he became President of Columbia The lead Singer, John Marci was also the songwritter Tthe baritone was Al Canecchia, the 2nd tenor was Danny Marsi and the 1st tenor was Dennis Genovese

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdNI3fmRFEA

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Johnny Young — “Craise Finton Kirk Royal Academy of Arts”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 10, 2025

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

1,681) Johnny Young — “Craise Finton Kirk Royal Academy of Arts”

Australian Johnny Young’s (see #682) irresistible version of the Bee Gees’ pop psych classic was a hit on UK pirate radio stations and heading skywards . . . until the British government shut them all down.

The definitive Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964-1975 gives us the story:

Arriving in London Johnny was reunited with the Gibbs and during his stay he cut three more Bee Gees tracks: “Craise Finton Kirk Royal Academy of Arts” (backed by the Bee Gees and produced by Barry), “I Am The World” and “Every Christian Lionhearted Man Will Show You”. “Craise Finton Kirk”/“I am the World” was released as Johnny’s next single in August 1967. It made the Australian national Top 30 (#14 in Melbourne and #29 in Sydney) during September and also gained considerable airplay on British radio, notably on the legendary pirate station Radio London. The single entered the Radio London Fab Forty at #31 on 30 July 1967, and rose the following week to #27, but regrettably it was at exactly that point that Radio London was forced off-air, a victim of the Maritime Offences Act, which was being rigidly enforced by the British government in order to shut pirate stations down. . . . . Mike Manners, who recently contacted Milesago, has fond recollections of his time working with Johnny: “I was Johnny’s UK keyboard player in 1967. As a London-based organist . . . I was recruited by Johnny Young’s London team to help his Australian drummer, Danny Finlay, form a backing band for John. This we did. . . . [W]e made several promotional appearances, including a music slot on the famous national TV chat show . . . ‘Dee Time’, hosted by Simon Dee. . . . THE show to be seen on during the United Kingdoms ‘Flower Power’ era! On the show we performed ‘Craise Finton Kirk’ live, each of us wearing white embroided floor-length Carnaby Street kaftans(!) with me on harpsichord for this production.”

Mary Payne: adds:

Many frequently-played records on the pirate stations . . . were hits as far as the listeners were concerned, but never became bestsellers. . . . Craise Finton Kirk by Johnnie (sic) Young had been on the Radio London playlist for the final four weeks of the station’s life . . . . Each of the Radio London DJs had a weekly ‘climber’ – a disc touted as his pick for imminent chart stardom, although the records selected from the pile of new releases were not necessarily self-chosen. We do not know if Willy Walker . . . chose Craise Finton Kirk as his climber for w/c 23/07/67 or whether the disc was assigned to him. The single entered the Fab Forty at #31 on 30/07/67, rising the following week to #27, just as Big L was forced to close down. The late Mike Ahern cited Craise Finton Kirk as being on Caroline’s ‘pay-for-play’ list – records that usually appeared in the lower end of the Countdown of Sound. A clip of a TV interview with Johnny . . . explains what the song was all about. Craise Finton Kirk was a real person – an eccentric Scotsman who used to parade up and down London’s Oxford Street. He mumbled incomprehensibly as he made a meagre living by carrying sandwich boards, advertising passport photography. Newly-arrived in London, the Bee Gees had asked him for directions, but found themselves unable to understand a word he said. A fellow sandwich board carrier told them that the mystery man’s unusual name was Craise Finton Kirk and the Gibb brothers felt a song coming on! Apparently, the sandwich board star did know that he had been immortalised in song, as he had posed for publicity shots with Johnny! Where the Royal Academy of Arts part of the song title comes in is not discussed in the interview, but we might hazard a guess that Craise Finton Kirk‘s sandwich boards bore the name as part of the advertisement. Johnny also comments ruefully on how the loss of offshore radio had adversely affected his budding career in the UK. Johnny’s take on Craise Finton Kirk may have achieved only offshore chart action in the UK, but a month after the closure of all our sea-based stations with the exception of Caroline, the single hit #14 in Melbourne and #29 in Sydney.

https://www.radiolondon.co.uk/sixties/jyoung/jy.html

Milesago tells us of Young:

Johnny spent three frantic years as one of Australia’s top beat performers . . . . He was born . . . in Rotterdam . . . . Johnny’s parents migrated to Western Australia when he was three . . . . After he left school, Johnny began work as a trainee disc jockey on Perth radio, started singing at local dances, and [was] lead vocalist with local group The Nomads . . . . In 1965 . . . he became host of a local Perth pop show Club 17 [and] issued two singles . . . . In 1966, Johnny signed to [the] Clarion label, and formed a new backing band Kompany . . . . The kick-start for his career as a pop star came in early 1966 when The Easybeats visited Perth. They . . . present[ed] him with one of their new songs. “Step Back”. . . . [which] became a double-sided #1 hit in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne. . . . the second biggest-selling Australian single of the Sixties . . . . The next single . . . provided another double-sided Top Ten hit . . . . Johnny disbanded Kompany to go solo. . . . The first half of 1967 took Johnny to the peak of his pop career. He made his first major solo appearance on the “Big Show” tour on Australia Day 1967 . . . . [H]e took over as compere of The Go!! Show . . . . His cheerful boy-next-door personality and good looks enabled him to take on the role of TV host with relative ease . . . . [N]o doubt encouraged by huge international success of his friends The Bee Gees, Johnny decided to heed the siren call of Swinging London. . . . [He] set sail for the UK and . . . Clarion released his new single, “Lady” . . . which Barry [Gibb] had written specially for him. . . . Johnny’s follow-up . . . failed to chart . . . . Johnny failed to make a major impression on the UK scene, and he returned to Australia in January 1968, broke, exhausted and depressed. . . . Johnny fell back on his early training as a DJ and . . . joined Melbourne’s 3XY as the drive-time host . . . . His last hit single . . . was released mid-year and reached #31 in Sydney . . . . While in London, encouraged and coached by his friend Barry Gibb, he had begun to compose songs and he now began writing in earnest . . . . [H]is credits include Russell Morris’ “The Real Thing” and “Part Three Into Paper Walls”, Ronnie Burns “Smiley” — all national #1 singles . . . . Johnny scored yet another #1 single during 1970 with the sentimental country ballad “I Thank You”, recorded by former boxing champion Lionel Rose . . . . In 1970 he teamed up with Kevin Lewis . . . . [T]heir greatest success came with . . . the children’s talent quest cum variety show Young Talent Time, which . . . . was a massive success . . . .

http://www.milesago.com/mainframe.htm

Here are the Bee Gees off The Bee Gees 1st:

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The Elois — “By My Side”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 9, 2025

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

1,680) The Elois — “By My Side”

The B-side of the Elois’ sole single is a much-lauded, Nuggets-worthy Australian garage stunner that induces paroxysms of ecstasy in listeners. It is “incredible” (Mike Stax, liner notes to the CD comp Nuggets II (Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond 1964-1969)), “one of the greatest songs ever dedicated to wax[ — s]eriously” (On the Flip-Side, http://ontheflip-side.blogspot.com/2009/02/song-of-week-by-my-side-elois.html?m=1), a “[k]iller, wild and aggressive 60’s garage punker”. (TheItalianBeatnik, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IBAdKDDwDDQ&pp=ygUUVGhyIGVsb2lzIGJ5IG15IHNpZGU%3D)

“[T]his radioactive scorcher of a track leaves a trail of aural destruction in its wake that even repeated listens can’t diminish.” (Sammy-lou, http://holy-gogo-boots-batman.blogspot.com/2016/05/song-of-month-by-my-side-elois-april.html?m=1) “My fave all time Oz garage fuzzing 45 deejay spin! This monster tune is an essential spin in all all my deejay sets and it always causes an epic fuzz quake – brilliant stuff!!!” (narinderdhanjal221, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7-SQdfAbwDE&pp=ygUUVGhyIGVsb2lzIGJ5IG15IHNpZGU%3D) “[T]he ultimate Aussie proto-punk freakbeat monsters…2.15…that’s all it takes to turn Paul Hogan’s backyard into a burnt n’ charred wasteland smouldering and reeling from this sneering f*cked out and derailed punk.” (5DeadlyRecords, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7-SQdfAbwDE&pp=ygUUVGhyIGVsb2lzIGJ5IG15IHNpZGU%3D)

Mike Stax writes that:

[O]n the intro, guitarist Dennis Fiorini lays down a huge wave of feedback, and the band proceeds to ride it. Bassist Greg Heenan kicks in with a vicious bass line, the drums leap into motion, and from that point on it’s sheer mayham as the vocals shout out their plea for love against the howling, screaming fuzz-guitar lines. The song breaks down briefly for a rude, lurching bridge before whipping itself into a final frenzy of feedback and fuzz.

liner notes to Nuggets II (Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond 1964-1969)

On the Flip-Side adds:

[A] real gem . . . . a self-penned explosion of rage detailing a young man’s uncontrollable hormonal yearnings for the satisfaction of a young woman. It’s the song mom said she didn’t like. The one the band wouldn’t rehearse if mom was in the house baking cookies. . . . [T]he guitarist launches into a feedback heavy lead that would make even Jeff Beck and Pete Townshend envious.

http://ontheflip-side.blogspot.com/2009/02/song-of-week-by-my-side-elois.html?m=1

And Sammy-lou goes deep:

Blasting off with a stinging, sustained guitar note that’s soon joined by bass and drums in one of the most raucous intros ever to be committed to tape, the song gets even more intense when the snarling vocals of Alan Rowe kick in. Belting out the repetitive lyrics like some kind of desperate mantra, he sounds like a man possessed: howling, growling, a slave to his hormones as he informs the object of his affections in no uncertain terms how badly he wants her. There’s a similar sense of, ahem, urgency about the backing vocals. About 30 seconds in, a series of drum rolls signal a change of pace, and the band flips from full-throttle into thumping, grinding mode (punctuated by some cool sliding bass), gradually building up into a cacophony of voices that’s almost unbearable – then bam! That fuzzed-out guitar is back, even more blistering than before. And just when you think things can’t get any more insane…they do. The song ends with an extended rave-up that makes The Yardbirds seem refined, all unhinged drums, guitar as deadly feedback weapon, relentless bass and an almost chanted refrain, “I can’t get enough from you, girl”.

http://holy-gogo-boots-batman.blogspot.com/2016/05/song-of-month-by-my-side-elois-april.html?m=1

I love the song too, but lay off the cane toads!

Kimbo writes of the Elois:

The Elois were from Maryborough in Victoria. The short-haired, well dressed lads called themselves The Elois after the “tranquil sunshine people” from H.G. Wells’ book The Time Machine. The Elois had won the Ballarat heat of the 1965 Battle Of The Sounds where they caught the attention of DJ Graham Lever who suggested they move to Melbourne. Sometime in 1967 they cut their one and only record at Bill Armstrong’s studios. The A-side is a Who inspired cover of Bo Diddley’s oft-covered ”I’m A Man”. But the real gem was to be found on the flip side. ”By My Side” was a self-penned explosion of garage rock detailing a young man’s uncontrollable hormonal yearnings for the satisfaction of a young woman. The Elois managed to make an appearance on TV show Kommotion with Mike Furber [see #596, 1,658] and The Loved Ones. While the single wasn’t a hit, it did make the lower echelons of the Melbourne charts, helped along no doubt by the band’s growing reputation as a killer live act. Playing venues such as Pinocchio’s, 5-4-3-2-1 and the Thumpin’ Tum, they blew audiences’ minds (and ear drums) with their fast, loud and feedback-heavy shows. . . . The band would soon return to the small town of Maryborough and try to sell their record. Truth be told, most people didn’t hear either side of the record and the group soon disbanded to go about their normal daily lives. Their recording didn’t get a breath of attention until 1980 when a Melbourne record collector compiled a bunch of his favourite forgotten singles from unheralded local bands dating between 1964-1967 and released them on an album called Ugly Things.

http://historyofaussiemusic.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-elois.html?m=1

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The Second Movement — “Fairyland (Why, Oh Why)”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 8, 2025

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

1,679) The Second Movement — “Fairyland (Why, Oh Why)”

“Rare Australian psychedelic pop/freakbeat” (urbanpharaoh, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3UozBJZNKU) with a Spanish classical guitar feel. Unique and mesmerizing.

Kimbo tells us:

The Second Movement played in and around Canberra in the late 60’s and early 70’s and were resident band at the Civic Hotel Lounge. The group became resident band at the Deakin Inn when it opened in 1969. The band played at the Deakin Inn up to six nights a week for four years until the band retired in 1974. In 1967 the band signed a recording contract with EMI and recorded two singles, ”The Big Top”/”Fairyland (Why, Why, Why)” and “It’s Love/Gabrielle” which were released nationally. . . . The singles had moderate success and made it into a few top 40 charts.

https://historyofaussiemusic.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-second-movement.html

Discogs adds:

Originally called The Diplomats, in early 1968 the band changed its name to The Second Movement and recorded 8 original songs (written by lead vocalist Arthur Laing) at EMI in Sydney . . . . From that six hour session emerged [the band’s two] singles . . . . The band mainly played commercial pop music and wore flashy suits. . . . The band ceased around mid 1974, with Arthur Laing the only remaining original member.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/3390343-The-Second-Movement?srsltid=AfmBOoptTY5v9-VUm5vfnvd1DP8hXSX3ByGmIXEAI2Or0c4Crb5Ud3EK

Finally, “the band included well-known Canberra musicians Peter Dodson, Alan Cook and Steve Maughan, who would later form the progressive rock band The Ritz”. (urbanpharaoh, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3UozBJZNKU)

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

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Billy Nicholls — “Portobello Road”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 7, 2025

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

1,678) Billy Nicholls — “Portobello Road”

Another installment of gorgeous UK pop psych from Billy Nicholls, who gifted us with one of, if not the, greatest “lost” albums of the ’60’s — Would You Believe (see #2, 64, 144, 428, 757, 964, 1,085, 1,205, 1,396). As David Wells says, “lost classic is a much abused term amongst pop historians, but it’s difficult to know how else to describe Would You Believe.”(Record Collector: 100 Greatest Psychedelic Records: High Times and Strange Tales from Rock’s Most Mind-Blowing Era)

“[T]he psych life affirmation pop of ‘portobello rd’ actually takes
you there…it’s like a swingin’ tardis, man!!” (moondoggieferg, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/billy-nicholls/would-you-believe/reviews/5/) “Perhaps, it was a Magic mushroom road”. (thomassmith8721, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXVgAAdTlDI) Well, if 20 Turkish “cigarettes” go for a pound . . . perhaps!

Euphorik6 is spot on in observing that Would You Believe “is a distillation of a time – whatever made swinging London swing is captured in these tracks” (https://johnkatsmc5.tumblr.com/post/180490928324/billy-nicholls-would-you-believe-1968-mega-rare/amp), as is Rising Storm in observing that “the album is still the epitome of sixties Britsike, a bunch of fine acid-pop songs rendered with glorious harmonies and superb lysergic arrangements that wouldn’t have disgraced George Martin.” (https://johnkatsmc5.tumblr.com/post/180490928324/billy-nicholls-would-you-believe-1968-mega-rare/amp). As Graham Reid notes, “[t]he album . . . reminds again of how much British psychedelic music was driven by different traditions (brass bands, pastoral classical music, music hall singalongs, strings . . .) than electric guitars which were so prominent in America at the time.” (https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/weneedtotalkabout/8107/we-need-to-talk-about-billy-nicholls-would-you-believe-care-for-pet-sounds-inna-english-accent-g). And as MusicStack says. “this soundtrack to a Swinging London that never was contains songs so great . . . you’ll swear you’ve heard them before.” (https://www.musicstack.com/album/billy+nicholls/would+you+believe)

Len explains that:

When [Andrew Loog] Oldham fell out with the Stones in 1967 he redirected all his resources into making the youthful Nicholls a star of the psychedelic pop scene. The results were the single “Would You Believe”, which hitthe racks in January 1968, and the like-titled album that followed in short order. The single has been described as “the most over-produced record of the sixties”, and with reason; a modest psych-pop love song, it’s swathed in overblown orchestration including baroque strings, harpsichord, banjo (!), tuba (!!), and demented answer-back vocals from Steve Marriott. A trifle late for the high tide of UK psych, it failed to trouble the charts. Unfazed, Oldham and Nicholls pressed on with the album, Nicholls providing a steady stream of similarly well-crafted ditties and a bevy of top-rated London sessionmen providing the backings . . . . The album was ready for pressing just as the revelation of Oldham’s reckless financial overstretch brought about Immediate’s overnight demise, and only about a hundred copies ever made it to wax . . . .

https://therisingstorm.net/billy-nicholls-would-you-believe/

In words that I could have written myself, Rising Storm notes that “[i]t’s an absolute tragedy that this never got released, as it would DEFINITELY be hailed now as a solid gold true 60’s classic right up there with Pet Sounds, Blonde On Blonde . . . .” (https://johnkatsmc5.tumblr.com/post/180490928324/billy-nicholls-would-you-believe-1968-mega-rare/amp) I will never forgive Andrew Loog Oldham for letting Would You Believe sink (apparently literally) to the bottom of the sea.

It all come back to Pet Sounds. Oldham himself explains:

Pet Sounds changed my life for the better. It enhanced the drugs I was taking and made life eloquent and bearable during those times I set down in London and realised I was barely on speaking terms with those who lived in my home and understood them even less when they spoke – that’s when Brian Wilson spoke for me. My internal weather had been made better for the costs of two sides of vinyl.

2 Stoned

David Wells explains that:

[Oldham] was desperate to create a British corollary to the American harmony pop sound of the Beach Boys and the Mamas & Papas, and his nurturing of many Immediate acts only makes sense when considered from this perspective. But many of the label’s early signings . . . were merely pale imitations of the American model, copycat acts rather than originators who were further hamstrung by a lack of songwriting talent. And then along comes Billy Nicholls — a superb singer, gifted songwriter and as green as the Mendip hills. Oldham . . . quickly latched onto the manipulative possibilities. [H]e could turn his back on cutting unconvincing facsimiles of Brian Wilson tunes in order to mastermind his own three-minute pocket symphonies. Fired up by this grand conceit, Oldham commandeered the Nicholls sessions, recreating the American harmony pop sound in a resolutely English setting courtesy of a string of virtuosos production techniques, multi-layered harmonies and plenty of Wilsonesque baroque instrumentation. . . . [The album] can be see both as a magnificent achievement and an outrageous folly — how . . . Oldham thought he could recoup the budget that he’d bestown on the album is anyone’s guess.

liner notes to the CD “re”-issue of Would You Believe

Nicholls himself observed that “Andrew had a great belief in the songs I was writing . . . and fortunately we had Andrew’s money to spend fortunes on the orchestration.” (liner notes to the CD reissue of Would You Believe)

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