THE BREAKAWAYS
The Breakaways And Friends (Sanctuary; CD)
     In the late 1950s and early 1960s there was a sixteen strong Liverpuddlian singing aggregation called the Vernons Girls, so called because they all worked for Vernons Football pools in the city. Samantha Jones (check out her two CDs on RPM) was a former member and so were the three girls who split off to start the inevitably named Breakaways. Vicki Haseman (who married chirpy singing cockney Joe Brown), Margo Quantrell and Betty Prescot headed for London and the big time. Although they made some fine records of their own (six of which open the disc), it is for their duties as backing singers that they are mainly remembered today (and revered by those who used them). 'Backing singers' is something of a misnomer when it comes to The Breakaways as on a number of the examples offered here, they simply upstage the main character! 
     This disc is a girl pop fan's delight, with a few blokes chucked in for roughage! It is in fact the songs with male leads that stand out as the weakest cuts here. Let's not talk about then Coronation Street star (UK soap opera, and later the original dead half of the '60s Randall & Hopkirk deceased TV series) Ken Cope's atrocious novelty record 'Hands Off Stop Muckin' About' (think Mike Sarn and roll your eyes to heaven!) that ends the disc. Nor shall we dwell on Jimmy Justice who turns in a plodding 'Tell Her', Tony Jackson & The Vibrations 'Bye Bye Baby' which is not of their best material, or Jimmy James & The Vagabonds overly-lethargic take on 'Red Red Wine. Joe Brown does in fact surprise with a rather groovy 'A Satisfied Mind' (Brown was a UK pre-Beatles person of some renown in fact, he was a well respected rock 'n' roll guitarist in the uncategorisable musical void of Britain c.1960 when he played on Billy Fury's The Sound of Fury album, the only authentic UK R&R album ever made in the original period, and deep respect to the man for this, just thought I'd get that in!). This before he lapsed into country and western territory. 
     On all of these numbers, and especially on John L Watson & The Hummelflug's 'Lookin' For Love', also present here, The Breakaways sound infinitely more accomplished than the lead vocalist they're supporting. Their work as a backing group emerged out of their inability to score a hit in their own right (though their material and voices were excellent) and what was designed to fill in the time between their own records became a career path. On the other 9/10ths of this set you get some utterly sublime girl pop experiences courtesy of both The Breakaways themselves and the girls they were backing, not to mention some big studio orchestration and production. Some of the standouts include both Sandra Barry's contributions 'We Were Lovers (When The Party Began)' and 'Question', Sharon Tandy's 'Now That You've Gone', Jan Panter's 'Put Yourself In My Place', both Jackie Trent's offerings 'Send Her Away' and 'Love Is Me, Love Is You', Mally Page's 'Life And Soul of The Party' and Simone Jackson's 'Aint Gonna Kiss Ya'. All of which exude a vocal and arrangement dynamic that was quintessential mid 60s girl pop at its best. The Breakaways were a versatile, highly sought after and respected group who sang for everyone from Cliff Richard to Giles, Giles and Fripp and were the vocal backing on Jimi Hendrix's 'Hey Joe' 45. Good on Sanctuary for giving these strong-voiced girls some long overdue retro-recognition I say. Basically press the skip button on the blokes and listen to this as a fab Brit girl pop collection which should sit snugly right alongside your copies of the RPM Dream Babes series on your shelf. 
www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.co.uk 
Paul Martin

ARTHUR BROWN
Fire: The Story Of Arthur Brown (Castle; 2-CD)
     Opening with the freaked genius of 'Prelude: Nightmare' this double CD overview of Brown's entire career (yup, that's right up to the present) maintains the vibe for nearly a CD's worth of tracks from early albums and singles before reaching the second, which really is quite an effort to listen to... and may I add not due to the music being demanding either! The embers of the roaring fire have certainly smouldered away to nothing over the ensuing years.
     However, there is a buying point. The 1965 R&B recordings from the Reading Rag Record disc ('You Don't Know' / 'Don't Tell Me') and the soulful 'Baby You Know What You're Doing' and 'Green Ball' from the 1966 French soundtrack The Game Is Over are worthy additions to the collection of any blue-eyed soul/mod/freakbeat sucker -- these have only previously been available on limited run bootlegs too. Then from here on the set progresses into the meat of Brown's career starting with debut 'Devil's Grip' (which is cool moody jazzy psych) before moving through the psychedelic era of 'Fire' -- that I'm sure we all know and either love or hate. It must be said the operatic bombast of Brown's voice is an acquired taste which regularly pushed the mark beyond the acceptable.
     Quips aside, this is a nice little package, that'll satisfy anyone who wants Brown's finest sides in one place. Also, this may to be an ideal purchase for those seeking to spend as little as possible on a handful of very Un-Brown-like soul sides and obscuros and who will probably never even get to hear CD2.
www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE CANTERBURY MUSIC FESTIVAL
Rain & Shine (Rev-Ola; CD)
     Originally 'released' in 1969 in an edition of 150 copies (to establish copyright), The CMF's album is the kind of confection we would now all expect and enjoy from Rev-Ola (note this is not a clone of the recent Japanese edition, the sound here is excellent). Produced by The Tokens, the album and the group's story are told fully by Steve Stanley in the liner notes. Roger Gemelle was the vocalist and main writer and the Summery, sometimes wistfully sung soft poppers are largely his. Two standouts amongst these however are firstly 'Super Duper Trooper' written by the Infanzon brothers (on rhythm and bass guitars). As is often the case, this is a song that's over before it's barely begun. At 1.55, it manages to combine Brain Police's 'Election For Mayor' with The Beatles 'Hey Bulldog'. Throw in a chunky fuzz guitar hook line with some confident harmony vocals and at least two references to 'psychedelic' and you've got a hitherto undiscovered garage-psych winner The Zakary Thaks would have been proud of! The second stand out track is 'Mr Snail', a Beatle-esque piece of soft-sike whimsy with some pleasant and lightly applied studio effects. Add a couple of lounge friendly instrumentals in 'Girl of The Skys' and the sitar dominated take of 'Son of A Preacher Man' and you've got yourself a most satisfactory half hour of rare soft pop pleasure for a tenner!
www.revola.co.uk
Paul Martin

(WEST COAST) CONSORTIUM
Looking Back: The Pye Anthology (Sanctuary; CD)
     Devotees of the Ripples, Psychedelic Pstones and Paisley Pop comps will probably already be familiar with West Coast Consortium and Consortium (same band, truncated name). The East London quintet cut seven singles for Pye and a further two for Trend between 1967 and 1971. They scored a minor hit in 1969 with the saccharine 'All The Love In the World' and cut a bona fide pop-psych classic in the phased-to-the-max 'Colour Sergeant Lillywhite'. 
     Like fellow harmony-meisters The Montanas and The Bystanders, who also released a prolific number of singles during their late '60s tenures at Pye, they never got round to cutting an album though 11 demos for a proposed long-player (included here in all their lo-fi glory) were taped as early as 1968. As those bands grew musically and stylistically with the changing times, Consortium rarely stepped beyond the conventional Tony Macaulay/Ivy League blueprint of their 1967 debut 'Some Other Sunday'. Later singles like 'When The Day Breaks' and the excellent 'Melanie Cries Alone' could easily have been recorded in 1966 and despite their harmonic savvy and warm summer lushness, sound decidedly one-dimensional in places. A few more sides infused with the toughness and purpose of the superb 'The Day The Train Never Came' may have cemented Consortium's place in our hearts.
     One for harmony pop aficionados and confirmed softies only.
www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.co.uk
Andy Morten

THE DELMONAS.
Do The Uncle Willy (Get Hip; CD/LP) 
     OK, so this is raw, crude, simple and fantastic. Buy a Delmonas record. I have always had a soft spot for the "Billy Childish girl groups", the '80s/'90s Headcoatees and the early '80s Delmonas. I love that combination of cute girly-pop vocals and crude '60s influenced garage and beat - the girlfriends of The Milkshakes/Mighty Caesars/Headcoats, backed by the boys. The original Delmonas LPs were a fine mix of '60s covers and neat originals written by main Milkshakes Micky Hampshire and Billy Childish. The covers included a vast array of influences, including beat, garage punk, beat, and pop. The boys and girls at Get Hip hit the nail on the head when they describe The Delmonas music as a "clean synthesis, not a pastiche".
     Get Hip have reissued the LP in the hope that it will be appreciated by the new garage generation. Unfortunately they have missed the chance to do a really good Delmonas reissue. Uncle Willy is a short LP, which could have been combined with the best of the other Delmonas material, which has been reissued by Vinyl Japan in the UK. Their entire recorded output would probably fit on one CD! 
     It is a shame that Get Hip only licensed one LP. There isn't anything extra for old time fans whom already own the vinyl, either. Curiously the press release contains a lot of interesting information, but the CD booklet contains none. Would it have been too much trouble to include a biography, discography, interviews with the girls, some extra cool photos, etc? All we get is some cheapo lettering that fills three of the booklet's four pages.
www.gethip.com
Phil Suggitt

THE FAST
The Best Of The Fast 1976-1984 (Munster; CD) 
     The Fast lasted long enough to be contemporaries of the New York Dolls, Blondie AND Bobby O, featured three brothers who all adopted the surname Zone (just like The Ramones, except these chaps really were related), and one of them was the in-house DJ at Max's Kansas City mk 2. Then after a decade they finally found success in the hi-energy genre. Remember 'Male Stripper' by Man 2 Man? That was them. (And that's the last time it'll be mentioned, as I realise I may be alone amongst Shindiggers in appreciating gay disco...). This excellently packaged Munster gatefold CD compiles almost everything the pre-Man 2 Man band recorded, all 23 tracks of it, plus a booklet full of pictures of Paul Zone (the DJ) hobnobbing with the stars and Miki Zone's Split Enz-alike look (which he seems to have come up with simultaneously to the New Zealanders, strangely). To be frank, some of the tracks don't quite count as essential. The real meat of the collection comes with first seven tracks, all of them pure pop which (but for the old school production values) have hardly dated at all. Catchy melodies, tinnily pleasing keyboards and manic drumming. Oh, and the campest lyrics this side of the Shangri-Las - in fact, 'Boys Will Be Boys' is the greatest song that Shadow Morton never got to produce. 'Hawaii' and 'It's Like Love' conjure up the airy feel of summer so perfectly: Jan and Dean harmonies, slightly out of kilter organ and power chords -- the perfect thing to blast out of a convertible in the middle of a traffic jam. 'Wow Pow Bash Crash' goes for a more Glitter Band approach with double tracked drums all over the place. It's a rare thing to notice the middle eights in songs, but the Zones seemed to specialise in writing really great ones. See for example 'Kids Just Wanna Dance' (on here both in original 1977 version and 1979 revamp), a song which manages to combine 1950s sockhop beats with an early electronic veneer. Latter-period Fast would succumb completely to the synthesizer, after a period recording more metallic ditties with titles straight out of a gentleman's interest periodical ('Wet And Wild', 'Girls In Gangs', etc). They also manage a genuinely original take on 'These Boots Are Made For Walking'. Most covers of this song are completely pointless, but theirs is well worth hearing. A great shame to discover that two of the Zones have now been lost to AIDS. Hopefully this album will give more people a chance to appreciate their musical legacy. 
www.munster-records.com
Jane Farrell

HAWKS
Perfect World Radio ( Not Lame Archive series; CD)
(Reviewed a few months back by Jon 'Mojo' Mills, but as Phil has further comments here's another)
     This is Hawks' third album, 21 years after the second! Hawks were a band from Iowa that almost "made it" with two Columbia LPs in 1981 and 1982. This isn't a reunion album, however. Not Lame have released a compilation of unused songs from the 1979-82 period. This is definitely not a collection of rejects and half finished out-takes, though. I have never heard the two previous LPs, but this one can stand on its' own merits.
     Not Lame deserve credit for the careful packaging. There is a band history and a detailed song-by-song commentary from Hawks. You also get in-the-studio photos and a discography for good measure. Top marks for everything except the cover picture. The first LP had an eye catching sleeve painting of falling feathers, but this collection has a blurry blue photo that will do absolutely nothing to attract new listeners.
     Hawks songs reflect a high level of musicianship and long hours in their own studio. Their sound is close to the classic late 70's power pop of bands like The Raspberries, The Pop, 20/20, and The Dudes. Fans of early power pop will be completely at home here. Of the 16 tunes the only cover is a neat version of The Hollies 'I'm Alive'. As the band confess, "we couldn't resist the Hard Days' Night fade out, which speaks volumes about where we were coming from."
     The strongest songs, such as 'Pretty Promises' and 'Pride' compare favourably with their first single 'Right Away', with its' layers of harmony vocals and slide guitars. Sometimes the delicate, almost frail vocals are reminiscent of The Records, the UK's own power pop kings. Some of the keyboard parts sound dated, and I wouldn't have minded if they had erased the horrid early 80's synths that creep in on occasion, but in general the songs win out. How can you not love a band who admit that their Rickenbacker 12-string was diabolical to play and even worse to tune, but they loved the sound so much they persevered until they got the sound they wanted!
www.notlame.com
Phil Suggitt

JOHN PANTRY
Right Side Up (Private CDR)
     The arrival of Tenth Planet's The Upside Down World of John Pantry collection was manna to the pop-psych collector - a long-overdue re-appraisal of John Pantry's scattered late '60s output and possibly the most satisfying thing the label has released so far. However, by omitting as much as it included, it raised as many questions as it answered.
     Which is where Right Side Up comes in. This privately produced home-made artefact mops up the remaining '60s single sides and rather more heroically includes selections from Pantry's early '70s albums as a solo performer and as part of Wolfe, a further non-album single and even a ludicrously obscure film soundtrack contribution. As if that wasn't enough, the package also features alternate takes of several TUDWOJP cuts and cover versions of Pantry songs. Definitive enough for you?
     Pantry's first band Sounds Around weren't included on TUDWOJP, which is a shame as their frantic piano-led 1966 singles are among the highlights here, particularly 'Red, White And You'. The Bunch's version of 'Birthday' is the same take as the Peter & The Wolves one with additional phasing and a different vocal while The Kinsmen's 'Glasshouse Green, Splinter Red' is one of the greatest pop singles of all time in my book so it's good to see that included. The 1973 single 'Sweet Lies' which opens the CD is chronologically the latest tune on offer and one of the best, it's lighter-than-air tone evokes the musical savvy of Elton John and the sheer commerciality of Gilbert O'Sullivan. That may not sound too enticing on paper, but believe me, it works.
     The sound quality is excellent throughout, even on the crumbling acetate cuts, and the liners are simple but effective.
     Yet another case of a fan's labour of love beating the specialist labels at their own game.
Andy Morten

THE POOR
The Poor (Rev-Ola; CD)
     And so another piece of the great jigsaw puzzle that was the 1960's Los Angeles music scene falls into place.
     The Poor (nee The Soul Survivors) left Colorado for the sunshine state in 1967 and, through their friendship with fellow runaways and future Millennium/Ballroom mainstays Joey Stec and Jim Bell, became linked to LA movers and shakers like producer Curt Boettcher and managers Charlie Greene and Brian Stone. Various band members (including a young pre-Stone Canyon Band/Poco/Eagles Randy Meisner) eked out a living playing on sessions for The Association and Tommy Roe and auditioning for bands like The Sunshine Company while The Poor worked the Sunset Strip, impressing local luminaries like Buffalo Springfield with their accomplished brand of commercial folk-rock.
     They cut a handful of sessions under the auspices of Bell and Boettcher, repeatedly re-recording the same songs for a string of singles that appeared on various labels. As Greene and Stone pocketed the advances from each label, The Poor remained, literally, poor! The recordings are typical of the place and time, ranging from tough soul-pop to harmony-driven ballads to good time vaudeville.
     "She's Got The Time (She's Got The Changes)" is the out-and-out classic here and The Poor's take beats the versions by UK band The Afex and US duo Brewer & Shipley (whose Tom Shipley composed the song) hands down. Also of special interest is the excellent "Study In Motion #1" as featured in the 1967 Jack Nicholson vehicle (no pun intended) Hell's Angels On Wheels.
     Revealing interviews with the key players round off this worthwhile package from the consistently eye-opening Rev-Ola label.
www.revola.co.uk
Andy Morten

THE QUICK
Untold Rock Stories (Rev-Ola; CD)
     The second dose of long-lost US 1970s new wave pop this month (see The Fast), and this time it's from the West Coast. First time I was exposed to this band was via Rhino's brilliant 'D.I.Y.' series of compilations covering the late 1970s underground rock scene. The Quick's 'Pretty Please' was included on the Los Angeles volume, but it could quite easily have fitted onto the US power pop disc instead. A collision of urgently riffing guitars, high pitched vocal, proto-synth and skittering rhythm, it was staggeringly good and (along with the utter genius of The Pop's 'Down On The Boulevard' and The Zeros' 'Don't Push Me Around') stood out a mile. I'd assumed that Rhino had used the "official" version of the song, but it turns out to be an early version which is also used on this, Rev-Ola's superbly packaged and informative collection of the band's demos. Along with RPM and Captain Oi!, Rev-Ola are on the podium when it comes to enhancing our lives with music that otherwise would be lost to the world . There really is no other UK label who can touch these three labels on the reissue front: they ought to be categorised as national treasures and sport big blue plaques on every release. Would anyone else have bothered getting this stuff together - and managed to do such a great job - if they hadn't bothered? Unlikely. 
     Anyway, on to the music. Let's say it shortly and sweetly: every song is wonderful. Most unusually, The Quick took such a professional approach to recording their demos that the listener doesn't feel short changed that these aren't the ones that ended up on Mondo Deco or Alpha/Beta. Which is fortunate, as Mercury seem determined to keep their big fat major label backsides on the former album rather than letting anyone else actually put it out! (ooh, can't have that, people might actually buy and enjoy it!). The comparison that always pops up anytime The Quick are mentioned is Sparks, and there's no getting away from the fact that there's a huge similarity between classic era Mael Brothers (1973 to 1976) and the songs here (1976 to 1978). But why sweat over that? I mean, what finer aspiration could a band have than to create material that could have slotted neatly onto Kimono My House? Danny Wilde sounds just like Russell Mael, Steven Hufsteter plays just like Adrian Fisher and Danny Benair might as well be Dinky Diamond. Who cares? If only more bands had used Sparks as their template. My record collection would be larger, that's for sure.
     Other points worth mentioning: the descending vocal melody in 'No No Girl' sounds just like The Sweet (I bet the band's songwriter Hufsteter attended glam-rock haunt Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco on more than one occasion). Kim Fowley produced a bunch of these tracks, and also managed the band in their early days. Beck's dad David Campbell produced the rest. Emitt Rhodes engineered track 20. And they cover both 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' and 'Born Free' (which fades out far too early) without resorting either to kitsch or irony. Result: beautiful and emotional versions of standards which I thought had long lost their ability to move me. True long-lostgreatness, Untold Rock Stories is a dream of a record.
www.revola.co.uk
Jane Farrell

RHINOCEROS
Rhinoceros
Satin Chickens / Better Times Are Coming (Both Collector's Choice Music; CD)
     Just when you start thinking that all of the great, long forgotten and overlooked albums of the '60s have been unearthed, Collectors' Choice Music surprises us once again by issuing on CD for the first time, Rhinoceros' stunning eponymous debut album. Recorded for Elektra Records in 1968, the album is undoubtedly Rhinoceros' strongest collection, a fact the label recognises by its decision to release the band's second and third albums on one CD. Nevertheless, while 'Satin Chickens' and 'Better Times Are Coming' lack the consistency of the group's debut album, they also contain some of the group's strongest individual tracks. Having said all that, however, Matthew Greenwald's excellent and informative liner notes and the superb sound quality make both CDs a worthwhile purchase, particularly for anyone remotely interested in The Band, Buffalo Springfield and Booker T & The MGs, whose music Rhinoceros bares some similarity to. 
     Pieced together by Doors producer Paul Rothchild over the winter of 1967/1968, Rhinoceros looked a formidable outfit on paper. Lead guitarist Danny Weis and bass player Jerry Penrod had been original members of San Diego's top group, Iron Butterfly and had appeared on the band's debut album, Heavy. Drummer Billy Mundi meanwhile was an in-demand session musician and a former member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. Second lead guitarist Doug Hastings was also relatively well known. Having tasted regional success with Seattle's first alternative rock band, The Daily Flash, Hastings had also briefly covered for an absent Neil Young in Buffalo Springfield in the summer of 1967. Gospel-inspired vocalist John Finley meanwhile had previously co-fronted one of Toronto's finest R&B outfits, Jon and Lee & The Checkmates and was responsible for bringing in that group's keyboard player, Michael Fonfara, who had also briefly subbed for Barry Goldberg in Michael Bloomfield's Electric Flag. The final piece in the jigsaw was Alan Gerber, a talented singer, pianist and songwriter who'd studied composition at Chicago's Roosevelt University.
     Rhinoceros (named by Gerber after his favourite animal) quickly got to work, and abetted by engineer John Haeny, Rothchild recorded the group's debut album, live in the studio, during June and July 1968. The result was a powerful mixture of funk, soul, rock and blues, demonstrated best on the album's opening number, 'When You Say You're Sorry'. Perhaps more than any of the songs on the album, Gerber's hard-rock number contains all of the group's trademark ingredients - Weis and Hastings duelling guitars, Penrod's propulsive bass, Mundi's solid drumming, Fonfara's commanding hammond and Finley and Gerber's contrasting yet complementary vocals. 
     Highlights are hard to chose, although Gerber's haunting 'That Time of The Year' and Finley's 'I Will Serenade You' are strong contenders; the latter incidentally later became a hit for Three Dog Night after Finley partially re-wrote it. Ironically for a band containing two great singers, the album (and the group) remains best known for the Weis-Fonfara instrumental 'Apricot Brandy', subsequently used as a BBC radio theme and Rhinoceros' only major hit single (if #46 can be considered major hit!). 
     Rhinoceros proved to be the group's defining moment. By the time Satin Chickens appeared in late 1969, both Penrod and Rothchild were gone (replaced by former Checkmate Peter Hodgson and producer David Anderle). And while it contains some excellent individual cuts (Finley's 'Don't Come Crying' and Gerber's 'Find My Hand' to name a few), it was obvious that the group had lost a lot of its early momentum. Shortly afterwards, Hastings, Gerber and Mundi also departed and the remaining members reconvened with former Jon and Lee & The Checkmates guitarist Larry Leishman and drummer/vocalist Duke Edwards, who'd been The Checkmates' road manager. 
     Better Times Are Coming is perhaps the weakest of the group's albums due in part to fact that new producer Guy Draper contributes almost half of the material, much of which falls short of the band's standards. In fact, Better Times seems like an entirely new group, with Edwards also dominating the vocals. Sounding strongly reminiscent of Lester Chambers of The Chambers Brothers, Edwards provides the album's highlights with the funky 'Old Age' and 'Lady of Fortune'. However, it is the album's title track where the group really comes into its own with Edwards and Finley trading vocals to great effect. 
     The only gripe about these releases is the absence of previously unreleased material; the group reportedly recorded around 15 tracks for its debut album and Gerber in particular claims that some of his best material has yet to see the light of day. Nevertheless, Collectors' Choice Music's decision to finally make these albums available is a welcomed development and perhaps at long last, the group's contribution to the late '60s rock scene can be finally appreciated.
     Anyone interested in finding out more about this group's fascinating history should check out the Rhinoceros website.
www.rhinoceros-group.com
Nick Warburton

SANDY SALISBURY
Do Unto Others (Sonic Past Music; CD)
     Do Unto Others is the U.S. release of the solo album by the gentleman who could have certainly bore the appellation of Curt Boettcher's "right hand man" in such projects as The Ballroom and The Millennium. The tunes that make up Do Unto Others were originally recorded in 1969 (the first 11 of which were slated for a proper album release), and it's a work that is virtually as ambitious and innovative as the best of Boettcher (Boettcher's co-production work on the album no doubt played a large part in this). It's deliciously ironic that a man who prides himself on being from the nation's 50th United State came up with an album that, due to its varied and down-to-earth musical styles, could be considered a slice of Americana. Salisbury's sweet and innocent lead vocal, along with the tasteful use of pedal steel and Boettcher's angelic background vocals, make Do Unto Others an extremely endearing listen. Homespun tunes such as 'The Hills of Vermont' and 'Cecily' are intertwined with the pulsating, irresistable 'The Good Ol' Goodtimes' and the swingin', horn filled 'Spell On Me', while 'Baby Listen' calls to mind the theoretical, magical meeting of Spector and The Cowsills, and 'Goody Goodbye' could have fit perfectly in the Buddah bubblegum stable. Salisbury throws in a couple of solid covers for good measure: 'Come Softly To Me', (he says the Fleetwood's version inspired his musical career), and a perky take on The Beach Boys 'With Me Tonight', which Salisbury entitles 'On And On She Goes', in honour of the song's hook line.
     The final four songs on Do Unto Others can be considered bonus tracks. The best of these are 'Sweet Sweet Cinnamon', which should have been a hit, and an alternate, more bubblegummy version of 'Spell On Me'. Do Unto Others is simply a sublime and uplifting listening experience. 
www.sonicpastmusic.com
David Bash

THE SWAMP RATS
Disco Still Sucks (Get Hip Archive Series; LP / CD)
     And well it might when coming up against this avalanche of fuzz and vocal squall! Garage heads have long been familiar with this crew, improving as it does on the rather haphazard Disco Sucks collection of some years back (hence the revisited title). For everyone else, there is a deluxe LP sized four page insert with detailed liners by Doug Sheppard to tell you all about 'em (it took me the length of the LP to read 'em all, and no, I'm not short sighted!) along with some snazzy period pics ('66-'67). Long-time reissue fans will quite likely have heard some of these toons on other comps such as Burghers Vol. 1 for instance, and their take on The Sonics' 'Psycho' turns up here and there as well, but to get them all in one place along with a batch of material not heard before is cool. 
     You may feel you never want or need to hear another rendition of 'Louie Louie' as long as you live, but let The Swamp Rats change your mind. A la Sonics (their icons) it is a tour de force of teen fury and overdriven guitar brashness that is second to none. If that wasn't enough, original number 'Hey Freak' follows with every bit as much adrenaline and abandon. They do a cool 'She's Got Everything' in which they show off their pop chops, and just listen to 'em ripping into The Sparkles 'No Friend of Mine'. A few classy poppers, a ballad or two and a whole lotta garage attitude make this a great album of its type. You'll be revisiting all those Back From The Grave volumes like it was 1985 again!
www.gethip.com
Paul Martin

THE THIRD RAIL
ID Music (Rev-Ola; CD)
     This has to be my reissue of the month, no question!! The Third Rail may be most familiar to people in their contribution to the Nuggets CD box set (or original double album) with 'Run, Run, Run' and it's spoken middle part reciting the stock exchange percentages such as "general chaos is up five". There's a similar (and even more disjointed) track in 'She Ain't No Choir Girl' and 'It's Time To Say Goodbye' is a semi-hushed voiced ballad which strokes like aural silk across your ears. These apart, the majority of the other 14 cuts (plus four bonus single versions) are sublime soft sike and soft pop of the highest order. The Third Rail were a seventeen year-old Joey Levine, Artie Resnick and his wife Kris, and a one-off gig aside were a studio entity. These recordings are prior to and largely left of centre of the bubblegum bruhaha that was to follow at Buddha for Levine and Resnick (and I love a lot of that too!). These songs feature accomplished and confident vocal harmonies, excellent arrangements, sometimes lightly orchestrated, often sitar inflected. It's hard to single any particular number out, as there are so many good ones. Levine's precocious talent and the Resnick's experience found a sublime expression in their combination that's for sure. 'Is Mr Peters Coming', 'Swinger', the ever so commercial yet terminally hip riff sounding 'Jack Rabbit', Run, Run, Run's flip 'No Return' and 'Dream Street', 'Invisible Man', pick any of 'em, they're all winners and that's not to mention a pre- Max Frost & The Troopers rendition of 'Shape of Things To Come'. Dawn Eden's liners are full and detailed and the whole package is only mid-price. If you dig the lightly psych inflected pop (veering into popsike proper in places) and soft pop generally, The Third Rail is a must-have, I'm gonna put my copy back on the player right now!
www.revola.co.uk
Paul Martin

TOWNES VAN ZANDT
Townes Van Zandt (Sunspot; CD)
     Nicely packaged (CD masquerading as miniature gatefold album) and annotated reissue of Townes' third album. His songs were always more successful when covered by other artists (Willie, Emmylou, Tindersticks,etc) but that wasn't for lack of quality in his own renditions. There were periodic attempts during the late 1980s and early 1990s (usually in Melody Maker) to try and get him some attention as an artist, which seemed to be slowly and surely working. Until with the fatalistic bad luck of one of the characters in his songs, he died aged only 52. File with Roy Orbison and Arthur Alexander in the "we wuz robbed" section. Some of the songs here are reworkings of tracks that appeared in a more orchestrated form on his first album. The sparser, acoustic folk arrangements here suit them much better. Broadly speaking, country music lyrics seek to tell a story, as opposed to rock music lyrics which tend to describe an emotional state (OK, OK, there are a ton of exceptions to this rule, but bear with me here...). The songs that work best on this album are those which follow this dictate: 'Waiting Around To Die', 'Lungs' and to a lesser extent the Dylan-esque 'Fare Thee Well Miss Carousel', where Van Zandt's clear and melodious vocal is sympathetically placed in the mix and you can hear quite clearly what he's singing about. Just be warned, though: this is a pretty downbeat collection. Whatever you do, don't try listening to it whilst in the throes of a personal crisis, or you'll be attaching a noose to the light fixture in a trice.
Jane Farrell

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Bubblegum Soul (Sanctuary; CD)
     Warning - new genetic musical hybrid alert! Actually, when you think about it, bubblegum music and soul music are far from the unlikely bedfellows they may appear to be. After all, The Fifth Dimension found success peddling sugar-coated confections like 'Up, Up And Away' alongside their patented brand of "California Soul", The Jackson Five's breakthrough hit 'I Want You Back' is equal parts Temptations and 1910 Fruitgum Company and future "Walrus of Love" Barry White achieved the ultimate bubblegum accolade by virtue of his contributions to The Banana Splits spin-off albums! It's only a hop, skip and jump from the choreographed slickness of The Four Tops to the production line shop front that was Blue Mink.
     Which is why Mink's oddly enduring ode to universal brotherhood, 'Melting Pot', can inconspicuously rub shoulders with the likes of Chairmen of The Board's evergreen 'Give Me Just A Little More Time', The Foundations' Hollywood-endorsed 'Build Me Up Buttercup', The Javells' irresistible 'Goodbye (Nothing To Say)' and The Honey Cone's 'Want Ads' which is itself a virtual 'I Want You Back' re-write and one of many highlights of this snappy, well-executed collection.
     And when I heard Sweet Sensation's 'Sad Sweet Dreamer' I was knocked sideways by a tidal wave of nostalgia that didn't let me go til Friday.
     A resounding success - more please.
www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.co.uk
Andy Morten

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Colour Me Pop Vol. 2 (CD; Flashback Productions)
     More poptasitc dancefloor fillers on Vol. 2 of this must-have series. Blue-eyed club-soulful pounders and toy-town pop pleasers abound on this comp in equal measure. There are some beautiful finds such as The Mindbenders 'The Man Who Loved Trees', The Elastic Band's 'Think of You Baby', The Mirror's 'Gingerbread Man' and Jigsaw's soulful 'Lollipop And Goody Man' amongst them. I've had The Snappers 'Upside Down, Inside Out' on a DVD of Beat Club for some time, but now I can add the actual 45 for CD enjoyment, a great pop pleaser. Graham Gouldman never fails to please and his 'Upstairs, Downstairs' is as good as he gets, with a tale of a shy boy and girl. Manfred Mann's 1966 'Machines' is a great find, and sounds a year ahead of its time, pop with oncoming sike. Jackie Lomax's take on the Gibb Brothers 'One Minute Woman' is a nicely spirited version as is blue-eyed soulsters Double Feature's 'Just Another Lonely Night'. 
     Circus's 'Sink or Swim' has a certain Alan Bown-ishness about it which is very pleasant. John Pantry surfaces in Sounds Around's 'Red White And Blue' which manages to be both toy-town whimsy and power pop at the same time! He turns up again in The Bunch's 'Birthday' another winner. Young Idea's 'Room With A View' is a lovely example of the many vocal duo's of the time (check out their sole LP on MFP in the UK if you like this, the whole album is excellent pop). 
     Basically, if you have a disposition for the classier pop side of the sixties, you can't afford to be without this comp. Colourfully packaged and presented, it is a jewel of collection where the compiler has paid attention to not duplicating what's already out there. From the same label that brings you the Jagged Time Lapse series (Vol. 5 of which is just a couple of months away), Flashback Productions is a hallmark of collector comp quality, this should be doing heavy rotation on your CD player! 
andy@james.karoo.co.uk
Paul Martin

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Dans Le Vent Vol. 2 (Les Disques Echo '67; LP)
     I was a big fan of Vol. 1 of this series of Quebecqoise pop, beat and garage (and even the odd psyche number) and looked forward to Vol. 2 with enthusiasm. I have not been disappointed. Other than the opener which is a francaphone take on Bobby Picket's 'Monster Mash' (perfunctory at best), this is a cool collection. I especially liked Jenny Rock's two contributions ('J'aime Tous les Garcons' and 'Mal'). Other solo performers; Gene Williams, Pierre Perpall and Robert Arcand and Francoise Carel turn in good performances many of which should be popular with the the Shake and yeah yeah collectors.
     Combo offerings also abound, Les Copains 'Le Chat', La Bel-Air's cover of 'Land of a Thousand Dances' ('Mille Danses') and Les Odds amongst others all make this a worthwhile comp. Pride of place (as it so often is in these surroundings) has to be reserved for Les Sinners who delight here with 'La Place', one cool number to be sure. Ok the liners are all in French and if you don't speak French waddaya gonna do etc etc., but the music speaks for itself another strong volume in what I hope will be a continuing series, this is nice stuff.
Paul Martin

VARIOUS
Doin' The Mod Vol. 5: That Driving Beat (Castle; CD)
     At one time, a set of British club soul 45s like this would have been offered up (by any reissue label) without qualification as soul per se. In more knowing times however, as Peter Doggett's liners point out, this won't do. Therefore Sanctuary have repositioned their pitch for their fifth volume of mid '60s Mod friendly sounds, by pointing out how un-American these offerings sound and how mods of the time would not have listened to them (not Doin' The Mod then?). Whenever white folks applied their mouths or fingers to a black musical idiom, it always ends up changing it, sometimes subtly, other times more overtly. As Doggett notes for instance about opening track Lucas & The Mike Cotton Sound's 'Step Out of Line': "the organ and cello features would never have appeared on an US soul record". Elsewhere, flourishes of well hidden fuzz guitar (on Keith Powell and Billie Davies's take on 'When You Move You Lose') or beat stylings (The Undertakers' 'Think') also serve to remind us of the reinterpretation, albeit subconsciously no doubt in many cases, being made. 
     No self-respecting mod of the time would have given any of the 45s featured here the time of day, regarding them as pale (literally!) pastiches of the real Black American thing. Outside of cyclical time though, we can indulge in retrospection and see the lineage of these records as having as much to do with the self-conscious evolution of British musical tradition as it has with wanting to mimic Black American soul. These records form a sort of soul sub-genre all of their own. The nuances and idiosyncrasies that are recognisable as the peccadilloes of studio producers and arrangers, along with the sometimes mannered vocalising, make these domestic products seem somehow more appealing than they would have at a greater distance from us.
     As is usual with these Sanctuary comps, you get a lucky dip bag which recycles the material available on other Sanctuary product, along with some genuine obscurities. Brit girl fans may well find this set of interest. Offerings from Nita Rossi, Stella Star and (the best ones) Kim D, Val McKenna (dig that bass!) and Tawney Reed (see also the RPM's Dream Babes series) are most enjoyable. You also find the girl backing group The Breakaways upstaging The Hummelflugs singer John L Watson and virtually stealing the show on the otherwise mediocre 'Lookin' For Love' (and which also features on The Breakaways own CD, reviewed elsewhere here this month).
     Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band turn up a Four Tops-alike killer in 'If This s Love' (a standout on this set) whilst Jimmy James and The Vagabonds balladic 'Ain't No Big Thing' is probably the nearest Brits (ok, he was American) ever got to the New York Wand / Sceptre labels big city soul sound a la Tommy Hunt. The Blue Chips take on 'Tell Her', turns the more familiar pop-soul hit version by Reperata and The Dellrons into the grittiest, earthiest Memphis soul stew you could find this side of the Thames. Call me Mr Picky, but there are a couple (Revolution, Ways & Means) who whilst clearly soul based, had moved on somewhat to be properly here. Nonetheless, this is another good mid-priced, value for money collection of mid-'60s mod (if only in retrospect!) movers and groovers. It most closely fits in with volume one's hammond soul grooves, so try them back to back and enjoy!
www.sanctuarygroup.com 
Paul Martin

VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Electric Lemonade Acid test Vol. 4: An Anthology Of The Spark label '67-'70 (10th Planet; LP)
     This is the second Acid Test volume to look at Southern Music's offshoot Spark label. As always with 10th Planet, the liners are detailed and the pics a treat on the insert, whilst the usual Phil Smee sleeve art is also present and correct.
     Let's begin with the one-offs on this volume. Timothy Blue's 'Room At The Top of The Stairs' is a great little pop floater (think Fading Yellow era Mike Batt) with the occasional orchestrated flourish. This is a very Spinning Wheel friendly track. Simon De Lacey present their flip ' Goodbye Love', to the A side featured on Vol. 3. A good pop mover with folk-rock-a-like undertones and a good hook, ideal for Rubble fans. The Eggy's 'You're Still Mine' turns up here (first heard on a Circus Days comp of yore). It's overly familiar to fans of pop/sike, but for the uninitiated it's a fuzz-wah-wah driven (as a novelty I would imagine) vocal pop pleaser, a great tune and sure to please if you don't already know it backwards! Icarus's 'You're In Life' (first comped on Voyage Through The Sugar Cube) is a very pleasing track. Though recorded in '68, it has a strong '65-'66 mod club-soul feel to it with it's Alan Bownish horn section and mod friendly vocal pattern. A good pacey pop tune which can do no wrong in my book.
     On to the multiple appearances. Fruit Machine turn up again. The LP kicks off in fact with their competent but generic take on 'Sunshine of Your Love'. 'Follow Me' is a great, strident and emotive pounder (heard previously on a Hen's Teeth volume I think). 'Willow Tree' is a new one on me, and is a nice, slower rock ballad with some bluesy descending guitar work. Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera are one of the star turns on this set with two previously unissued at the time cuts. Firstly, under the guise of 'The Illusion of Happiness' they provide 'Talk of The Devil', from a 27-minute film short of the same name made in '67. This is a great stop - start type number with a strong whiff of 'American Woman' about it, Steppenwolf fans would be right in there! Secondly, 'And I Remember' also form '67 is a light, fast pop-soul number with woodwind embellishments and a good chorus hook, two great tunes in fact.
     A New Generation serve up 'Smokey Blues Away, a rather nondescript A side based on Dvorak's 'New World Symphony'. 'She's A Solider Girl' is a good enough pop number, but will be familiar to all who have ploughed into the Rubble reissues of late. A New Generation morphed into 'The Baby'. Their A side featured on Vol. 3, here we get the flip 'Michael Blues'. This is not a blues at all but a great quirky mid-paced period pop number: "Michael has a daughter who doesn't find it easy to be free, Michael has a woman, she's got a lot you shouldn't see". Pop whimsy fans will love this little gem! The Carter/Alquist/Keen/Shaw writing partnerships crop up under three guises. 'Laughing Man' (heard elsewhere previously I'm sure) is a great lysergic head teaser; especially with it's excellently performed spoken word passage. 'Give A Hand To The Clown' is too Beach Boys (what's wrong in that Paul? - Ed) for me, but is fast, friendly, and sounds tailor made for a period coke ad. 'Magic People' rescued, David Wells tells us from an enth generation cassette tape of a long lost acetate, is almost pop-folk (think Harper & Rowe, Jim & Dale, Richard Twice etc etc), very pleasant with a harmony vocal bridge. It has the feel of an unfinished demo, but certainly deserved to be rescued!
     I've saved my favourite until last. Eartha Kitt. As on Vol. 3, she is given an outing with the second of three Donovan covers that she recorded on her 1970 Sentimental Eartha album (someone get that to me now please, I need this bad!!) 'Wear Your Love Like Heaven' is a beautiful cover with an insistent bendy guitar permeating throughout whilst Eartha purrrrs and soulful sisters empathise in the background, a real must have for soft pop aficionados. All in all another delicious package of pop goodies from 10th Planet and a welcome place on my shelf anyway!
Paul Martin

VARIOUS ARTISTS
House Of Many Windows (Sanctuary; CD)
     The third installment of the excellent Psychedelic Pstones series focuses on the Morgan Blue Town label and various related Morgan studio projects.
Recent years have seen Morgan mainstays The Smoke, The Orange Bicycle, Cliff Wade, Angel Pavement, Chimera and Motherlight anthologised, re-issued or excavated, allowing us a peak into the mysterious world of this ambitious label. Those acts are represented by a mixture of the familiar ('Hyacinth Threads', 'Green Mello Hill', 'House of Many Windows', though no 'My Friend Jack' fortunately) and the obscure (the wonderful alternate version of The Smoke's 'Sydney Gill', Chimera's 'Mary's Mystery', Cliff Wade's 'Sister'). 
     However, there's still a clutch of lesser-known acts worthy of investigation. For those of a pop-psych persuasion (and why would you be reading if you aren't?) there's 'Mr Partridge Passed Away Today', the best of three contributions from Fortes Mentum, 'We Should Be Free' by America (yes the very same - their paths first crossed in Morgan studios) which is more akin to The Bee Gees than Neil Young and Bob Grimm's folky 'It Never Stays the Same'. Grimm later joined The Four Seasons who were recording at Morgan in the early 70's - it was that kind of place.
     On a slightly more wayward progressive note there's Red Dirt's unremarkable 'Memories' and two tracks from Pussy, the excellent 'Come Back June' and the doom-laden 'The Open Ground' whose lyrics take sixth-form pseudo-psychedelic wordplay to new levels of hilarity!
     Fickle Pickle and Barnaby Rudge's offerings are fairly lightweight affairs, cut by Morgan staffers Wil Malone, Danny Beckerman and Geoff Gill during their lunch hour. The tiresome Mockney-isms of the latter's 'Joe Organ & Co' was obviously an ill-judged attempt to score a hit single. Well, if the Small Faces could do it…
     Indeed, it's this combination of releasing lame staff in-jokes as singles while simultaneously failing to capture talented acts such as Chimera satisfactorily in the studio that probably led to the label's undoing. For all the devil-may-care bravery and whimsical good humour of the Morgan ethos, the finished product is occasionally little more than throwaway.
     Luckily with artists the calibre of The Smoke and Angel Pavement and writers as intuitive as Danny Beckerman and Cliff Wade, Morgan Blue Town's place in the history of British psychedelic pop is guaranteed.
www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.co.uk
Andy Morten

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Strawberry Bubblegum (Sanctuary; CD)
     This is a marvelous collection of tunes recorded between 1969-1972 at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, the playground of future 10cc stalwarts Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart. Several of the tracks herein are sung by these gents, as well as the two other 10cc original members, Kevin Godley and Lol Crème, who had worked with Gouldman throughout the years. The tracks were largely written by these men, and recorded under several pseudonyms (so that many of them could be released over a short period; an ingenious ploy to get several songs to chart simultaneously-sadly, it didn't work) and these, along with tracks by Peter Cowap and others, comprise Strawberry Bubblegum.
     The 10cc boys showed an acumen for various styles, as evidenced by several of the tracks on Strawberry Bubblegum. As examples, Gouldman lends his lead vocals to the downhome bubble pop of 'Sausalito (Is The Place To Go)' by The Ohio Express (Gouldman had been under contract with Buddah bubblebum kings Kasenetz-Katz, and though The Ohio Express was a huge hitmaking machine in the States, Kasenetz-Katz had the rights to use the name however they chose. No matter, nobody cared who the band really was, anyway), as well as 'Travellin' Man' by Tristar Airbus. Kevin sings the gospel flavored 'Umbopo' by Doctor Father, as well as a better version of the same song, 'There Ain't No Umbopo' by Crazy Elephant, and Lol Crème supplies a silly but engaging falsetto to a glittery version of 'Da Doo Run Run' by Grumble'. Other gems include the excellent bubblegum tune 'Susan's Tuba' by none other than Freddie & The Dreamers (whouda thunk it??), the heavier 'Come On Plane' by Silver Fleet and 'The Joker' by Garden Odessey, and the absolutely stunning 'Today' by Festival, elegantly sung by Godley ('Today' also appeared in a re-recorded-and even better- version on the second pressing of the lone album by the pre-10cc band The Hotlegs.). The Peter Cowap tunes range from the country flavours of 'Tampa, Florida' to the reggae stylings of 'Wicked Melinda'. You even get the obligatory football song, 'Boys In Blue' by Manchester City F.C.! 
     If you're into early '70s Top 40-styled pop, Strawberry Bubblegum is definitely the place where you'll want to turn the dial. 
www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.co.uk
David Bash

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Unearthed Merseybeat (Viper; CD)
     Working backwards, Viper Records brings us their third, and most coveted, volume documenting the historical importance of the Liverpool music scene. This new CD release is a living document of the birth of Merseybeat and the fading embers of the Merseybeat scene, as it was eclipsed by encroaching psychedelic scene.
     Of historic importance are the seeds of Merseybeat represented by Johnny Guitar/Paul Murphy, King-Size Taylor, The Remo Four, and The Dennisons with what was to be the first of many Liverpool bands covering Little Richard's 'Tutti Frutti'.
     The interesting sonic treats for most fans of the genre will be the inclusion of the almost forgotten prince of the Merseyside, Jimmy Campbell. Jimmy Campbell's contributions are spellbinding and reason enough to run out and order this CD post haste. Jimmy's second band, The Kirkbys, is represented by two unreleased demos. The first, 'Dreaming', was covered by Jimmy's friends, The Sorrows, as a b-side to their 1969 final Fontana single, 'Lovely Loretta'. It is an unfair comparison, as The Kirby's demo is just that, while The Mersey's version is a fully realized piece of late blooming pop-psych in full regalia. The other unearthed Kirkby's demo is a Gene Clark/Byrds inspired 12-string opus, 'Don't Want Me No More', and is unlike anything Jimmy has recorded. The third Jimmy Campbell related gem is the 1966 Swinging Blue Jeans Revolver styled, 'Keep Me Warm ('Til The Sun Shines)' and the highlight of the entire package. Wah-wah fuzz guitar and swirling organ foretell the summer of love to come. These Campbell penned tracks all demonstrate a very strong case to compile more of this shamelessly unrecognised talent's work.
     The Mersey's pop up with an unreleased, brass-less, first version of the classic 'Sorrow'. This version was recorded in Denmark Street and differs in that Jack Bruce played bass, as Billy Kinsley was a little intimidated to assume the chore. John Paul Jones was handed the duty by default on the final released version, as Jack couldn't make the session and Billy could not read the charts! Jimmy Page and Vic "John Barry Seven" Flick (the guy who played the 'James Bond Theme') handled the guitars and session great Clem Cattini played drums.
     Other compiled artists that will be of interest are: The Eyes (no, not those Eyes!), 'She'. These "Liverpool" Eyes were comprised of Lewis Collins, Paddy Chambers, Gibson Kemp, and Klaus Voorman; Jason Eddie's (Billy Fury's younger brother) 'Mr. Busdriver,' and Wimple Winch's 'Rumble On Mersey Square South.' Wimple Winch is the last song on the CD and a fitting conclusion from the cradle to the doors of psychedelia.
     Viper has done a great job presenting such diversity and changing Liverpool music scene from 1957-1968. Keep in mind that this is a compilation of unreleased tracks and many from well-worn acetates. It is primarily the early historical tracks that are sonically challenged, but be glad that they have been captured for future generations that think it began and ended with the Fab Four.
www.the-viper-label.co.uk
Mark A. Johnston