Linda Kendrick - House Of Cards/ Music Brings Us Joy

Dwight and Taupin attempt to push Linda Kendrick's career over the line

Label: Dawn

Year of Release: 1975

Once every so often during the course of writing this blog, I stumble on a band or performer whose hitlessness I find fascinating. Their career is riddled with opportunities and possible turning points, none of which seem to correct the low-key course they're on. 

Back in 2020, I bought Linda Kendrick's cover version of the Rolling Stones "Sympathy For The Devil", which can be found here, and immediately fell in love with its archness, its pantomime evil and camp. All of these things could be found in the Stones original, of course, but for all Jagger's strutting and showboating, the Stones always seemed weighed down by the serious rock ambitions of the others (with the obvious exception of their psychedelic diversions, but even they seem drenched in a knowing heaviness at times). Kendrick takes the track and sings it through narrowed eyes gleefully, loving every second, stopping short (you sense) of cackling. Her vocals are also wondrous. 

She wasn't the first female artist to pick up "Sympathy" and spot its hidden potential. Sandie Shaw did so too for her recently re-released "Reviewing The Situation" album, but her take is - while damn good - a little too respectful of the source material. It stemmed from a period where Shaw was keen to be thought of as something more than a pop singer, and it shows in the delivery. It serves an entirely different purpose to Kendrick's take, rocking out with it rather than dragging it around Soho with sharp fingernails digged into its palm. 

When that inexplicably wasn't a hit, her old friend Elton John (with whom she had toured in 1970) offered her a new composition entitled "House of Cards". This should have been a massive turning point, turning a popular live draw and accomplished musical theatre performer into a nationally recognised star. Suffice to say, it didn't. It's as superbly arranged as "Sympathy", with slinky, menacing bass lines wrapping around chiming piano lines, and delivered as wonderfully as ever by Kendrick, but for all Taupin and Dwight's power at this point, the tune itself is arguably too slight to create a hit. The arranger Mike Moran works wonders with it, adding interesting little sliproads and twists into the arrangement, but it's not quite enough to make a difference. The song is, nonetheless, powerful enough to have been a solid album track.

Ebenezer Moog - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/ Silent Night

Festive Moog and Theremin Fun on Elton John's Label

Label: Rocket

Year of Release: 1975

Well, here's a bizarre old release. Consisting entirely of Moog and Theremin twiddling versions of two Christmas carol classics, it's hard to understand how anyone thought it would be in-demand. Analogue synths were deeply exciting and increasingly commercial news in the mid-seventies, but the leading proponents tended to be German groups such as Neu! and Kraftwerk, or the more ambitious art and prog rockers.

Alongside the hairier and more thoughtful synth wizards were, of course, lots of electronic stylings of Bach and Mozart and traditional songs on vinyl, and this little 45 seems to fall somewhere between the two stools. The A-side is cheap jollity - you can probably imagine how it sounds before you even press 'play' - but the B-side is very interesting, and if we flex our collective imaginative muscles, it slightly sounds like a precursor to the Ambient House records of the early nineties (and in fact, if I had to pick one example in particular, Jimmy Cauty out of the KLF's "Space" would be the most obvious). Filled with radio samples of astronauts, eerie rumblings and a simple, sweet warbling electronic take on "Silent Night", it's high on atmosphere. True, you get the vague sense that it might have taken all of half an hour to record, but it's one of the better festive Moog covers I've heard.

The Adventures Of Mr Bloe (71-75 New Oxford and the Avenue Cash-in Conspiracy)

Label: DJM

Year of Release: 1971

"Groovin' With Mr Bloe" is one of the seventies more unlikely UK hits (a cover version sourced from the B-side to Wind's "Make Believe") . Consisting of a thudding great dancefloor beat acting as the backdrop to some mournful harmonica playing, it's one part unsubtle groover, another part "Last of the Summer Wine" incidental music. 

And maybe that's not particularly surprising. Some sources list Harry Pitch as the harmonica player on the number two smash, others Ian Duck (who definitely did appear on "Top of the Pops" to promote the record). If Pitch was indeed the man honking and wailing away in the studio for this disc, then he also did numerous other pieces of top-flight harmonica session work, including the theme and soundtrack to everyone's barely tolerated piece of Sunday early evening situation comedy. 

After "Groovin'…" fell out of the charts, DJM did what most record companies opt to do in such circumstances and tried to keep the b(r)and name alive. A follow-up "Curried Soul" was issued, but failed to chart, and "71-75 New Oxford" (named after the London 71-75 New Oxford Street base of DJM, now home to a hairdressers and a sandwich shop) was the last 45rpm hurrah. Elton John penned it and performed on both sides, and it's actually a beauty - more strident and Stevie Wonder inspired than "Groovin'" was and horrendously catchy to boot. Shoot me if you must, but I actually think this is the best single to come out under the Mr Bloe moniker, and it deserved to be a hit. The fact remains, though, that it always was going to be tough to sustain a band based largely on harmonica instrumentals, and the project had "probable one hit wonder" stamped all over it from the get-go.

Still, of all the Elton John obscurities there are in the world, this is the one I would argue is the most surprisingly under-referenced and also the most highly enjoyable.

But the Mr Bloe cash cow didn't stop there, as you'll see if you scroll down past the sound files…

Label: Avenue

Year of Release: 1971

Budget sound-a-like label Avenue were quick to cash in on Mr Bloe mania with a six-track EP of harmonica based ditties, including "Groovin'". But here's the interesting part - whereas Avenue generally employed session men to replicate the noises as closely as possible, here they appeared to have taken on Harry Pitch, the gentlemen often credited as the 'original' Mr Bloe.

If this is actually correct, it must surely be the only example of a session performer fronting both the original record and the budget sound-a-like version. Pitch has his cake and eats it too, with five extra original new tracks to add to the tally. None are especially notable and some are even slow and sad atmosphere pieces, though some, such as "Blowin' With Mr Pitch", almost capture the in-studio zest of the original. 

One thing's for sure - we'll probably never see harmonica instrumentals nearly top the British charts again, and Mr. Bloe seems like a very peculiar anomaly these days, albeit one it's cheering to remember  actually happened.

Reupload - Deep Feeling - Skyline Pigeon/ We've Thrown It All Away

Label: Page One
Year of Release: 1970

This is another release on Larry Page's Page One Records which I include for curiosity value rather than actual musical merit. Elton John and Bernie Taupin were, at this point in their careers, mere fledging songwriters without much of a career to speak of. Deep Feeling, on the other hand, were British rockers in search of a breakthrough.

We've already touched upon Elton John's early career in this blog, and given Argosy's psychedelic pop outing "Imagine" a feature on one of our compilations. Far from his career following a straight, certain line from nobody to somebody, he in actual fact worked on so many records - largely on the sly - that even the biggest fans of his work have enormous difficulties ascertaining what he played on and when.  Essentially a jobbing session muso for many years, he cropped up on the albums of friends, on cheap cover version records found in the budget wire racks at Woolworths, and God knows what else. In fact, if you want to go above God and ask Elton himself, I doubt even he would be able to tell you.

This record's relatively low price on the collector's market (three quid to me - any more than that and I doubt I'd have bothered) is indicative of the fact that most people are convinced of his lack of involvement beyond the songwriting itself in this case, though, and it's not as if the song was any sort of exclusive at the time. His own (superior) version sits happily on his debut "Empty Sky" album.

As for Deep Feeling, they followed Elton on to the DJM label eventually to release a six track album which is apparently highly sought after by prog collectors, although I should stress that I've never heard it myself. "Skyline Pigeon" doesn't hint at that style much at all, being a rather saccharine and chipper cover which doesn't really invest in the song's potential. It's pleasant enough, but it certainly doesn't sound like anything which could or should have been a hit. Still, I doubt Elton was much worried - "Your Song" was just around the corner, and things in his career were about to change enormously.

(This blog entry was originally uploaded in February 2009 - I've nothing to add at the moment).

Deep Feeling - Skyline Pigeon

Label: Page One
Year of Release: 1970

This is another release on Larry Page's Page One Records which I include for curiosity value rather than actual musical merit. Elton John and Bernie Taupin were, at this point in their careers, mere fledging songwriters without much of a career to speak of. Deep Feeling, on the other hand, were British prog rockers in search of a breakthrough.

We've already touched upon Elton John's early career in this blog, and given Argosy's psychedelic pop outing "Imagine" a feature on one of our compilations. Far from his career following a straight, certain line from nobody to somebody, he in actual fact worked on so many records - largely on the sly - that even the biggest fans of his work have enormous difficulties ascertaining what he played on and when. Essentially a jobbing session muso for many years, he cropped up on the albums of friends, on cheap cover version records found in the budget wire racks at Woolworths, and God knows what else. In fact, if you want to go above God and ask Elton himself, I doubt even he would be able to tell you.

This record's relatively low price on the collector's market (three quid to me - any more than that and I doubt I'd have bothered) is indicative of the fact that most people are convinced of his lack of involvement beyond the songwriting itself in this case, though, and it's not as if the song was any sort of exclusive at the time. His own (superior) version sits happily on his debut "Empty Sky" album.

As for Deep Feeling, they followed Elton on to the DJM label eventually to release a six track album which is apparently highly sought after by prog collectors, although I should stress that I've never heard it myself. "Skyline Pigeon" doesn't hint at that style much at all, being a rather saccharine and chipper cover which doesn't really invest in the song's potential. It's pleasant enough, but it certainly doesn't sound like anything which could or should have been a hit. Still, I doubt Elton was much worried - "Your Song" was just around the corner, and things in his career were about to change enormously.

Wallpaper - a psychedelic compilation

(SEPTEMBER 2012 NOTE: Sorry folks, after four-and-a-half years I've decided to let this file lapse and I won't be uploading it again anytime soon.  Feel free to look at the "sleevenotes" below if you want, but please don't ask me to make this available again - it's not going to happen for the foreseeable future.  Maybe, at some point in time when Spotify and its ilk get sophisticated enough and include enough goodies, we can look at creating a playlist of the songs, though...).  

Welcome to the first compilation CD, “Wallpaper”, a lovely (even if I do say so myself) collection of non-American psychedelia.

An entire dissertation could be written about the music industry during the late sixties, but to summarise it briefly, it’s hard to understate just how chaotic and confused a lot of the major labels were at this time. A great many of the bands of the era freely admit they were often signed because the executives had little concept of which way the wind was blowing from one hour to the next. Having only just acclimatized themselves to the idea that “groups with guitars” were most definitely not “on their way out” in 1962, by late 1966 they suddenly had to get used to the fact that pop and rock music could include both music hall humour and pretentions towards high art as well. When you threw mind-expanding drugs into the mix, it was no wonder that the silver haired managers at Decca freely admitted to one artist that “if you throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick”. An interesting A&R policy which reveals more confusion than any sort of marketing-lead savvy.

That’s very fortunate for the consumer, however, and very lucky for blogs like this one, because while their eyes were off the ball, a lot of people had huge fun with the freedom they were afforded. Most of the acts included on “Wallpaper” never got to release a full length album, but instead stuck out a few singles that even now sound like imaginative and even perverse pop. At their best, they rank up there with some of the more popular works of the era, and if it hadn’t been for the market being utterly flooded with so much good material might have stood a chance. At their very worst, they’re still entertainingly absurd.

Whilst I’m not claiming any exclusivity with this compilation and freely admit it’s more of a primer for the curious than any sort of “unearthed rarities!” effort (I really don’t have the cash to buy that sort of stuff at auctions, I’m afraid, and there really can’t be much “unearthed” material left anyway) I hope you enjoy it and find something here which takes you by surprise – pleasantly or otherwise.

Tracklisting and notes:

1. The Easybeats – Peculiar Hole In The Sky (Parlophone – 1969)
They had a couple of hits in Britain as well as in their native Australia, not least with the well-acknowledged classic “Friday on my Mind”, but had a lot less joy with this heavily produced psychedelic effort, which might have sounded a wee bit dated by 1969.

2. The Smoke – Sydney Gill (Island – 1968)
Absolutely massive in Germany, the Smoke never managed to quite attract the same buzz in their native country. They reformed to release some glam rock styled efforts in the seventies.

3. The Nice – Diamond Hard Blue Apples of the Moon (Immediate – 1968)
The B-side of their anarchic version of Bernstein’s “America”, this is surprisingly straightforward in comparison, sounding for all the world like an obscure Super Furry Animals out-take.

4. Pregnant Insomnia – Wallpaper (Direction – 1967)
Utterly ridiculous love song to a particularly pleasing wallpaper design, this single is proof positive that out-on-a-limb surreal pop music was coming out of Ireland way before The Frank and Walters… released in December, this wasn't a festive hit.

5. The Tages – Fuzzy Patterns (Odeon – 1967)
The Tages have already had an entry on this blog, of course. By this release, they’d moved on from singing about pregnant teenage girls and instead turned their attention to fuzzy patterns that “make you distracted”. Good work, chaps.

6. Boeing Duveen and the Beautiful Soup – Jabberwock (Parlophone – 1968)
A Middle Earth club favourite which was regularly spun by John Peel, this wouldn’t have sounded horribly out of place on “Piper at the Gates of Dawn”. Boeing Duveen, incidentally, was a doctor by trade. Beee-waaare…

7. Peter Cook and Dudley Moore – Bedazzled (Decca – 1967)
aka Drimble Wedge and the Vegetations, Peter Cook’s band in the film “Bedazzled”. An excellent parody of the more way-out music of the period, this is still played in many psychedelic clubs to this day. Chris Morris has a way to go before his musical parodies achieve the same thing.

8. Caleb – Baby Your Phrasing Is Bad (Philips – 1967)
Caleb Quaye (Finlay’s father) managed to record this one-off single in between bits of session work. A heavily phased piece about poor pronunciation, clearly the record buying public didn’t feel as strongly about the topic as he did.

9. The Moles – We Are The Moles (Parlophone – 1968)
Aka Portsmouth-based two hit wonders Simon Dupree and The Big Sound. The Moles were the band in a psychedelic disguise, which probably inspired XTC to invent their alter-egos The Dukes of Stratosphear and record the psychedelic track “Mole From The Ministry” in 1985. Apparently Simon Dupree and co wanted the public to think this was the Beatles masquerading under another name, until Syd Barrett let the truth slip in an interview.

10. July – Friendly Man (Major Minor – 1969)
The band insist that this song isn’t about paedophelia, just about “an eccentric local man we used to know”. However, with lyrics like “friendly man, look but don’t touch” and “mothers say stay away far as you can, friend-er-lee man”, they were treading a fine line – so fine you can probably only see it under a microscope, in fact. If this were issued now, The Daily Mail would probably run a front page story about it.

11. Excelsior Spring – It (Instant – 1969)
Very obscure, short and sweet track. The band’s identity has never been established, but they’re definitely not Colin Moulding and XTC in their “Skylarking” phase, even if it does sound a tiny bit like it. This was issued on the Immediate subsidiary label Instant.

12. Arzachel – Garden of Earthly Delights (Evolution – 1969)
Absurd early Steve Hillage curio which is seemingly half baroque, half early Floyd spacerock.

13. Kes Wyndham – Broken Bicycle (Pye – 1971)
Flann O’Brien inspired folk track which, to be fair, isn’t particularly psychedelic, but certainly as unusual as much of the period’s work.

14. The Aerovons – World of You (Parlophone – 1969)
Brilliant piece of Abbey Road orchestral pop from a bunch of ex-pat teenage Americans who demanded to record their album in Britain to be near the Beatles and their production team. It does show – but the end result is impressive enough for all the obvious influences.

15. Nimrod – The Bird (Mercury – 1969)
The odd glimmer of glam rock shines through this track, although one of the members of Nimrod – Mick Jones- would bypass all that nonsense to become a member of Foreigner. The dolt.

16. The Peep Show – Mazy (Polydor – 1967)
A UFO club favourite, Mazy is a floaty and disorientating piece of half-asleep psychedelia. Stay off the Mandrax, kids. The Peep Show were from Birmingham and generally specialized in much more folky fare. This is the B-side of “Your Servant Stephen”, a track about an accidental pregnancy which was panned by Derek Jacobs on Juke Box Jury for its subject matter.

17. Apple – Buffalo Billy Can (Page One – 1968)
Brilliant psych pop track which sonically sits somewhere between Syd Barrett’s “Octopus” and The Pastels. Loose as hell, but continually interesting in a slightly fey way across its three minutes.

18. Kaleidoscope – Snapdragon (Fontana – 1969)
Huge things were expected of Kaleidoscope, so much that their record label let them record three albums, but it was all for nought. Plenty of other information is available elsewhere on the web, but enjoy this heavily swirling pop track whilst you’re reading it.

19. Sub – Ma Mari Huana (Rex – 1969)
A full on freak out from a very obscure Munich based band of whom little is known. Unless you can tell me, of course.

20. The Flies – House of Love (Decca – 1967)
The Flies threw objects at Pink Floyd at a Roundhouse gig for “selling out”, and were probably better known for that one act than any of their singles. “House of Love” is a spittle-ridden piece of moody mod-psychedelia with a neat groove which wouldn’t actually have sounded out of place at the height of the baggy movement. It’s also a damn sight more commercial than The Floyd’s material of the same period. The cads.

21. The Tickle – Good Evening (Regal Zonophone – 1968)
Effects-laden Beatlesey pop. This Hull band apparently all tried having blonde Boris Johnson haircuts at one early point in their careers, which may single handedly account for their lack of success.

22. Blossom Toes – Telegram Tuesday (Marmalade – 1967)
Not as funny as the Bonzo Dog Band when they were trying to be, but generally having the best tunes, The Blossom Toes were a fantastic music hall/ vaudeville-inspired psychedelic act who released one genuinely brilliant album in “We Are Ever So Clean”. Telegram Tuesday is taken from that album, and is a piece of joyous, chiming pop.

23. Jackpots – Jack in the Box (Sonet – 1969)
This almost sounds like Mika having an LSD moment in a recording studio. Brilliant. I’d always wondered what that might sound like, now you too can hear it without breaking the law and slipping something in his drink. This was a sizeable continental hit, but didn’t do the business in the UK.

24. Argosy – Imagine (DJM – 1969)
A pre-fame Elton John and Roger Hodgson out of Supertramp join forces with Caleb Quaye (see track 8) to produce a happy hippy tune. It’s rather laboured with its references to pixies and “corduroy toadstools” on the ceiling, but how often do you get the chance to hear Roger Hodgson sing about this sort of thing? Consider yourself treated. Or not, if you feel that way about it. Just don’t call it a “guilty pleasure”, for f__k’s sake.

25. Fruit Machine – The Wall (Spark – 1968)
A deeply world weary yet excellent piece of orchestral hippy pop. The Fruit Machine were a bunch of teenagers from London who put a few singles out (“worrying our parents”) before disappearing into the real world as adults.

26. The Pretty Things – Parachute (Columbia – 1969)
The title track of their follow-up album to “SF Sorrow is Born”, this is an oft-overlooked piece of tranquil Norman Smith produced psychedelia with a somewhat unexpected ending.

27. The Moles – We Are The Moles (Part Two) (Parlophone – 1968)
And we say “Goodnight Children Everywhere” as Simon Dupree and The Big Sound sing us to bed. Don’t forget to create some stoned applause on your way upstairs.