Psychedelic Pop By The Pillbugs: The Pillbugs - Everybody Wants A Way Out 2008 Flac & mp3

The Pillbugs 'Everybody Wants A Way Out' (Rainbow Quartz, 2008)

Pills, thrills and bellyaches

There is always something a little disconcerting about a bunch of middle-aged rockers fiddling with delays and valve amps in search of that long lost Barrett melody or forgotten Kaleidoscope gem. It inevitably ends up in some sour psych stew of ill-fitting paisley shirts and greying sideburns. Yet, and I draw on the great Welsh zoom-rockers Man for hope here, it doesn’t have to be that way.

The Pillbugs, purveyors of all things psych-pop since the late 90s, are another band in question who manage to avoid that ever-alluring pastiche pound. Shrouded in sadness – founder member Mark Kelley passed away as the album was being made – 'Everybody Wants A Way Out' is nonetheless a joyous and incredibly uplifting record that will appeal to anyone whose favourite Saturday night in entails a bag of 'shrooms and the whole of Red Dwarf series 1. For me it’s music that's on the Walkman for those Camden market trips to Rhythm Records in search of the new Steppes record, those heady days when melody was king and the Rickenbacker beat shit out of Les Paul any day of the week. Given that through most of this record I am up out of my seat throwing shapes to an imaginary acid-fuelled throng, it’s far to say The Pillbugs are my new favourite old band (if that makes sense!).

It’s hard to make a case for a band that sounds straight out of ’65 in context with modern needs and concerns, yet, despite having nothing ‘modern’ about them whatsoever or indeed seemingly caring, The Pillbugs somehow don’t sound out of place. I guess great songs, soaring guitars, and songs about chicks called ‘Emily’ never date. A wholehearted, thumbs up for a record that has reignited my search for all those missing issues of Bucketful Of Brains I never got around to buying first time around. Fab! (bandcamp, review by Del Day)

Produced by Mark Mikel

Review:

Album Artwork: Mark Roland
Design: Bob Tibbitts
The Pillbugs: Dan Chalmers, Mark Kelley, Mark Mikel, David Murnen, Scott Tabner
Additional bass/guitar/vocals/production: Scott Hunt 

Enjoy this extraordinary psychedelic pop band

Have fun

                SB1    I killed the old links because the rip was not 100% okay. I will do new links later.
                           Please have a little patience, Folks.
                           Thanks for the sympathy,
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The Pearlfishers - Open Up Your Colouring Book 2014 Flac & mp3

An ever-shifting Scottish group led by singer/songwriter David Scott, the only constant member, the Pearlfishers are a glorious soft pop band mixing acoustic-based music with subtle orchestral flourishes, rather like a Glasgow-based Prefab Sprout with a major Brian Wilson fixation. Since forming in 1989 the Pearlfishers have refined and broadened their sound while maintaining a steadily growing cult following.
Scott began writing songs while a teenager in Glasgow in the early '80s. In the summer of 1984, Scott played his earliest bedroom efforts to local musician Bobby Henry, who offered to put a pair of them on The Shift Compilation, an anthology of Glasgow bands released on Henry's own Shift Records. Released under the band name Chewy Raccoon, a joke name that stuck, the songs attracted enough attention that Scott and the band were signed to Shift's distributor, Phonogram, which released the group's sole single, "Don't Touch Me," in August 1985. The single flopped, Scott was dropped by Phonogram, and the Chewy Raccoon name was, thankfully, retired.
The following year, Scott hooked up with Australian-born drummer Jim Gash, keyboardist Robert McGinlay, bassist Chris Keenan, and backing vocalist Jeanette Burns to form the immediate precursors to the Pearlfishers, Hearts and Minds. Signed to CBS Records, the group released one single, the folksy "Turning Turtle," produced by Eric Stewart of 10cc, in September 1987. After that single followed the Chewy Raccoon disc to oblivion, internal dissension split the group, who left CBS in early 1988, permanently souring Scott on the major-label experience.

Scott and Gash quickly formed a new group, featuring Brian McAlpine on keyboards and Yugoslavian bassist Mil Stricevic. When an American group called Hearts and Minds signed with A&M Records, Scott and company changed their name to the Pearlfishers, after the Bizet opera. Twice burned by his previous experiences with record labels, Scott formed his own imprint, My Dark Star, which released the Pearlfishers' debut single, "Sacred," in late 1990. Sessions for an album tentatively titled The Flo'ers o' the Forest followed, but they were abandoned in the summer of 1991. An EP, Hurt, was fashioned from songs recorded in the abortive album sessions and released in November of that year, quickly followed in early 1992 by a cassette-only release of strictly acoustic songs called Woodenwire, which featured a musical setting of a Robert Burns poem and a pair of traditional Scottish folk songs.
Recorded in nearly a year's worth of off-and-on sessions, the Pearlfishers' debut album, Za Za's Garden (named after one of Scott's earliest pre-Chewy Raccoon songs), was released in August 1993. Produced by Scott and McAlpine, the album largely abandoned the rustic and folky elements of the Pearlfishers' early releases in favor of a newfound emphasis on crystalline arrangements and Beach Boys-inspired harmonies, anchored by McAlpine's delicate keyboards.
The first of several lineup changes took place after the release of Za Za's Garden. In fact, for the next several records, the Pearlfishers were simply Scott and McAlpine with a revolving door of rhythm sections, plus guests on various string and reed instruments. During an extended break between the first and second albums, Scott partnered with Duglas T. Stewart of the BMX Bandits to create and tour with two revues based on the music of Scott's two primary influences, Brian Wilson and French jazz-rock idol Serge Gainsbourg.

Signing with the German label Marina Records, Scott and McAlpine released possibly their finest album, 1997's The Strange Underworld of the Tall Poppies, an album that is to Pet Sounds what Za Za's Garden had been to The Beach Boys Today! Two stop-gap EPs followed, 1997's Even on a Sunday Afternoon and 1998's Banana Sandwich, while Scott and McAlpine labored over 1999's The Young Picnickers, another album of moody, semi-orchestral pop, this time featuring a collaboration with Stewart. Scott and Stewart collaborated two more times in 2000: on-stage with a tribute concert to the legendary Italian soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone and on records with the Marina tribute album Caroline Now!: The Songs of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, executive produced by the pair.

2001's Across the Milky Way introduced a new era in the Pearlfishers' career. McAlpine was gone, leaving Scott to handle keyboards along with his usual guitar and bass duties. The album is perhaps slightly less grand than its two predecessors, with a more intimate, live feel. Original Pearlfishers drummer Jim Gash returned, and bassist Lindsay L. Cooper (of avant-garde jazz trio Day & Taxi) is among the dozen guest musicians. The Strange Underworld of the Tall Poppies was re-released the following year.

I don't know how the line up is now but the 2014 album 'Open Up Your Colouring Book' is  one of their best.
This album is an absolutely favourite by me. The Pearlfishers are pop  geniuses. If you don't know the band give it a try.

Have Fun
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Mexican Psychedelic Pop From 1970: The Spiders - Back

The Spiders were a band from Mexico and they played a really nice psychedelic pop. What i found out was the line up of the band but not really more. Give it a try if you like this kind of music.

Line Up:Manuel Olvera: bass, percussion
Reynaldo Diaz V.: guitar, harmonic
Antonio Vierling: guitar, vocals, tabla
Servando Ayala: piano, organ
Enrique Chaurand: drums, percusion, tabla


Have Fun
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Kevin K once again!!! Kevin K And The Kool Kats - Allies (2013) & 13th Street (2001) Flac & mp3

Kevin K is Kevin Kalicki, one of the founders of Buffalo punk/new wave icons the Toys. Kevin started legendary bands Grim Reaper and Aunt Helen with his brother, Alan, in the mid- to late-1970s, with the later band releasing what is considered by some the first punk rock 45 in the Buffalo area. Kevin (going by Kevin K) and Alan (aka Rocky Starr) started the Toys with Doug (Mick) Tyler and Joel Slazyk (Meat Cleaver) in 1979.

Before long, their combination of high-energy original songs and outrageous stage show had them opening for bands ranging from the Ramones, Dead Boys and Romantics to Squeeze and Pat Benatar. Along the way, they released one (now) highly collectible single, "Livin' Fast"/"I'm Telling You Now" and the also rare album, "Say It." The latter was released after the band's name was changed to the New Toys. The band toured throughout the northeastern U.S., earning a rabid following, and eventually moving to New York City, working with the band Dirty Looks and befriending former New York Doll Johnny Thunders before disbanding in 1984.

After that, the Kalicki brothers formed a band called the Lone Cowboys (finally recording a legendary punk version of Debbie Boone's "You Light Up My Life" that had roots going back to Toys days. The brothers later collaborated again in the Road Vultures, a band that brought them to the attention New York's punk legends like Sylvain Sylvain, Jerry Nolan, Dee Dee Ramones and Cheetah Chrome. Alan Kalicki died in 1996, but Kevin K has kept on rocking. He regularly tours Europe, hitting France, Germany and Poland, and has been recording albums all along. His last appearance in Buffalo, though, was nearly 20 years ago. He'll be performing at the Gateway Gallery with a band of friends from the area, with a special appearance planned - if all goes well - by former Toy Mick Tyler. In opening the show, Cowboys of Scotland will play a set of classic punk and original songs, while Matt Smith will bring his own mix of Johnny Thunders-inspired rock 'n' roll for another set. (discogs)

Garage/Glam/Power Pop from a man who learned his musical handcraft on the roads of this world.

This are two albums on one disc and we have a lot of great songs here but it's a pity that 'Too Much Junkie Business' from 13th Street is missing here in this release. I assume it's for not enough space on the disc. :-(
However, if you like this kind of music grab it. And if you see the band is in your hometown go and visit the concert. You will get a full load of Rock'n'Roll.

Enjoy
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Glam/Power Pop by Kevin K & The Hollywood Stars 2007 Flac & mp3

Kevin K & The Hollywood Stars 2007

Today i read a review about this album where the critic talked about the album cover '' the cover looks like self made with corel draw and the frontman looks like a drug victim of 20 years drug abuse...but than i listened to the music and was positive surprised... Here i stopped reading further. I understand what he want to say about the artwork and i understand what he want to say about the look of Kevin K. But what have that to do with the music?
I don't need music critics like that. Bullshit! Excuse me i forgot my good breeding :-)

This is my review in a few words: If you like Power Pop with Glam and catchy songs with a punk attitude grab Kevin K & The Hollywood Stars.

Have fun
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Perfect Pop!!! Squeeze - Cool For Cats 1979 (1995 A&M Records) Flac & mp3

Rebounding after a difficult debut, Squeeze hunkered down with producer John Wood -- the engineer of U.K. Squeeze -- and cut Cool for Cats, which for all intents and purposes is their true debut album. More than U.K. Squeeze, Cool for Cats captures the popcraft of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, while also sketching out a unique musical territory for the band, something that draws deeply on '60s pop, the stripped-down propulsive energy of pop/rock, and the nervy style of new wave. Although this is considerably less chaotic and aggressive than U.K. Squeeze, Cool for Cats feels like it belongs to its time more than its predecessor, partially due to the heavy emphasis on Jools Holland's keyboards and partially due to the dry British wit of Difford, whose best work here reveals him as a rival to Elvis Costello and Ian Dury. Chief among those is "Up the Junction," a marvelous short story chronicling a doomed relationship, but there's also the sly kinky jokes married to deft characterizations on "Slap and Tickle," the heartbroken tale of "Goodbye Girl," and the daft surrealism of "Cool for Cats." These are subtle, sophisticated songs that are balanced by a lot of direct, unsophisticated songs, as Difford picks up on the sexually charged vibe of John Cale and gets even kinkier, throwing out songs about masturbation and cross-dressing, occasionally dipping into how he's feeling slightly drunk.

Tilbrook pairs these ribald tales to frenzied rock & roll, equal parts big hooks and rollicking rhythms, including a couple of showcases for Holland's boogie-woogie piano. It's all a bit scattered but in a purposeful way, as the impish wit lends the pub rockers a kinky kick while Tilbrook's tunefulness gives it all an identity. Cool for Cats winds up being wild and weird, angular and odd in a way only a new wave album from 1979 could possibly be, but this is a high watermark for its era with the best moments effortless transcending its time.(allmusic.com)

There is not much to say about Cool For Cats...top notch songwriting, lyrics, pop arrangements, nearly every song a possible single release. This is a 5,9 stars out of six possible stars rating by me.

Enjoy
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Lesley Gore ‎– California Nights & 13 Bonus Tracks (2015 Ace Records) (Original released 1967) Flac & mp3

When Lesley Gore recorded California Nights in 1967, it had only been two years since her last big hit -- "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows," which made it to 13 in 1965 -– but it felt like even longer due to all the shifting trends of the late '60s. Assisted by producers Bob Crewe (who helmed seven of the LP's ten tracks) and Quincy Jones (who is responsible for the three other cuts, all arranged by Jack Nitzsche), Gore dove right into the fashionable sounds of Los Angeles in 1967. It was hardly hippie and not quite psychedelic but those trippy sounds were certainly in the air and can be heard on California Nights via fuzz guitars, mind-bending echoes, and whirling strings, but all this is tempered by a good dose of go-go beats and middle of the road pop. All these accouterments make California Nights very much a record of its time, and if it didn't make many waves at the time -- the appealingly hazy title track made it to 16 but the album stalled at 169 -- it stands as something of an underrated period piece, anchored by the gorgeous, cinematic productions of Crewe and enlivened by the savvier Jones, who is responsible for the snappy rock & roll of "Off & Running" and the liquid pulse of "Cry Like a Baby," which effectively splits the difference between uptown soul and hip Hollywood flair.

Back of '67 original mercury release

Ace's 2015 reissue expands California Nights with 15 bonus tracks, most taken from the 1965 albums My Town, My Guy & Me and All About Love, along with a few singles and three cuts that first surfaced on Bear Family's big Lesley Gore box from 1994. All this material is more straightforward than California Nights, falling somewhere between middle of the road pop and pop-soul, and while that may mean it's not quite as distinctive, it's still well-crafted and pleasurable.(allmusic.com)

I admit i was curious what allmusic critics would say about the album (the 10 tracks of the original '67 album). And i was a little surprised because a lot was quite similar what i thought (and think) about the album.
Very good, radio friendly pop music of its time with all the ingredients of a commercial ''middle of the road'' pop album.
Likewise the bonus tracks are accurate selected and match very well in the most cases of the 13 bonus tracks.
Ace Records delivers a very good pop collection of Lesley Gore here from the time around '65 - '67.

Have fun
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p.s.: Is maybe someone outthere who have the Lesley Gore - Boys Boys Boys (Ace Records) release in lossless? If you would share it please send me an email. It would be much appreciated.

Power Pop of '77: - Radio Stars - Songs For Swinging Lovers 1977 (2006 Chiswick Records, Ace Ltd) Flac & mp3

Following the end of their underachieving glam supergroup Jet in 1976, the Radio Stars were formed by ex-John's Children vocalist Andy Ellison,Sparks exile Martin Gordon (bass, songwriting), and Ian MacLeod (guitar) in 1977. Later adding Steve Perry on drums, the group signed to Chiswick Records and released its debut album, Songs for Swinging Lovers, in 1977. On the fringes of both the punk and new wave scene, the Radio Stars were at heart a quirky rock band built around Gordon's songs and Ellison's enthusiastic vocals. Adding Trevor White (who was also in both Sparks and Jet) in 1978 they put out their second, somewhat disappointing record, Holiday Album. Gordon left soon after the record tanked, effectively ending the band, though Ellison attempted to revive the band's name to little success in the '80s. The group's recordings have been anthologized twice, first on 1982's Two Minutes Mr. Smith by the tiny Moonlight label, then on 1992's Somewhere There's a Place for Us by Ace.

Finest Power Pop from 1977, than 2006 under copyright of Ace Records Ltd reissued. Grab it!

Enjoy it!
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1977 Artwork

The Wind In The Willows - The Wind In The Willows 1968 (2000 Edsel Records) Flac & mp3

The Wind in the Willows was an American band which included Deborah Harry as a back-up vocalist. The band took its name from British writer Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, a classic of children's literature.
The band's only album, the self-titled The Wind in the Willows (1968, Capitol Records LP2956), grazed the charts at #195. The band broke up shortly after failing to achieve commercial success or critical acclaim. The following year Artie Kornfeld, the producer of the album, went on to be the music producer of the Woodstock festival in 1969. Debbie Harry went on to join The Stillettoes in 1974 and other bands until subsequently achieving success in 1976 fronting the new wave band Blondie.
Wind in the Willows recorded a second album, which was never released. The whereabouts of the tapes are unknown. According to Cathay Che's biography on Harry, it has never surfaced, but Harry was said to have contributed more vocals than on the first album, as well as writing lyrics for a track entitled "Buried Treasure" on the second album.

The album is a mixture of light psychedelic pop and folk. It have some real good tracks on it but also some weaker tracks. It's with certainty better than its reputation in some music critics circles. By me 3 stars out of possible 5 stars....but you know...the only important rating is what you feel....

Have fun
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The Mojo Men - Not Too Old To Start Cryin' (The Lost 1966 Masters) 2008 Big Beat Records- Flac & mp3

For a minor mid-'60s San Francisco garage/folk-rock/psych group with very limited national success, the Mojo Men certainly recorded a hell of a lot of material. This compilation contains no less than two dozen previously unreleased 1966 recordings, cut in the uneasy period between when their original label, Autumn, had bit the dust, and they had yet to release tracks with their next company, Reprise. It's no less than the fourth CD of material from the group that's been issued, with no duplication between the discs.

For that reason, even some enthusiastic '60s/San Francisco collectors might wonder whether it's only of peripheral, completist-only interest. It's definitely not, however; a little surprisingly, it has much of the best stuff they ever did, with only a few of the songs that would be re-recorded at Reprise. Far more than their earlier, more garage/British Invasion-inclined recordings prior to the entrance of drummer/singer Jan Errico into the lineup, it has a folk-rock/slightly psychedelic feel somewhat akin to the pre-Grace Slick work of Jefferson Airplane.

Too, it's nonetheless less precious and slick than their more polished (if occasionally fine), baroque rock-influenced Reprise material. Bittersweet, wistful folk-rock with mild garage and psychedelic tinges (and more than a touch of the Beau Brummels) is the main vibe on this strong set of mostly original material, highlighted by the ones on which Errico's stirring, yearning vocals -- the best qualities she brought into the band from her former outfit, the Vejtables -- are prominent.

While some of the tunes are rather run of the mill, the best of them are really good, including the Beau Brummels-style "Is Our Love Gone"; "Not Too Old to Start Cryin'," represented by two versions (and later redone for Reprise); and, above all, "You Didn't Even Say Goodbye," where Errico's singing is a match for Signe Anderson at her best. Even the oddball cover arrangements of "She Cried" (formerly a hit for Jay & the Americans) and the late-'50s Bell Notes rocker "I've Had It" are cool. You could even make an argument for this as the best Mojo Men CD, despite the absence of their only two songs to make appreciable national noise, "Dance with Me" and "Sit Down, I Think I Love You."

One of my favourite bands of that time and genre. Why the band never managed it to reach the top is hard to understand for me. The band had all what the successful bands had and a little more. However, give it a try if you don't know the band.

Enjoy it
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Various Artists - The Girls Want The Boys! ~ Sweden's Beat Girls 1964-1970 (2016 Ace Records) Flac & mp3

Another post where the women and girls play the leading part. But in a complete different kind of music.
Ace gathered here 24 songs performed by swedish female artists. The most well known artists are here for shure Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad from ABBA fame. All the other names i never have heard.

The songs are performed around the half in swedish language and the other half in english. Some of the songs were hits by other artists and will performed here in swedish language. The songs are from the years 1964 till 1970. I think this is for collectors and lovers for this kind of obscure sixties stuff. I added also the LP artwork (it's different). The longplayer have only 12 tracks,
the cd here 24 tracks. If you like it grab it.

Have fun
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Three Girls Of The Sixties Doing Two First Class Albums Of Pop/Psychedelic/Baroque/Soul/Folk/R'n'B. Had A Monster Single(without success) And Sang For Jimi Hendrix. Here Are The Cake!!!

The Cake - More of the Cake (First & Second Album of 1967 & 1968) Rev-Ola 2007 (Original Recordings Remastered) Flac & mp3

Appearing during the waning days of the girl group era and as psychedelia was starting to make a major impact on the charts, the Cake were a trio who bridged the gaps between the two styles, fusing fresh but soulful harmonies with music that embraced the more adventurous aspects of late-'60s pop. The Cake were formed in New York City in 1966 by Eleanor Barooshian (aka Chelsea Lee), Jeanette Jacobs, and Barbara Morillo. Jacobs and Morillo had been performing together as an a cappella duo, and they met Barooshian during an engagement at The Scene, Steve Paul's legendary Greenwich Village rock club.

(Barooshian was also a regular performer at The Scene, and sang a duet with Tiny Tim during a show there that popped up in the counterculture documentary film You Are What You Eat.) Managers Charlie Greene and Brian Stone heard the Cake and took them to Los Angeles, where they landed a deal with Decca Records. The trio's first album, simply entitled The Cake, was produced by Jack Nitzsche with arrangements by Harold Battiste; released in 1967, it featured several tunes that re-created the Phil Spector "Wall of Sound" production style with uncanny accuracy, but also included some upbeat R&B workouts and a handful of string-driven baroque pop tunes with a psychedelic undercurrent.

The group also contributed to the writing of four of the album's songs, rare in the world of girl groups. The Cake toured in support of the album and landed an appearance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and in 1968 they released a second LP, A Slice of the Cake. The sophomore album narrowed the group's musical focus to the folk-rock and psychedelic pop facets of their personality, and this time out Barooshian, Jacobs, and Morillo helped write seven of the LP's ten tunes.

While the two albums would become collectors' items years later, they were not commercially successful at the time, and by the end of 1968 the Cake had broken up. Barooshian (changing her name to Chelsea Lee) and Jacobs continued to work together, contributing backing vocals to the Jimi Hendrix album Electric Ladyland and touring and recording with Ginger Baker's Air Force and Dr. John.

Chelsea Lee also recorded an album with Tetsu Yamauchi, a former member of both Free and the Faces. Morillo continued performing with a variety of groups, including the Act, Nightflyte, and Bambu; she's currently the leader of Barbara Morillo and Shrine. Sadly, Jeanette Jacobs died in 1980 at the age of 30. In 2006, Chelsea Lee and Barbara Morillo performed together as the Cake for the first time since 1968 as part of a Jimi Hendrix memorial show in New York City.(allmusic.com)

Good day Folks, hope all of you have a good start into weekend. We have here at the moment 29 degrees Celsius and the sun is laughing. But i want to say some words about The Cake. I really love this albums because it is a lot different sounds here. And the songs are very good presented on the records. High class vocal arrangements. The solo voices are high class, too. The songwriting of a lot of the songs is in my opinion top notch. The Rev-Ola release is really nice done with a lot pics and big liner notes.
 Enjoy
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