The Explosive - (Who Planted Thorns) In Miss Alice's Garden/ I Get My Kicks From Living

Label: President

Year of Release: 1969

The Explosive were simply Decca group The Plague (of "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" and "Looking For The Sun" fame) operating under another moniker. No line-up changes, no mess, no fuss, just a simple alteration of the band name, perhaps to shake off the curse of "psychedelic flop single" that might have clung to them at that point. They consisted of Ken Ali on vocals and guitar, Bill Dale on bass and vocals, Russ Harness on keyboards and John Truelove on drums. 

Signing to President, they fared a little bit better, but not so much that they ever managed a bona-fide hit single. However, a string of 45s emerged on that label of which this is probably the finest. The A-side is a slightly more bizarre version of Tom Northcott's cult US single, is widely available on iTunes and YouTube, and is therefore off-limits for the purposes of this blog - however, it's worth a spin just to hear the band go to town on the original track and, in my opinion, improve it with their splashes of wah-wah guitar, eccentric reggae-tinged rhythms and quirky vocals. Somewhere amidst the racket, the sound of the art school seventies is being created.

The flip "I Get My Kicks From Living" has clearly had less thrown into the blender, but is still an optimistic and carefree slice of sixties pop. 

The Explosive were finally dropped by President at the end of 1970, but they quickly signed to the tiny Plexium label and issued at least one more marvel, the fantastic and groovesome "Hey Presto, Magic Man", a track I've been after on seven inch for years now, but copies are astoundingly hard to come by. 

The Plague - Looking for the Sun (b/w Here Today Gone Tomorrow)

Label: Decca

Year of Release: 1968

If there's one thing about a lot of psychedelic and hippy singles of the sixties I find hard to take, it's the lyrical references to all the sad old losers in the world who work nine to five.  "Wear a suit and tie/ when I'd rather sit and die", as The Leaves ranted in "Too Many People" - because, like, wearing a suit is a sign of sure evil and signals the fact that you are regularly tickling The Man's cock.  Complete drivel, obviously.  

That said, you can appreciate their sentiments of anarchy and freedom however clumsily they may be expressed, even if it does involve forcing yourself back into the mentality of a time when new pathways and possibilities did seem to be opening up that didn't necessarily mean living a conservative nine to five life.  The Plague here, for example, released a sinister 45 which seems to be examining the dilemma from a rather bleak perspective.  The B-side "Here Today Gone Tomorrow" is a taunting, nagging, finger-wagging piece of work with some very sneering vocals - "Save for your holiday/ twelve months you work, two weeks you play/ next time summer comes around/ you may be six feet underground" they warn like psychedelic Grim Reapers.  Fair point, chaps, although putting out one single with Decca then disappearing without trace so that bloggers and writers in the future can't identify who the hell you are doesn't seem like much more of a long-term strategy.  Still, they tried.  They at least did that, didn't they?

It's a solid two sides on offer here, though, with the A-side "Looking for the Sun" being more chiming and subtle, but still having a similarly eerie and doomed feel.  Despite this, luck was not on their side.  By the time Decca launched this on to the public the summer of love had come and gone, and psychedelic pop was beginning to seem a bit like yesterday's news.  Had this been issued earlier I'm tempted to argue that it might have been a hit, but sadly it's hard to imagine it being a jolly daytime radio staple - it was always going to achieve cult status at best, and that's exactly what happened.  Original copies of this are so sought-after now that they frequently sell for three-figure sums.  My copy (pictured above) is a facsimile issue, hence the printed-on "spider" in the middle (it would seem that pressing plants don't seem to have the facility to create ye olde "spiders" in the middle of seven inch records anymore).

Rumours abound that The Plague were actually a studio-bound record label project rather than proper hippies, which (if true) just goes to show that The Man can disguise himself very well when he wants to.  I'd appreciate some confirmation on who The Plague really were and where they ended up, but I'd be joining a long, long list of people wanting to know the answer to that, so I won't hold my breath.

Download it here