My version is better than yours part 10: Big Secret vs. Jacki Baaron –It’s on My Mind

Big Secret – King Kong/It’s on my Mind –Finger 2046 038 (1973 Ger)

Jacki Baaron – King Kong/It’s on my Mind –Poplandia P-30569 (1973 Portuguese issue)

Based on the first nano seconds of spinning the Big Secret version, you could be fooled into thinking that you were listening to a demo of Holidays In The Sun...but no, the guitar then goes off on a tangent, the beat kicks in and the track turns into a mighty fine T.Rex-type tune where an organ swells behind snazzy female lead vocals. Regardless of your cover girl preference; there’s no denying the obvious fact that Enri and July win hands down sonically. The Big Secret mix is clearer, the reverb on the guitar and drums more potent and the separation works well...plus the vocals hit the spot whereas Jacki sounds somewhat deflated.

Both the A and B side backing tracks are identical and from the same production team,. So what was the big idea? King Kong was Big Secret’s follow up to the superb Ride Captain Ride. The girls were well implanted in Germany with their Les Humphries Singers TV appearances which was as good a springboard as any to solo continental success.

I don’t know who Jacki Baaron was, but she may have been Spanish. Perhaps it was felt in some quarters that mini-skirted dancing Pilipino girls wouldn’t maximise a single’s potential across all territories?

Hear a full version of Big Secret

Hear a full version of Jacki Baaron

Hear Big Secret's King Kong

Doug McDade and Purple People – I Wanna Do It

Doug McDade and Purple People-I Wanna Do It / Gonna Be Alright-Purple Records P1001 (1973 US)

Ohio born McDade moved to Wisconsin where he studied at The Marathon County Technical College. During this time he formed The Purple People who ended up releasing a cover of Purple People Eater and supported Alice Cooper, Del Shannon amongst others. I Wanna Do It finds Doug in insatiable mood. This stirring garage track is filled to the brim with cool guitar turns, loud Hammond and sports a top tune. Doug quit music soon after this release but resurrected himself as an actor and director. http://dougmcdade.vox.com/profile/

Hear a full version of I Wanna Do It

King's Cross Record Fair on Sunday

The first one was pretty cool and vibrant, so I will be bringing along some more spare singles this Sunday, including Paul Cass (Mini Marianne), Stumblebunny, J. C. Livingstone, Zipper, Blood Chains, Black Fire, Jon Symon, Trevor White (Ger Pic sleeve) Yummies, Harpo -Teenage Queen and much more

Starts at 1pm ... See you there!

Playful Pups –Palpatations

Playful Pups –Palpatations/Dinasour –Intrepid 75008 (1969 US)

Clearly written in the days before spell checks, Palpatations is a an instantly catchy slab of US Bubblegum. Built around a rhyming competition on a par with Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich’s Frustration; Palpatations is also quite adventurous in its arrangement over its expected Bubblegum drive. An extremely hooky ditty, the arrangement and co-production duties are handled by a pre-Street People (Jennifer Tomkins) Rupert Holmes. He also co-wrote the instrumental B side.

Hear a full version of Palpatations

Josuha –Jenny

Josuha –Jenny/ Magic Carpet –CNR 14196 (1973 NL)

Now, here’s a real treat. No need to categorise this one, but needless to say that it fits right in on Purepop. Let’s start with the sleeve... Not sure if the Belle from the stud farm is the Jenny in question, but Richard De Bois and Peter van Asten (AKA Peter Bewley) could not have expected copies to fly off the shelves housed in a sleeve like this! The cover was one of the 100 Glam sleeves Jos and I featured at last April’s Utrecht Record Fair, but I never got to hear the damn thing until now!

Richard De Bois and Peter Bewley probably had a night off during Lemming production duties and let it all loose on Jenny and its B side. Jenny starts off in the mode of the sleeve at a trot but then the riff kicks in and the track turns into a fab Bubblegum/Rock tune with lyrics playing around with old chestnut (mare?) double-entendres about “going for a ride”...It’s all great fun and a top tune. Magic Carpet is nice n’ heavy and here they sing about the magical tripped out properties of cheap plonk. The track features a judicious use of Wah Wah and a feverish lead break. A top find and rare as ****

Hear a full version of Jenny

Hear a full version of Magic Carpet

Sioux –SRT EP

Sioux –Prosmoe/Warlove/You’re All I Need/Happiness In The Sky –SRT 73274 (1973UK)

Welcome to amateur hour...Issued on SRT which released countless “private” affairs throughout the 70s, here is a 4 track EP by Sioux. It must have been recorded as a demo and they probably touted it around to get gigs or perhaps a record contract...The overall effect is a bit like a prog era Swell Maps . Prosmoe could have been a 60s garage band attempt to re-write Gloria, whilst Warlove sports some Wah Wah guitar and sounds more in tune with the 70s. Still the four tracks find a band stuck somewhere between a Hard Rock place and ineptitude. Side 2 is pretty much more of the same...Again, any info on the band itself?

Hear the two songs from side 1

Hear both songs on side 2

Nino Tempo –Boys Town

Nino Tempo –Boys Town (Where My Broken Hearted Buddies Go)/(Sing-A-Long) Boys Town –Tower 369 (1967 US)

Boys Town is a long time favourite making its appearance as I finally managed to upgrade my old copy after 15 years! Anyhow how to describe this one? Imagine a Carl Wilson sung Pet Sounds track produced by Phil Spector on a theme where a dumped male decides to forget about celebrating the unshackling and heads off to Boys Town instead “where a girl can’t hurt you anymore...” I guess Boys Town was the West Coast destination for the more “sensitive” types which must include one-time burly Spector aide Nino with empathy and support from his sister April. It is damn close to being a total masterpiece and one of the most impressive regal Spectorian productions of the 60s. The B side is the instrumental version and is just like listening to one of those Beach Boys outtake bootlegs and is a marvel itself.

Hear a full version of Boys Town

Hear a full version of Boys Town (Sing-A- Long)

Del - Motorbike Annie

Del - Motorbike Annie / Gypsy Girl-UK UK 40 (1973 UK)

Motorbike Annie is an interesting one-off on JK's UK imprint. No clue who Del is, but Motorbike Annie is a long, moody, but ultimately rewarding track. Like an ambitiously produced busker; Del reminds me of a bit of Tymon Dogg, while the track builds and builds with the understated mellotron, obligatory motorbike sounds and fine guitar leading the track to a very satisfactory conclusion. Motorbike Annie was compiled on the Bubblepop comp (RPM) a few years back.

Hear a full version of Motorbike Annie

Ken Khury –Baby Doll

Ken Khury-Baby Doll / Superqueen-Jupiter 16878 AT (1975 Germany)
Here's another likely continental lad, lusting after the same Teenage Queen as Harpo. She's such a teazer I only want to please her ... Housed in one of the more subtle examples of 70s cover art, our stud denim-clad Ken looks pretty wholesome amongst all the "implied" suggestiveness. Baby Doll itself starts off with a pounding on a par with Harpo's Teenage Queen with some impressive added elephant call horns. The track is also nice 'n poppy whilst never forsaking its sleaziness or pounding beat. The single is the creation of producer / songwriter Horst Horning who knew a good theme when he saw one as he was also behind Maggie Mae's cover of My Boy Lollipop! Oh dear...

Hear a full version of Baby Doll

Midas Mould –Information Emily

Midas Mould –Information Emily/Love Sweet Love –Columbia DB8868 (1972 UK)

My 2nd BINOW (Buy-it-now-of-the-week) and it’s very much in the same mould as the Confucius single insofar as being another obscure poppy 70S UK Bubblegum number. Information Emily also has a pronounced 67 Psych Pop feel (like a not so obvious Hi Ho Silver Lining) with a fine riff and catchy production values (a slight hint of Mellotron at the end). Again very little is known about the band apart from one member being recording engineer Frankie Neilson...

Hear a full a full version of Information Emily

Confucius –Brandenburg Concerto (That’s What It Was)

Confucius –Brandenburg Concerto (That’s What It Was)/The Message –RCA 1923 (1970 UK)

Aaah –the joys of a simple ebay BIN! Produced by Tony Atkins (Galahad), Brandenburg Concerto is a joyful upbeat pop ditty and a prime example of UK Bubblegum at its best. Probably from Liverpool with a connection to The Cryin’ Shames (Ritchie Routledge was a member before he departed for Berlin and joined Blackwater Park). Not much else is known...but answers always seem to find their way to this blog...

Hear a full version of Brandenburg Concerto (That’s What It Was)

Flamin’ Groovies: 1972 Acetate!

Flamin’ Groovies –Married Woman/ Little Queenie/ What You Need is A Shot of R&B (sic) –EMIDISC Acetate (1972 UK)

How to follow up a monster single like Slow Death? Well this was a problem that UA had to contend with in 1972. Slow Death had bombed completely, the BBC ban didn’t help, but Slow Death received no exposure in England at the time, although France and Switzerland pricked up their continental ears. Now this acetate...It features Married Woman and Get a Shot of Rhythm and Blues plus the unreleased (at the time) Little Queenie. Could it be that one idea was to have these three tracks released as an EP? I think the version of Married Woman is the same, but I believe the version of Little Queenie is different from the one released by Skydog in 1977. Can anyone confirm this?

Hear full versions of Little Queenie and Get a Shot of Rhythm and Blues

Hear a full version of Married Woman

Neil Norman - Wild Boys

Neil Norman - Wild Boys/ Tits From Mars-GNP Crescendo 486 (1974 US)

From the putrid depths of a Mississippi backwater, please welcome back Collin, with this fine review...

1974. The year, according to “Metal” Mike Saunders, that scared everybody out of Glitter rock forever. Mike was likely still afro’d and exiled in Little Rock at the time of this pronouncement, but maybe he had Neil Norman in mind. ‘Cos the party might well be over, Mike, but don’t you try and tell Neil!
The son of GNP Crescendo founder, Gene Norman, Neil was given proverbial free reign over the empire that Pushin’ Too Hard built. And what’s the first thing he goes and does, but pal & partner up with Kim Fowley! Boy oh boy…kids today!

After recording his first single, Phaser Laser, an epic of damaged Alice Cooper rock/horror and suggested violence, Neil decided to give the king of Canter’s Deli a try at penning some tunes. As always, Kim wrote about what he knew. Fresh off the heels of recording as Jimmy Jukebox, Kim fired back with ‘Wild Boys’ - a fairly typical, Fowley-esque, grope-trope of perpetually erect males wreaking havoc across a vulnerable, all-female city-scape that is rocketed to the stratosphere via Neil’s fine, Punky, lead fuzz break.

And it’s in the upper atmosphere we stay for the instrumental b-side, Tits From Mars. Stinking all over of residual Barrett fumes or possibly presaging the coming of Simply Saucer, ‘Tits’ is an oppressive, Mandrax messterpiece. Instellar Overdive’ meets The Nazz Are Blue according to one learned scholar of such things.

Neil would go on to indulge his sci-fi obsession with a cockpit-load-of-moog-crap instrumental Star Wars cash-in records later in the decade. He also returned the favour to Fowley, co-writing and co-producing one side of the Hammerhead single, issued, naturally, on dear old dad’s dime a year later and reviewed, conveniently, over on Proudfoot Sound.

Hear a full version of Wild Boys



Hear a full version of Tits From Mars

20 singles on ebay...

Hi I have just listed the following 20 singles on ebay including this Leopards single...Good luck !



You can check them out here:

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/purepop1uk/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

HELTER SKELTER –I Need You Jesse Hector PROTO PUNK HEAR!
Deniz Tek -100 Fools –RADIO BIRDMAN –Citadel -Hear!
The Names –Why Can’t It Be –RARE 70s POWERPOP –HEAR!
Leopards –Don’t Go Away –POWERPOP –Private –HEAR!
Hetherington –Teenage Love Song –Top Pop –Hear!
April –Rollin’ It Over –TOP GLAM Demo –HEAR
Nimbus –All For The Love of Stephen RARE 70s POP HEAR!
Equals –Diversion –Stomping GLAM Demo –Hear!
Real McCoy –Twist And Shout –Junkshop GLAM –HEAR!
Westland Steamboat –Born Under A Bad Sign –DEMO HEAR!
Hamlett –VAMPIRE MAN Snarly Boogie Psych Cruncher HEAR!
Brother Susan- Ride Ride Ride JUNKSHOP GLAM Demo –HEAR!
C.C.S –Primitive Love –Suzi Quatro – DEMO - HEAR!
Andy Bown –Supersonic -TV GLAM CRUNCHER HEAR!
Smiley –I know What I Want –FUZZ GLAM CREATION –hear!
Red Alligator –Slow Down - Obscure MOD Dancer –HEAR!
Pheon Bear -Ultra Heavy GLAM FREAKBEAT CRUNCHER –Hear!
Flamin’ Groovies –Slow Death -1972 UK PIC SLEEVE DEMO!
Funky Family –Clap Your Hands and Stamp Your Feet HEAR
Grumpy –Rule Britannia- 70s ode to 3 day week-DEMO HEAR

Dogs -19

Dogs –Charlie Was A Good Boy EP: No Way/19/Charlie Was a Good Boy –Melodies Massacre MM 45001 (1977 France)

At their best, The Dogs were undoubtedly the best French band of their or any other era. Their Rock ‘n’ Roll attitude, chops and melodic appeal were second to none. 19 was my initial introduction to the band when it came out on Beggars Banquet's Streets Comp where they supplied the stand out track for me. When I first heard 19 I got the same shivers down to the back bone as when I first heard the Flamin’ Groovies Grease EP. Like the Groovies’ EP, the sessions recorded on a 4 track and whatever the sonic limitations, the pure energy just jumps out at you. The cutting ultra trebly guitars, the locomotive drumming from Mimi and Dominique’s barking vocals were just so spot on.In their leader Dominique Laboubée; The Dogs had a classy front man who was also a unique song smith. Check out their Different, Too Much Class for The Neighbourhood or Legendary Lovers LPs for ample proof. Dominique kept on rocking until the end when he passed away while on The Dogs' first US tour in 2002.

Hear a full version of 19

Honeycombak –Sex Change Sadie

Honeycombak –Sex Change Sadie/It’s My Life –Carousel CAR 1 (1971? UK)

Now this is a strange one! Most likely a product of the very early 70s, this single is the creation of the Honeycombs erstwhile leader Martin Murray, who left the band at the height of their success in 1964. The give-away is in the artist’s name, but the Honeycomb pre-Glam thump is in high evidence if ever the clue was missed. The lyrics? Oh boy -they make The Sad’s It Ain’t Easy (Phoenix) sounds positively subtle...It would be nice to think that the song was a direct reaction to The Kinks’ Lola, but the focus is on wink wink nudge nudge outsider observations ...Woodford Green a haunt for gender bending activities??? Who knows...Anyhow this is great fun!

Hear a full version of Sex Change Sadie

Twister –Getting Nowhere Fast

Twister –Getting Nowhere Fast/ (What A Way To Spend) Saturday –RCA 102925 (1977 Aus)

Getting Nowhere Fast starts off like Daddy Cool’s Eagle Rock as played by a teenage AC/DC, the track then alternates between sounding like Andy Ellison’s Jet and more typical melodic Aussie Hard Rock à la Angels. It certainly features many twists and turns, and is a hugely enjoyable ride. The B side is another good track, if anything, reminding me even more of Jet with a few Alice Cooper licks thrown into the equation. Can we please have some Aussie input here to supply the necessary info? I see there’s at least one more RCA single Holy Smoke...

Here is a photo of Twister in action at the Hurstsville Civic. Photo taken by Jenny Barclay. Those were the days...

Hear a full version of Getting Nowhere Fast

Hear a full version of (What A Way To Spend) Saturday

Smyle –Dream of Me

Smyle –Dream of Me/ Have I Ever Let You Down –Polydor 2050281 (1973 NL)

This is the third single by the Dutch Purepop meisters. It is rarely seen or heard these days and is by far their rarest single. Dream of Me is an orchestrated pop number and fits nicely next to Nimbo or some of the Magic Christian/Iveys material. The B side is more raucous and is the Lennon to the A side’s McCartney. These guys deserve more appreciation than they ever received and having all their four singles (plus the 2 Hammer singles) should be a prerequisite for any discerning Powerpop lover. If you haven’t already, check out the Mark Boon interview here: http://www.nederglam.nl/html/smyle.html
Enjoy!

Hear a full version of Dream of Me



Hear a full version of Have I Ever Let You Down

Flamin’ Groovies -Slow Death –UK Picture Sleeve Demo!

Flamin’ Groovies -Slow Death/Tallahassee Lassie –UA UP 35392 (1972 UK)

Wow... is this the ultimate in cool or what? This is the single that started it all for me. It hit this 12 year old full face and the love story has never ended. I still play this single over and over and 38 years later it still sends shivers down the backbone. The overall attitude, the riff, the lyrics, those pounding drums, the amazing Dave Edmunds production (just check the best hand clap sound ever on the third verse), this single has and does it all...and for me is still the most perfect single I've ever heard or experienced.
Now the UK pic sleeve was only available with some UK demos (250 copies?) and this one came with the hand-out shown here. OK, the German pic sleeve is pretty cool, but this is the ultimate edition of this classic among classics. I am really chuffed getting my hands on this copy, but the good news for others is that I now have a spare copy of the UK pic sleeve in VG+ condition with its EX Demo record.
I am open to offers, but would rather trade for something equally special...any other unreleased Streak acetates out there for example?

Hear a full version of Slow Death

Westland Steamboat –Born Under A Bad Sign

Westland Steamboat –Born Under A Bad Sign/Missouri Train –CBS 4756 (1970 UK)
An interesting find this one. Released in 1970 it can be seen as some sort of Doctor Feelgood precursor with those choppy Wilco Johnson/ Mick Green guitar stabs mixed in with something akin to a rockier Christie (Yellow River). There’s even a Proto Punk element to the song’s construction and a DIY/Garage feel. This is a UK production, but I didn’t immediately find anything about the band in question, although I have a single from producer Stephen Shane called Someone Who Cares on JAM. Let’s see what this posting drags up...

Hear a full version of Born Under A Bad Sign

King's Cross Record Fair this Sunday

I will be here on Sunday and will be bringing 200-300 singles with me...come and say "Hi"

All the best

Robin

Randy Pie & Family –Queen of Dream

Randy Pie & Family –Queen of Dream /Train Goes On –Atlantic K10248 (1972 UK issue)

Randy Pie & Family were a bunch of Hamburgers who formed out of the ashes of The Rattles. After joining forces with Ex Rattle Achim Reichel in Propeller for the Apache Woman single (http://purepop1uk.blogspot.com/2006/12/propeller-apache-woman.html ) and the Let Us Live Together LP, Herbert Hildebrandt and Dicky Tarrach formed Randy Pie & Family.They released two singles on Atlantic before splitting and then reforming as Randy Pie on Polydor (without Hildebrandt) where they went into glossy disco Jazzy Prog mode!!!!!
Queen of Dream (where did the “S” go?) however is totally excellent. Although quite repetitive; it’s a full on crunching mantra with backing vocals which add an almost surreal Heavy Metal Doo-Wop angle over the pounding drums and chugging guitars. Much Fun and rejoicing für alle da unter...

Hear a full version of Queen of Dream

.....................................German Pic Sleeve........................................

Albatross –Tobacco Road

Albatross –Tobacco Road/Let It Roll –Gull 22395 -8N (1975 German issue)

Following their tenure with Mooncrest; Albatross jumped ship to Gull and nearly made it with this corking version of Tobacco Road. Albatross enthusiastically update the old chestnut, adding a Can’t Explain riff in a hugely invigorating performance with Maximum Crunching Glam appeal. The B side Let It Roll is a loud rocker, spouting attitude with a protruding cowbell and also fully deserves to be highlighted here in its entirety. Albatross were: John Jones, Malc Player, Danny Balkwill and Terry Keyworth . John Jones then went on to form Fringe Benefit. He is still active today: http://joejonesqed.co.uk/

Hear a full version of Tobacco Road

Hear a full version of Let It Roll

Creme Soda –Keep It Heavy

Creme Soda –Keep It Heavy/And That Is That –Trinity CST-112 (1974 US)

Keep It Heavy is a lovely West Coast Pop/Psych tune very much in the mould of The Grassroots (Let’s Live For Today) with a touch of The Mamas and Papas. Oddly enough though, this is not a 1966 recording, but a stand out track from a Milwaukee band released in 1974! Again you can thank Bomp magazine for highlighting this band at the time, which led to me discovering this pearl. I just love the mix of Guiro, haunting melody with its Psyched-Out lead break (check out The Barracudas On A Sunday -1981) where I was more than a little inspired by this single...) Creme Soda also released the Punk-o-Billy (I’m) Chewing Gum and an album Tricky Zingers in 1975 that has been bootlegged on vinyl and on CD. The band line-up was Art Hicks, Jim Wilson, Billy Tanon and Ron Jutuman –Any idea what happened to them? Were there any other releases of note from these guys in other incarnations?
Hear a full version of Keep It Heavy

Hear a full version of On A Sunday (From The Big Gap)

Monopoly –Gone Tomorrow

Monopoly –We Belong Together/Gone Tomorrow –Pye 7N 17940 (1970 UK)

Gone Tomorrow is a real screamer, kinda like Lee Curtis & The All Stars (Skinnie Minnie) filtered via The Floyd Dakil Combo (Dance Franny Dance) appearing through Freakbeat’s outdoor and landing out of time in 1970 in the same fashion as Mississippi’s Mr. Union Railway Man (see post November 18th 2008). The A side also starts promisingly but is a poppier and more commercial offering. Raymond Froggatt had a band called Monopoly on Polydor, but it’s unlikely that there’s any connection there.

Hear a full version of Gone Tomorrow

Mothers of Track –Motorcycle Rock

Mothers of Track –Motorcycle Rock/Storm In A Teacup –Monopole S476 (1975 Belgium)

Welcome to the Mutoid world of The Mothers of Track???? Yes, more dorky Belgians albeit this time of the biker persuasion in thick leathers (apart from the accountant geek in the floppy hat).

You want loud Motorbike noises? ROAR...yes, we have them here and with extra siren noises to boot. The track lives up to expectations and is positively imbued with overflowing piston-fuelled power. It’s gritty and dirty like a greaser should be with tasty sharp lead breaks, grunting rhythm guitars and screeching vocals reminding me of the lead vocalist in Catapult. Two of the band went on to form the Belgian Heavy Metal band

Hear a full version of Motorcycle Rock

And now hear a full version of the nifty instrumental B side...

Things Fall Apart –Bye Bye My Rose

Things Fall Apart –Bye Bye My Rose/Manna –President PT 378 (1972 UK)

Nice N Heavy 3 chorder à la Move’s Do Ya. The Power chords have a cool overloaded metallic clang to them and there is some abundant OTT fuzz lead throughout. The chorus is surprisingly poppy for its surroundings, so you can file it somewhere between Freakbeat/Pop Rock and Crunching Glam. I have no info on these guys...

Hear a full version of Bye Bye My Rose