The Fourmyula - Inside The Hutt - New Zealand's Pop-Psych Kingpins 1968-1969 (2013)

The success of Fourmyula marked a major turning point in the development of New Zealand rock: to an industry long dependent on cover versions of international hits, this Hutt Valley-based quintet offered proof positive that native talent could reach the national charts on the strength of their own original material. Fourmyula evolved in early 1967 from the ranks of the Insect, a fixture of area high school dances and other social gatherings; comprising vocalist/guitarist Martin Hope, keyboardist Wayne Mason, bassist Alistair Richardson, and drummer Chris Parry, their popularity soared after they took home top honors in a "National Battle of the Sounds" competition, although the consensus was that they needed a stronger lead vocalist. Toward that aim, singer Carl Evensen was recruited from Kal-Q-Lated Risk, with Hope now focusing solely on guitar duties.

After buying an instructional book on songwriting, Mason and Richardson penned Fourmyula's first original composition, "Come with Me"; it was originally scheduled to appear as the B-side to their 1968 debut single, "Honey Child," a cover of a Martha & the Vandellas hit, but their label HMV took such a liking to the new song that "Come with Me" was instead promoted as the A-side. The single was a smash, reaching the number two spot on the Kiwi charts; overnight, Fourmyula became superstars, and Mason and Richardson quickly wrote a dozen new songs for release as their self-titled 1968 LP debut. Demand for the group was so high that HMV even issued two new singles, "Alice Is There" and "I Know Why," simultaneously; both rocketed into the Top Ten, and after quickly recording a sophomore album, Green B. Holiday, the band toured Britain, later recording the single "Lady Scorpio" at the famed Abbey Road studios.

Fourmyula spent four months overseas, catching live appearances from groups including Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Spooky Tooth; acknowledging that their mod aesthetic was out of touch with emerging trends, they grew their hair out and adopted a heavier, louder sound which they intended to introduce upon returning home. New Zealand audiences were baffled by the new, heavy metal-influenced Fourmyula, however, and after just one disastrous gig, they returned to their trademark four-part harmonies and softly psychedelic pop. Their third LP, Creation, appeared in late 1969, followed by the chart-topping single "Nature"; Mason was now the group's sole songwriter, and as the band returned to Europe to tour, his material again adopted a heavier approach. To avoid conflict with a similarly named group, Fourmyula rechristened themselves Pipp; after scoring a minor hit with the 1970 single "Otaki," their fortunes dwindled, and by the following year, they were no more. Parry later founded Fiction Records.
I like these guys very much. Enjoy it!
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The Cowsills - The Cowsills 1967 (2009) mp3

Featuring "The Rain, the Park, and Other Things," this debut album by the Cowsills really isn't half-bad mainstream late-'60s pop, with a heavy Mamas & the Papas fixation. It's not nearly as good as the Mamas & the Papas, of course, and doesn't stand up to in-depth listening -- nor are they saying anything quite as profoundly refreshing and personal as what the Mamas & the Papas conveyed on their best records. But it is pleasant, and it's also easy to hear how doing Beatles tunes for four hours a night at clubs had a profound effect on whatever musical impulses the group had, and there were worse places than that to use as a jumping off point. Echoes of the prettier and less daring parts of Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's abound in the best of the harmonizing here, and also in some of the brass and percussion, and the guitar flourishes on numbers like "Pennies" (which could easily have been a hit).

Everything is also decidedly middle-brow and middle class in its sensibilities, very family friendly even in the relatively safe trippiness that colors the mood of numbers like "River Blue" -- this was sort of sunshine pop for teens from stable middle-class homes. Musically, it all recalls the two Boyce & Hart LPs and, even more so, the Monkees' first two records -- it's not as smooth or accomplished as either of the latter, though the presence of a fair number of band originals and the lean sound of the core group give it a slightly less contrived feel than the Monkees' records. (allmusic.com)

Here is the debut album of the Cowsills from 1967. It peaked at 31 in the Billboard LP charts in early '68. I will later post more of the Cowsills . Have fun

Cheers
           Frank
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The Fox - For Fox Sake 1970 (2003) Flac

 The Fox formed in Brighton in 1968 when veterans of several local bands teamed together. Hammond organist Alex Lane, drummer Tim Reeves, and percussionist-singer Nick Apostiledes had been in the mod-soul band the Alex Lane Group. Reeves had also been in the soul band Omega Plus, as had bassist-keyboardist Dave Windross. Songwriter and guitarist Steve Brayne, who had known Lane and Reeves since primary school, completed the first lineup, though Apostiledes was soon replaced by guitarist Winston Weatherill (formerly in Gary Farr & the T-Bones). The band made test recordings at a 12-hour session in Radio Luxembourg Studios, which worked out so well that most of them were issued as For Fox Sake, though a couple tracks were re-recorded. Management interest cooled off, however, and the Fox broke up soon after the album's release.

Although it's considered a desirable psychedelic rarity in some collecting circles, For Fox Sake is an also-ran British psychedelic pop album of the sort that was a year or two behind the times upon its 1970 release. The best thing the Fox have going for them on this record is the swirling, at times piercing Hammond organ of Alex Lane. The songs, however, are ordinary trendy U.K. psychedelic pop with some solid vocal harmonies and light shades of soul music from time to time. Certainly "Second Hand Love" and "Lovely Day" sound extremely close in spots to the sort of music the Spencer Davis Group made just after the departure of Stevie Winwood, with some of the late Zombies' Baroque melodic sense coloring parts of both "Lovely Day" and "As She Walks Away." Some curve balls arrive in the form of a pretty folky acoustic guitar ballad, "Butterfly," the dull good-time soul-rock of "Goodtime Music," the blunt sledgehammer anti-straight world rant of "Mr. Blank," and the epic-to-little-purpose "Madame Magical," whose nine minutes feature some extended jazzy psychedelic organ improv. [The 2003 CD reissue on RPM adds historical liner notes and two bonus tracks in the original demo versions of "Lovely Day" and "Mr. Blank."](excerpts from allmusic.com/Richie Unterberger.

For sure this album came two years late. For me it's a pretty good album. Also because here and there you can here the impact of american west coast sounds. As i said before the album was sixties psych pop two years late but not yet really seventies. Anyway it's 2017 so give it a try and enjoy!

Cheers
           Frank
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Jeff Lynne - Long Wave (2012 SHM Japan in Flac)

Hello guys and gals, i want to post a solo album of Jeff Lynne today!!! Lol, i'm just kidding. Shure it is an official so-called ''Solo'' album but we also know Jeff is the producer, main musician, songwriter, chief and whatever makes a bandproject to a one-man band like the Electric Light Orchestra. So it's quite regardless how it's named. Except maybe for commercial aspects of the marketing. I'm a fan of Jeff Lynne and the most things, he was musically involved. For ''Long wave'' i needed a little more time before i falling in love with the songs. But, naturally, at last it happened. And i should have known better: If Jeff Lynne/ELO want you(me) he will get you(me). Marvelous pop record!


Here is the review Stephen Erlewine of Allmusic.com:

When Jeff Lynne was growing up, he listened to music on longwave radio, soaking up all the sounds coming through the big radio in the living room. His 2012 tribute to these days, appropriately called Long Wave, is a far-reaching salute to the glory days of pop in the years before the Beatles. It's too easy to peg this as a standards album, a designation that isn't quite accurate. Lynne may cover many show tunes along with '50s favorites of big-band vocalists but he spends nearly as much time with rock & roll, and not just the operatic pop of his fellow Traveling Wilbury Roy Orbison, either. He cranks through Chuck Berry's "Let It Rock," slides
into the silken harmonies of the Everly Brothers on "So Sad," and grooves through Don Covay's "Mercy, Mercy." These are the cuts that stick the closest to the original hit recordings. When Lynne tackles Rodgers & Hammerstein ("If I Loved You"), Rodgers & Hart ("Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"), Fain & Webster ("Love Is a Many Splendored Thing"), and Chaplin ("Smile"), he breaks the song down to its melodic basics then builds up candied, layered arrangements that are distinctly his own, suggesting the gorgeous cascades of sound that were the signature of prime ELO. Indeed, when these sweet reinterpretations are combined with the straight-ahead rockers, Long Wave adds up to a blueprint in reverse for Lynne; by going to back to his beginnings, he winds up figuring out why he went in the direction he did.

Hope you enjoy
                        Frank
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