Mod/Psychedelic Garage from the sixties - The Action - Rolled Gold 2002 Flac

The term "lost classic" is applied liberally and often erroneously to unreleased recordings that resurface years later in a maelstrom of hype. However, for the forgotten mod rock also-rans the Action, the term is not only justified, it is painfully bittersweet. On par with such classics of the era as The Who Sell Out or Ogden's Nut Gone Flake but more focused than either, the Action's Rolled Gold goes beyond "lost classic" -- it is the influential masterpiece no one was ever allowed to hear. Despite being signed to Beatles producer George Martin's AIR label and benefiting from a strong club following, the Action never scored a chart hit. By the time they recorded these demo tracks in 1967, the band had grown weary of the musically limited mod scene, which was on its last legs. Guitarist Pete Watson had been replaced by Martin Stone, and the band had developed a more mature sound, one only hinted at on such previous cuts as "Twenty-Fourth Hour." Prefiguring the coming psychedelic movement, the songs were epic, heartfelt, melodic socks to the gut that hinged on vocalist Reggie King's sanguine blue-eyed soul voice and Alan King's slabs of guitar harmony -- think The Who's Tommy meets The Byrds' Fifth Dimension.

Unbelievably, EMI -- AIR's distributor -- was not interested, and the tracks were shelved. Subsequently, Reggie left the band to work on a solo album, and the rest of the group struggled on, eventually morphing into the short-lived hippie band Mighty Baby. Rather than bemoan what could have been though, you are left with what is. Playing like the brilliant missing link between mod and psychedelic rock, Rolled Gold is experimental without being silly or twee and emotionally mature without being pompous and boring. It is the type of album that reveals its brilliance within seconds of hearing the first track and builds momentum from there.

Tracks such as "Something to Say" and especially "Brain" with Reggie pleading for immortality over a hugely anthemic chord progression are as good, if not better, than anything that charted during the late '60s and sound less dated than many of the Action's contemporaries' efforts. It's as if Paul Weller time-traveled back to 1967 and wrote the best songs of his career. Every track is a fully realized melodic and lyrical statement. While there is a roughness to the demo-quality recording, it only magnifies the raw emotions the Action were able to translate into timeless music -- music that deserved much better than it got.

What a good band. What a goddamned good band. Every track here is top notch sixties mod music with such a lovely psychedelic feeling that i can't understand why the band don't got the success they deserved. But maybe the things would be different if ''Rolled Gold'' had been released when it was recorded like Ric Menk said.
This is highly recommended if you are in 60's pop music. I know you guys (and girls) will enjoy!
Have Fun
               Frank   Flac

Powerpop For Saturday Mornings! - Tinted Windows 2009 (Flac)

Comprised of several generations of pop-minded hitmakers, Tinted Windows combine a supergroup pedigree with an appreciation for sugary, unapologetic power pop. Singer Taylor Hanson and bassist Adam Schlesinger initially crossed paths in the mid-'90s, during Hanson's heyday as a teen heartthrob and Schlesinger's early development with Fountains of Wayne. Although the two expressed interest in a collaborative project, each had more pressing responsibilities to attend to, including Schlesinger's management of his own label (Scratchie Records, co-owned with longtime friend James Iha). As the years progressed, Iha left the Smashing Pumpkins' lineup but continued to work alongside Schlesinger, even lending his guitar skills to Fountains of Wayne's 2003 effort, Welcome Interstate Managers.

Several years later, Schlesinger and Hanson decided to finally launch their long-gestating collaboration, and Iha happily climbed abroad as the band's guitarist. The trio then sought out a drummer, hoping to find someone who played in the vein of Cheap Trick's Bun E. Carlos. They eventually extended the invitation to Carlos himself, who enjoyed the band's demo material and decamped to New York to work alongside the band. Tinted Windows signed with S Curve Records, Fountains of Wayne's former label, and released their debut album in spring 2009.(allmusic.com)

Four poor hard working guys founded a band and...i'm just kidding and without cynism, you know i'm a lover for this kind of music. Sure this is a pretty sugary affair but nevertheless on a sunny saturday morning this is a fine wake up soundtrack. Sometimes i ask myself why this kind of projects will realized. Money? I don't know and if i am honest i don't care. Pull the controller up to full volume and dance in your bed on a sunny saturday morning.
Enjoy
         Frank  Flac

The Blow Pops - American Beauties 1994, Charmed I'm Sure 1993, 7'' My Carrie/Bleary Eyes 1993 mp3

The Blow Pops - American Beauties 1994, Charmed I'm Sure 1993, 7'' My Carrie/Bleary Eyes 1993

Charmed I'm Sure:
One of the key albums of the early days of the '90s power pop renaissance, the Blow Pops' 1993 debut is one of those rare contemporary power pop records that both salutes its '60s and '70s influences and delivers the songs with a crisp freshness that makes it sound like more than another attempt to be the next Raspberries. Plasticland's John Frankovic produced the album with little of the over-the-top mannerisms of his own band (though he does sneak a little lysergic glitter onto a few tracks), keeping the songs front and center. Those songs, by either Mike Jarvis or Tim Buckley, are uniformly sparkling, with catchy guitar riffs, singalong choruses, and the sort of clever arrangements that reveal new facets on repeated listens. The opening "Wake up Mary" is the most immediately catchy tune, but the album's real highlight is the closing "Under the Big Top," a knowing nod to the age of "A Quick One While He's Away" and "Excerpt From a Teenage Opera." The Blow Pops connect four songs into a perfect little miniature rock opera, with sound effects and clever links and interludes. It's a commendable bit of experimentation and easily the most fun tune on the whole album. Charmed, I'm Sure (the title is a wink at Charms candy, makers of the bubblegum-filled lollipops known as Blow Pops) can be difficult to find, but it's well worth the search.

American Beauties (1995):
Milwaukee quartet the Blow Pops were one of the great indie power pop bands of the early '90s, but they broke up after only two albums, too soon to really benefit from the Internet-spawned growth of the underground power pop scene that started around 1995. Although they can be difficult to locate due to their limited distribution, the Blow Pops' two albums are revered by many fans of the style.
The Blow Pops formed in late 1989 when singer/guitarist Mike Jarvis (once in the Chicago pop-punk band Green) and guitarist Tim Buckley (formerly of local legends Wobble Test, and not the late folk-jazz singer) joined with bassist John Daniels and drummer Nick Randazzo, and released their first single, "Stop!" backed with "I Know Nancy," the following year. Daniels was replaced in 1991 by Jack Rice, formerly of the excellently named the Mighty Deer Lick. The quartet's first album, Charmed I'm Sure, came out on the Pittsburgh garage rock indie Get Hip in 1992. A masterful blend of hooks and harmonies produced by John Frankovic of Plasticland, Charmed I'm Sure (a punning nod to Charms, the candy company that makes the bubble gum-filled lollipops known as Blow Pops) even contains "Under the Big Top," a four-part extended mini-opera in the manner of the Who's "A Quick One While He's Away."

Following another single, 1993's "My Carrie" backed with "Bleary Eyes" (both tracks showed up on the CD version of the next album), the Blow Pops recorded their second and final album, 1994's American Beauties. Produced by Jeff Murphy of Shoes, American Beauties is a little crunchier than the harmony-heavy, lightly psychedelic debut. (More Who than Hollies, that is.) The songs are every bit as strong, however.

The Blow Pops broke up in early 1995. Jarvis, Randazzo, and Rice went on to form the Lackloves, a superb power pop band that fulfills much of the Blow Pops' promise. Buckley moved to Richmond, VA, and followed a surprisingly different musical path, forming the neo-psychedelic, almost space rock Maki.

 Here are the Blow Pops with two real great Power Pop albums and a 7'' of the nineties. This is first class Power Pop. Don't miss it. Charmed I'm Sure is in m4a because i downloaded the album from the internet (but i can't remember where. Thanks to the original uploader.) I post both albums separate.

Enjoy it
             Frank  American Beauties
                        Charmed I'm Sure

Robin Zander - Robin Zander 1993 (1996) mp3

Hello Folks and friends here comes after Mr. Carlos yesterday the second guy of Cheap Trick, the wonderful Power Pop Rockband from the United States. To me the band is legendary also because they took Power Pop in the livingrooms in the seventies not only in the US but also around the world.   I remember very well when 'I want you to want me' and the Budokan album came over Germany....ah those were the days...Okay stop!!! Enough of forty years old stories lol. Enjoy the album by Robin Zander because it's a good one and the vocals of Robin Zander are always outstanding. 4 and a half star out of 6. :-)
Cheers Frank 

Unlike many lead singers of successful bands, Cheap Trick's Robin Zander waited until after the commercial fortunes of his band had dissipated before offering a solo project. Although fellow Trickster Tom Peterssen plays bass on one track ("Emily") and Rick Nielsen co-wrote another ("Secret"), Zander had aligned himself with Southern California session men, such as Gregg Bissonette, Kim Bullard and Steve Ferris. Guests ranging from members of the Heartbreakers, Maria McKee, Dr. John, and Stevie Nicks also lend their talents. At heart, though, the artist doesn't deviate much from his work with Cheap Trick.

It's a balanced mix of taut, power pop ("Reactionary Girl," "I've Always Got You"), heartfelt ballads ("Show Me Heaven," "Time Will Let You Know"), and tasty covers (Harry Nilsson's "Jump Into The Fire," Neil Young's "I Believe In You"). Zander's not redefining pi here. Instead, it's fifty minutes of well-crafted rock delivered by one of the most-gifted vocalists and frontmen in rock history.(allmusic.com)

mp3@320
 

A Classic Power Pop Album From 1979

 Get The Knack - The Knack 1979

 The Knack attempted to update the Beatles sound for the new wave era on their debut -- a good idea that was well executed, but critics cried "foul" when millions sold after Capitol's pre-release hype (it went gold in 13 days and eventually sold five million copies, making it one of the most successful debuts in history). Get the Knack is at once sleazy, sexist, hook-filled, and endlessly catchy -- above all, it's a guilty pleasure and an exercise in simple fun. When is power pop legitimate anyway? Includes the unforgettable hits "My Sharona" and "Good Girls Don't." (allmusic)

...and ten more unforgettable hits. In 1979 when the album came out it kicked me out of my shoes. My Sharona sounds from every radio and everywhere you go. But it was not only My Sharona, to me it whas the whole album. Twelve songs made for dancing the night away. To me the album was like to be in heaven. And i listen today to the album, not like i have done it in '79 but from time to time.
If you like it...enjoy!
                                SB1  Flac

The Knack - Time Time Time The Complete UK Singles(and more)

Taking their name from Richard Lester's swinging London classic The Knack and How to Get It and their sound from the Kinks, the Knack captured a certain vibe from mid-'60s Britain -- which isn't quite the same thing as making an impact at the time. One of the charms of the Knack is that they were so of their time that they don't quite transcend their time, yet they evoke it, which is why Time Time Time: The Complete UK Singles (And More) 1965-1967 is enjoyable even if it isn't quite memorable. What's striking is indeed how much they sound like the Kinks circa Something Else; unlike the equally Kinks-obsessed Turquoise, who delved deeply into The Village Green, there aren't many signs of wry whimsy here -- there's nothing but lean, hard-hitting, hooky pop. Which isn't to say that the Knack only reworked the driving rock & roll of "Who'll Be the Next in Line?," the Ray Davies song they covered and which opens this collection.
They could branch out, as on the terrific "Time Time Time," which glides along on swirling guitars and harmonies, a piece of pure '60s pop that still can thrill. They rarely reached this height, but they did nice covers of the Lovin' Spoonful (both "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?," which they pumped up with fuzz-toned guitar, and "Younger Girl"); "Save All My Love for Joey" is a pretty nice slice of soft, string-laced pop; "Take Your Love" is bright, crystalline pop; "(Man from The) Marriage Guidance and Advice Bureau" plays as if the Hollies tried to write a Dylan song instead of just singing them; and Paul Gurvitz's pair of originals, "Dolly Catcher Man" and "Lights on the Wall," are very good, propulsive British psychedelic pop, suggesting the potential of Gurvitz as a songwriter. These moments are a little fleeting on Time Time Time, as they're surrounded by perfectly fine but mildly forgettable period pieces, but they're the reason for '60s collectors to check out this likable band. (allmusic.com)

Wonderful '60s band.
Enjoy
         SB1  Flac

Bram Tchaikowsky - The Russians Are Coming (1980) 1998 Flac

Bram Tchaikovsky (born Peter Bramall) began playing in local pub rock bands in Lincolnshire, England, in the late '60s. He joined the Motors in 1977 and was relegated to mere sideman status by the nucleus of the band, songwriters Andy McMaster and Nick Garvey. While waiting on pre-production work for the second Motors album, Tchaikovsky took the opportunity to do some recording of his own. The resulting single, "Sarah Smiles," drew enough interest for him to leave the Motors and form his own band. In addition to its leader, the band Bram Tchaikovsky consisted of Mike Broadbent (bass, keyboards) and Keith Boyce (drums).

They signed to the new Radar label in 1978 along with Stiff expatriates Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello. The band showed a great deal of promise with their first album, Strange Man Changed Man, fitting in nicely with the growing power pop movement. The unforgettable "Girl of My Dreams," a true high point of the time, became a minor hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Tchaikovsky continued on through rapid personnel changes for two more albums, The Russians Are Coming (released in the U.S. as Pressure) in 1980 and Funland in 1981. A considerable drop in sales prompted Tchaikovsky to dissolve the band and retire from the music business.

This is the second album by Bram Tchaikovsky and in my opinion it is just a little bit weaker than 'Strange Man Changed Man'. Both are fie Power Pop albums. In the US 'Russians were released as ''Pressure'' and i think the reason was because of the political situation (the cold war). I will post some more stuff of Bram Tchaikovsky in the next days.
Enjoy
         SB1 Flac

Bun E. Carlos - Greetings From Bunezuela 2016 mp3

Bun E. Carlos (born Brad M. Carlson) is the amiable and adroit drummer, archivist, and set list writer for Rockford, Illinois' illustrious Cheap Trick. Leaving behind the oldies circuit, Carlos fine-tuned his avuncular charm and steady beat as Trick became local heroes and then mega-stars, rising to a brief plateau period in the late '70s. (Another obvious high point came working with John Lennon in 1980.) The band weathered some hard times during the '80s until 1988, when "The Flame" became Trick's only number one (all four members hated this factory ballad). Carlos held drum clinics, produced the Blues Hawks, and lent his talents (along with guitarist Rick Nielsen) to Jim Peterik's band World Stage. After a few quiet decades, Carlos returned to the spotlight in 2009 with a new band, Tinted Windows. Joined by Taylor Hanson (Hanson), James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins), and Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne), the band released one album and toured briefly. Carlos formed another band in 2011 called Candy Golde, issuing just one EP. After being embroiled in lawsuits with his Cheap Trick bandmates, Carlos and the band eventually settled legal differences in time for their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016, where the quartet performed together for the first time in years. Months later, Carlos released Greetings from Bunezuela!, a solo album comprised of covers from acts like the Bee Gees, the Rolling Stones, the Who, and Guided by Voices, whose Robert Pollard appeared on a cover of first single "Do Something Real." Tinted Windows bandmate Taylor Hanson also contributed to the album with his brothers, as well as Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum) and John Stirratt (Wilco).

Some really fine interpretations of the cover songs here. ''Tell me'' by the Stones for example is a wonderful version of the song. A lot of good songs are here. Sure, the album don't invent the Rock'n'Roll new but it makes fun.
Greetings
               Frank   mp3@320

Barry & The Remains - The Remains 1966 (Epic 1991) Flac

The Remains formed in 1964 at Boston University, where all four members were first-year students living in the same dorm in Kenmore Square. Singer-guitarist Barry Tashian and keyboardist Bill Briggs were from Westport, Connecticut, drummer Chip Damiani from Wolcott, Connecticut, and bassist Vern Miller from Livingston, New Jersey. They began playing r&b and rock'n'roll covers, as well as some Tashian originals, at The Rathskeller, a tavern across the square from their dorm. Soon, fans were lining up from Kenmore Square to Fenway Park to see them, and management had to clear out a disused basement to accommodate the crowds
The band became a popular live act throughout New England, and, after signing with Epic Records, enjoyed local hits with a catchy, swinging Tashian original, "Why Do I Cry", and their hard-driving version of the Bo Diddley/Willie Dixon classic "Diddy Wah Diddy". In 1965 the Remains relocated to New York City - where they appeared on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' - and then, after about a year, moved on to California. They recorded an album, The Remains, appeared on NBC TV's 'Hullabaloo', and released the soulful, hard-rocking single "Don't Look Back".
In 1966 came the opportunity which might have broken the band nationally, but proved instead to be their last hurrah: they were offered a three-week stint as an opening act for the Beatles, on what would turn out to be the fab four's final tour. Immediately before the tour, drummer Chip Damiani quit the band, to be replaced by future Mountain drummer N.D. Smart. Said Tashian in a 2012 interview: "We had always been the four of us and we’d played hundreds and hundreds of gigs as the four of us and all of a sudden this big tour comes up and boom! We have to play it with a new drummer who didn’t have the same feel that Chip had. I mean he was a fine drummer but it wasn’t the same band. I just felt like the flame was burning down without our original drummer."

The Band broke up late 1966.(discogs)

Sixties Garage/Pop Rock band from the sixties. Who knows what had happened if they played the tour...
Have fun
               Frank   Flac
                                          Complete Artwork
The complete artwork is contributed by Javier. 

Psychedelic Pop from the late sixties: Octopus - Restless Night (1990)1970 Flac

Octopus' origins lay in Hatfield, 30 miles from London, and a mid-'60s quartet called the Cortinas (the name came from an English Ford compact car), made up of Paul Griggs (guitar), Nigel Griggs (bass), Brian Glassock (drums), and Rick Williams (guitar). By 1967, the Cortinas had moved from Brit beat into pop-psychedelia and cut one single ("Phoebe's Flower Shop") for Polydor without success. The following year, the quartet renamed and redirected itself and Octopus was born. The band earned a support spot to Yes which was, itself, an up-and-coming group at the time. They also appeared on stage with acts like Status Quo and Humble Pie, and were discovered by Troggs bassist Tony Murray, who helped get them a record deal with independent producer Larry Page, who was the Troggs' manager.
Octopus was signed to Penny Farthing and released a single, "Laugh at the Poor Man" b/w "Girl Friend," in 1969. Midway through the recording of their debut album, Restless Night, Glassock and Williams quit the band, and it was a re-formed Octopus, with John Cook on keyboards and Malcolm Green on the drums, that finished the record with Murray producing. The resulting LP was popular in Hatfield but never found an audience anywhere else.

Restless Night was a surprisingly pop-oriented affair considering Murray's regular gig. The music is on the smooth, commercial pop side, with the psychedelic elements mostly in the fuzztone guitar and organ flourishes, mixed with the music's general melodic nature. The band was good enough to get booked into the Marquee Club in London in 1969, but their career arc was far more shallow than that of heavier weight contemporaries such as King Crimson. The group pressed on for another two years, including tours of Europe, but disbanded in 1972. John Cook later joined Mungo Jerry, while Malcolm Green and Nigel Griggs later became members of Split Enz.

See for Miles reissued Restless Night with extra tracks off of their singles in the 1990s. This group has nothing to do with the band named Octopus that recorded for ESP at the end of the 1960s, or the more recent band of the same name.(allmusic.com)

This is an album where you can hear the sixties pop but also the upcoming sounds of early seventies pop prog bands. Take a listen

Frank     Flac

The Misunderstood - Before The Dream Faded (1965) Flac

Of the thousands of U.S. garage bands who struggled in the '60s without achieving international success, the Misunderstood were not only among the very best, but among the very few to progress beyond basic garage sounds to music that has been (belatedly) recognized as nearly as accomplished and innovative as that of the British Invasion bands who touched off the garage explosion in the first place. Formed in Riverside, CA, in 1963, the group began as a basic R&B rock combo in the tradition of the Stones and the Animals.

After the addition of steel guitarist Glenn Campbell, they rapidly moved toward a proto-psychedelic sound with guitar feedback, sustain, Middle Eastern influences, and exploratory song structures that strongly echoed the Yardbirds. With the encouragement of local expatriate British radio announcer John Ravenscroft (who would shortly become one of Britain's most influential DJs as John Peel, a designation he holds to this day), the band moved to England in 1966 in an attempt to find a sympathetic audience. The group cut six songs (a few of which were issued as extremely rare singles) that found them anticipating the early innovations of groups like Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix. The group was praised by the British press and up-and-coming acts like Pink Floyd and the Move, but was hounded by U.S. draft authorities and internal problems, and disbanded in confusion around early 1967. Campbell kept the Misunderstood's name alive briefly with a couple unimpressive singles before forming Juicy Lucy, who had a small British hit with a cover of "Who Do You Love."

The group's other guitarist, Tony Hill (actually a Britishman who joined the band after they arrived in England), joined High Tide, who recorded some progressive rock albums. The Misunderstood finally gained some measure of the respect due to them with a well-packaged reissue of their best material in the early '80s.

This was really a strong '60s psychedelic garage band. It's a pity they don't exist not longer as a band.
Have fun
               SB1  Flac

World Party - Egyptology (1997) Flac

Karl Wallinger defined the ornate, Beatlesque World Party sound on their debut Private Revolution, and he never strayed from that blueprint over the next decade, even if he augmented it with other '60s and '70s pop flourishes.

Egyptology finds Wallinger at his most conservative, sticking to the basic late-'60s pop and psychedelia that distinguished Private Revolution and Goodbye Jumbo. As always, his production is tasteful and subtle, revealing new layers of sonic detail on each listen, and his songcraft is sturdy and tuneful, if not remarkable.

Few of the songs jump out upon the first few listens, yet there are no weak moments on the record, which makes Egyptology, of all things, a workmanlike release. It's not flashy or extravagant, and it may not have the inspiration of Goodbye Jumbo, but it does deliver a collection of fine pop tunes without pretension, and that alone makes it a better album than the overly ambitious Bang!.

More World Party will follow.
Enjoy!
           SB1  Flac