ANY TROUBLE
Where Are All The Nice Girls? (Stiff; CD)
Any Trouble's songwriter Clive Gregson is one of the finest English pop/folk
songwriters of his generation. All the signs were there on this, his first 1980 album, which has been
re-released by Stiff. Although some of Clive's later, classic songs and recordings with Christine Collister
and his solo albums are more reflective or just plain sad, his early efforts are full of fast,
upbeat pop gems, brimming with the bands' youthful optimism and enthusiastic, direct performances.
Tunes like 'Second Choice', 'Nice Girls' and 'Playing Bogart' are just full of timeless pop hooks,
great singing and intelligent lyrics of love and pain. Chris Parks' melodic guitar breaks deserve
special mention.
The vocals have that yearning quality at the heart of all the best power pop,
and the songs are simple, direct and irresistibly catchy. In truth, this was one of the albums I
played to my friends to find out if they really liked pop music!
As Clive honed his craft, every Any Trouble album contained at least two
or three songs which were as good as three minute pop music gets. Hopefully Stiff are planning
to re-release these too. Yeah – here's to all the nice girls.
www.stiffrecords.com
Phil Suggitt
ATTILA
Beginning Of The End (Wah Wah; LP + 45)
Intencion (Wah Wah; LP)
GOBLIN
The Fantastic Voyage Of – The Sweet Sound Of Hell (Bella Casa; CD)
Euro symphonic progressive music was a fair few years behind what we were
doing in Britain, but the Spanish and Italians certainly funked up the bassline and tripled the
repetition creating a rather oppressive wall of sound. And of course, in 2007 many deejays and
vinyl vultures find this a thing of odd beauty.
Catalan symphonic progsters Atilla played heavily with the Floyd
template of '69-'72 and gained some success in France. Their first two albums ('75-'76),
beautifully repackaged by Wah Wah offer lots of keyboards, classically trained pretence
and sample worthy loops.
Meanwhile, Bella Casa's horror maestros Goblin get a thorough
over view on The Fantastic Voyage Of. The syncopated 'Death Dies' from Profundo Roso
(1973) is wonderful and the folky medieval witch stance of Suspira (1977) genuinely
unnerving, but the post-'78 dark synth mood pieces may have worked in the cinema but
now sound like John Carpenter knock offs, and at worst the music from Blake's Seven
or cod disco funk ('Patrick'). Still, there's no doubting that Italian musos Goblin
and their line in soundscapes benefited the blood letting and psychological torture
of Dario Argento's movies.
www.wah-wahsupersonic.com
www.cherryred.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
LOS CHECKMATES
Los Mejor De Los Monkees, Los Beatles, Los Turtles, Los Rolling Stones Y Los Hermans Hermits
LOS ELECTRONICOS
Tradicion En Transicion
LOS GRIMM
Viaje En La Alfombra Magica (Maximum Freakbeat From Spain 1965/1969)
LOS MACS
Kaleidoscope Men
LOS VIDRIOS QUEBRADOS
Fictions (all Electro Harmonix; 10" LP)
Munster's Electro Harmonix have done a pretty neat job of
reissuing neglected Latin nuggets. So okay the polite cover versions of Chilean's
Los Checkmates may be nothing more than wholly competent and Columbia's space age
Los Electronicos variation on Meeksville sci-fi instros and go go garage freakouts
are novel for only a few spins, but to be able to see and hear these shrunken down
albums is certainly archaeologically worthwhile. The South American garage/instro
scene has been neglected and thanks to Munster their artistes, whether great or
average, are getting a bloody good second chance and first time European airing.
And there's some rather good stuff too. Chilean groups
Los Macs and Los Vidrios Quebrados both embraced psychedelia after the Sgt Pepper's...
aftermath and sang in perfect English (well English like the Dutch bands per'aps).
Even if these two groups wanted to be psychedelic the emphasis was still very much
on jangly simplicity rather than orchestrated Abbey Road affectations. And this is
cool. Los Vidrios Quebrados in particular have a very mellow garage sound not unlike
the cherished New England bands and Los Macs do as much as they can with their resources
and create a brilliant stripped down sound with some good vocals, which I adore.
Finally, Los Grimm, who were from Madrid, got pretty psychedelic
for a national act in Franco's Spain. Although like many foreign bands their singles
relied on translated versions of British and American hits their arrangements and fuzzy
performance are pretty cool. Their fast take on Bubble Puppy's 'Hot Smoke & Sassafras'
is definitely a winner.
Snap up Los Grimm, Los Macs and Los Vidrioes Quebrados before
they vanish.
http://www.munster-records.com/
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
DIRTY LOOKS
The Complete Stiff Years (Stiff; 2-CD)
In 1980 Stiff sent me a free copy of the first Dirty Looks album as a result
of my one and only letter to the NME. One of the papers' pretentious self-appointed style
guardians had written an extremely vitriolic review, criticising Stiff's New York signing, Dirty Looks
for committing the crime of playing in the style and tradition of classic pop and rock'n'roll from the '50s
and '60s. The early '80s NME style fascists championed a new "post-rock" era of new pop that owed
nothing to the past. Happily such pretentious twaddle has long been consigned to the garbage bin,
but there's no denying that Dirty Looks proto-power-pop sound was deeply unfashionable in the early
'80s. After making two UK albums they disappeared and presumably returned to NYC.
This fine package compiles everything they ever recorded – two albums, some singles and four
live tracks from the Son of Stiff tour. Their version of 'Stepping Stone' hints at what a good live band
they were and the first album still holds up well today, as it is full of fast and frantic pop tunes,
enthusiastically played. Although it sports a great cover the second album, Turn It Up is a much
patchier affair. A few songs, such as the title track, are as good as the first album, but the band's
website explains that their US label, Epic, had the tapes remixed without the groups' knowledge.
They were appalled to hear it when it finally came out in this form.
It's a pity that Stiff couldn't have licensed the original mix from the band so that we could hear
what they really had in mind. Nevertheless, this is a fine collection that is recommended to everyone
who loves early '80s power pop.
www.stiffrecords.com
Phil Suggitt
THE DUKES
The Dukes (Red Lounge Records; LP)
All together now, "I am an unskilled worker, I did not learn enough at school,
but I'm clever". Yes, ever since it made an appearance on a volume of The Continent Bites Back
series of European Pebbles all those years ago, The Dukes have been lauded for their wonderful
ode to the Billy Liar-like indolence of their song's character. Other than 'The Dentist', their other
and very Pepperish 45, 'I Am Un Unskilled Worker' was thought to be the sum total of their output.
Now though, we find there was in fact a complete and unreleased 1969 LP, recorded at Waldorf Studios and
sounding very much like it came from the same sessions as the aforementioned 45s (which are both included).
The 13 track album is comprised entirely of group originals and in such clean sound they could have
come straight off the master tapes. Stylistically you get pop, swinging beat and a little psych.
All the songs are catchy, many with harmonised vocals and sounding not unlike The Petards of 1968 vintage.
'On The Stage' is a mid paced harmony vocal number that might appeal to Bee Gees fans;
'I Could Be A Sportsman' is a very Nederbeat sounding pop number as is the great thundering,
fuzztone garage pop of 'Hang Him Up'. In fact, the whole album could
easily pass as a lost Nederbeat or maybe a Swedish '60s band. 'Helana' starts off like a crap
crooner ballad but then suddenly lurches into a 100 mile and hour rhythm.
'People Cry' sports a rather cheesy sounding organ over a blues rock like riff
(only cleaner and lighter) which then turns into another pop winner and is the one track that attempts
a little psych rock experimentation. 'Something's Going Wrong Today' is another great pop number
with a harmony vocal that lilts between sweet and sour, major and minor. This all should give you
a good enough idea of what to expect and I can only urge you to grab this with both hands before it
slips through the cracks. Fans of The Grey Past label's Honeymelon Teapot album by Heatwave
will want this one as well. It is released with the blessing of Udo Strasser, one of the Dukes two
main songwriters and includes an insert with some band history by him and group pics. The usual hip
mail orders will no doubt be able to supply it.You can try the new (and still only partially uploaded)
website at www.redloungerecords.de
but beyond listing the title at the time of writing, there didn't seem to be an ordering facility.
You can try emailing them at redloungerecords@gmx.de. Do
what you have to, but popsters should really make an effort to get this slab o' wax pronto.
Paul Martin
THE ELECTRIC PRUNES
Too Much To Dream - Original Group Recordings: Reprise 1966-67
(Rhino; 2-CD)
The story of The Electric Prunes,
to misappropriate a footballing expression, is one of two halves. The first half is the story of a band
of hopeful Seattle musicians who relocated to LA where, under the aegis of their engineer cum svengali
Dave Hassinger, they created 'I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night' one of the most enduring psychedelic
anthems of all time as well as two albums of (mostly) high quality lysergic pop.
The song's selection by Lenny Kaye to open the seminal Nuggets compilation - thus introducing
countless new generations of garageniks to the delights of well used fuzz guitar and trippy
lyrics – only served to further cement their place in legend. In the second half of the story,
the svengali turned on his charges and, having secured the rights to The Electric Prunes name,
teamed up with mighty producer David Axelrod to deliver a pair of religiously themed concept albums
only using the original group members sparingly and eventually doing away with them all together.
Although you could file this expropriation with all the other woeful tales of exploitation that blighted
so much of the '60s musical landscape it did have the merit of generating the Mass in F Minor album,
possibly the first attempt at fusing the principles of rock with those of the liturgical cannon.
This twin CD set focuses solely on the first half of the story by bringing
together their eponymously titled debut album, its follow up Underground and various singles
(as well as the brilliant Vox Wah Wah pedal ad complete with the uber' 60s
"It's the now sound, it's what's happening!" tag line) all recorded by the original line-up for Reprise.
As ever, the good people at Rhino have done a sterling job in putting together a complete package.
So alongside the music itself you get some nice liner notes, a fascinating interview with original
members James Lowe and Mark Tullin and reproductions of the original album cover art.
In many ways this reissue shows that the Prunes were more than a one trick
pony and definitely puts to rest the general assumption that they were a set of musical automatons
commanded by a diabolical puppeteer. Despite a few misjudged musical choices in an attempt to soften
the band's rougher edges and increase their appeal, this body of work is a master class in mid-sixties
Stateside garage psychedelia which, in its earnest attempts to replicate British sounds actually
created something quintessentially American. Regardless of their relevance as a historical artifact,
these sides will also provide you with plenty of fuzz guitar riffs, the occasional (Vox Wah Wah
pedal enabled) sitar break, tight vocal harmonies, and a driving back beat. And you definitely can't
have too much of that.
www.rhino.com
Arthur Cravan
TONY HAZZARD
Tony Hazzard Sings Tony Hazzard (Rev-ola; CD)
SD staffer, rustic dwelling
designer and ale fanatic Andy Morten raved and raved about Go North: The Bronze Anthology
(Sanctuary's 2-CD coupling of Hazzard's 2nd and 3rd album respectively) a couple of years ago.
Not content with the poptastic debut Tony Hazzard Sings Tony Hazzard being left untouched Andy
pushed for Rev-Ola to re-release it and penned some highly informative notes and designed the sleeve.
Nice work, son.
As you may or may not know, Hazzard was primarily a behind
the scenes songwriter employed to churn out hits for Britain's top stars. And indeed, he scored 'em
for everyone from Manfred Mann to The Tremeloes, The Hollies, The Yardbirds, Lulu… and Cliff! The hipper,
lesser known Cherry Smash also did a stellar job with Tony's semi-psych 'Fade Away Maureen'.
Just like kindred spirit and song writer extraordinaire Graham Gouldman the powers
that be thought it wise that Hazzard should record an album of his hits plus some contemporaneous material
to promote him as a performer. Although released in 1969 the majority of these tunes were brushed up
demos all initially cut a few years earlier. With the humanity of Hazzard's folk-tinged voice breathed
into them 'Goodnight Sweet Josephine', 'Ha! Ha! Said The Clown', 'Listen To Me' and 'Fox On The Run'
all give the hit versions a damn good run for their money. While 'The Sound Of The Candymen's Trumpet'
(originally recorded and released by Cliff and hoped to be entered in Eurovision) is a whimsical toytown
pop song inspired by The Mamas & The Papas - a surprisingly bendy choice for Mr Richards, no doubt
penned whilst Hazzard toked on a joint. Distinctly pop and commercial and lacking the introspection of his
Bronze era this set of perfectly constructed ditties is nevertheless a pleasure from start to finish.
A lesson in craftsmanship. Here's to Hazzard.
www.revola.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
HERON
Upon Reflection: The Dawn Anthology (Castle; 2-CD)
Every year or so a CD comes in that absolutely floors me--
Tony Hazzard's Bronze sides, Chrysalis, and numerous others – that lead me to wax poetical about their merits
to anyone who'll listen. And quite often those who won't! The latest re-release to strike a major chord
within is Upon Reflection: The Dawn Anthology by the (then) young rustic hippys Heron.
Heron like so many other Traffic and Band
acolytes of their era saw "getting it together" in the country as an attractive option.
Moving away from their typical urban British folk club origins the Berkshire quartet snapped up a deal
with Gus Dudgeon for Essex Music publishing. (Dudgeon described their style as "English pastoral,
with a sunny, summer's day feel..." and he couldn't have put it any better.) Signed to
Pye's "underground" Dawn imprint the group and their loved ones decamped to a small cottage
deep in the countryside in the Summer of 1970 and set about recording a collection of gentle songs--
outside in a field. Heron is an incredible record, which makes me feel bloody good about life,
lifting me away from these tainted modern times. It's bare, and happily nude rather than embarrassed,
embellished by acoustic guitars, harmonium, pipe organ, mandolin and electric piano and bass
supporting the group's perfect, folky harmonies. The sentiment is of youthful abandon with
odes to smoking pot with the girl you fancy, lost and new love and the abundance of the
fresh air that entered their lungs. In short: a living, breathing hippy ideology.
Part West Coast stoned CSN, a little medieval Simon & Garfunkel, a tad wide eyed Stringband
and a wee bit Macca light Beatles... but most of all it sounds like young people entrenched
in music, with a deft touch at arranging, playing and singing beautiful, simple melodies.
An EP followed in 1971, where a studio production
and a more up-tempo performance employs the influence of Van Morrison, The Band and US singer songwriters.
This would also shape the direction of the follow-up bargain priced double album Twice And Nice
And Half The Price, which followed in October 1971. The problem was that songs
about hobos and a nasally take of Guthrie's 'The Great Dust Storm' seemed a little alien.
However well executed. Thankfully a decent enough percentage of the material --which was
yet again recorded in a field--maintains much of the bucolic Heron feeling of the first album.
Yet their old soul covers and attempts at rootsy songs completely miss The Band's
weathered charm. Perhaps a double album was more than Heron deserved... nevertheless it's
worth hearing and in good time/country/rock and roll mode they still deliver in an
almost Ronnie Lane kinda way. Although, I have to state, it's the shimmering, psych-folk of
their Robin Williams-esque 'Winter Harlequin's where they're best!
For their first album alone Heron have won
a place in my heart with their honest, uplifting music and their later attempts at Americana
do not really tarnish the reputation – that much.
www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
JAWBONE
Jawbone (Rev-Ola; CD)
The influence of The Band in the UK in 1969/1970 cannot
be overstated enough. In fact more needs to be made of it! Every Brit rock musician who was
worth his/her salt had the first two albums and every musician in some way or another adapted
to the rustic/rural/blues/country styling. And here's an example.
As the music biz beckoned and core members of two of the London
area's prime psychedelic-pop under achievers The Mirage and Turquoise joined together the
metamorphosis from Carnaby Street boutique pop lords into Wild West loving scruffs soon begun.
After one 1969 single as The Portebello Explosion (included as bonus cuts) the conglomerate found
both their identity and name passé. Now recording for the new (rapidly dating named) Carnaby
label they rechristened themselves Jawbone (in homage to a Band song)
and recorded a somewhat delightful album. Jeff Peters continued in a similarly laconic acoustic style
to his Turquoise compositions whilst Mirage man Dave Hynes attempted to mirror the sweeping epics
of The Band. Recorded over a year the album unsteadily veers from psychedelic pop into the rootsy.
Even if it is confused and unfocused at times the material is nearly entirely solid.
'Brave White's' medieval vibe fits somewhere between Sandy Denny's 'Fotheringay' and Simon &
Garfunkel's 'Scarborough Fair/Canticle', 'Million Times Before' has the same updated Byrds/Dylan
vibe that Starry Eyed & Laughing and Brinsley Schwarz were tackling whilst 'Mister Custer'
all but rewrites the hairy Byrds' 'Fido'.... The Band-esque moments however don't quite work,
but thankfully Turquoise's Gus Peters' gorgeous 'Song For Sunny' more than saves the day.
www.revola.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
REG KING
Missing In Action (Circle; 10" Maxi)
I actually prefer these demos to Reg's album proper (reviewed Aug 2006).
Three of the songs are unreleased and the equal anything the singer ever did. 'Magenta' has that
stoned Traffic-by-way-of-the -Airplane vibe with plenty of flute, acoustic guitars and wavery
singing, 'Merry-Go-Round' is anthemic late '60s laddish pop, which should have resulted in a hit
while 'So Full Of Love' plays with jazz in the same manner as the Rolled Gold era Action.
The three album demos are more stripped down and less bombastic and Reg sounds in better voice.
An essential rarity that all Action, Reg King, Mighty Baby fans should not be without.
http://www.circlerecords.co.uk/
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
ORA
We Present Ora* (Wah-Wah; 2-LP)
Why more hasn't been made of Ora is beyond me. These young posh London kids'
sole 1969 album, originally released on Tangerine and later Metronome, is a brilliant piece of under
done UK psychedelia, brimming with lots of influences and great subtlety. Wah Wah's two vinyl edition
offers both the original album and an extra disc of unreleased material.
Ora really appeal to me as their polite way of performing is so particularly
and peculiarly English. These chaps could be from no other place. The less operatic early songs
of Tales Of Justine spring to mind as do elements of Giles, Giles & Fripp, Forever Amber and
Robert Wyatt's softest Soft Machine moments; yet at the same time Ora are so much more folky with touches
of Donovan, Incredible Stringband, Nick Drake and even a less technical early Fairport Convention
fronted by Ray Davies. But comparisons don't do them justice; this is amazing stuff with the acoustic
jazzy groove and forlorn vocal of 'Sea Shore' delivering on all counts.
www.wah-wahsupersonic.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
THE PALACE GUARDS
The Palace Guards (Gear Gab; CD)
The blue-eyed soul ditty 'Gas Station Boogaloo Down'
was recently compiled on top London Mod deejay Rob Bailey's Le Beat
Bespoke #2 and 'Sorry' turned up on Fuzz, Flaykes & Shakes #7, but that's it
of late. Other than a few appearances on older vinyl garage comps this New Orleans group have
all but been ignored, so it's consoling to see that Gear Fab have given them a thorough going over,
including everything they released and a number of unreleased recordings.
In their native New Orleans The Palace Guards were local stars, and hearing
their carefully crafted songs that sound somewhat like major artists it's easy to understand why.
The earliest '66 material range from Beatles styled tunes, Beau Brummels' folk rock and snotty
garage punk ('No Coming Back' and 'I'm Gonna Meet Her'). As psychedelia became an influence wings
are spread: the fantastic 'Looking Everywhere' has horns and harmonies, 'Mr Greene', a wonderful
Strawberry Alarm Clock-like guitar motif and a brilliant punky melody, whilst the brilliant 'My Window'
combines Bo Diddleyisms with Fever Tree like heaviness. 'The Magician''s very Brit feel is the icing
on the cake and would sit nicely on a Rubble comp.
A very solid over view of the regional garage
scene's many shapes.
gearfab.swiftsite.com/
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
JOHN PHILLIPS
(John The Wolfking Of L.A.) (Varese Vintage; CD)
From the top to somewhere far below. Papa John's financial gain in penning
one of the biggest hits of The Summer Of Love ('San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)')
and a stream of hits for his hugely popular The Mamas & The Papas was immense, leading the lofty
singer to live like a king. But all was not well, soon after the break-up of the successful
male/female quartet in 1968 Phillips' marriage with the group's babe Michelle splintered,
leaving the estranged singer without wife or daughter pondering life in his vast Bel Air mansion.
With time to kill and a muse to fulfill Phillips he began to write new material in a more laid back,
stoned country vein for a solo album.
Released on his Warlock Dunhill subsidiary in the Spring of 1970 the record
featured backing from the cream of the crop including Elvis' good ole boys, pedal steel giant Red Rhodes
and Spector girl Darlene Love. The outcome was an exceptional record (in all senses) pre-empting the
singer-songwriter typhoon rather than mass production sunshine pop. Phillips' solo voice was different,
more of the-less-is-best than majestically sang, and it works brilliantly with the subject matter.
So what? Maybe Phillips was not confident with his, gentle, southern intoned hippy drawl though
and buried his vocals low in the mix (but then this level is now very common in new music).
There's an element of Dylan and a similar wasted, distant effect to ex-teen idol junkie Dion's late
'60s/early '70s introspective records, which make it so goddamn laid back that at times you're led to think
the singer must have been barely conscious. The neglected album's appalling sales however saw Phillips
fall downward into a heroin induced spiral and his life took a distinct U-turn, which he never really
ever recovered from. Yet Dylan clearly paid attention, later ripping off the sleeve for Desire
and in 2006 the album was one of the most praised reissues, with legions of celeb fans uttering its name.
(John The Wolfking Of L.A.) is worth an extended essay but I'd rather you buy the CD and let
the music do the talking. This is an elegiac, sensual suite of songs that won't be forgotten.
A revelation in how to "under do" things and it sounds better and better with each play.
www.varesesarabande.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
SLADE
In Flame
Nobody's Fool
B-Sides (2-CD) (all Salvo; CDs)
Two more Slade albums and a 2-CD compilation continue Salvo's ongoing
Slade renaissance.
In Flame was issued on the back of Slade's wondrous 1974 movie and
as expected features the songs performed and composed for the film. The epic Beatles styled opening
ballad 'How Does It Feel' show just how Slade had matured and it's a brilliant song, but the fans didn't
want gentle, thoughtful songs from their rowdy bovver boy 
heroes. It's a tragedy, because as Slade
got better their fans liked them less. 'Summer Song (Wishing You Were Here)' is another gentle song,
and man, if ever there was an example of Slade-doing-Beatles-ripped-off-by-Oasis this is it.
And yes, it craps over everything Oasis have ever done 'Far Far Away' continues in the same manner and is
perhaps the album's and film's finest song with it's rousing, emotional chorus; mention must also be
made of the melodic power pop of the excellent 'Heaven Knows'. The autobiographical 'So Far So Good'
bridges the gap with a philosophical tone and sing-a-long chorus, 'O.K Yesterday Was Yesterday'
features some exemplarily slide and goes all Rolling Stones, as does the cocky 'Lay It Down'
while the funkily sneered 'This Girl' covers new territory. Noddy only gets the chance on the schlocky
'Them Kinda Monkeys Can't Swing' to shred his larynx, but then the song was supposed to represent
the group in their early '60s R&B era! … In Flame is an astounding album, and if you should
own one Slade album this is it!
Things at home weren't good in '75 so the boys relocated to New York.
Not having cracked America the first time round Noddy and co thought it best to assimilate what they
thought the yanks would want. Listening to everyone from ZZ Top through to The Eagles and touring
relentlessly with heavweights Aerosmith and Black Sabbath Slade went back to the drawing board and in
essence were almost a new band again.
1976's Nobody's Fool has been denigrated by many so-called scholars
and critics… but then these suckers are as bad as Slade's young fans from the early '70s!
Perhaps the meat-and-potato boogie was a little too evident, and Slade as red necks was not wise,
but there are some absolutely brilliant tracks tucked away on this album, written during Lea and Holder's
"serious writing" period. Cut in New York's almighty Record Plant in the Summer of '75 Nobody's Fool
shows Slade trying their hardest to re-establish themselves. And as an album it's Don Powell's favourite!
'Nobody's Fool' textured guitar parts, gospel backing vocals and a superb mid'70s FM melody had hit
written all over it. This was a new sound for Slade and it really suits them. 'Pack Up Your Troubles'
forced Americanisms may be at odds with the lads Black Country origins, but if taken on face value,
it's a marvelous sculptured piece of vintage Americana hippy rock. Equally as good
and more in the Slade-of-old mode was 'Pack Up Your Troubles', which sounds like a left-over from …
In Flame with its brilliant Beatles descending bass line, clever harmonies and superb melody.
Closer 'All The World Is A Stage' has a mass production that reeks of mid-'70s excess with synths,
a tight compressed snare sound and some almost Steely Dan delicacies evident in Noddy's voice.
Yet for all of its attempts of sounding contemporary it's really not a band song, somewhat resembling
Townsend's Who material of the era. But there really is no excuse for almost half of the album
where Slade embrace reggae rhythms ('Did Ya Mama Ever Tell Ya') and fake proto-disco ('LA Jinx').
The songs in themselves weren't terrible but it does seem that Slade were willing to try anything the once,
however unsuitable.
For a prime time Slade fan, such as myself, the B-Sides compilation
is rather depressing. CD1 covers 1969-1977 and features some amazing material following Slade's
journey from late period UK psych patrons ('One Way Hotel', 'C'Mon C'Mon', 'Do You Want Me',
'Gospel According To Rasputin', My Life Is Natural', 'Candidate') to mega stars and struggling rockers.
With the early material it's hard to believe the group would soon opt for the easy cheap thrills
of terrace stompers. 1971's 'Gospel According To Rasputin' sounds like the best bits of late
'60s Pretty Things, the Nazz and Black Sabbath. If Slade weren't known for their trademark sound
these early hidden away gems would be considered as some of the finest examples of late '60s British
psychedelic rock! As the yobbish hits gained them a mass following it was on the b-sides where they
boys did what they really wanted, evident on the flip to 'Take Me Bak 'Ome'. 'Wonderin' Y' is pure
Macca Rubber Soul and it would have made Badfinger proud whilst the later 'She Did It To Me'
(b'side of '74's 'The Bangin' Man') builds upon grand piano driven pop melancholy. And for me,
this is really where Slade were at. Even more out of character was the Stefan Grappelli early jazz
pastiche 'Kill 'Em At The Hot Club Tonite' which sees Slade in Temperance Seven or even Bonzos mould.
'Can You Just Imagine' (a b-side from the American era of 1975) is a melodic Gilbert O'Sullivan-esque
response to In Flame's lack of success whilst in opposition is the proto-punk of 1976's
'When The Chips Are Down' but by 1977 the influence of American rock ala ZZ Top and playing catch up
sadly begins to diminish what made Slade special. On CD2 Slade shake of the shackles of stadium rock
and envisage punk rock (a thing that they inspired with their early finger in the air yob anthems)
with a clutch of decent '77 material like their Inland Revenue put down 'O.H.M.S.', 'It's Alright Buy Me'
(complete with Davie Allan guitar trem'd guitar) and 'Not Tonight' Joesphine' but by '82 it all gets
a bit embarrassing. Slade made some great tunes right up to '78 though, so it could have been worse.
www.unionsquaremusic.co.uk/slade
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
MEIC STEVENS
Rain In The Leaves: The EPs, Volume 1 (Sunbeam; CD)
These early EP sides, which were recorded between 1967 and 1970
before the Welsh national monument recorded the Outlander album, are predominantly sparse
and ghostly acoustic sketches defined by Steven's gentle manner of singing in his native tongue.
Musically it's atypical mid-60s folk with obvious similarities to Donovan, Bert Jansch and
the Incredible Stringband, but it's the singing that adds so much. A few of the later songs
have a psychedelic hue noticeably the rockin' 'Mynd i Bala ar y Gwech Banana' resplendent with acid
guitar leads and demented punk rock edge that Meic fans The Super Furry Animals would bring to the
masses thirty later.
www.sunbeamrecords.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
STRAY
Move It (2-CD)
Stand Up And Be Counted
Houdini
Hearts Of Fire (all Castle; CDs)
Sadly the last four Stray albums recorded between 1974
and 1976 end this great group's legacy on a somewhat downward slope. Move It ('74) has some fine
moments but the move towards the mainstream of rock is very noticeable… the rock sound has been softened
and the progressive edges lost. Stray's first album to be recorded in the States Move It has
a smoothed out sound which is at odds with their feral past, but it's not all bad as
a cover of 'Mr Custom's Man' by the soul singer Jimmy Helms has a big production not unlike
Three Dog Night and 'Mystic Lady' has a similar coked out mellowness to The Pretty Things, featuring some
fine Byrdsy ringing guitar. Overall the album's attempts at soul are pleasant but rather weak.
A bonus CD of BBC sessions shows the group in a better light and why they were one of the prominent
college circuit acts in the country.
With a label change from Transatlantic to Dawn and the frustrated exit
of singer Steve Gadd Stray continue with an album of material originally intended as Del Bromham's
solo album, Fractionally stronger than its predecessor Stand Up And Be Counted continues
in a similar manner, although a few of the tunes like 'As You Feel Good' (a power pop rocker),
the 12-string led 'Waiting For The Big Break' and 'Down Down Down', the punky pop of 'Everyday Of My Life'
and the bombastic acoustic 'The End' are not without merit.
After touring the US with Kiss Stray once
again turn towards a heavier path with a ZZ Top meets Thin Lizzy edge. Some pretty awful over
produced white man soul is also evident across Houdini. Six months
later Hearts of Fire, released on the back of some UK Stadium support slots to Rush, was a far
better album, but it really was the end of the road. After constantly struggling Stray fizzled out,
which is a travesty as even at their worst there was always something cool about Stray, most likely
connected to their Shepherd's Bush mod origins.
The best of the material from these later albums is available on
the previously reviewed anthology Time Machine so I wouldn't bother purchasing these unless
you're a diehard fan.
www.sanctuaryrecordgroup.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
RACHEL SWEET
Fool Around (Stiff; CD)
In 1978 16-year old Rachel Sweet was marketed as leather-jacketed teenage
New Wave Lolita. The title of her first album was a tease or a bit cheesy, depending on your point of view.
As a result I didn't bother to check out the record, assuming she was just producer Liam Sternberg's puppet,
in a similar relationship to Kim Fowley and The Runaways.
Having finally heard the album, 29 years later, I realise there was much more
to Rachel. A fine singer, her voice sounds 16 going on 36, and she sounds equally at home singing in a range
of genres. Perhaps her versatility was a drawback for record buyers, as the album is a mixture of sassy,
soulful '60s girl group material, ('B.A.B.Y.') country pop ('Truckstop Girl,' 'Who Does Lisa Like,')
and Spectoresque big production numbers with horns and massed backing vocals ('Stay Awhile').
Although the songs provided by Liam Sternberg are quite enjoyable, they aren't first rate.
It's a pity he couldn't provide Rachel with anything as classy or original as 'Walk Like An Egyptian'.
All of the material harks back to classic '50s and '60s styles, and curiously
her repertoire didn't include the New Wave and Punk stylings of her contemporaries. This album includes
the 11 songs from the original UK album with the addition of two extra songs from the same sessions,
which are just as good. You also get a track from the US release and
a live version of 'Be Stiff' from the tour of the same name.
Are there any tapes of Rachel's late '70s live performances backed by the very
wonderful Records? I volunteer to search the vaults!
www.stiff-records.com
Phil Suggitt
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Ain't It Hard! Sunset Strip '60s Sounds! Garage & Psych From Viva Records (Sundazed; LP; CD)
Viva, an LA based label run by hit maker Snuff Garrett, is the subject
of Sundazed's latest compilation. The album sports 12 tracks and the CD 16, although all 16
would easily fit on the vinyl edition as well, which begs the question why don't they?
Anyway, what we have here are some great 45s, some of which have appeared elsewhere in the past
(Psychedelic Unknowns series for instance), others of which I have not come across before.
What they all have in common is a more than groovy vibe and a very hip subcultural teen appeal.
Kick off track is the often compiled Sound Sandwich's 'Apothacary Dream' and it is a very nice ride as well.
The Second Helping's 'Let Me In' is even better, serving up a snarling Standells-like garage demand
for entry. A late era Wailers 45 (yes the Tacoma crew) in the form of 'I Don't Want To Follow You'
is as good and snotty as you would expect them to be although the band themselves were not as pleased
as they might have been with the finished product. Garrett apparently brought session musos in to play
some of the instruments – on a Wailers session for Christ's sake!! The very appealingly garage pop original
version of 'Ain't It Hard' (later covered by The Electric Prunes) by Gypsy Trips (a male / female duo)
sounds like they were culled from the street only minutes earlier and told to sing the song, and it's great!
Another winner is the Shindogs (yes the resident band from our namesake the Shindig! TV show)
'Who Do You Think You Are' is a great beat number that tries to blend The Beatles with The Beach Boys
and adds a slightly 'delic guitar flourish here and there. The usual cool band pics, liners and biogs
that Sundazed always supply are of high standard, so once again this is pleasing collection that I
can easily recommend.
www.sundazed.com
Paul Martin
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Portuguese Nuggets Vol.1 (Galo De Barcelos Records; LP; 500 numbered copies)
You can look up António de Oliveira Salazar, the dictator of Portugal
from 1932-1968 on Wikipedia and get a wealth of historical and political information. There have,
no doubt, been weighty books written about him and Portugal in the period of his dictstorship.
I very much doubt however that any of them refer to the impact on Portuguese rock music (OK, prove me
wrong then!). That however, is what you get in the copious liner notes of this LP and the reader can
only be the richer for knowing 
it. It has taken nearly four decades for anyone to get a Portuguese
'60s compilation together, but here at last it is. This just leaves Austria (why??) as the main
Western European country yet to take the '60s compilation plunge (Unless anyone has knowledge of a
thriving '60s beat or psych scene in Luxembourg, Monaco or Litchenstein??). The album is crammed full
of social context and band biogs both on the back sleeve and the LP sized insert.
The USA was not the only country in the 1960s and early '70s that was conscripting
its young men to fight in a foreign land. As of 1965 the Salazar regime began conscripting Portuguese
boys in ever increasing numbers to fight its colonial wars of retention, principally in Africa.
This, as the band biogs attest, pretty quickly ended any long-term aims any Lisbon band might have had,
at least until the army finished the decrepid regime that limped on for four years after Salazar's death,
in a bloodless military coup.
As well as giving an overview of the history of rock'n' roll in Portugal,
we discover how in the late '60s bands started to introduce social and political lyrics into their songs,
the first of whom to do so were Quarteto IIII who were censored by the government for doing so.
With only another dictatorship, Franco's Spain as a neighbour, it was none too encouraging for
Portuguese youth. However, it is noted, the tiny Azores Islands played a key part in getting equipment
into Portugal as there was US military base there that material came through along with records.
This is more important for Portugal than other West European countries at the time. During the censorship
period, bands sttarted to sing in English. Apparently, the Portuguese censors did not understand
the language as French was the most common foreign language spoken and hence criticism albeit veiled,
managed to escape onto wax. This is also important in the context of Portuguese language cover versions
of British and US chart hits, such as Os Chinchillas version of The Monkees' 'I'm A Believer'.
The originals were seemingly unobtainable by the public at large which made indigenous renditions
important in keeping Portuguese teens up to date and hip! They may sound nondescript to the spoiled
western ear of today and out of wack with the time and place of their production, but given the context
in the liner notes, they take on a resinence of historical importance. Franco could never kill
the beat and neither could Salazar, this is an aural testament to that fact and to its use as a form
of resistance to the demands of the dictatorshiip.
As for the bands themselves, probably beyond Quarteto IIII, who have
had some recent reissue exposure via a CD anthology, none of these groups are going to register
with anyone as names. However, my pick of the crop are as follows: The Jets' 'Let Me Live My Life'
from 1967, apparently "the first and only 100% psychedelic record to be released in Portugal"'.
Conjunto Academico Joao Paulo's 'Sue Lin A Minha Chinese', The Sheiks' 'Try To Understand',
Quarteto IIII's 'Bissaide' from 1966-'69 are all standouts. Given the history however, every track
is valuable to hear. I cannot agree with the self-depreciating rider at the bottom of the back cover
which states that: "This record is the result of some nerd's work to show the rock and surf music
made in Portugal". Sir (or Madam?) you are no nerd. You do your country a great historical service
and the wider world of grooviness as well with this public historical document (aural and visual).
This is an important (albeit unofficial) contribution to the understanding of the impact of beat,
surf and psych on countries like Portugal or Greece which, at the time, we knew very little about
due to sealing themselves off from the rest of Western Europe. I surely hope there is a volume 2.
Contact the usual hip mail order outlets to source a copy.
Paul Martin
