Category Archives: Uncategorized

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,460) Tony Ritchie — “Could You Really Live Without Her” This “superb” (MushroomMachineClub, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raXGDOtr8_k) ’68 B-side is a horn infused “fuzzy blue-eyed soul stomper” (The Sound of Vinyl, https://thesoundofvinyl.us/products/la-discoteque-psychedelique-various) sung by British songwriter Tony Ritchie, written by him and Miki Dallon and DerekContinue reading “Tony Ritchie — “Could You Really Live Without Her”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 14, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,459) Ben E. King — “If You’ve Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody”/“Come Together” Ben E. King’s (see #85, 254, 597) spectacular out of left field ’70 LP Rough Edges is “a curious work with a laid-back feel notable for its extended playContinue reading “Ben E. King — “If You’ve Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody”/“Come Together”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 13, 2025″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,458) Cat Stevens — “Bring Another Bottle Baby” Swinging London “bossa nova . . . my favourite track”, says Mike Hurst, producer of Cat Stevens’ first album Matthew & Son (original sleeve notes, https://majicat.com/recordings/MatthewLP.htm), a “smooth Latin shuffle” (Andy Neill, liner notes toContinue reading “Cat Stevens — “Bring Another Bottle Baby”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 12, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,457) Jigsaw — “Tumblin’” Years before they blew it all sky high, Jigsaw dropped this bomb on the English public, well, I mean “the bomb”, a “psych monster”, “[o]ff the rails” (thomassmilth8721, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eyld5on1Ll4), “a phased up stomping, psychedelic beast with a Brian Auger style hammond and eastern guitar licks”.Continue reading “Jigsaw — “Tumblin’”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 11, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,456) The Act — “Cobbled Streets” Watch out, today there is an Invasion of the Easybeat Snatchers! This “[b]loody brilliant” song (notmarkatall, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No_nOJwZ2wQ), a “triumph . . . a psych-infused pop nugget” (liner notes to the CD comps Piccadilly Sunshine: Volumes 1-10: AContinue reading “The Act — “Cobbled Streets”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 10, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,455) Frank Sinatra — “The Train” Frank Sinatra gave us a haunting song, but with “a ‘Mrs. Robinson’ jaunt” to it (Sam Sodomsky, https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/frank-sinatra-watertown/), written by the guys responsible for the Four Seasons’ psychedelic LP The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette (see yesterday’s song!),Continue reading “Frank Sinatra — “The Train”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 9, 2025″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,454) The Four Seasons — “Wall Street Village Day” The Four Seasons’ “foray into sgt pepperland is a real beaut” (checklissteric, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOqO5d9j1PA), “a personal favorite of [Frankie] Valli’s, [who] call[ed] it ‘an incredible song’”, “a buoyant slice-of-life, highlighting the cultural differences between NewContinue reading “The Four Seasons — “Wall Street Village Day”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 8, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,453) Del Shannon — “Gemini” Del Shannon runs away to psychedelia, gracing us with this “real treat . . . [a b]rilliant song” (Baggingarea, https://baggingarea.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/del-shannon-gemini/) that“sounds like that imaginary chart hit in a parallel universe” (Brushbox, https://itstartswithabirthstone.blogspot.com/2016/02/album-reviews-55-del-shannon-further.html, “[a] fantastic 45 from a fantastically giftedContinue reading “Del Shannon — “Gemini”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 7, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,452) The Staple Singers — “I See It” “I see it . . . America can be . . . a land where man is equal and free” This inspiring ‘69 A-side by the Staple Singers (see #680) is “intense” and “non-chalantly struttin’”,Continue reading “The Staple Singers — “I See It”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 6, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,451) The Kinks — “Big Black Smoke” Kinks Kronikles The B-side to the Kinks’ (see #100, 381, 417, 450, 508, 529, 606, 623, 753, 865, 978, 1,043, 1,108, 1,302, 1,330) #5 UK hit “Dead End Street” is “[a] two-minute study in character, DickensContinue reading “The Kinks — “Big Black Smoke”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 5, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,450) The Sound Magics — “Don’t You Remember” Nuggets-worthy British Invasion gold . . . from the Netherlands! Mike Stax writes that: The Sound Magics show superb melodic instincts on this haunting minor-key lament to lost love. Their vibrant three-part harmonies soar overContinue reading “The Sound Magics — “Don’t You Remember”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 4, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,449) The Cheques — “To Stone” I have no idea why this stunning moody garage rock number doesn’t show up on lists of the greatest garage classics. Greg Shaw does say that it is the “[b]est of 3 singles by this soul-influenced groupContinue reading “The Cheques — “To Stone”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 3, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,448) The Elopers — “Music to Smoke Bananas By” Don’t bogart that banana peel! This super cool psych instrumental, a Colorado band’s only A-side, is the “greatest acid instrumental ever” (lewisdye5627, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RCaZlEqh3s), with a “drony bass-line … building the basement for the fuzzedContinue reading “The Elopers — “Music to Smoke Bananas By”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 2, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,447) Al Kooper — “Brand New Day” On this New Year’s Day, let me play Al Kooper’s (see #642, 705, 804) “Brand New Day”, a “youthfully optimistic rocker” (Lindsay Planer, https://www.allmusic.com/album/easy-does-it-mw0000740238) — and let’s hope that “the years of night will pass foreverContinue reading “Al Kooper — “Brand New Day” : Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 1, 2025”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,446) Boudewijn de Groot — “Apocalyps”/“Apocalypse” The Dutch Master Boudewijn de Groot (see #107, 161, 305, 989, 1,216) — and I’m not talking cigars — is a “[t]roubadour with a Dylan-esque impact, who shoots to fame in [the Netherlands in] the ’60s andContinue reading “Boudewijn de Groot — “Apocalyps”/”Apocalypse”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 31, 2024″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,445) The Remo Four* — “Live Like a Lady” The Remo Four (see #1,437) give us Liverpool’s (by way of Hamburg) “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)”: a raucous, infectious and “really nifty gender-bending original . . . its growling guitar sweetened by organ”.Continue reading “The Remo Four — “Live Like a Lady”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 30, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,444) Kippington Lodge — “Shy Boy” A delightfully twee Tomorrow (see #72) song done best and first by Kippington Lodge* (see #672), 1,156), about a boy whose “hair is never right His acne looks a sight The clothes he buys don′t fit tightContinue reading “Kippington Lodge — “Shy Boy”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 29, 2024″

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,443) Norma Tanega — “Jubilation” Norma Tanega was so much more than “Walkin’ My Cat Named Dog”. From a free spirit if there ever was one comes “a free love [folk] anthem” (Quinn Miller, https://www.hoodedutilitarian.com/2014/11/hey-people-come-free-with-me-new-voices-from-1966/) that’s “a sexy-as-hell come-on in which an oboeContinue reading “Norma Tanega — “Jubilation”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 28, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,442) The Candlelight — “That’s What I Want” This ’67 A-side is a marvelous UK folk-rock/baroque pop take on an oft-recorded John Carter (see #1,201, 1,304)-Ken Lewis beat nugget — “[t]he old Carter-Lewis ‘standard’ brushed up and given a cool Pop-sike treatment”. (linerContinue reading “The Candlelight — “That’s What I Want”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 27, 2024”

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD 1,441) The Seeds — “Gypsy Plays His Drums” (live at Merlin’s Music Box) The supremely seedy Sky Saxon and the Seeds (see #116, 446) “combined the raw, Stonesy appeal of garage rock with a fondness for ragged, trashy psychedelia” (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-seeds-mn0000500664/biography), andContinue reading “The Seeds — “Gypsy Plays His Drums” (live but not really at “Merlin’s Music Box”): Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — December 26, 2024”