Gothic Horizon - Marjorie/ Song

 

Folk duo back a merry melody with a moody mellotron track

Label: Argo

Year of Releaes: 1971

Gothic Horizon consisted of Andy Desmond and Richard Garrett, a pair of folkies from Hertfordshire whose LPs "The Jason Lodge Poetry Book" and "Tomorrow Is Another Day" are both now rather collectible. For their debut effort they kept things sweet and simple and folk-bound, while "Tomorrow Is Another Day" saw the group padded out by additional members to create a more rock-orientated sound. 

This particular 45 stems from their original and authentic period and has two very distinct moods. Over on side A, the pair seem to be attempting to muster up a chirpy Paul Simon styled hit out of a stripped back acoustic sound. Some will smile agreeably at the relentless cheeriness of it, whereas others will be tempted to frisbee the single across the room. 

Still, no matter, for in the shadow of the B-side lies a melancholic mellotron infused piece of folk which is more likely to please people allergic to frivolousness. "Song" romantically pleads with a significant other who is apparently underwhelmed by the pair's reassurances, and by the time the keyboard kicks in it's clear neither of the are going to get very far. Still, the song itself is subtle and intriguing and doesn't need the extra bells and whistles of a full band accompaniment to work.

The duo/band split not long after "Tomorrow Is Another Day" flopped, and Andy Desmond signed to Ray Davies' Konk Records in 1975 before jumping to Ariola in the late seventies. His activities after 1978 are unclear, however, and I suspect he may have quit the music business by that point. 

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