Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Chakras –Agnes Vandalism


Chakras –City Boy/ Agnes Vandalism –Reprise 0859 (1969 US)

Agnes Vandalism (what a great title) is pure Baroque Powerpop for need of a better word. Nicely orchestrated by Jimmy Haskell, Agnes Vandalism features a truly perfect soaring chorus on a strong track that got lost in that 60s to 70s limbo period. Shakras was formed by 2 ex -Standells (including Larry Tamblyn) and 2 Knack members, but Shakras was very much a stop gap prior to a partial reformation of The Standells with this being their only release. The A side is also good, but the real gem is this B side. Another real contender that should have been...

Hear a full version of Agnes Vandalism

4 comments:

Proudfoot Sound said...

Love it!

Lou said...

There are two Chakras 45s on Reprise. The other being Just With You b/w Things We Said Today (Reprise 838).

Matt Elliott said...

I totally had this 45. Forgot all about it. Thanks for posting!

Anonymous said...

Might interest you to know that the drummer on this 45 was Willy Daffern (aka Willie D), who had previously been in the psych band Hunger and later played with hard rockers Truk. He then became lead vocalist for Captain Beyond on their 'Dawn Explosion' album, guested on vocals on Jan Akkerman's '3' LP, then joined Tim Bogert fronting the short-lived 'supergroup' Pipedream who released a lone LP on ABC. He next joined Gary Moore in the equally short-lived band G-Force (one LP on Jet), before releasing a 1983 solo LP (as 'Willie Dee') called 'Abrupt Edge'.
He then dropped out of sight for many years before returning with a new band called Zoomlenz in 1999. They've released 2 EPs and a full length s/t album to date.
Quite a career, but he should really have been far better known.
All his stuff (apart from the synth-heavy '83 AOR LP) is well worth exploring, he had/has a great & instantly recognisable voice & always played with top quality musicians.
BFK