The Collectors - I Must Have Been Blind/ The Beginning

 

Label: London

Year of Release: 1970

While this was their first and only UK release, The Collectors had a long and complicated history in Canada prior to landing here. They initially formed as The C-Fun Classics in 1961, then eventually changed their name to the Canadian Classics, and were the house band of the British Colombia station CFUN-AM. While I haven't been able to track down all the records they released in this guise, the few sips I've tasted are more-or-less what you'd anticipate given the band's purpose - slick, professional and sweet but not anything to telephone your friends about. 

As the years moved on, however, a slightly rougher edge began to work it's way into their sound. 1965's "I Don't Know" has sulky vocals and snappy fuzz guitar lines, and may have been a hint of things to come. By 1966 they had experienced a reshuffling of their line-up which prompted a name change to The Collectors, with the line-up of this act consisting of Howie Vickers on lead vocals, Bill Henderson on guitar, vocals and keyboards, Claire Lawrence on Saxophone, Flute, Keyboards, Harmonica & Vocals, Glenn Miller (no, not THAT one, you dolts) on bass and vocals, and Ross Turney on drums.

They became the house band at Torch Cabaret in Vancouver, grooving their way through the dancefloor hits of the period, but gradually began to introduce original material of their own. Most of this output deviated from the old style of The Classics and had folk rock and psychedelic arrangements cut through the centre. Some bona fide hits subsequently arrived in the form of "Looking At A Baby" (number 23 in the Canadian charts) and "Fisherwoman" (number 18) but perhaps the most fascinating artefact of all is the album "Grass and Wild Strawberries", written as the soundtrack to a theatre play by George Ryga. Considered by some to be a lost progressive work of some worthiness, the contents were also played live by the band throughout the play's entire run.

The Gallants - Man From U.N.C.L.E/ The Vagabond

David Axelrod and HB Barnum with a groovy instro take on the classic theme

Label: Capitol

Year of Release: 1965

While digging around in my record boxes a couple of weeks ago, I found this one dozing forgotten and unloved in front of the Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera 45s. I bought it in a job-lot auction 15 years ago and had just allowed it to fester there in the meantime, never entertaining the idea of either DJ'ing with it or uploading it here.

This is proof that I'm not always the most organised cookie when it comes to these things, and the obvious gems in job lot auctions sometimes blind me to the charms of the other candidates in the batch. Both sides of this are worth a spin - the A-side is not the actual "Man From U.N.C.L.E." theme, but a more guitar-heavy approximation of it pulled together by the legendary arranger HB Barnum. The spindly guitar riffs intertwine with a driving beat and sinister organ lines to create a slightly menacing, clippy affair. 

For dancefloor movers, though, the B-side "The Vagabond" is where the action is. This is a Barnum composition which shakes with verve and sassiness. It's apparently found its way on to a number of mod night playlists over the years, although I have to confess I never did hear it blasting its way across the floor at any night I attended in London. 

Barnum probably needs little introduction, but began his career in doo-wop groups before gradually shifting over to arrangement and songwriting work, which saw him collaborate with Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, Chubby Checker and numerous other legends besides. As a songwriter, his most credible outing is probably Judy Street's "What". 

Nestling uncredited on this label (but firmly credited on the US pressing) is also another production king David Axelrod, for whom The Gallants appeared to be a commercial "themes" project rather than anything more artistically significant. Their other US singles included The Batman Theme and The Theme From Laurel and Hardy, proving that Axelrod was just trying to produce popular hits from familiar themes, and little more - but it's proof that even when given such a factory line task, he could infuse it with a certain spark. 

Reupload - The Look - Drumming Up Love/ Testing Times

Final 80s single from under-rated foursome

Label: Towerbell
Year of Release: 1983

The Look have been treated somewhat shabbily over the years. Their name tends to prompt the reflex response of "Eighties one-hit wonders!", and among the most discerning - or perhaps I should say snobbish - punters there's also a tendency to regard them as plastic mod revivalists.

First things first. "I Am The Beat" may have been their only significant hit ("Feeding Time" nudged number 50), but what a hit. Powered by that stomach punch of a drumbeat and one of the sharpest, simplest and catchiest organ riffs of the era, it's far stronger than the efforts of many of the New Wave groups and sixties revivalists they were occasionally compared to. As unashamed crowd pleasers go, it's up there with "Mony Mony" and "Brown Sugar" to my ears, only I tend to actually want to hear "I Am The Beat" more often.

Formerly known as The Kreed, The Ely group were initially signed to MCA in 1980 on a dubious "suck it and see" deal where the label pushed out a single or two to see how they fared, before deciding whether they were prepared to make a longer-term commitment. This wasn't uncommon practice at the time, and usually didn't bode well for a group - if the label lacked enough faith to commit to even one album, it was usually a sign that the band in question were not held in particularly strong esteem in the A&R department, and could find themselves pushed to one side in favour of other acts with bigger money and longer term plans behind them.

So it seemed for The Look at the time. Radio One fairly quickly picked up on the single, but MCA didn't begin to push the record hard until Simon Bates directly named the Managing Director live on air and told him to "get your finger out and promote this record - we're playing it up here and you've got a hit on your hands" (who would have thought Batesy could be so masterly and forceful about the fate of a new band?). It finally entered the Top 40 in the harsh January of 1981, and had risen to the number 6 spot by the end of the month, causing the group to begin to make regular appearances on the likes of "Top of the Pops", "Cheggars Plays Pop" and "Tiswas", lead singer Jonny Whetstone's mulleted, pleased-as-punch face peering through television screens the length and breadth of the land.

Further singles from the group resulted in greatly diminishing returns, however. Descriptions of the period would seem to suggest that MCA mishandled the act, resulting in some rush-recorded but actually rather under-rated singles and an "over-produced" LP ("The Look") which was released long after the momentum of "I Am The Beat" had passed. By 1982, a mere year after scoring a top ten hit, they had been dropped by the label and - despite being a popular draw on the UK gig circuit -struggled to get any interest from the other majors.

Enter the PRT affiliated independent label Towerbell in 1983, home to hit-makers Joe Fagin, Natasha (of "Iko Iko" fame), Nils Lofgren and Shirley Bassey - possibly not the most credible outfit to be associated with, but a reasonable port in a storm. "Drumming Up Love" was the only single to be released from that relationship, and it's a sturdy offering in itself. Filled with the group's usual barnstorming riffs and hooks, it even displays a rawness and energy somewhat lacking in a few of their MCA releases, almost as if the lower budget did them all good.

Sadly, the record sold disappointingly, and the group were offered no further opportunities from the label. The band have claimed that they went to the offices for a meeting only to find the premises "boarded up", which is interesting as while Towerbell definitely did cease trading in 1986, that's some time after this single's failure and presumably long after The Look originally split. We can only assume that Towerbell moved premises and failed to pick up the option to release any more of the band's work in the process, leaving the bemused group "waiting in reception" as they say in the music biz, only in a most chilly, unusual and undignified way.

Orange Colored Sky - Help/ Press A Rose

Borderline Northern Soul single from Californian club stalwarts

Label: People

Year of Release: 1970

We've already covered Orange Colored Sky on this blog, so there's going to be a limit to the volume of fresh information I can provide on this entry. Suffice to say, the group (consisting of Larry Younger, Walter Slivinski, Vinny Younger and Tony Barry) had at various points acted as the house band at New York's Peppermint Lounge and also served as Burt Bacharach's opening live act. 

While their recording career seems to have ended by 1973, they remained an on-off presence on the South West USA gig circuit until the mid-00s, retiring, re-emerging and then retiring again. You can't keep a tight, professional vocal harmony group down forever, especially one who also happens to know their collective way around their instruments too.

"Help" was a one-off 45 on People Records after they had seemingly been dropped by Uni, penned and produced by occasional Motown songwriter William Stevenson. For this reason, it has a much more soulful swing than some of their other records, blending their harmony vocals with upbeat, pie-eyed rhythms and melodies. The song sticks to the common soul theme of being so in love you can barely walk to the kitchen in a straight line (or not exactly that, but you know what I mean) and so fulfils the "dancing with tears in your eyes" requirements of the Northern Soul movement that I can't help but wonder if the track got any airings on the circuit.

Max Headroom and the Car "Parks" - Don't Panic/ Rhythm & Blue Beat

One-off EMI 45 from Ska revivalists

Label: Parlophone

Year of Release: 1980

This record acts as a good consumer trap if you think a record seller is lying when they claim their discs are "play tested". If they list it as an "early 45 from everyone's favourite computerised TV host!" then you know there's no damn way they've listened to more than three seconds of the thing (and also, zero points for their music trivia knowledge. Max Headroom the host was born in 1984. This record was released in 1980).

The only real comparison you could draw between the two is the bad joke that surrounds them - Max Headroom is, after all, what used to be written on all car park signs with a height afterwards to denote who would or wouldn't be able to get away with parking their vehicle there. Sometimes two people coincidentally make the same joke in public at around the same time and the fame of one eclipses the other. 

So this record offers no glitchy computerised showbiz irony, but is in fact a piece of surprisingly raw ska. The A-side has been compiled elsewhere and remains available to buy on various mp3 sales sites, but the B-side "Rhythm & Blue Beat" is arguably better and remains under-exposed, consisting of hard hitting rhythms and sweet, simple melodies. It takes no liberties with the tight ska revival template and there's no particular reason the group should have been given another release on EMI after this one flopped - but there are worse examples out there from groups who went on to become ever-present fixtures on the scene.

Crocheted Doughnut Ring - Maxine's Parlour/ Get Out Your Rock And Roll Shoes

 

Southend freaks give the Teds something to think about

Label: Deram
Year of Release: 1968

The Crocheted Doughnut Ring were not quite as freakish as their absurd moniker made them sound. While the group arguably had their roots in the London psychedelic underground - several of their members originated from The Fingers, a group who once heckled Pink Floyd for "selling out" - in reality they were about as far from AMM as you could get. Music business producer Peter Eden managed them and gave them their name (after a Peter Blake collage) and most of their singles are sugary McCartney-esque pop with the lightest of feathery touches on the cosmic trigger.

Their career is notable for having accidentally birthed a genuinely freaky classic, though. "Two Little Ladies (Azalea And Rhododendron)" emerged on Polydor in 1967 and was a gentle piece of whimsical popsike, but was backed by a piece of Eden-led mania in "Nice" which was essentially the A-side remixed and retooled to become an ambient masterpiece. The Orb and The KLF might have "invented" the Ambient House genre, but all "Nice" lacks is a series of car engines and train horns before it becomes the future of the chill out room. A number of forward-thinking Pirate Radio DJs opted to play it over the more conventional A-side.

The group might have used that opportunity to fly their psychedelic banner higher, but in reality their other singles on Deram are much more conventional, with 1967's "Havana Anna" sounding like a bubblegum track being shoved rudely and ignobly on to a bouncy castle and 1968's "Dance Around Julie" being yet more clappy paisley party tweeness.

Nestling between those two singles was this one, however, which restores the balance somewhat. The A-side "Maxine's Parlour" was written by the legendary Bill Fay and is muscled up into a towering epic; mellotrons meeting a huge moody (blue) chorus and Eleanor Rigby styled loneliness. It's not really commercial enough to be a hit single, and indeed it wasn't - but it's a fine reminder of other potential avenues the band might have explored. The track is available for download on iTunes and elsewhere.

The flip, however, has fallen out of circulation and is the brittle underside to the disc, being a full-blown rock rave-up referencing Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and the whole damn quiffed up gang. While there's no doubt it was largely formulated by a studio jam, it's still a blistering and forceful listen, showing that the rock and roll spirit was alive and well even in such long-haired bodies.

Reupload - Giant Jellybean Copout - Awake In A Dream

 

Bizarrely named studio bunch worshipping at the feet of Brian Wilson

Label: Poppy

Year of Release: 1968

While Brian Wilson's talent caused jaws to drop globally when "Pet Sounds" was closely followed by "Good Vibrations", it left the groups who admired him somewhat snookered. Those who loved The Beatles could put their own spin on the moptop sound without seeming like total clones (though admittedly The Knickerbockers seemed happy to ape their style with very few embellishments). The Beach Boys, though? How can you sound like a 'psychedelic barbershop quartet', as Hendrix put it, in your own way? Wilson not only developed but essentially owned that template.

This is exactly where the ridiculously named Giant Jellybean Copout came unstuck. "Awake In A Dream" is essentially The Beach Boys during their "Good Vibrations"/ "Smile" phase on a much lower budget. It's a very astute imitation, to be fair, and the tremendously psychedelic "lucid dreaming" lyrics and perfect close harmony vocals combine with a meandering structure to create something that must have been a satisfying listen for Wilson fans hungry for the delayed "Smile" LP.

As the group's name might suggest, there's more than a bit of sickly sweet bubblegum running through the core of this record too, but it's syrupy pop with a rather confusing and conflicting aftertaste. 

The main man behind this group was Jim Ryan of The Critters, who is probably best known in the UK for his minor hit "Younger Girl". It's a thing of pure sunshine loveliness which probably doesn't get played much these days due to the fact the lyrics seem slightly paedo-friendly if you're the cynical type. If you hear it as what I suspect it's supposed to be, though - a dreamy song for teenagers about the girl two forms below - it's a thing of beauty. 

Ryan eventually went on to become Carly Simon's touring guitarist, before becoming a studio based session musician. 

The Sceptres - Something's Coming Along/ What's The Matter With Juliet

Strident beat pop from the Montreal wonders

Label: Spark

Year of Release: 1968

While there were certainly exceptions to the general rule (particularly in the folk scene) Canadian musicians often got overshadowed by the work of their American cousins in the sixties. A quick scout around any Canadian record shop or eBay sales listing will reveal an assortment of surprising garage groups and pop outfits who never seemed to get far south of Niagara Falls, from Eastern groups who struck a careful compromise between French pop and American rock to Western bands making a fierce homespun racket. 

The Sceptres were a predominantly English language group from Montreal who released a brace of singles from 1965-1969, from the debut "Boy Like Me" on the Fi-Sound label through to their final release on Polydor "Good Morning New Day". The group made a huge name for themselves on the Canadian gig circuit due to their professional vocal harmony sounds, sufficiently getting enough acclaim to enable them to also tour the Eastern strip of the USA as well. Sadly though, no US record labels appear to have ever approached them with contracts, so no Billboard chart appearances resulted.

"Something's Coming Along", however, did sneak out on to Spark Records in the UK despite the group's largely unknown status in this country. There are two possible reasons for this outcome - firstly, the band had recently experienced a huge French language hit in Quebec with a cover of "I Never Had A Love Like That", and secondly both sides were co-written by John Carter, an individual who had a close working relationship with both the Spark label and particularly their parent company Southern Music. While the tracks were recorded in Canada by legendary producer Martin Martin rather than at Spark's studios in London, this association combined with the exotic North American connection must have made licensing the UK release too tempting to resist.

These are two solid sides as well. "Something's Coming Along" tip-toes between commercial beat pop and swinging mod rock successfully and could have been a potential UK hit. The flip side "What's The Matter With Juliet" is also a bold, brassy arrangement which highlights the group's vocal strengths. Some might call this popsike, but I'd draw short of describing it as that.