Let's Go Down and Blow Our Minds - The British Psychedelic Sounds Of 1967 (2016 Grapefruit Records/Cherry Red Records Ltd) Flac & mp3

As that noted hipster Plato once observed, when the mode of the music changes, the walls of the city shake. And there was certainly a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on in 1967. A distended Summer of Love saw psychedelic pop emerging from the underground clubs to infiltrate the home-grown music scene mainstream, with the vast majority following in the footsteps of perennial market leaders The Beatles in surrendering to the new genre.

• As the year progressed, it seemed that more or less every element of the British pop world had been swept up in the blissed-out UFOria. Beat boom survivors, R&B stalwarts, sharp-suited mods, Swinging London soul revues, earnest acoustic folkies, Denmark Street hustlers, traditional pop acts… all abandoned or refined their previous identities to make music that reflected the ubiquitous influence of psychedelia in its myriad paisley-patterned guises.

• Across four hours and eighty tracks, the all-singing, not-much-dancing Let’s Go Down And Blow Our Minds anticipates the fiftieth anniversary of the Summer of Love to chronicle a tumultuous twelve-month period of music-making within the British Isles. The dizzying breadth of the set incorporates everything from key names such as The Move and Procol Harum, both represented with less obvious choices (surely nobody needs to hear ‘I Can Hear The Grass Grow’ or ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ yet again?!), to the likes of mondo obscuro West Country quintet T. J. Assembly, who pressed a mere 25 copies of their self-penned November 1967 album as a strictly personal memento of their time together.

• Along the way, we encounter all aspects of the scene, from the first generation psychedelic bands that took part in subterranean London ‘happenings’ to the shameless bandwagon-jumpers who were nevertheless an integral part of psychedelic pop’s rich and varied tapestry. We also feature a clutch of previously unreleased nuggets, alternative versions, pseudonymous releases, first-ever CD appearances, a couple of inspired novelty discs and even a football supporters freak-out.

• Housed in a clambox that includes a lavishly annotated and illustrated 44-page booklet, Let’s Go Down And Blow Our Minds is nothing less than the story of the British rock and pop scene of 1967: music made half-a-century ago that, as can be seen from the number of hitherto unknown recordings featured, is still slowly revealing its secrets. As some righteously obscure band confidently promised during that epochal year, a splendid time is guaranteed for all…

This is really a wonderful view on the psychedelic pop scene of Britain  in 1967 the climax of british psychedelia, sunshine pop. 80 tracks of known and not so well known artists are gathered here. I don't post it in mp3 because i think it is no problem to find this on the web quite easy. And it's no fun to create and load up 7 or eight files. I hope you mp3 lovers will understand it. Nevertheless i hope all of you who are interested will have fun with this nice box. Artwork is complete here.

Enjoy it
Frank            Flac 1 (Art & Disc 1)  & Flac 2 (Disc 2)   & Flac 3 (Disc 3)

mp3 part1  &  mp3 part2  &  mp3 part3  & mp3 part4

The Truth - A Step In The Right Direction Singles Demos BBC Live 1983-1984 (Cherry Red Records 2016) Three disc release (Flac & mp3)

This UK Mod/R&B outfit unconnected to the 60s group of the same name were built around lead vocalist and guitarist Dennis Greaves (ex-Nine Below Zero). The line-up was completed by his co-writer Mick Lister (guitar/vocals), Brian Bethell (bass), Chris Skornia (Hammond organ) and Gary Wallis (drums). Greaves had grown tired of his former band's restrictive format, though it must be said that the Truth's brand of 60s soul was more energetic than original. Strategically they opted against joining the Jam's Respond label, strong comparisons to the former were already taking place in the media.

Despite their obvious roots in mod fashion and music, the Truth would actually employ Spandau Ballet producers Tony Swain and Steve Jolley to craft a more modern pop sound. Their brief flirtation with chart success began with "Confusion (Hits Us Every Time)", and followed through "Step In The Right Direction", and "No Stone Unturned". These, their only chart hits, were all released on the Formation label, before they signed with IRS for one album. In 1987 they moved on to MCA, but returned to IRS the following year (as Dennis Greaves And The Truth). Under that monicker they recorded a version of Argent's "God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You" produced by Andy Piercy (ex-After The Fire), but this too failed to chart.(allmusic.com)

That the band worked with the Spandau Ballet producers -and the songs sometimes sound a little bit too clean produced- can but don't must alienate you because the band is very strong with their power to present the songs live and in the studio and also a real strong songwriting. This is very good pop music if you wanna go dance with your girl/boy and the songs have a strong party factor. To me the strongest parts of this three disc release are the live tracks.

Enjoy
         Frank         mp3 part 1  &  mp3 part 2  &  mp3 part 3
                           You need all three mp3 parts!
                                                                                FLAC
                                    The Flac link expire 2017-05-20

The Rationals - The Rationals 1970 (Ace Records Ltd/Big Beat Records 2011)

On their sole, belated long-playing effort, the group tempered their spunky blue-eyed soul with more laidback influences from late '60s psychedelia and progressive rock. It's not bad, just not typical of what they were most known for, and not in the same league as their prime stuff.(allmusic.com)

Here is another effort by the Rationals released by Ace Records/Big Beat and i can second the review by allmusic. Nevertheless is here some interesting stuff from the band. To me the band sounds here in a more psych blues direction. One of my favourite songs of the album is 'Handbags and Gladrags'.
The release is really nice done by Ace/Big Beat with a very nice artwork. All in all 4 stars out of 6!

Enjoy it!
              Frank        Flac part 1  &  Flac part 2
                                                                                mp3@320
As always you need both flac parts!

Sparks Debut 1971 Flac & mp3

Sparks - Sparks (1971)

Within the first track of their debut album -- the crisp, minimal pounder "Wonder Girl," featuring Russell Mael's falsetto already engaged in swooping acrobatics and Ron Mael's sparkling piano work to the fore, singing ever-so-slightly-weird lyrics about love that couldn't quite be taken at face value -- Sparks established themselves so perfectly that arguably the rest of the brothers' long career has been a continual refinement from that basic formula. Even more striking is realizing how astoundingly prescient it was; what must have sounded indescribably strange in 1972 now feels like the precursor to nearly all of new wave, a fair chunk of synth-pop, and just about any music with a brain.

As it stands, the original Sparks group, with brothers Jim and Earle Mankey on bass and guitar and Harvey Feinstein on drums accompanying the Maels, was as tight and accomplished as the classic Alice Cooper lineup, but given to their own brand of clever insanity (the fact that there's a loud-rocking original on here called "(No More) Mr. Nice Guys" makes you wonder if that other band wasn't listening in). Todd Rundgren's production is generally spare but very effective, with snippets of cymbal and keyboard leaping out from the speakers at odd moments. The twisted, '50s piano-rock loper "High C" practically invents Queen in both shuffling rock-out and heavy rockabilly camp phases; "Fletcher Honorama" slides and slinks along in a wickedly dreamy way; and "Slowboat" combines show tunes, cabaret, and rock to magnificent effect.

With other songs like "Biology 2," "Fa La Fa Lee," and the brilliantly titled "Saccaharin and the War," Sparks remains a wonderfully entertaining listen and an honestly unique debut.(allmusic.com)


Hello Folks, good morning to you all and hope you will have a nice weekend. Today i will post again a little more here on the blog. After this Sparks post it will take a few hours but than i will be back with some very (at least i hope you will think the same about it :-) ) nice albums from different directions and times of release. Okay see you later and i hope you will have fun with this imho fantastic debut by the wonderful awful Sparks :-). Wonderful for her really great stuff they recorded in the past and awful for the disastrous songs they also released in the bands career, lol.
Enjoy!

Cheers
           Frank          Flac part1  &  Flac part2
                                               mp3@320

The Rationals - Think Rational (1965 - 1968) (2009 Big Beat Records (Ace London)) 2 Disc Flac & mp3

The Rationals actually predated the MC5/Stooges by quite some time, both chronologically and stylistically. When they began recording for the local A2 label in 1965, they were, like many garage bands, heavily influenced by the British Invasion, although they gave their material a more soulful flavor than most similar units. "Gave My Love" was a chart-topper in Ann Arbor (and a hit in Detroit), as was a follow-up single of "Respect" (which predated Aretha Franklin's version). Picked up for national distribution by Cameo/Parkway, it nudged into the lowest regions of the national charts as well.
The Rationals broke up in the summer of 1970. Morgan continued to build his cult credentials over the next 25 years on sporadic recordings with Sonic's Rendezvous Band (which also featured the MC5's Fred Smith), the Scott Morgan Band, and Scott's Pirates. Licensing hurdles prevented their batch of fine '60s singles for A2, Cameo/Parkway, and Capitol from being reissued on a coherent anthology until Big Beat Records released the fine two-disc Think Rational! in 2009, which included most of the key tracks the group recorded between 1965 and 1968.(allmusic.com)

Similar distribution of follow-up singles by Cameo and Capitol found them pursuing a more blue-eyed soul-oriented direction on cuts like "I Need You" and "Hold on Baby," followed the same story: big success in Michigan, nothing doing elsewhere. Morgan turned down a spot in Blood, Sweat & Tears, and the Rationals finally got an album out on Crewe in early 1970. By that time, though, their moment had passed: their best work was behind them, and attempts to modify their energetic pop/soul approach for the psychedelic album market were ill-fated.

When serious collectors compose lists of the top shoulda-been-bigger bands of the '60s, the Rationals are often among them. Coming out of the same Ann Arbor, MI scene that gave birth to the MC5 and the Stooges, the group's forté was a sort of garageish take on blue-eyed soul, built around the fine R&B-hued vocals of frontman Scott Morgan. Their mid-'60s singles, however, didn't break in many areas outside of Michigan (where they had some big local hits), and by the time they got to record an album, they had long since passed their peak.

Great Pop Garage band from the mid 'til end sixties. The important things about the band you can read in the review. They played a real interesting mix of Blue Eyed Soul and a light garage style with a clearly british influenced sound. Recommendable!

Have fun
               Frank    Disc1 Flac (New Link)
                            Disc2 Flac (New Link)
                           Artwork
                           mp3 part1 of new link 
                           mp3 part2 of new link

 I hope everything is okay now. Maybe i am to old for this :-)
                         

The Essex Green - Everything Is Green 1999 Flac & mp3

Neo-psychedelic pop outfit the Essex Green were formed in mid-1997 after four members of the Burlington, VT-based Guppyboy -- singer/guitarist Chris Ziter, singer/keyboardist Sasha Bell, guitarist Jeff Baron, and bassist Mike Barrett -- relocated to Brooklyn, NY. Completing the lineup with drummer Tim Barnes, the group appeared at various New York City clubs before touring the East Coast with Aden and Saturnine, releasing a split single with the Sixth Great Lake in the spring of 1999. The Essex Green's full-length debut, Everything Is Green, appeared on Kindercore later that year, and a self-titled EP on Elephant6 followed in early 2000; concurrently, both Bell and Baron played in the likeminded Ladybug Transistor and, with the addition of Zachary Ward, moonlighted as the aforementioned Sixth Great Lake, releasing Up the Country for Kindercore. Bell (recording as the Finishing School) also released the lovely and overlooked 2003 album Destination Girl. In 2004, the Essex Green inked a deal with Merge and issued The Long Goodbye as a trio (Barrett having left the group), following it up with the finest record of their career, 2006's Cannibal Sea.(allmusic.com)

The Essex Green is a neo psychedelic pop band in the best sense of the word. Sometimes you could think the band is on a visit into the here and now with a time machine coming directly from the sixties. To me these guys are fantastic. Shure this is nothing new but the band touches me with her sound and that's what counts for me. Very nice album. If you love sixties psychedelic pop music try this!

Enjoy
         Frank     Flac part 2  & Flac part 1
                                                                       mp3@320
p.s.: There is a missing song who's called ''Sun''. For the song in Flac the link 
is here

 Here is ''Sun'' in mp3@320

Stone Country - Stone Country 1968 (2007 Rev-Ola) Flac & mp3

The Band
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, produced by Rick Jarrard, who also produced Jefferson Airplane and Harry Nilsson's Pandemonium Shadow Show. (Incidentally, Stone Country appeared as themselves in Otto Preminger's 1968 film Skidoo, which features a score by Nilsson).

The group disbanded when, in 1969, Young signed as a solo artist with A&M Records. His album Rock Salt & Nails featured cameo performances by James Burton, Gene Clark, Gram Parsons, and Chris Hillman. 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. Clark -- a member of the New Christy Minstrels and the Good Time Singers before joining this band -- went solo and recorded for Imperial and Republic Records. Don Beck went on to join Dillard & Clark, while Denny Conway became a session drummer. Stone Country has not been released on CD and LP copies are valuable and highly collectible.

The Album 
 Before Steve Young became one of the founding fathers of country-rock with his 1969 album Rock Salt and Nails, he was a member of Stone Country, 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 (producer Rick Jarrard and arranger George Tipton, who both worked on the album, were also helping Harry Nilsson create his sublime early albums at the same time).

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 opener, "Love Psalm," is a delightful bit of psychedelic pop punctuated with some solid bluegrass picking; "Magnolias" is a gritty and unflinching portrait of life in the Deep South with a powerful vocal from Young; "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" is a musical synopsis of Arthur Penn's hit film of the day featuring some deft country guitar and banjo work; "Why Baby Why" is a solid George Jones cover with a heavy rock & roll stomp; and "Lizbeth Peach"'s baroque textures would do the Left Banke proud. The trouble with Stone Country is that while the bandmembers do everything here quite well (and they played nearly all of it themselves, without the help of session men), 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.(allmusic.com)

The album is a very fine mix of different musical directions and the band is very good in all. In his entirety is the album very very strong and maybe it is just this famous one hit song (who decide if a band will make it to the top or not) that is missing here. Nevertheless this is a real great pop album of its time and i highly recommend it. And i go one step further: Here are some songs, i think Steve Young later never reached that level again. But that's just my opinion.
Enjoy it
             Frank        FLAC &  mp3@320

The Dummies-Glam-Lea-Bubblegum-Holder-FrankLea-Slade-Pop!1991! Flac & mp3

Hello Folks, today i post an album from a hero at the end of my childhood and the start of my earliest teens. Slade were beside other glam poppers like Bolan, Sweet and a lot of one hit wonders the heros of my first musical hormone adventures.
Jim Lea member of Slade and classical trained musician was the head of this Slade side project called 'The Dummies' and wrote a lot of the songs, partly with Noddy Holder, Singer and guitarist of Slade.
The album is a very poppy thing with sounds of bubblegum, echoes of new wave sounds and well known Sladealike melody work. A song like 'When the Lights Are Out'' is an all time classic in the history of Jim Lea/Slade. This album is a very good pop work and never boring. The most fun to me are the guitars here and the fine melodies with the very good vocal arrangements. If i am ninety years old this kind of music will let me feel thirteen and that's the best what i can say about this music.

Have fun
              Frank       Flac part 1   &    Flac part 2
                                                mp3@320

Top notch Power Pop from LATVIAN RADIO - For Love & Spite 2014 (CD Baby) Flac & mp3

LATVIAN RADIO has spent a full decade now crafting their own brand of lyrically charged and sonically intelligent indie-power-pop. Amplifier Magazine labeled their songs as “Music as both entertainment and art. Truly the best variety.”

“Heartfelt, clever lyrics and sonically intelligent, the boisterous LATVIAN RADIO relishes an underground garage sound with the feel of sunshine pop.”  Amplifer Magazine

 Latvian Radio has been a mainstay on college radio since their 2006 release “Happiness Above A Hardwood Floor”. San Francisco based “Bagel Radio” had them in the top 5 for three straight weeks and “Saturday Left Her On The Floor” made their list of top 50 songs of 2006 at number 32. Their second album “Seven Layers Of Self Defense” made the CMJ top 200 chart for five straight weeks. Absolute Power Pop had it on their best records of the year list in 2009, and then again in 2014 when “For love & spite” made it into the top 10. Powerpopaholic wrote: “Overall a terrific album without a wasted track”.

"Power pop at it's very best, intelligent and well crafted by musicians at the height of their imagination and creativity." -The Ringmaster Review

 There is plenty to love here, from the jangle pop of "To Find You There" and "On Display" to more reflective numbers like "North Of The Keys" and "Stand Clear Of The Closing Doors". And with the uptempo melodies of the title track and "Oh No", For Love & Spite is like an instant party you can attend whenever you put on the album".
- Absolute Powerpop

The press has linked LATVIAN RADIO to Elvis Costello & the Attractions, the Replacements, Brendan Benson, Big Star, early REM, The Shins and the Decemberists.

All the things the press wrote (and write) about the band is true and songs like these from the For Love & Spite album deserve press reviews like these you can read here.
Very good power pop and if you don't know the band give it a try you will not disappointed.
Enjoy
         Frank       Flac link1   &   Flac link2
                                                                          mp3@320

Sorry no artwork :-( 

Baroque Pop/Sunshine Pop by MC Squared - Tantalizing Colours-The Reprise Recordings 1967 - (Now Sounds 2012) Flac & mp3

 MC SQUARED's Tantalizing Colours: The Reprise Recordings.

• A LOST SUNSHINE/PSYCH POP MASTERPIECE UNLEASHED!
• THEIR ENTIRE REPRISE RECORDINGS (1967-1968)!
• COLLECTED TOGETHER FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME!
• 20 TRACKS FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES!

MC SQUARED (also known as MC2), featured folk renegades LINDA CAREY, MICHAEL CLOUGH, and MICHAEL CROWLEY from The Back Porch Majority, as well as legendary studio musicians JIM KELTNER and RANDY STERLING.
Sounding like a unique hybrid of The Mamas and The Papas and Jefferson Airplane, the Los Angeles-based quintet’s singles have been cherished by fans for years. Criminally, however, their long-lost 1968 album has been hidden deep in the vaults for over 40 years...UNTIL NOW!
The CD collects their four Reprise singles—two of which were produced by LENNY WARONKER (Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman, Beau Brummels)—and all of the material that was to comprise their debut LP, all sourced from the original master tapes! Filled with brilliant harmonies and psychedelically experimental left turns, MC SQUARED will appeal to fans of Curt Boettcher, Eternity’s Children, and The Millennium.( Steve Hoffman Music Forums)

This is an album, a few years ago as i heard it for the first time, i needed some spins before i began to like the album and some further spins until i began to keep it in my heart. This album is real great and will get you. Listen to it and hear what happens. Six stars out of six stars!
Enjoy it
             Frank       Flac part 1   &  Flac part 2
                                               mp3@320

Kinky Machine - Bent 1994 Flac & mp3

The band was formed in West London in late 1991 by Louis Eliot (vocals, guitar) and Julian Fenton (drums), adding Johnny Bull (guitar), and Malcolm Pardon (bass guitar). After signing to the Lemon label and releasing two singles in 1992, both hits on the UK Independent Chart, third single "Supernatural Giver" was a minor hit, and they were signed to MCA Records offshoot Oxygen. Further minor hits followed with "Shockaholic", which preceded their eponymous debut album, "Going Out With God", by which time Pardon had been replaced by Nick Powell, and "10 Second Bionic Man", before their second album, Bent, was released in 1994. They toured with Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Manic Street Preachers, and drew comparisons with Pulp and Mott the Hoople,with Allmusic identifying influences from glam rock, punk rock, and  Sergeant Pepper-era Beatles, and The Encyclopedia of Popular Music author Colin Larkin also comparing the band to The Only Ones.

They moved on to East West Records for a final single, "London Crawling", before splitting up in 1995 after Fenton had joined The Lightning Seeds, to be briefly replaced by Anthony Christmas. They had become disillusioned with the Britpop sound, with several of the bands that had supported them in the past (including Supergrass and Elastica) overtaking them and becoming prime movers in the scene, Eliot explaining "When we started, we were delving into British pop music for influences, from the Kinks and the Jam and Clash to the Beatles. All that Britpop became very boring." Eliot and Bull re-emerged in 1996 with Rialto, with Eliot later recording with a new band, the Embers.(wiki)

Bent is a very very good album with strong songs and the band had always good melodies. Like a lot of the early nineties bands who are influenced by glam rock the band musically cited David Bowie in his early seventies glam efforts. The band was one of the better british glam poprock bands and deserved a better fate.
Enjoy
        Frank       Flac 1  &  Flac 2
                       You need both Flac links!               mp3@320

Psychedelic Pop from 1968 by The Collage - The Collage 1968 (2011 Now Sounds) Flac & mp3

Part of the idea behind the formation of the Collage was to emulate the Mamas & the Papas' lineup with a two-man, two-woman quartet of harmonizing singers. The group's sole self-titled album does indeed resemble the Mamas & the Papas in some ways, but has a yet more pronounced sunshine pop feel, as well as yet lusher production (even using some of the same Wrecking Crew musicians heard on records by the Mamas & the Papas and so many other Hollywood pop/rock sessions of the period, with Wrecking Crew saxophonist Steve Douglas producing).

The songs have a sweeter tone, almost as if elements of the Mamas & the Papas and the 5th Dimension have been layered with production and songwriting a little more oriented toward an adult pop/variety entertainment audience. While four of the ten songs were written by the male half of the Collage (Ron Joelson and Jerry Careaga), there are also covers of compositions by notable figures on the Los Angeles pop/rock scene (Kenny Edwards and Bob Kimmel of the Stone Poneys, Roger Nichols, Tony Asher, Curt Boettcher, the Addrisi Brothers), though none of those tunes count among their more outstanding efforts.

There are some mild psychedelic touches, but also some hammy vaudevillian ones, and as Careaga himself writes in his excellent lengthy liner notes to Now Sounds' expanded CD reissue, the Collage's original songs had showtune-style melodies. He also admits that the album wasn't "commercial or radio-friendly," and while that in and of itself isn't a knock against the LP, the songs aren't quite high-caliber enough to make this a top-flight record (though the psych-pop-circus feel of "Any Day's a Sunday Afternoon" might have made for the best attempt at a hit single).

Overall, it's a bit above average for the sunshine pop genre; however, owing to the imaginative (if sometimes overly ornate) arrangements (by Perry Botkin, Jr., of early Nilsson fame) and strong, full harmonies. [The 2011 CD reissue on Now Sounds enhances the original album substantially with ten bonus tracks, including mono 45 versions of four songs from the LP and a half-dozen outtakes that generally have a slightly earthier bittersweet folk-pop/rock grounding, including a cover of Harry Nilsson's "Story of Rock and Roll."](allmusic.com)

A very good popsike/sunshine pop album of its time. Stronger than a lot albums of contemporarys who worked in the same genre. There is no need to talk about the craftsmanship of the musicians. We all know the Wrecking Crew. Here are a lot different songs where everyone will find his favourites. To me the album is more than just a bit above average. 5 stars out of six for a wonderful sunshiney album.

Enjoy
          Frank           Flac link 1  &  Flac link 2
                              mp3 link 1  &  mp3 link 2

You need both Flac and/or both mp3 links!