ALL WE NEED IS POP

A Swiss '60s band that have sometimes been mistakenly identified as a British group due to their 1968 single "Dream Machine," a quite catchy and enjoyable facsimile of British flower pop with high harmonies, psychedelic lyrics, and driving guitars. The band had actually been recording since 1965, and established themselves as one of Switzerland's best and most popular groups. That's a status that isn't conferred upon most, Switzerland being a small country. Much of their first LP (1966) was filled with covers of popular rock hits. These were interpreted, however, with a brash energy that makes the record stand out above the scores of similar covers-oriented albums produced around the globe during the era. "Dream Machine" was a more original effort, and an album from 1968, View to Heaven, also had a more pronounced folk and psychedelic feel than their earliest outings. Les Sauterelles continued recording all the way into the early '70s, and several of their songs (notably "Dream Machine") surfaced on collector-oriented reissues in the '80s. (allmusic)

In my opinion, this is a typical European sixties album with that certain charm attached to the better albums. The band tried to sound international which, of course, didn't work out, but that's the charm of many songs. On the album there are some really good songs but also some weaker songs can be found here. What still fascinates me so much about these bands today is that it was a typical European sound, but Dutch bands sounded different from German bands. This in turn differs from Austrian or Polish ones. Swedish bands had a more pop oriented sound as in example Norwegian bands. All this despite the geographical proximity. And all in all, it was an interesting stew of European pop music in the 1960s.

Hope you will enjoy

                                 Frank

                                                    Les Sauterelles - View To Heaven (1968)

                                            Flac part1 & Flac part2         -  mp3@320