Lunar Funk - Mr. Penguin (Parts One and Two)

"Rumour has it that this record is completely electrical, and there are, in fact, no musicians involved..."

Label: Bell

Year of Release: 1972

"My name... is Mr. Penguin - you do your thang/ and I'll do my thang/ ha ha ha ha ha ha..."

I stumbled upon this record purely by chance in the soul and disco section of a second hand record store, and bought it on the strength of the band's name and the song title alone. "This," I thought, "is either going to be abysmal or great. And whichever it is, I bet I can at least write about it".

And guess what? "Mr. Penguin" is fantastic and truly absurd, though a lot of funk purists have been rather critical of this in some places online. Driven by fantastic jazzy electric organ riffs and a persuasive funk-disco beat, it tops the whole thing off with absurd, almost threatening spoken interruptions from the chap who identifies himself as "Mr. Penguin". He's deadpan, his laughter is somewhat hollow, and he couldn't give a fig what we think of him. It's the kind of record you'd place firm money was in Prince's collection somewhere at Paisley Park; it seems utterly at home with the man's love of funky riffs and also borderline psychedelic absurdity. So too can I imagine this finding favour with sixties mod types and Acid Jazz heads far more than it's likely to please the discerning, "serious" funk crowd. 

The track was also apparently put together in something of a hurry by the musicians Leroy Emmanuel, Mose Davis, Demo Cates and Andrew Gibson. Complaining to their employers that they had no money coming in for Christmas 1972, they were rushed into the studio to cut a couple of tracks which all concerned hoped would reverse the situation. One of the tracks, "Crawl Y'All", was issued under the band name Bad Smoke on Chess Records, then there was this little number for Bell, a single the label were apparently desperate to own and coughed up handsomely for. It became something of a dancefloor hit in the aftermath and was heavily played at a couple of regional American stations, and Radio Luxembourg in Europe, but it's become largely forgotten since.

Muff - Hurdy Gurdy/ Why Did You Leave Me

 

A piece of late popsike from future music mogul Muff Murfin

Label: Mother

Year of Release: 1971

This isn't the first time we've featured Muff (stop sniggering at the back) on this blog. His glam rock single "Sexy Sexy Lady", which combined with his name probably caused a spike of misguided Google referrals to my otherwise innocent blog, was dealt with here. 

His rightful full name is Muff Murfin, and these days he's a successful radio station mogul, and during the seventies also ran Birds Nest Records and "The Old Smithy" Recording Studios. His recorded output prior to all this is often worth a sniff, though. "Hurdy Gurdy" here is, for example, a Peter Lee Stirling (aka Daniel Boone) penned popsike ditty which will possibly irritate as many people as it delights with its naive lyrics and jaunty melody. The B-side, as its title suggests, is a much more straight-ahead ballad.

Muff's solo career would rapidly take a backseat to his business concerns, and besides "Sexy Sexy Lady" his only other release in the seventies was the glammish "Do The Hand Jive" on United Artists in 1975. He was a man of many styles and approaches, but ultimately he seemed to taste more success in the executive chair rather than the recording studio booth. 

The Ugly's - It's Alright/ A Friend

 

Cult Brummie legends with widely promoted 1965 single

Label: Pye

Year of Release: 1965

The Ugly's (sic - apostrophe theirs) were a highly respected group on the Midlands gig circuit, acting as local stars and an unofficial starting school for all manner of rock notables. On a national level, however, they never managed to score a hit single despite promotion from pirate stations and terrestrial television. 

Their second single "It's Alright" is probably the closest they came to success. Airplay was plentiful and an appearance on "Thank Your Lucky Stars" gave the group a chance to plug it to an even larger audience. Copies also aren't that difficult to come by at reasonable prices these days, suggesting that this sold slightly more than your bog-standard flop. It's a strange piece of gentle, slightly Kinksy baroque pop which perhaps wasn't melodically compelling or forceful enough to cut through to the masses, but points towards a softer side of the sixties beat boom.

Their next singles "A Good Idea" and a cover of The Kinks "End of the Season" sold less and caused Pye to drop them. They moved to CBS in 1967 for the 45 "And The Squire Blew His Horn", then again to MGM in 1969 for the progressively orientated "I See The Light", which was recalled by the label before it even had a chance of selling (apparently only six copies are known to exist). 

The group - who at this point consisted of Bob Burnett on guitar, Steve Gibbons on vocals, John Gordon on keyboards, Jimmy Holden on drums and John Hustwayte on bass - changed their line-up several times between 1965-69, and ended up including ELO's Richard Tandy and Fairport Convention's Dave Pegg in their ranks. The group eventually evolved into Balls who issued the superb solo 45 "Fight For My Country" which we've already featured on this blog. 

Rabbit Mackay - Hard Time Woman/ Candy

Peel favoured gritty, rough and bluesy 45

Despite his brief appearance on the international underground scene in 1968, Rabbit Mackay is something of an engima. John Peel was moved enough by his LP "Bug Dust" to write in International Times that "in these days of very clinical recordings it is good to hear something that radiates happiness like this", and he was keen enough on this single to play it on his Top Gear show.

Across the Atlantic in Ventura County where he lived, Mackay's dirty, scruffy, bluesy folk rock tunes were impressing a number of heads at local venues, colleges and coffee houses and to a more limited extent, across the choosier, hippy friendly venues of the USA. His activity appeared to give Uni Records the incentive to issue a second LP, the perhaps unintentionally appropriately titled "Passing Through" in 1969.

Then? Nothing. Not a sausage. Another track of his appeared on a charity compilation entitled "La Conchita... Remember" in 2005, which would suggest he had continued performing throughout the intervening years - or perhaps had made an unlikely comeback - but sadly he died on 10th August 2017 without making any additional marks on record store racks.

Reupload - Y Dyniadon Ynfyd Hirfelyn Tesog (EP)

 

Truly fantastic cover of The Beatles "Yesterday" from Welsh language folkies

Label: Sain
Year of Release: 1970

Judging from the sleeve, you'd think that Y Dyniadon Ynfyd Hirfelyn Tesog were a bunch of old-time swingers, a Welsh language version of the Pasadena Roof Orchestra producing good-time music for the gents and ladies. You would, however, be wrong. All four tracks on this EP have heavy folk leanings, albeit particularly wonky folk music infused with brassiness and, so far as I can judge, a bizarre wit.

The sleeve notes are in Welsh, which is frustrating from my point of view but entirely to be expected under the circumstances. The user TheJudge on 45cat has been kind enough to translate them, however, and hopefully won't mind me presenting them here:

"The Dyniadon Ynfyd Hirfelyn Tesog happened in the third quarter of the twentieth century, and already they are safe of their place in the gallery of pillars and pioneers of the rich culture of our dear Western Civilisation, walking alongside greats such as Ysbaddaden, Spartacus, the Son of the Hills, Mr Wimpy and others (i.e. Y Tebot Piws). Despite this, their debt is great.

It started as a group of 79, but because of transportation and other problems, there was a purge, and by today there are only 7 (oops) 6 left.

i.e. (in alphabetical order):

Aric Dafis - a pretty face and red curls; piano, guitar, trumpet
Bai Meical - a pretty smile and big glasses; guitar, banjo, cello
Cruffydd Meils - a hairt face, Nye Bevan specs; cello, foot, nose
Chenfin Ifans - one gold tooth, £5 glasses; trumpet, fingers
Dili Ifans - "like the young Mozart", "a gentleman"; fiddle, guitar
Ddewi Ddomos - the gentle giant with the fair hair; viola, washboard.

And the voices of the group. I quote the (innumerable) critics:

"Lovely"; "Ha, ha", "That second tenor's a bit flat"; "Jew, jew, they're singing in Welsh"; "That big one's on Tregaron choir"; "Fair play to them for trying, eh".

The Songs

Full Belly - written by everyone in the group except G. Meils; sung by Aric and Ddewi; won the Inter-college Eisteddfod 1970.

Yesterday - written by The Beatles; adapted to the Welsh by G. Meils; Aric's charming voice.

Bitch - written by G. Meils; having thoroughly read the cover of D. Thomas' book "Portait Of The Artist As A Young Dog".

Dixie Of The Ears - music by Kurt Weil; adapted to the old language by G. Meils; a song of tribute to the heroes of the Dyniadon.

DYNIADON CLUB CORNER

Here's an opportunity for every member who has paid the membership fee (£3-5-9d) to get a kiss from every Dynad every ten years until 1980. Send your name and car number along with 2 (broken) Tebot Piws records on a postcard to the correct address.

Sain company does not accept any responsibility for the effect of this record on your record player."

None of which really leaves us much the wiser, if I'm being honest, but at least gives us the line-up details and the sense that the Dynads had an obvious sense of mischief and humour. Apparently the word"Jew" in this context is a phonetic spelling of the Welsh word for "God", and is therefore not meant as some kind of anti-semitic insult.