The Musicians - Jaunty Joe/ The Chelsea Set

Two sixties instros perfect for swinging your shopping bags down Carnaby Street to.

Label: King

Year of Release: 1967

A lot of easy listening tinged sixties instrumental singles are awfully uncollectible these days, and none more so than the slices of perkiness that soundtracked the later part of the decade. There are few British sixties youth films you can watch without hearing jaunty melodies and women singing "oo-doobe-doobe-doo!" in the background, but we have a tendency to consider these as rather kitsch tunes these days, not something we would willingly listen to of our own volition. They may have had a bit of a second wind in the mid-nineties (thanks to Mike Flowers) but since then, they've dipped back below the horizon again.

That's a shame, because I actually love this stuff. Cheery and bubbly without scrimping on the quality, there's an infectious charm and joy about them. They do sound like the soundtrack to every ageing bachelor's cocktail party, but there are far worse things in life to accompany than booze, fun and frivolity. 

"Jaunty Joe" is credited to a band called The Musicians, but like so many tracks of this ilk, I doubt the group were anything more than a studio entity. With a honking brass and a insistent hook, and a careful arrangement, it's a nice listen. "Jaunty Joe" was also released by the Ray McVay Orchestra to slightly more success, but this version sounds a bit rawer, a tiny bit more mod (though these things are all relative). It does sound like the lost theme tune to a seventies sit-com, and indeed somebody missed a trick by not using it as one. 

The flip "The Chelsea Set" is pretty much more of the same, though slightly less memorable and deserving of its flip side status as a result. 

Reupload - The Denims - The Adler Sock

A 60s garage tribute to cheap socks that disintegrate easily in the wash. 

Label: The Adler Company/ Columbia
Year of Release: 1965

Rock and pop groups have always had an uneasy relationship with corporate sponsorship, to the extent that even in the present day (where the majority of musicians will allow their work to soundtrack adverts without shame) it puts a cringe on the face of many.  I myself have an ambivalent and perhaps hypocritical stance to the use of music on adverts - if it's The Fall, Clinic or Vashti Bunyan, my reflex reaction is to think "Well, I'm glad they're finally getting paid some money". If it's The White Stripes soundtracking an 'iconic global brand', I rub my face in my hands and sigh (even if the tune is rather good).

However, much as it may be logical to assume that The White Stripes were the first American garage band (we'll call them that for the sake of arguments, OK?) to take corporate dough, obscure New York racketeers The Denims were probably the first out of the gate in 1965, unless anyone knows better.  They were hardly household names in the USA, but that didn't stop The Adler Company from borrowing them for a promotional 45 about the benefit of Adler Socks, which were essentially cheap wool socks which tended to disintegrate or discolour after only a few washes.  "YEEEEEEAHHHH! DO THE SOCK!" the lead singer screeches as if his life depends on it, while the band kick up a fierce row in the background.  It's utterly unclear why The Adler Corporation thought such an act could flog feetwarmers, but I for one am thrilled they did - this is one of the most bizarre corporate spin-off singles I've ever encountered, a garage nugget with a commercial message attached.  It's likely to sound odder to British ears as this kind of harsh, abrasive punk noise never really made much headway in the UK charts, so the notion of using such an act to advertise clothing would have been unthinkable here.

Bill Esher and The Beacons - Baby You're My Doughnut/ Sixty Seven

Slightly glammy piece of 70s boogie based on an odd compliment

Label: Jam

Year of Release: 1973

"Kennedy came to Berlin and said: 'every free citizen of the world is a citizen of Berlin, and I have come to say to you Ich Bin Ein Berliner', and the crowd went f--kin' wild. The trouble is 'Ich Bin Ein Berliner' means 'I am a doughnut'" - Eddie Izzard.

OK, so it's extremely unlikely that this slice of laidback, light-hearted rock 'n' boogie was influenced by the error in Kennedy's speech. The odds of it being influenced by the record label they were signed to are probably higher. Nonetheless, "Baby You're My Doughnut" is a bloody weird compliment to pay someone, and not necessarily likely to illicit a positive response. The band do their best by adding "there's a sweetness at your centre", which suggests that any pleasantness or good-naturedness isn't present in the person from the offset. 

Never mind. While Bill Esher and his Beacons might not have found this compliment paying them many dividends in real life, the single itself is a likeable piece of light rock with a light glam thud to it. 

Much more enticing for me is the jam (no pun intended, on any level) on the flip. Rough, ready and showing a group with a keen ear and instinct for each other's playing, it really is a great few minutes, ploughing ahead with gusto.

Magnificent Seven - Reggae Bagpipes/ Roll Out The Barrel

If you like a bit of reggae with your bagpipes, join our blog

Label: Decca

Year of Release: 1972

Pop and rock, of course, have continually evolved as they've adopted and mixed and meshed various apparently conflicting styles. If during the sixties British groups hadn't had one eye on music hall ditties and the other on rhythm and blues, so much interesting material might never have been written and released.

But a combination of reggae and the sound of the bagpipes? Really? Never has the Simpsons slogan "Nuts and Gum, together at last!" felt more applicable. It's not as if "Reggae Bagpipes" is a mess, which is to the credit of everyone involved. While it doesn't have a particularly authentic production or arrangement going on, it would be just about credible enough to pass were it not for those droning great pipes playing "Scotland the Brave" throughout. 

Laurie - I Love Onions/ I Want Him

Brilliant slice of epic 60s girl-pop on the flip of an ill-advised novelty track

Label: Decca

Year of Release: 1966

A regular "Left and to the Back" reader once suggested to me that my catchphrase was probably "but you should check out the brilliant track on the B side!" It's not my fault, though. In the sixties and seventies especially, record companies seemed to have a habit of messing things up completely and burying perfectly good songs under a pile of musty mediocrity. And worse, as it happens.

Take the A-side here, for instance. "I Love Onions", is both baffling and bad. In it, Laurie whispers seductively about how much she enjoys the veg in question. Presumably the joke here is that onions are boring, not particularly exotic, and ill suited to such praise, and the contrast between the mundanity of onions and the sultry nature of Laurie's delivery will lead to humour. The song also has a music hall feel which suggests it's trying to emulate the kind of 78rpm tracks which celebrated bananas and watermelons. However you want to explain the joke, it's irritating and deeply unfunny, and should have been left in the can.

The flip, on the other hand, is majestic. It's a vampish track packed with drama, longing and a powerful, epic chorus which contrasts with the subtle, hushed verses, and a perfect slice of mid-sixties pop. It looks as if Graham Bonney - ex-Riot Squad member and one-hit wonder in the UK (thanks to "Super Girl") - had a lot to do with its construction, which explains its confidence and sense of drama. It's over in less than two-and-a-half minutes and leaves you wanting much, much more, from both the track, Laurie herself, and the guitarist who decides to let rip towards the end.