Sunshine/Harmony Pop by The Happenings - The Greatest Golden Hits (2001 Wounded Bird Records) Flac & mp3@320

Bio:
The '60s pop outfit the Happenings enjoyed a three-year run of several hit singles late in the decade. Formed in 1961 in Patterson, NJ, the group has seen their lineup change from time to time, but founding member/lead singer Bob Miranda has been a constant member through it all. Soon after, the Happenings began scoring hit singles, including such number ones as "See You in September" and "I Got Rhythm," as well as other moderate hits ("Go Away Little Girl," "My Mammy," and "Girl on a Swing," among others). In addition to their singles, the Happenings issued several full-length recordings, including 1966's self-titled debut, 1967's Psycle, and 1969's Piece of Mind, performed on such popular TV shows as The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, The Smothers Brothers Show, and The Merv Griffin Show, and shared the concert stage alongside such notables as the Beach Boys, Roy Orbison, Joan Rivers, John Denver, the Drifters, and the Kingston Trio, among others. In the '90s, Miranda formed a new version of the Happenings, playing out live alongside members Bob Kulik and George Rizzi.(allmusic.com)

Album:

The Happenings, the '60s vocal group known for their updated, four-part harmony arrangements of pop standards, scored a series of hits, starting in the summer of 1966 with their Top Ten revival of the Tempos' 1959 Top 40 hit "See You in September." The Happenings recorded for fellow vocal group the Tokens' label, B.T. Puppy Records. In the summer of 1968, after they had placed eight singles in the Hot 100, B.T. Puppy issued the 12-track LP Golden Hits!, which collected those eight hits -- "See You in September" and the group's other Top Ten, "I Got Rhythm"; the Top 20 hits "Go Away Little Girl" and "My Mammy"; and the chart entries "Goodnight My Love," "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," "Music Music Music," and "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" -- as well as three non-charting singles, "Girl on a Swing," "Randy," and "Sealed With a Kiss," and a previously unreleased revival of "Tea for Two." In 1969, B.T. Puppy switched distributors from Jubilee Records to Warner Bros., and in the shuffle the Happenings ended up on Jubilee. After issuing their Piece of Mind LP, Jubilee decided to compile its own Happenings hits collection and released an album called Greatest Hits that duplicated much of the contents of the previous year's Golden Hits! disc.

Fast-forwarding 32 years brings us to this CD reissue on Wounded Bird Records, its tracks licensed from that great repository of old record catalogs, Rhino. Wounded Bird has combined the contents of the Happenings' Golden Hits! and Greatest Hits albums for Greatest Golden Hits, eliminating the many duplications, of course. What is left might easily have been called "Golden Hits! [Bonus Tracks]" since it is actually the 12 tracks from Golden Hits! with a couple more non-charting singles ("Girls on the Go," "Crazy Rhythm") and a couple of B-sides ("You're in a Bad Way," "He Thinks He's a Hero") added at the end. The Happenings' last chart single, a medley of "Where Do I Go/Be-In/Hare Krishna" from the Broadway musical Hair, released on Jubilee, is not included; all the added tracks are from 1966-68 and were originally released on B.T. Puppy. And with a running time of only 42 minutes, the album cannot be called the best possible single-disc Happenings CD. As of its release in 2001, however, it could be called the only one, and that counts for plenty.(allmusic.com)

If you are not familiar with the Happenings this is a good starter.
Enjoy it
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Various Artists - Garage Beat '66 Vol.7 ''That's How It Will Be'' (2006 Sundazed Records) Flac & mp3@320

The garage band era of the mid-'60s was the modern equivalent of a folk movement, as seemingly every town in America had a half dozen or more energetic, ragged, and often musically challenged young rock combos vying for weekend gigs and small independent record deals. These bands frequently made up for what they lacked in ability and originality by an abundance of verve and self-perceived panache, and if they did manage to make a record, it was usually derivative and crude, but often fascinatingly so, even if few of these releases ever so much as dented a regional playlist.

These are the kinds of musical artifacts that Sundazed has collected in its Garage Beat series, of which this is the seventh volume. Subtitled That's How It Will Be!, this installment features a heavy dose of sneering, attitude-laden garage singles (over half of them from Texas bands) recorded in 1966 and 1967, including the Mad Hatters' "La Bamba"-like "I'll Come Running," the Outcasts' "I'm in Pittsburgh and It's Raining," which works off a patented shave-and-a-haircut Bo Diddley rhythm, and Detroit's own the Unrelated Segments with a pair of sneering gems from 1967, "Where You Gonna Go?" and "Cry, Cry, Cry."

Nothing here would have toppled the Beatles or the Rolling Stones back in the day, but now, some 40 years on, these tracks still sound wonderfully snotty and free of annoying finesse. What a time it was.(allmusic.com)

Hello Folks, you see here is Vol. 7 of the fine garage series by Sundazed and ...you guess it it's the last one. But it's not the end of posting series of more or less interesting pop music from the past. I will later tday start a new series of the sixties. If you are interested stay tuned. Okay i hope you have a lot of fun with the Garage Beat'66.

Enjoy
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Beatlesque Power pop: Kenny Herbert - The Last Song In Abbey Road (2005 self released) Flac & mp3@320

The last song in Abbey Road recording Abbey Road studio 2 was the best studio I have ever worked in and an occasion I will remember all my life.
The actual ambience and natural acoustics in this studio are by far the very best I have heard. Just to have recorded in the place the Fab Four had done it all was a unique and unforgettable experience.

David Paton who plays bass on the Album has worked at Abbey Road before in the 70's and had Alan Parsons as his engineer, in fact recorded a No.1 song 'January' which he wrote and recorded.

 He then went on to play with Macca on Mull of Kintyre, then Elton John for 8 years. On all these songs I have tried not to copy the Beatles (which is impossible) but to keep the feel of all the great melodies from the 60's. On track 8 on the Last song in Abbey Road, 'I don't know why' I hired string players from one of the best London orchestras.

On the site of the original Cavern there is a statue to the Beatles, and as the inscription says 'four lads who shook the world'. John, Paul, George and Ringo. The Beatles have, and always will be the single biggest musical influence for myself and the rest of the boys throughout our lives. After finishing the album in Studio 2, Abbey Road we visited Liverpool, were we gave a impromptu 'live' performance in the back room of the White Star Bar which is on that famous winding road called Mathew street. The White Star is a timeless, friendly bar were the Beatles used to go to write songs and even today you still get the good feeling and atmosphere of the real Liverpool from a time gone by. We can only hope that places like this will always remain unchanged for as long as is possible. The live Mersey music that once belted out from the Cavern is no more, but one thing is certain...the songs and melodies will be listened to and enjoyed forever"
• We are again playing this August at the World Beatle Convention on BBC Merseyside in Liverpool. The Beatles convention happens on the last weekend of August every year an attracts Bands for all over the world....Unmissable if you are a fan!!

(Kenny Herbert)

He then went on to play with Macca on Mull of Kintyre, then Elton John for 8 years. On all these songs I have tried not to copy the Beatles (which is impossible) but to keep the feel of all the great melodies from the 60's. On track 8 on the Last song in Abbey Road, 'I don't know why' I hired string players from one of the best London orchestras.

Kenny Herbert is a musician from Edinburgh, Scotland and had worked with a lot of different musicians. But you will always hear his love for the Beatles and the sound of the ''british invasion''.

Enjoy
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If you like the music of Kenny Herbert take a look here

Australian GaragePsychedelic2008SixtiesPowerPopStyle Music by: Green Circles - Tavistock Road (2008 Off The Hip Records) Flac & mp3@320

Can't find a review about the record so i will give you a few infos. The band is from South Australia and releasing records since around 2000. This album was released in 2008. Green Circles are: Roy Beaumont, guitars ; John Gilbert, drums/​percussion/​vocals ; Mark Gilbert, lead vocals/​tambourine ; Andrew Piper, guitars/​ukulele/​harmonica/​vocals.

For this record additional musicians helped recording the album: Jamie Woolaway, Brian Adamson, Ben Gilbert, Emily Gilbert, Evie Piper.

The album is influenced by different music styles like 60s garage, Psychedelia, Power pop. I love it really much and recommend it. Maybe you give it a try...

Have fun
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Pop/Power Pop by Dwight Twilley - XXI (1996 Shelter Records) Flac & mp3@320

Despite critical raves at the time and the undeniable high quality of the songs, the Dwight Twilley Band never quite achieved the success they so sorely deserved. XXI collects the finer moments of the band's brief recording career, which only ran from 1976 to 1978, as well as highlights from Twilley's solo work, spanning from 1979 to late 1995.

This 21-track compilation offers a good sampling of album favorites, the hits ("I'm On Fire" and "Girls" -- both peaked at number 16), some lost should-of-been hits ("Shark" and "Somebody to Love"), a never-before-released song from an aborted 1994 album and a newly recorded track, "That Thing You Do."

For fans, the rarities and song-by-song commentary by Twilley make XXI an essential addition. For those unfamiliar with Twilley and company's perfect pop, there is no better place to start.( allmusic.com)

Dwight Twilley is one of the great artists in power pop who is (despite his few hits) with his work very underrated. He never achieved the success he deserved with his music. Most of his songs have a special depth, not only in the ballads. There is no other power pop artist where you can hear that obviously what was the musical favourites (except the Beatles) of Twilley as a young man. No one carried the original Rock'n'Roll, how it sounds in the fifties, into power pop music like Twilley. And that's audible in a lot of his songs. Little Richard, Eddy Cochran, Elvis - they all are in the music of Dwight Twilley.

Enjoy
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Various Artists - Garage Beat '66 Vol.6 ''Speak of the Devil'' (2006 Sundazed Records) Flac & mp3@320

The garage band era of the mid-'60s was the modern equivalent of a folk movement as seemingly every town in America had a half-dozen or more energetic, ragged and often musically challenged young rock combos vying for weekend gigs and small independent record deals.

These bands frequently made up for what they lacked in ability and originality with an abundance of verve and self-perceived panache, and if they did manage to make a record, it was usually derivative and crude, but often fascinatingly so, even if few of these releases ever so much as dented a regional play list.

These are the kinds of musical artifacts that Sundazed has collected in its Garage Beat series, of which this is the sixth volume. Subtitled Speak of the Devil, this installment features a heavy dose of sneering, attitude-laden garage gems recorded between 1965 and 1967, including the William Penn Fyve's wry "Swami" (the organ player from the band, Gregg Rolie, went on to greater fame with Santana and then later still with Journey), Neal Ford & the Fanatics' "Good Men (Are Hard to Find)," the Road Runners' "Goodbye" (this one could have easily been a big pop hit in a world with a fair and equitable music distribution system) and a spirited version of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love" by the Druids of Stonehenge.

Nothing here would have toppled the Beatles or the Rolling Stones back in the day, but now, some forty years on, these tracks still sound wonderfully snotty and free of annoying finesse. What a time it was.(allmusic.com)

Hello Folks, here come the sixth part of Garage Beat '66 with more great songs from the sixties.

Enjoy it
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The Rich Kids - Best Of The Rich Kids (2003 EMI Records) Flac & mp3@320

History has taught that the Sex Pistols didn't do themselves many favors by sacking bassist Glen Matlock in favor of public spectacle and heroin poster boy Sid Vicious, especially since it soon became obvious that without Matlock, the Pistols didn't have an especially strong songwriter onboard (or a bassist with a working command of his instrument). However, left to his own devices, Matlock wasn't in much better shape; after leaving the Pistols, Matlock formed the Rich Kids, and while he brought his knack for a hook with him, his new band wasn't nearly as exciting (admittedly a tall order). Featuring former Silk kid and future Ultravox frontman Midge Ure on vocals, drummer Rusty Egan (whose future resumé would include stints in Visage and Thin Lizzy), and guitarist Steve New along with Matlock, the Rich Kids had chops and enthusiasm, but a rather lopsided sense of direction, wavering between punk and glam without ever landing comfortably in either, and while the band managed a few stray tracks that worked -- most notably their self-titled debut single and the title cut from their sole album, Ghosts of Princes in Towers -- most of their output was goopy and overdone (Mick Ronson's production on the album didn't help one bit), with Ure's highly theatrical vocal style more than a bit irritating in large doses.

Best of the Rich Kids collects practically everything you could want from this band -- it features the Ghosts of Princes in Towers album in its entirety (and in sequence), along with a dozen single tracks, live cuts, and unreleased tunes, which means you get the handful of career highlights along with everything else that cluttered up this group's catalog, all in cleanly remastered form. If you want a Rich Kids CD, Best of the Rich Kids is doubtless the one to get, but it's an open question how often you'll ever bother to listen to the disc all the way through after cherry-picking the three or four obvious gems and putting them on your homemade "punk also-rans" compilation.(allmusic.com)

Like all in music this is a matter of taste. I found a lot more gems here.

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Sunshine/Baroque/Pop & a little Bubblegum: Thomas & Richard Frost - Visualise 1969/70 (2002 Rev-Ola) Flac & mp3

Visualise, the long lost album by Thomas & Richard Frost (ex-Powder), is not only available -- 33 years after it was originally recorded -- for the first time on compact disc, but for the first time in any format. In some ways, the album represents that rare occurrence when a genuine obscurity actually turns out to be better than expected after such a long wait. Indeed, Visualise turns out to be not just a lost classic from the late '60s, but a sublime and stunning "soft pop" wonder. The discovery of this "lost masterpiece," in fact, should create the kind of fervor that Billy Nicholls' long sought after and legendary Would You Believe album created when it was finally released on CD in 1999.

In 1970, Thomas & Richard Frost had already recorded a handful of classic pop singles for Imperial and Liberty, including "She's Got Love," which charted at number 83 on Billboard's Top 100 singles chart. Each subsequent single was a step further toward what was sure to be their artistic tour de force, Visualise. Unfortunately, plans to release this album were inexplicably aborted in the 11th hour by Imperial's decision-makers, even though the master recordings were already in the can and the album had already been assigned a catalog number (LP-12450). Imperial was in disarray, and the Frosts were, unfortunately, victimized by what was going on behind the scenes.

(In 1968, the Transamerica Corporation, the company that owned United Artists, bought the Liberty/Imperial labels and merged them with UA, but by 1970 UA transferred most of Imperial's artists to Liberty for future releases -- by 1971, Imperial had essentially ceased to exist as a distinct new-product label.)
Fast-forward to 2002: Rev-Ola's Joe Foster discovers the album and negotiates the release of Visualise in its entirety -- tracks one through 12 were the originally planned album, from the introductory "Prelude" to the album's "Outro" -- but Foster also thankfully includes the duo's original mono singles. For these fantastic 1969 recordings, the duo was backed by Kim Fowley's usual Imperial session gang -- including Skip Battin (ex-Skip & Flip, the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and the New Riders of the Purple Sage) and Steppenwolf guitarist Mars Bonfire -- along with the cream of the crop of L.A.'s "Wrecking Crew" session players, including Barney Kessel, Larry Knechtel, and legendary drummer Hal Blaine (Allen Breneman also contributes drums).

The album sessions, incidentally, were produced by Ted Glasser, who also co-wrote "If I Can't Be Your Lover" with singer Vic Dana. This excellent reissue's liner notes -- by archivist and renowned West Coast music expert Alec Palao, who also produced this amazing reissue for Rev-Ola -- were provided with input from Tom Martin, who also supplied various photographs and other memorabilia to expand the planned original sleeve. This release is sure to be praised far and wide by fans of West Coast psych-soft pop and bands like the Millennium, Sagittarius, or any other Curt Boettcher-produced releases from the same time period.(allmusic.com)

Marvelous pop album from the late sixties. It never was released till 2002 Rev-ola released it. Some things i will never understand. But...better late than never, right?! I hope you will have fun,

Cheers
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Various Artists - Garage Beat '66 Vol.5 ''Readin' Your Will'' (2006 Sundazed Records) Flac & mp3@320

Sundazed's excellent Garage Beat '66 series doesn't lose momentum on its fifth volume, Readin' Your Will! Where the previous four installments focused almost exclusively on bands that aped the Rolling Stones and Yardbirds, this set digs into the trippier, psychedelic side of garage rock with a set of 20 tracks recorded between 1964 and 1968. There's still some straight-ahead rock & roll here, such as the Arkay IV's "Little Girl" or the Heart Beats' take on "Little Latin Lupe Lu," but there's a heavier dose of spacy harmonies, jangling guitars, fuzz tones, and swirling organs here than on previous installments of the Garage Beat '66 series.

After four volumes of pile-driving garage, this comes as a welcome change of pace, particularly because there are a lot of quite excellent singles here. A lot of this leans toward the menacing side of Texas garage rock, à la 13th Floor Elevators, but there are gentler moments like the Thingies' "I'm Going Ahead" that helps make this the most musically diverse and enjoyable disc of the series.

Like the other Garage Beat '66 discs, this does contain a bunch of songs that will be familiar to hardcore garage-psych collectors -- and it does contain such cult favorites as Unrelated Segments and the tremendous Zakary Thaks -- but while those collectors will love the excellent sound and liner notes here, this isn't intended solely for collectors.

This, like the other entries in Garage Beat '66, is for garage-psych fans who love Nuggets and want to dig deeper without resorting to sorting through the Pebbles and Rubble series, or listening to all of the Trash Box. For those listeners, Readin' Your Will!, like the rest of Garage Beat '66 series, is an irresistible addition to their library.(allmusic)

Vol.5 starts with the ''Unrelated Segments'' (I will post them in the next days alone) and shows from the beginning it fits for 100% into this fine box of seven volumes by great sixties american garage bands. You will like it

Enjoy
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US Garage: The Mourning Reign (USA) - Satisfaction Guaranteed (Vinyl 24/96) 1966-1967 (2013 Beat Rocket) Flac & mp3@320

Formed in San Jose, California, USA, the Mourning Reign were garage band peers of the Chocolate Watchband and the Harbinger Complex. Initially known as the English, they comprised Frank Beau Maggi (vocals), Johnnie Bell (lead guitar), Steve Canali (rhythm guitar), Charlie Garden (bass) and Craig Maggi (drums). They were highly popular in the suburbs of south and east San Francisco, playing punk-styled material derivative of the Rolling Stones and Yardbirds. The group recorded a cover version of ‘Evil Hearted You’ as their debut in 1966, before completing a compulsive original song, ‘Satisfaction’s Guaranteed’, as its follow-up. Thomas O’Bonsawin then replaced Bell, but although two further tracks were completed for a third single, it remained unissued as the Mourning Reign split up in 1968 when several members were drafted to Vietnam.(allmusic.com)

This San Jose band from the mid-1960s has had a cult following for quite some time based on a tiny handful of local sides that passed from one collector to another, enhancing their rep by word of mouth. This ten-song issue on Sundazed's vinyl only subsidiary label captures them raw 'n' nasty, blasting through some studio covers of Who, Cream and Yardbirds tunes and a brace of their own stuff. Lead singer Beau Maggi was one of the best garage-band Jagger soundalikes, and the band had that nether ground between British fuzztone band and coming psychedelia down pretty darn well; it's all here to enjoy.(Cub Koda, allmusic.com) 

A band who is also on the ''Garage Beat '66'' series. This guys played a very good style with different influences.

Have fun
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Harmony/Sunshine Pop by subsequently Bread members: The Pleasure Fair - The Pleasure Fair 1967 (1997 Universal Japan) Flac & mp3

Vocalist Michelle Cochrane, singer/keyboardist Robb Royer, bassist Tim Hallinan, and drummer Steve Cohn formed harmony pop quartet the Pleasure Fair in Los Angeles in 1966. The group signed to Uni Records the following year, and on the recommendation of session ace Leon Russell, pop maestro David Gates was installed to produce their self-titled debut LP, headlined by the single "Morning Glory Days." "(I'm Gonna Have To) Let You Go" followed in 1968, and the Pleasure Fair soon dissolved; Gates then recruited Royer to join his fledgling soft pop group Bread, and the rest is AM radio history -- Hallinan is also among the musicians credited on the first Bread album, and later enjoyed a career as a mystery novelist. (allmusic.com)

Short lived project of harmony pop with some very fine vocal arrangements. Maybe you give it a try if you like well arranged vocals with slight folk influences.

Have fun
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