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.

Life - Hands Of The Clock/ Ain't I Told You Before

 

 

 

Montreal rockers with intricate, melodic single

 

Label: Polydor

Year of Release: 1969

 

The Canadian music scene - and particularly the Quebec and Newfoundland ends of it - seems strangely isolated at times, even to this day. Most Europeans would probably assume that having a close proximity to the USA would be a distinct advantage for any up-and-coming Canuck band, but in reality many have had to content themselves with regional airplay and strong local sales which didn't translate to appreciation across the border.

 

Life were one such example. Formed partly from willing members of The Scene after producer and songwriter Neil Sheppard informed them he wanted a Canadian group to record his songs, they got off to a highly ambitious start by dismantling (rather than covering) The Beatles "Strawberry Fields Forever" in 1969. The end results of that particular escapade with either fascinate or horrify you, but perhaps inevitably it wasn't a hit. 

The Sheppard penned "Hands Of The Clock" followed that release and sounds like a much more realistic proposition and performed more convincingly commercially, climbing to number 19 in the Canadian charts. Filled with quivering vocals, explosive brass lines and ambitious arrangements, it's thoughtful and progressive with neat, sharp hooks punctuating the rush of ideas. 

The group would go on to support Steppenwolf and generate huge media attention for being the first local band to play a major show at the Montreal Forum, but the follow-up single "Sweet Lovin'" didn't build on the success, and nor did their LP "Life". The group rapidly disintegrated and went their separate ways.

Les 409 - Reviens Reviens (Hello Goodbye)/ Un Amour Complique

Label: RCA Victor Canada International
Year of Release: 196?

If the Canadian band Les 409 are known for anything much at all outside their home nation (and possibly even the Quebec region) it's probably their single "They Say/ Born In Chicago", two fuzzy pieces of garage pop which are archived over on YouTube.  The single is ranked up there with Nuggets-compiled fellow Canucks The Haunted's "125", and probably would get more plays by DJs in mod/ garage clubs if only copies of the damn record weren't so hard to come by.

Back when they formed in 1963 it's true to say that Les 409 were raw and bluesy, but eventually this slick recording slipped out.  Carefully produced by Easy Listening legend (and enigma) Martin Martin, the A-side is a French translation of The Beatles single "Hello Goodbye".  The instrumental arrangements are a very sympathetic facsimile of the original, but the vocals push harder and seem slightly more abrasive - and, regrettably, sometimes less in-tune - than the original.  Like most Beatles covers, it takes few liberties and might be regarded as completely inessential if you ignore the fact that a French version of the Fab Four's most lyrically simple song is an entertainingly absurd idea.

Much better material is to be found on the flip.  "Un Amour Complique" is a wonderfully rich piece of swinging orchestrated pop which is clearly more influenced by the sixties French pop scene than anything in the UK.  Filled with beautiful flourishes and subtly addictive melodies, it sees both the band and Martin on top form, a far cry from their ballsy garage roots but still creating great music which is dramatic in an altogether different way.

If anyone knows what  became of Les 409 please let me know.  There's plenty of information about their period of activity online, but not much about what became of them all afterwards.