The Small Faces - Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake

There was no shortage of good psychedelic albums emerging from England in 1967-1968, but Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake is special even within their ranks. The Small Faces had already shown a surprising adaptability to psychedelia with the single "Itchycoo Park" and much of their other 1967 output, but Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake pretty much ripped the envelope. British bands had an unusual approach to psychedelia from the get-go, often preferring to assume different musical "personae" on their albums, either feigning actual "roles" in the context of a variety show (as on the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album), or simply as storytellers in the manner of the Pretty Things on S.F. Sorrow, or actor/performers as on the Who's Tommy. The Small Faces tried a little bit of all of these approaches on Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake, but they never softened their sound. Side one's material, in particular, would not have been out of place on any other Small Faces release -- "Afterglow (Of Your Love)" and "Rene" both have a pounding beat from Kenny Jones, and Ian McLagan's surging organ drives the former while his economical piano accompaniment embellishes the latter; and Steve Marriott's crunching guitar highlights "Song of a Baker."

Marriott singing has him assuming two distinct "roles," neither unfamiliar -- the Cockney upstart on "Rene" and "Lazy Sunday," and the diminutive soul shouter on "Afterglow (Of Your Love)" and "Song of a Baker." Some of side two's production is more elaborate, with overdubbed harps and light orchestration here and there, and an array of more ambitious songs, all linked by a narration by comic dialect expert Stanley Unwin, about a character called "Happiness Stan." The core of the sound, however, is found in the pounding "Rollin' Over," which became a highlight of the group's stage act during its final days -- the song seems lean and mean with a mix in which Ronnie Lane's bass is louder than the overdubbed horns.

Even "Mad John," which derives from folk influences, has a refreshingly muscular sound on its acoustic instruments. Overall, this was the ballsiest-sounding piece of full-length psychedelia to come out of England, and it rode the number one spot on the U.K. charts for six weeks in 1968, though not without some controversy surrounding advertisements by Immediate Records that parodied the Lord's Prayer. Still, Ogdens' was the group's crowning achievement -- it had even been Marriott's hope to do a stage presentation of Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake, though a television special might've been more in order.(allmusic.com)

Here is the classic album of the band.
Enjoy!
          Frank     Flac

Brian Wilson - Brian Wilson 1988 (Flac)

Here is the first official solo album by Brian Wilson. The disc is the original 'Sire records' release. Here is Eugene Landy ( his doctor... ) and A.Morgan, the wife of Landy with songwriting credits. On the later 2000 release they had to removed.
Greetings  Frank   Flac
    

Brian Wilson - Imagination 1998

 Brian Wilson - Imagination
This is the second official solo album by Brian Wilson, pop genius of the Beach Boys. It was released 1998, 10 years after his first solo album 'Brian Wilson'. I will post it later, too.
 Enjoy
         Frank   Flac

Comeback for the Pretties! The Pretty Things - Cross Talk (1980) Flac

Who would have thought it? Reunited after splitting in the mid-'70s, the Pretty Things return with a new wave album. It's not what anyone might have expected, but it's very far from a disaster. The stop-on-a-dime arrangements and natural power show them to be well-seasoned, and Phil May, with an extremely mannered voice, comes across as a taunting frontman. In fact, you tend to feel that if Thin Lizzy had eased up on the metal, they might have made an album very much like this -- great, catchy songs based in R&B and old rock & roll ("Lost That Girl") -- but with the tongue firmly in cheek (check the Sting imitation on "No Future") while pandering to fashion. But when the results are as good as the jangly "Office Love" or "I'm Calling," you really don't care where the tongue's residing. There's a sense of history about the '50s drums on "Falling Again" that no young bucks could ever match, nor could they come close to the band's overall professionalism or stinging guitar work of Peter Tolson. Any of these ten tracks would have made a great single and by rights should have returned the band to major-name status.

But justice is thin on the ground in music and instead it became one of the lost Pretties albums -- a shame, since in its own lighter way, it's every bit as good as their classic albums of a decade earlier. Some reunions don't work; this one just roars. (allmusic.com)

It was a very strong album by the band in 1980. Very powerful songs. Recommendable.
Have fun
               Frank
Flac

The Motors - Approved By The Motors Lp 1978 Flac & The Virgin Years (Four albums) mp3

After several years in England's pub rock scene, ex-Duck Deluxe members Nick Garvey and Andy McMaster formed the Motors in 1977 with vocalist Bram Tchaikovsky and drummer Ricky Slaughter. Their first album was a splendid piece of guitar-driven pop/rock highlighted by the single "Dancing the Night Away." Approved By was the album that earned them the U.K. hits "Airport" and "Forget About You"; the record saw the band's songwriting improving with forceful melodies and invigorating performances.

After that record, the Motors split up; Garvey and McMaster used the band's name for the 1980 album Tenement Steps, which didn't equal the spark of their first two records. The Motors' second album shows a marked improvement over their debut, with a stronger melodic base and catchier songs including the British hits "Airport" and "Forget About You." [The 2006 CD version adds three bonus tracks.]

 I thought about which Motors efforts i should post and i will post now the ''Approved...''album in Flac and  '' The Motors - The Virgin Years'' with four albums in mp3. So something for everyone here, flac lovers and mp3 lovers. I think we all can live with that. Hope you like it and if there is interest here in the community i will post the solo albums from guitarist and vocalist Bram Tchaikowsky in the next days. Okay , here we go
Cheers
           Frank 
Approved by the Motors Flac

The Virgin Years mp3@320 

The Small Faces - The Autumn Stone (Lp) (1969) Flac

The Autumn Stone was the only double LP in the history of Immediate Records, and it came out as the company was entering its death throes, a desperate effort to cash in on the library of tapes of the Small Faces. When lead singer Steve Marriott quit in the waning days of 1968, the group had been midway into recording a new album that would have been its third for the label and a follow-up to 1968's popular Ogden's Nut Gone Flake.

Left high and dry by Marriott's departure, and with an uncertain future ahead for the group, the company elected to release the first anthology of the Small Faces' work. The result was The Autumn Stone, a mix of hit singles (going all the way back to their Decca Records years, with "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" and "All or Nothing") and up through their final 45, "The Universal," plus three songs recorded live at Newcastle Town Hall in early 1968, a bunch of album tracks, and some unissued tracks from the tail-end of their history, presumably intended for their third, never-finished Immediate LP. It was the first (and, for over 20 years, the best) overview of the group's work and history, depicting its transition from a white British Invasion-era soul band to a more laid-back and experimental psychedelic outfit.

I know a lot people think different about it, but in my opinion Steve Marriott's creative high time were in the Small Faces. Enjoy

Frank  Flac 

 

The Posies - Frosting On The Beater 1993 Flac

Frosting on the Beater opens with a thick wall of distorted guitars and booming drums kicking up a very melodic fuss behind Ken Stringfellow and Jonathan Auer's creamy-smooth harmonies on the psych-tinged "Dream All Day," and the track's sweet-and-sour blend immediately announces this is going to be a very different affair than the Posies' major label debut, Dear 23. With noisy rock dude Don Fleming in the producer's chair, it came as no great surprise that Frosting on the Beater was a much harder sounding album than the introspective Dear 23, but surprisingly enough, Fleming also knew how to make the most of the band's expert pop songwriting; with the tempos and guitars turned, the tunes gained a needed physical impact that brought the melodies and hooks into the forefront, where they belonged. Just as importantly, the spot-on harmonies that were the highlight of Dear 23 were still very much in evidence, resting atop the piles of fuzzy guitar chords like a dollop of hot fudge poured over a big scoop of ice cream. And prior to this, who knew that Ken Stringfellow and Jonathan Auer could rock out so hard (and so well) on guitars? One could argue that the big guitar attack of Frosting on the Beater was simply the Posies' way of trying to cash in on the grunge sweepstakes that briefly turned their hometown of Seattle into the center of the rock universe. But one listen also reveals that it transformed a smart but overly precious pop outfit into a hard-charging power pop band that gained a wealth of strength without giving up any of their smarts in the process -- not a bad bargain.(allmusic.com)

Power Pop at it's best. An absolute Power Pop classic from the Posies. Nothing more to say about it...or?...no lol. Have fun and
bis bald
            Frank   Flac

Birmingham Sunday - A Message From Birmingham Sunday (1968) 1998 Flac

Birmingham Sunday was a band from Nevada that consisted of Ward Johns, Debbie Parks, John Kvam, Jean Heim, Joe LaChew and Phil Gustafson. Although not much is known about the band and its members, A Message from Birmingham Sunday
was originally released as a test pressing in 1968 on the All American Record label. The band play a variety of styles but the music on this album is mainly a folk based psychedelic pop sound with strong vocal harmonies. The singers alternate between male and female vocal leads with a wall of sound background that contains guitars, wind instruments, swirling organ and synthesizer. The entire album only clocks in at just more than 27 minutes but it is an enjoyable piece of late 60's psychedelia. The CD itself is housed in an impressive digipack but the only drawback on packaging is the lack of detailed liner notes and information on the band. The overall sound quality is good but there seems to be some sound fading on a couple of songs perhaps due to the quality of the master tapes. Despite some minor drawbacks it is nice to see such a rare album finally receiving a legitimate release. (allmusic.com)

I stumbled over Birmingham Sunday at visiting a friend at his home. Since that day i love this album.

If you want to know more about the band search the internet. You can find a lot info about the band. I don't understand why allmusic writes that there is not much known of the band...? Anyway if you like sunshine pop with folk and a little rock influences, grab it.
Cheers
           Frank  Flac

oops...sorry i forgot the link! Hope it works now.

The Spongetones - Always Carry On The Best Of The Spongetones 1980-2005 (2008) mp3@320

It seems in some ways that the Spongetones have always been around, and while they're no Flamin' Groovies on the longevity front, this 26-track anthology covering their first 25 years as a power pop mainstay does make plain their talents. Unfortunately, it also exposes the limitations that have always kept them from attracting more than a small but devoted cult audience of hardcore power pop fetishists. The Spongetones, a quartet from Charlotte, NC who impressively have maintained the same lineup ever since guitarist and primary singer/songwriter Jamie Hoover joined a nascent version of the band in 1978, started out as unapologetic British Invasion fans in the style of the Sire Records-era Flamin' Groovies. The first eight tracks here, from the first two albums Beat Music and Torn Apart (since 1994 yoked together as the CD Beat & Torn), aren't "updated" or "revisionist" British Invasion-style tunes, they're the real thing two decades too late. That purist aesthetic was dropped with 1987's Where-Ever-Land, which introduced synths and all the bad production elements (too much reverb on the drums, that sort of thing) that marred so many albums in the latter half of the '80s, and shifted the Spongetones over into Marshall Crenshaw territory. Musically speaking, that's basically where they've remained ever since, so the last two-thirds of this compilation fall into a bit of a rut in terms of songwriting and performance. (In their favor, however, the production got a lot better after the misguided modernisms of Where-Ever-Land.) Hoover and his bandmates are undeniably talented at what they do, but listening to this lengthy summation of their first quarter century shows how little the band has progressed as songwriters during this period. Not in the sense that bands should necessarily get more complex or move away from the sounds that initially inspired them, mind, but in the sense that the Spongetones have got the power pop sound down cold but have never been first-rank songwriters on the level of, say, Pat DiNizio of the Smithereens or Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple of the dB's, to name two of their contemporaries. There's not a "Shake Some Action," a "Cynical Girl," or a "Places That Are Gone" in these 26 tracks, a crowning, singular achievement amongst all the clever songcraft. Of course, not everyone can be the Beatles, and as Always Carry On: The Best of the Spongetones 1980-2005 proves, there's something to be said for being the Dave Clark 5.(Stewart Mason allmusic.com)

Hello Folks, here come the Spongetones! A fine Power Pop band with a very strong sixties sound. And how Mason describes the first two records, they are no revisionists they are really the original...only (then) twenty years too late. But today it's 2016 and for me it's not interesting if the record is from the sixties or the eighties, i enjoy (or not) their music today in 2017. Mason write a lot of things that's true and i can second them...and i love the Spongetones for her music and that they are a fairly good Power Pop band. If you like Power Pop with 60's roots you're exactly right here.
Three cheers for 60's style Power Pop
                                                            Frank   mp3@320

The New Pornographers - Mass Romantic 2000 Flac

Mass Romantic is a barnstorming debut from the New Pornographers, a collection of Vancouver-based indie rockers. With chief songwriting duties falling into the hands of Destroyer's Dan Bejar and Zumpano's Carl Newman, the album displays a decidedly power pop form of indie rock. Guitars wail and ratchet as keyboards swirl toward every direction of the compass. The vocals, handled by Bejar, Newman, drummer Kurt Dahl, and alt-country star Neko Case, are sung in a style that delivers maximum catchiness. The band displays a keen sense of musical history, as the songs cover influences ranging from the Beatles ("The Mary Martin Show") to David Bowie ("The Slow Descent into Alcoholism") to T. Rex ("Mystery Hours") to Todd Rundgren ("The Fake Headlines"). Mass Romantic is noisy, fuzzy, crunchy, and hook-heavy. It's an album that reveals its charms through repeat listens, and makes a listener wonder how the band can master so many different musical styles via so many vocalists while still maintaining a fiercely cohesive sound.

Case, who has previously proven herself a master of warped country crooning, proves herself equally accomplished in the world of rock swagger with her vocals on "Mass Romantic" and "Letter from an Occupant"; she provides background vocals on a number of other tracks as well. In some better alternate reality, Mass Romantic's bitter yet sugary staccato treats would have burnt up the charts with hit single after hit single.

Great Power Pop from this canadian band. Nearly all albums where Carl Newman is involved are favourites of mine. Have fun!
                                                Frank  Flac

John's Children - A Midsummer Night's Scene (Singles A's & B's) 1988

John's Children - A Midsummer Night's Scene (Bam Caruso 1988)

The A- and B-sides of all of their singles, plus the Andy Ellison solo number "It's Been a Long Time." It's missing some interesting material from Instant Action, but it's generally the best anthology available, as well as the only readily obtainable one.

And this are the best available quotes from allmusic.com about the band. Who don't know who's John's Children: It was the band/project where Marc Bolan of later T.Rex fame made his first footsteps in professional  music business.  To describe the music in a few words: A kind of psychedelic mod pop...maybe lol. Listen yourself.

Cheers
           Frank  Flac - New link

60's Psychedelic Baroque Pop Ice - Ice Man '67 - '68 Complete Recordings (2005)

UK psychedelic pop quintet formed in the mid-60s while John Carter (bass), Glyn James (vocals), Lynton Naiff (organ), Grant Serpell (drums) and Steve Turner (guitar) were attending Sussex University in Brighton, Sussex, England. Their debut single, ‘Anniversary (Of Love)’, was released in 1967 after the group signed a recording contract with Decca Records. The single revealed a band clearly in the thralls of a Procol Harum fixation, with its layered keyboards and nostalgic lyrics.

A second single followed a year later, but ‘Ice Man’ also failed to impress commercially. Both singles have been compiled on numerous psychedelic compilations. The band was later joined by expressive vocalist Linda Hoyle and pursued a jazz rock direction under the new name of Affinity. Serpell was later a founder member of Sailor.

This is a very nice album of psychedelic baroque pop. Hope you enjoy.
(By the way: I hated and still hate Sailor. I'm NOT kidding lol)
Cheers
           Frank  mp3@320