COB
Moyshe McStiff And The Tartan Lancers Of The Scared Heart
FOREST
Forest (both Radioactive; CD and vinyl)
     Returning to England after having travelled extensively in Afghanistan and India Incredible String Band founder Clive Palmer formed COB (Clive's Original Band) with Mick Bennett and John Bidwell. Based in the rustic, away from it all, surroundings of Cornwall it wasn't long until the ISB connection led to old friend Ralph McTell to come in contact with the bohemian folkies. McTell instantly fell in love their distinctive eerie songs and helped the trio to get signed with CBS. Moyshe McStiff And The Tartan Lancers Of The Scared Heart was released in August '72 and it's an eclectic stew of folk traditions based on Palmer's interest in Rastafarianism (a few years before Marley graced the British charts), ancient Middle Eastern and English music. The material is approached in a similar manner to the ISB, but less fraught and purposefully weird. Bennett's gentle winsome vocal counteracts Palmer's coarser, direct manner of singing, whilst a variety of stringed instruments, pipes, harmonium and percussion make for a deliciously simple, yet effective acid-folk blend. An ethereal, bleak beauty blankets much of the music. Wonderfully poignant, and memorable. A lost classic!
     Young northern hippy trio Forest were also indebted to the ISB – in fact, to call them an ISB tribute wouldn't be unfair. The out of key, wibbly wobbly harmonicas, flighty flutes and passable imitations of Williams' monosyllabic Arabic backing vocals would have been impossible without the 5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of An Onion template, but underneath the forced ISB weirdness and erratic changes their song craft was as equally inspired by pop music as folk. 'Sylvie (We'd Better Not Pretend)' is nothing less than a UK psychedelic-pop song, as much Tintern Abbey as anything. Kaleidoscope, Donovan, The Fox and the brand of UK psych that contained elements of folk are all suitable comparisons. What prevents Forest from being considerably more worthy is their all too noticeable ISB plagiarism. Nevertheless, the tunes are good, and the album exudes innocence and passion.
www.radioactiverecords.com/
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE DONKEYS
Television Anarchy (Detour; 2-CD)
     A double CD retrospective spanning the career of the Wakefield mod / power pop band from 1978 – 82, the first disc contains their five singles; the second has 20 unreleased tracks.
     Listening to both discs in chronological order you can hear the sound of a band growing up. Their first efforts don't stand out from the legions of late '70s Jam imitators. Their first single 'What I Want' has a good riff but is marred by Weller–esque 'angry but tough' vocals and the 'gang' backing vocals typical of the times. As the band evolved they became more confident and found their voice in confident, catchy pop tunes with the addition of keyboards and stronger, less derivative vocals, as tunes like 'No Way' and 'Some People' demonstrate. The Donkeys pop sound was similar to that of their contemporaries The Motors.
     Among the unreleased material are some forays into reggae beats, instrumentals, some live covers showing a healthy interest in classic '60s pop and some deeper lyrics such as 'Orwell's' Town'. It's a shame that the band split before recording the decent LP that they were clearly capable of. Don't be put off by one of the most uninspired band names in history!
www.detour-records.co.uk
Phil Suggitt

THE FLASHBACK V
Balada Des Cavallers Que Dien 'Ni!' (Colombo Gramophone; 12" mini LP )
     In the early '90s Barcelona's Flashback 5 were one of the pioneers of the Spanish 60's garage scene. Of the eight songs featured here, one or two have been issued in different versions on the band's 45s and LP, but it's great to hear them all together, as they were originally planned for an LP release.
     Colombo records have done a nice job of this package, as you get a well designed cover, some very witty sleeve notes which actually made me laugh, and a four page insert with lots of photos.
     The factor that distinguished the 5 from the rest of the '90s garage bands was Sara Porter's Hammond playing. Never showy or flashy, it adds a melodic edge which drives the tunes along. Sometimes it disguises the lack of a distinctive hook in some of the songs, and the rather limited vocals of Alfredo Plou.
     I have to come clean. If this was a juke box jury, I would have to stand down as I know one of the accused. I know and like Sara and she is the partner of chief Shindigger Mills. So does this mean I shouldn't write about her old band or her nifty organ playing? Hell no, because it's the truth!
argenter@tiscali.es
Phil Suggitt

THE HOLY MACKEREL
The Holy Mackerel (Collector's Choice; CD)
     Ok, let's get the preliminaries out of the way. The Holy Mackerel was a late '60s band led by one Paul Hamilton Williams II. Yes, that Paul Williams, the King Of Schmalz, he of 'We've Only Just Begun' and 'An Old Fashioned Love Song' infamy. Please don't stop reading, because friends, The Holy Mackerel is one great album, a primer of psychedelic pop music! The opening cut, 'The Secret Of Pleasure' could stand as a prototype, as it's filled to the brim with reverb, muted vocals, raga vibrations, and beautiful flute lines courtesy of Cynthia Ann Fitzpatrick, for a West Coast sound not unlike The Collectors (whose albums, interestingly enough, have also been reissued by Collector's Choice). Other Paul-penned tracks like 'Scorpio Red,' 'Wildflowers,' and the appropriately spooky 'The Golden Ghost Of Love' follow a similar path; only 'Bitter Honey' foreshadows Williams' foray into EZ listening. The other songwriter in the Holy Mackerel is Paul's brother Mentor (who, ironically, sites Paul as his mentor), whose style calls to mind several forms of country, from the Sweethearts-era Byrdsy 'The Somewhere In Arizona At 4:30 A.M. Restaurant Song (And Now I Am Alone)', the bluesy 'Nothin' Short Of Misery,' and the more traditionally country 'The Wild Side Of Life'. The Holy Mackerel ends, appropriately enough, with the ultimate hippie social statement, '1984', which predicts a somewhat serene existence in the Year Of Big Brother.
     It's amazing that many Paul Williams fanatics had never even heard of this album. Then again, perhaps it isn't. No matter, they'll hear of it now, and everyone reading this review needs to own this album immediately!
www.collectorschoicemusic.com
David Bash

BILLY NICHOLLS
Forever's No Time Time At All: The Anthology 1967-2004
ALAN HULL
We Can Swing Together: The Anthology 1965-1995 (Both Sanctuary 2-CD)
     Both of these double-CD compilations include more than their quota of good music, but condensing 30 years of an artist's career into one package will inevitably result in a rather schizophrenic move from mid-'60s innocence to overblown mid-'90s AOR. And as one would expect here it happens in both instances.
     The Billy Nicholls' set kicks off with a tasty Would You Believe? selection and then chronologically surfs through his early '70s efforts Love Songs and White Horse before grinding to a halt with the '80s and '90s Phil Collins friendly transatlantic adult orientated schmaltz. If Would You Believe? mirrored the harmony coated west coast via Twickenham psych-pop landscape of '68 then the hippy-go-lucky rural rock, folk-rock and piano led orchestrated pop of his immediate follow ups sit perfectly in the realm of American singer-song writers and the goodtime stoned musings of the closer-to-home mentor Ronnie Lane. CD1 features a plethora of quality songwriting and performances that should gain Nicholls even more praise… the less said about the later material the better. Yes, Nicholls may have written some huge selling hits for the likes of Leo Sayer, but do we really care? Or for that matter, want to hear them?
     Alan Hull gets the same treatment with We Can Swing Together, tracing the geordies' musical journey from Zombies-like beat merchants The Chosen Few through to the psychedelic supremacy of Skip Bifferty, his late '60s Transatlantic folk-rock solo singles, a career overview of the hit making Lindisfarne -- yes, 'Fog On The Tyne' is of course included – and closes with the Dylanish via Proclaimers folk-pop that he recorded before his untimely death in the mid-'90s. But surely, wouldn't one CD have been enough??
     Quite why Sanctuary have the inclination to anthologise artists' entire careers in this manner is hard to grasp. What market are they aiming for? People like us may require a portion of both of these discs… but we really don't want everything. Honestly.
www.castlemusic.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE RAMONES
Live, 7th January 1978, at the Palladium, NYC (Sanctuary Midline; CD)
     Gabba gabba, hey! Here you get a 55-minute set from the brudders in their home town of New York City, a relentless barrage of 1-2-3-4, at the same venue where Joe and Johnny had previously been to see The Rolling Stones back in '65. This 3000+ capacity venue saw The Ramones playing their biggest US show to date, starting off with 'Rockaway Beach', going on to 'Teenage Lobotomy', through 'Blitzkrieg Bop', and on and on – each and every one of 'em now classics. 'Sheena is a Punk Rocker', 'Cretin Hop', their versions of 'Surfin' Bird' and 'California Sun', 27 tracks altogether, ending with the inappropriate (if you've seen the recent documentary, End of the Century) 'We're a Happy Family'. Personally, I'm one of those who'd rather listen to a studio recording and could list on the fingers of one hand the live albums I'm likely to play more than once. But, being such a large part of my life growing up, listening to The Ramones from a time when I was way too young to have been able to go see them when they were at their best, listening to this is like going back in time. Just close your eyes and imagine you were there!
http://www.castlemusic.com/
Murray Abisch

SPANKY & OUR GANG
The Complete Mercury Recordings (Hip-O Select; CD)
     Spanky & Our Gang were kinda like an east coast version of Harper's Bizarre, as both groups shared a fondness for harmony-filled soft pop, as well as giving new spins to old standards. However, Spanky & Our Gang added a delightful schtick element, especially in their early daze, and there was always at least a hint of jazz hovering about. The Complete Mercury Recordings is a four-disc box set which is exactly as the title would suggest: all of their recordings for the little company with the red label. The box takes us chronologically through their three proper albums, the greatest hits and live discs, and adds bonus tracks and mono single mixes, sure to please the completists among us. The schtickiness was in most evidence during the group's first couple of albums, Spanky & Our Gang and Like To Get To Know You, with 'Ya Got Trouble (In River City)' and '5 Definitions Of Love' being prime examples, and their versions of standards like '(It Ain't Necessarily) Byrd Avenue" and 'Stardust' were more than creditable. They also do fine covers of (then) current tunes like 'Leaving On A Jet Plane' (which preceded Peter, Paul, and Mary's huge hit), 'Echoes (Everybody's Talkin')' and 'Suzanne'. On their third album, Anything You Choose B/W Without Rhyme Or Reason, Spanky & Our Gang shifted focus to something more serious and conceptual, and it's a true soft-pop gem, with classics like the title track, the minor hit 'And She's Mine', which features a group lead vocal and a tremendous bass line by the song's author, Kenny Hodges, the anthemic 'Yesterday's Rain', the virtual advertisement 'Leopard Skin Phones', and the social commentary 'Give A Dam'. However, it will always be the hits for which the group will be best remembered, and the strong, assured lead vocals of Spanky McFarlane and dizzying harmonies were showcased on 'Making Every Minute Count,', 'Lazy Day', 'Like To Get To Know You' (the album version of the latter adds a rather way-out psychedelic bridge), and of course, 'Sunday Will Never Be The Same'. The group is most in their element on the live album, which was recorded in the small Florida venue, The Gaslight Club South, giving them the opportunity to develop a rapport with the crowd and yielding fine performances on numbers like 'Waltzing Matilda', 'Steel Rail Blues', and a torchy rendition of 'Brother Can You Spare A Dime'.
     The four discs come in a nice package featuring a booklet with excellent liners and illustrations, but it must be mentioned that it's rather difficult to get the discs in and out of the slots in which they've been encased. However, that's a small price to pay in order to have all of this fine music in one place. Dig it, and dig in!
     Note: you cannot buy this CD in stores; it can only be purchased through www.hip-oselect.com.
David Bash

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Power for Passion… File Under: Power Pop 1978-85 (Dionysus; CD)
     I have to be honest here and say that I'm not entirely sure how to define "power pop". I think I just sort of know it when I hear it… There's surely a grey area where various strands of rock music collide but in which the songs have a pop sensibility going on? And, to me, quite a few of these tracks surely do fall into a grey area that's closer to punk rock or new wave than pure power pop. But generally, I'd say a good record is a good record is a good record. And these are all pretty darn good records. So...
     There are some pretty cool tunes here by relatively obscure bands (all but one of them American – and those either from Connecticut, Massachusetts or California), starting off with the excellent new- wave-punk-with-a-pop-edge of 'Small Talk' by The Reducers. (Their other contribution, 'Black Plastic Shoes', sounds like contemporary, ie. '81, psychobilly rather than power pop!) That's followed by a previously unreleased track by the Stratford Survivors, which wouldn't sound out of place on Stiff Records. The one British representative is The Nips (nothing to do with The Nipple Erectors) out of Glasgow.
     Special mention also has to go to Chicago band The Headaches' punk pop lament to 'Teenage Sex' and The Ejectors' fabulous 'Fade with the Summer' (which comes closest to my definition of 'power pop' than most on this compilation). 'Natural Cause' by Butch Minds The Baby is one track that sounds really dated, with its worries about communism and nuclear war. Dennis Most – who is still around now with his band The Instigators – ends things perfectly with his wonderfully titled 'Life Can be a Cruel Gig'.
www.dionysusrecords.com
Murray Abisch

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Voices Of The Millenium (Sonic Past Music; CD)
     Sadly Lee Mallory passed away recently, joining his old partners Gary Usher and Curt Boettcher. The group of musicians who played on the Millennium/Sagittarius projects left a legacy of great music, but this CD isn't their finest hour. The CD notes state that these demos were recorded in various studios across California after the demise of Curt's Millennium group. The label website claims the sessions were recorded at the same time as Sagittarius' Blue Marble album, as different versions of some of the tunes wound up on that record. The group were really comfortable in the studio, singing and playing on each other's songs, trying out new ideas. Some of the ideas on this collection are a lot more successful than others. The opening cut is a really professional, slick version of 'Come To Me Baby', unfortunately just an average Brian Wilson song. Although the Millennium musicians produced some timeless and sophisticated pop, on occasions the vocal sounds of Boettcher, Salisbury, Stec, Usher and co. could veer perilously close to MOR, such as the feathered notes in 'I Can Still See Your Face'. By the late '60s this type of stuff had become deeply unfashionable. And when the songs are workmanlike, as some of these are, the inoffensive vocals can become bland or merely pleasant at best. Notable exceptions include Sandy Salisbury's 'Little Lost And Found', a great nod to the surf/pop sound of the early 60's, and 'Measure of a Man', which would be a far better song without the pedal steel guitar.
www.sonicpastmusic.com
Phil Suggitt