The Sixties In Poland - Part One

Perhaps it's because of Easter - a family holiday - but I feel it may be the right time to do a post devoted to a country  in which I was born - Poland. Or maybe I'm getting temporarily bored with the stuff I usually write about. Either way, I think a little change may be refreshing.

Music, fashion and culture of Swinging Sixties Britain has been my biggest passion since my mid-teens.But I often wondered what did that decade look like in Poland. My parents couldn't be of much help there - in 1970 they were both still in their early teens, too young to remember anything significant (and by that I mean what they were wearing or what music were they into). What they do remember, is that the reality generally was rather dull and gray.

Anyway, in the last year or so, thanks to the miracle of Internet, I  have discovered - much to my surprise - that Poland actually had a pretty vibrant Rock n' roll/Beat/Garage/Psych scene, especially from 1965 onwards (not that I've ever heard of any of those bands when I actually lived in Poland). In the recent issue of Shindig! magazine, there was a great article on the subject, although I did not entirely agree with the choice of bands covered. So here I gonna do it my own way. Of course, I have advantage in the fact that I can actuallyl understand Polish language (I am not so confident about speaking, though. I haven't had conversation in Polish for several years) which allows me the full appreciation of this stuff. But, to those who are regular readers of this blog, I can guarantee that once you get past unpronounceable band names and strangely sounding lyrics, there is a great music there to be enjoyed. So let me take a break from my usual ramblings about Swinging Sixties London, to see what the sixties were like on the wrong side of the iron curtain.

For the young music fans in 1960's Poland, the biggest problem was a limited availability of Western records. Although The Beatles, Stones, etc. were as popular in Poland as anywhere else in Europe, their records were not being sold in record shops. The singles were largely available on so-called 'music-postards' (a sort of floppy rectangular picture disc), but it took a lot of effort to find albums. Usually black market was your best bet. It also helped if you, or somebody you knew had family or friends abroad.

Live performances of Western artists were also limited. I am not sure whether it was a case of needing a permission from authorities, or a case of bands not being that bothered about playing Poland, or a little bit of both. The fact is, some of the big English bands of the 1960's did make it to Poland  - In 1965 and 1966 The Hollies, The Animals and even London Mod/Psych heroes The Artwoods  all successfully toured there.

Article (NME? Melody Maker?) about The Artwoods' communication problems in Poland, 1966 (via Punks In Parkas)

Then, in 1967, a miracle happened. On 13th of April The Rolling Stones came to play one-off gig in Warsaw. It was their only ever gig behind iron curtain (although they did returned to Poland twice after the curtain fell down). In Poland, this gig has a legend of its own. Anybody who lived in Warsaw at the time and was age between 12 - 30, claims to have been at that gig. Unfortunately, the capacity of the venue was only about 3000, so a lot of people did not manage to get a ticket. They showed up on the night anyway, just to be in the proximity of their idols, and caused a riot outside Warsaw's Kongresowa Hall.

A brief footage of that gig from Polish news report. The newsreader says something like: Thousands of fans gathered outside Kongresowa Hall to see band The Rolling Stones. There wasn't enough tickets for everybody. Those lucky enough to get a ticket couldn't hear anything anyway. But it doesn't matter, because this a kind of gig you experience, rather than listen to. 

To a Polish audience The Stones - at the time in the middle of their psychedelic phase - seemed exotic, to say the least. The Stones themselves also experienced a little bit of cultural shock. This is how Bill Wyman remembers that gig: Warsaw was depressingly gray and dismal. On our drive to the best hotel in town, we noticed that the streets seemed strangely quiet with very little traffic and pedestrians.After checking in, I found my room to be triangular with a huge circular concrete pillar in the centre of the room.(...) Everybody was in and out of each other's rooms to see who had the best one - none of them were very good.(...) There were large crowds of kids in front of our hotel as we left, held back by the police. They were chanting: Long Live The Stones! (...) Once inside (the concert venue), we found that the tickets for our show had not been put on sale. They were given to loyal party members. This meant all the real fans were outside, unable to get tickets, but the audience seemed to get into it as we went along. Towards the end of our set they began chanting 'Icantgetno, Icantgetno'. It took a while for us to realise that they wanted 'Satisfaction'. (Bill Wyman, Rolling With The Stones, Dorling Kindersley, 2002, p 270).

Bill Wyman was wrong, though. Although some tickets were indeed given to party members, they were definitely put on general sale as well. They were expensive and got snapped up quickly, but quite a few 'true fans' did get to see The Stones (and the footage above seems to confirm it).

Interesting thing about that gig was that during the soundcheck, it turned out that Stones' instruments couldn't be connected to Polish electricity (something to do with a different voltage, apparently) So during the concert The Rolling Stones were using guitars and amps which belonged to a support act - a Polish beat  group called Niebiesko-Czarni.

Brian Jones and members of Niebiesko-Czarni, 13.04.1967

Niebiesko-Czarni (The Black n' Blue's) were one of the first and most important Polish groups of the 1960's. They formed in 1962 around guitarist/lead singer Wojtek Korda and initially they played various forms of Twist and Rock n' Roll. In the mid-1960's they were joined by a femle lead singer Ada Rusowicz, and their career really took off.

Niebiesko-Czarni performing on Polish TV in 1966 

Onstage, Niebiesko-Czarni wore blue turtlenecks and black trousers - hence their name. They had a string of successful singles, and they recorded two albums between 1965 and 1967. Then, just like the groups in Western Europe, Niebiesko-Czarni 'went psychedelic'. Blue turtlenecks were replaced by beads and kaftans.

 Niebiesko-Czarni, 1968

  Ada Rusowicz

Cover of the album Twarze ('The Faces') by Niebiesko-Czarni, 1968.

Their sound, as well as their look became more interesting. They recorded two psychedelic-tinged albums - Twarze in 1968 and Mamy Dla Was Kwiaty ('We've Got Flowers For You'   - with a great cover which you can see at the top of the post) in 1969.I haven't heard any of the those albums in their entirety, but if the title track of the second one is anything to go by, it must be pretty good. Very influenced by what was going on in England at the time, especially S.F. Sorrow by The Pretty Things.

The revolving-door line-up changes of Niebiesko-Czarni made them almost 'a school for future pop stars'. Quite a few ex-members of this band became went on to bigger things. One of them was guitarist/lead singer Krzysztof Klenczon who quit in 1965 and took over vocals in a band called Czerwone Gitary ('The Red Guitars' - and no, it was not a reference to a political situation of Poland). If there is any band that deserves a title of 'Polish Beatles', it's Czerwone Gitary. And it's not just a scale of their popularity. Musically they were very, very heavily influenced by the Fab Four. But even if they were copyists, they were good copyists.Some Poles like to claim that if The Red Guitars lived in England and sang the same songs in English, they would have been as big as The Beatles. That's a bit of a stretch - they weren't that good - but they certainly would have given The Hollies or The Zombies a run for their money.

Here's Czerwone Gitary doing one of their biggest hits - 'Nie Zadzieraj Nosa' (a Polish idiom meaning as much as 'don't be so stuck-up') - a song from 1968 with a very triumphant chorus in the style of 'She Loves You' or 'Twist and Shout'. They were clearly very uncomfortable having to mime to their song on the TV , which shows through their exaggerated dance movements...

Here's another one - a nice ballad titled 'Historia Jednej Znajomosci' ('A Story of a Brief Aquintanship'). There is something about that song that really catches both, teenage blues and gray Polish reality.

That's just two of their many successful singles. In the 1960's every country tried to produce 'their own Beatles'. Czerwone Gitary were one of the few European bands that for a brief period almost managed to match the efforts of the Fab Four. They remained popular throughout the 1970's although their leader Krzysztof Klenczon left in 1972. He moved to USA, where sadly, he died in a car accident in early 1980's.

 Now, on to my favorite part - Freakbeat and Garage. I'll start with a band called Chocholy ('The Hollows') doing an aggressive Rhythm n' Blues number titled 'Amor A Kysz' (Stay Away, Cupid!) which wouldn't sound out of place in London's Marquee club. (song from 1965)

Chocholy were a popular R n'B group. When their lead singer Wojciech Gassowski quit in 1967, they changed name to Akwarele ('The Watercolours') and became a backing band for a popular Prog-rocker Czeslaw Niemen (a former member of Niebiesko-Czarni).

Here's another great track - Stale To Samo ('Always The Same') by appropriately named Dzikusy (The Wild-Ones). Their Farfisa-led Freakbeat wasn't million miles away from what teenagers across America were doing around the same time (1966).I couldn't paste it in here, so just click on the link.

Another great Polish band from that time that crossed into Freakbeat territory were Polanie ('The Polans' - named after medieval tribe - the fore-fathers of Poles). They were heavily inspired by aggresive, organ-led R n' B of The Animals. One of their best tracks was 'Nie Zawroce' (I Won't Turn Back') which combined R n'B with heavy soul.

 

  Polanie covered a lot of  British Mod/Psych songs like 'Cool Jerk' by The Creation or 'Can You Hear Me?' by The Artwoods. Here's their absolutely insane version of Animals' 'I'm Crying'.

 When The Animals toured Poland in 1966, Polanie were a support act. Reportedly, Eric Burdon was very impressed with the energy of their live performances, and he invited Polanie To Britain to tour with The Animals. These plans came to nothing when Polanie couldn't get UK visas. Still, they were one of the few Polish bands which toured Western Europe - France and West Germany (where they supported The Animals again).

In the last few years some few compilations of Polish Beat/Garage/Psyche were released in Britain - two volumes of Wrenchin' The Wires  and Working Class Devils (rubbish title, if you ask me..). They contain some great gems from the Polish 60's beat scene.

           More details at Paradise Of Garage Comps

Now I am gonna move into late-60's Hippie territory. In Poland, the undisputed leaders in that field was a band called Breakout.The band was led by Tadeusz Nalepa, who was thought to be the greatest blues/rock guitarist  in Poland. They started in a mid-1960's as a beat combo called Blackout, changing their name to Breakout after they were joined by a female lead singer Mira Kubasinska. Their music was a mix of heavy blues and psyche with progressive undertones and pop sensibility. Think Hendrix jamming with Jefferson Airplane or a much heavier version of Shocking Blue..

Here's Breakout doing their 1969 hit 'Poszlabym Za Toba' (I Would Follow You) 

  

Another good song by Breakout  was called 'Gdybys Kochal, Hej!' ('If You Only Loved Me, Hey!'). I don't know whether Tadeusz Nalepa and Mira Kubasinska were a couple, but in this video they they seem like they have a Sonny Bono/Cher thing going on. Bassist clearly has a lot of fun hiding behind the tree. The main riff clearly owes a lot to Hendrix's version of 'Hey Joe'.

Breakout continued to record great music after the departure of Mira Kubasinska in 1971. That year, they released an album, unimaginatively titled Blues. It is a great heavy blues-rock album full of fiery guitar solos complemented by Hammond organ and soulful vocals of Tadeusz Nalepa. One of the best songs on the album was called  'Pomaluj Moje Sny' ('Paint My Dreams').

Since I crossed into early 1970's, I want to mention two other important Polish bands from that period. First one is a progressive rock band called Klan. Their 1971 album 'Mrowisko' ('The Hive') is a mix of psychedelic heavy rock and jazz. It resembles early stuff of The Soft Machine or Colosseum, but it's much less self-indulgent. I'm not sure wheter the band got much recognition for it, as they seem to be pretty obscure even in Poland, which is a shame, because 'Mrowisko' is one of the best Polish records of the time.

Cover of 'Mrowisko' by Klan, 1971 (listen to the album here)

Another Polish  band from that time worth mentioning was Nurt ('The Stream'). Their only album, released in 1972, was also a mix of Heavy Psyche, Prog and Jazz, but with a lot of emphasis on 'Heavy'. I was pretty blown away by virtuoso musicianship of Nurt (especially their guitarist). Unlike a lot of Prog albums from early 1970's, this one avoids a trap of being overly self-indulgent or boring.

This is a song called 'Pisze Kreda Po Asfalcie'  ('I Write On Asphalth With a Chalk') from Nurt's self-titled 1972 album..

     

I'll end with something from the mid-Sixties..

This charming lady is a pop singer Helena Majdaniec. She was sort of a Polish Cilla Black or Sandie Shaw. After having a string of incredibly twee pop hits in Poland, she emigrated to France, where she continued her musical career, apparently achieving considerable popularity in continental Europe. Here's a footage of her performing a song in English on German TV in 1966. The audio is pretty bad and the song is not particularly good, but she and her French backing band, as well as he audience look absolutely amazing..

Make no mistake, the life in Socialist Poland in the 1960's was far from perfect. But that didn't stop the youth of that country from producing their own interesting music or, as I intend to show in part two of my 'Polish Special' , films and fashion icons.

Outfit Post / Temples Gig Review / Playlist

I do not often do any of these types of posts, but since opportunity presented itself, I thought, why not? My girlfriend and I took some photos before (and during) Temples gig in Brighton last night.She just got this great Liberty print coat from the late 1960's (We're not sure whether actual coat is from the 60's - there is no label on it - but fabric definitely is).

I recently got this great Beatle - style jacket with nehru collar..

I wish I could say it's an original 60's garment, but actually it was made by an Italian high street label called Ciro Citterio which traded in Britain in early 2000's before going bust in 2005. Anyway, it goes great with my Mod/Psych look...

As for Temples, well, what can I say? It was a great gig. I don't usually talk about new bands here - I leave that to music bloggers - but Temples' modern take on 60's Psychedelia is something that readers of this blog should find interesting. As for a band which only debuted last summer and has one single out, Temples received a lot of attention so far, but , if last night's gig is anything to go by, the hype is much deserved. Their Shelter Song sounds just as good live as it does on the record. However, the song which really caught my attention was 'Keep Her In The Dark' (or 'Keeper In The Dark' - I am not quite certain here) - a stompy psych number in the style of  John's Children- era Marc Bolan (and a slight reminiscent of 'Inkpot' by Shocking Blue). I certainly can't wait for their debut album, which is supposed to come out sometime this year.

  Temples, Brighton, 26.03.2013

I would like to share some other songs I am currently into...



A great Psych song from 1967 - Let's Live For Today by Geordie band The Living Daylights  - a much better, more aggressive version (although much less popular) than one by The Grass Roots. A lost anthem of Summer of Love...

  

     
I've heard this song at the last Mousetrap few weeks ago, and I still can't get that riff out of my head...'Time To Say Goodnight' by The Martells from 1967.

Along with Temples, Dutch singer Jacco Gardner is on the forefront of the current psychedelic revival. His album Cabinet of Curiosities was released earlier this year to a critical acclaim, and he is doing an extensive tour in Britain this Spring. Although I like his mellotron/harpsichord-laden psychedelic ballads, I prefer his earlier project - The Skywalkers. Their song  Creature Of The Night is one of my current favorites.

This cover of Los Chijuas song - 'Changing The Colours Of Life' - also sounds great...

 

Anyway, I'll end with a nice photo of my girlfriend in her 70's vintage outfit inspired by Mr. Freedom

Edited to note: That Temples song is actually called 'Keep In The Dark'. Here's a video from that very gig...

Swinging London Gone Wrong

Not long ago, I picked up this LP in a bargain bin in one of Brighton's second-hand record stores. It is titled Swinging London and it's a joint project by two very minor bands - The First Impression and The Good Earth. The album was released by Saga Records in 1968 and it was a blatant attempt to cash-up on Swinging London phenomenon. The photo on the front sleeve doesn't leave out any of  the 60's Swinging London cliches - girls in minis, boys in a newest gear, psychedelic mini, Chelsea location (photo was taken on Royal Avenue, to be precise) - it's all there. The models could have done with some better clothes. In fact, the whole thing could have done with better looking models. I can't quite figure out whether the whole thing was intended as pastiche, a bit like movie Smashing Time, or not. People responsible for that photoshoot, probably couldn't either - they hoped that the words 'Swinging London' stuck on a cover would make it a definite winner.

As someone who's obsessed with British Psychedelic 60's, I like that sleeve - Even though it's a little bit naff - and  have it displayed on one of my mantelpieces (I've put Velvet Cave sticker where the sleeve was damaged by numerous price tags).

  

Text at the back sleeve is just as full of clichees as the photo at the front..

As for record itself - it's not just bad - it's absolutely awful. I love British Pop-Psyche (Popsike) even from the saccharine end of the spectrum - like pop records of The Move or The Herd, for instance - but I can't find any redeeming qualities in the efforts of The Good Earth and The First Impression. It is a combination of cheesy lyrics, forgettable melodies and general workig men's club-vaudeville- feel that makes Engelbert Humperdinck sound like Jimi Hendrix. The opening song - Swinging London Scene by The First Impressions could as well be one of the contenders to a Worst Song Of The 60's title.

I did some research online, and while not much is known about The First Impression, it turns out that The Good Earth were an early incarnation of one-hit-wonders Mungo Jerry whose five minutes of fame came in 1970 with the single "In The Summertime"...I can't say I was surprised, really.

Compilation Swinging London - The Accidental Genius Of Saga Records 1968 - 1970 released in 2008 shows the label had some decent Pop/Psyche acts at the time, so why did they choose The First Impressions and The Good Earth for their Swinging London record, is a mystery.

If you ever see this vinyl in second hand record store or on e-bay, do give it a miss. Unless, of course, you only buy it for the cover....

Bouton Rouge Sessions

The Yardbirds playing Bouton Rouge, early 1968

Bouton Rouge was a French live-music TV show which ran between 1967 and 1968. During its short existence, it captured some of the best British Mod/Psych bands at their peak. A lot of Bouton Rouge footage had emerged on YouTube recently, and I must say it is a feast for both, eyes and ears. We can see performances by Jimmy Page-era Yardbirds, The Blossom Toes, The Small Faces with P.P. Arnold, The Moody Blues and many more. Here I enclose some of the more interesting ones...

Timebox playing Bouton Rouge, 09.03.1968

Timebox were a soul/psych band from Southport, Lancashire.Here they are performing their version of 'Beggin' (originally by The Four Seasons), 'Hold No Grudge' and 'Come On Up'. I love what they are wearing. It is a design  inspired by 19th Century Russian peasant shirt. It might be from Mr. Fish or John Stephen, although it is hard to say, as by 1968, Carnaby Street was full of stuff like that.

Intresting piece of trivia about Timebox: Ollie Halsall, who plays vibraphone, and drummer John Halsey 'went on to bigger things' as members of The Rutles - Eric Idle's brilliant spoof of The Beatles, and second most famous (after Spinal Tap) joke band ever. Halsey played the drums on all Rutles songs and he appeared in All You Need Is Cash (1978) as drummer Barry Wom, based on Ringo. Halsall,sang all the McCartney-esque  songs, but since Eric Idle played the part of Dirk McQuickly (McCartney) in the film, Halsall only made very brief appearance as original  bassist Leppo (based on Stuart Sutcliffe).

This one must be my favorite: Psych-era The Yardbirds with Jimmy Page on guitar. Here they are doing three songs: classic 'Train Kept-A-Rollin', even more classic 'Dazed and Confused' and their pop-psych hit 'Goodnight Sweet Josephine'. The most interesting is 'Dazed and Confused' which Page will perfect with Led Zeppelin. Of course, Led Zep's version was better, which doesn't mean that this one is bad. Keith Relf delivery is not as powerful as Robert Plant's, but arguably, his lyrics are more interesting.. .In  any case, this footage is twelve minutes of pure perfection.

Another interesting one is  a performance of Grapefruit.

(via Marmalade Skies)

Grapefruit were signed to Beatles' label Apple, but unlike their label-mates (and fellow Beatles soundalikes) Badfinger, they never really got much recognition. Here they are doing two numbers: 'Yes'  - a piece of Merseybeat pop which must have sounded strangely anachronistic in 1968, and 'Dear Delilah', again heavily inspired by Beatles, but this time from Sgt. Pepper era.

(recorded on 16.03.1968)

This is rare: Pink Floyd performing Syd's songs without Syd. This was recorded on 22.02.1968 - literally within days of Syd's departure from Pink Floyd. Dave Gilmour takes over vocals on 'Astronomy Domine' and 'Flaming'. It still sounds great, but the band are visibly uncomfortable. Roger Waters' dark psychedelic gem 'Set The Controls For the Heart Of The Sun' sounds amazing, and 'Let there Be Light' is an indication of Pink Floyd's new , post-Syd direction (unfortunately, for some reason it won't let me put it up here). Brilliant footage.

London Psychedelic scene heroes Blossom Toes are performing 'Listen To The Silence', 'Mister Watchmaker' and 'The Remarkable Saga Of Frozen Dog' (recorded on 23.03.1968).

Blossom Toes, 1968

I'll end with with this magnificent performance of Small Faces' 'Itchycoo Park' and 'If You Think You're Groovy' with P.P.Arnold.

There is more: Ten Years After, Moody Blues, Procol Harum  and few other. All of them worth checking out.

Samson And Delilah

Photo taken in 1968 in men's hairdressing salon Samson And Delilah. I couldn't find any information about where the salon was located...was it London?  Los Angeles, perhaps? Oh well, wherever it was I am sure it was popular. What man wouldn't want to have his hair cut by that girl? I wonder if the outfit she was wearing was a part of standard uniform at Samson and Delilah's...Also, note the amazing psychedelic mural and space-age furniture.  

Do You Take Acid With Your Tea?

I must admit that as much as I love American psyche, my favorite part of sixties psychedelia came not from San Francisco or L.A. but from English Countryside. I was therefore very excited when I got for Christmas this box set - Real Life Permanent Dreams - A Cornucopia of British Psychedelia 1965-1970. It was first released in 2007, but since little information about it is available online, I thought I could do a little post about it.

As the connoisseurs of the genre know, British psychedelic bands differed significantly from their American counterparts. American bands, fueled by Anti-Vietnam protests  and teachings of Timothy Leary, were usually either radical hippies (like Jefferson Airplane, The Doors or Country Joe & The Fish), stoned blues-rock guitar virtuosos  (Grateful Dead, Mike Bloomfield) or just plain angry teens wanting to 'turn on, tune in and drop out' (The Seeds, The Standells, 13th Floor Elevators and  any other band that appears on Nuggets compilation). The approach of British bands was different. As sleeve notes (written by David Wells) of the box set explain: The homegrown pop scene spent 1967 wallowing in the dim and distant past (...) UK bands who employed the word 'revolution' were primarily seeking to establish the right to drop out while wearing cavalry red double-breasted Regency jackets and some really groovy crushed velvet trousers (...) As perfidious Albion dropped in, tuned up and turned out, the imaginations of the nation's leading pop acts were fired by the indigenous culture that had informed their childhoods on what was still, to use Thomas Dibdin's phrase, a snug little island. Following the releases of Sgt. Pepper, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn and S.F. Sorrow,  British bands suddenly rejected American blues, Rn'B and three-minute pop songs as an influence , in favour of writings of Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear and Dylan Thomas. The social observations and character portraits of Charles Dickens, fantasy world of Tolkien, Arthurian legends, music hall songs of George Formby and absurd comedy of The Goon Show also played important role in shaping the sound and lyrical content of British Psychedelic acts. This sudden turn to the past was also expressed in fashion - the futuristic, space-age designs of Pierre Cardin, sharp suits and Pop-Art excesses of Mod popular in 1965 and 1966 were replaced  by a nostalgia after lost days of the Empire - Edwardian military jackets and Victoriana from such boutiques as I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet or Granny Takes A Trip.
Although the trendsetters, like Beatles, Stones or the Who, would leave psychedelia behind by mid-1968, the psychedelic scene developed a life of its own. Plenty of bands, mostly  from outside London, would continue, with various degrees of success, recording psych singles and albums till the end of the decade. Constantly experimenting and expanding their sound , the bands from late 60's British psychedelic scene formed grounds for most important genres of early 1970's - hard rock , glam rock and prog. And that's the story told through 99 songs on Real Life Permanent Dreams.

Clearly a lot of thought had been put into compiling a track list for the box set. There are plenty of compilations of 60's British psyche, and to avoid repetitions, auteurs of Real Life Permanent Dreams focus on long-lost obscurities rather that 'hits'. For that reason, a lot of important bands that defined the genre are not featured on this compilation. The list of deliberate omissions include such acts as The Move, The Pretty Things, The Blossom Toes, Kaleidoscope, July, The Attack, The Creation, The Herd, and few others. Even the box set's title song by Tomorrow is rejected in favour of lesser known, slightly faster version by a band called The Orange Machine.
The box set consists of 4 loosely themed discs. The first one (and probably the best one) is called Sowing The Seeds. Sleeve notes read: The beginning of the journey without maps - fey folkies, beatniks out to make it rich, pilled-up mods, art-school dropouts, RnB hoodlums and mop-top beat merchants assemble like pied pipers at the gates of a new and strange dawn...

The disc starts with demo version of 'My Friend Jack' by The Smoke with the original lyrics which had very explicit drug references. The label, EMI, fearing that song could be banned from radio play forced The Smoke to change the lyrics, but the toned down version which was eventually released in February 1967 was banned anyway. It did, however, go to number 1 in German charts. Today, It's an undisputable pop-psyche classic.
Next, we get former Joe Meek's protegees - The Tornados (a line-up that did not feature any members from 'Telstar' era) and Screaming Lord Sutch giving a shot at Psychedelia with surprisingly interesting results.
What follows is possibly the most catchy song on the whole box set - 'Doctor Doctor' by The Frame.

The Frame

The Frame were a johnny-come-lately mod band which released ultra-saccarine 'Doctor Doctor' in early 1967. For some reason song failed to chart and The Frame split up soon afterwards. Their single, however is a true lost pop-psych gem.

 Track 5 is a great mod-on-acid (Freakbeat) standard - 'Day And Night' by The Drag Set from 1967. I know this song quite well, as it's an obligatory play in Beat/Psych basement at New Untouchables clubnights. Great dance number indeed... 

At the end of 1967 The Drag Set morphed into heavy rockers The Open Mind. They achieved a cult status thanks to their song 'Magic Potion' from 1969 which was an underground psychedelic blues-rock classic.

Another great track from disc one is 'The Lilac Hand Of Menthol Dan' by John's Children with Marc Bolan on vocals. The song was written by Marc Bolan, and recorded in midd-1967, but  never released, as Bolan quit the band soon after...

 

  Marc Bolan (left) with John's Children, 1967

Another interesting track on disc one is 'Rubber Monkey' by Santa Barbara Machine  Head - a mod studio 'supergroup' consisting of former members of  The In-Crowd, The Birds and The Artwoods. Those members included John 'Twink' Adler (of The In-Crowd), Jon Lord of The Artwoods and Ron Wood of The Birds.'Rubber Monkey' , recorded in 1966 and released in 1968 as a part of Blues Anytime compilation, is a Hammond-led instrumental. By the time it was released, all the musicians involved moved on to bigger things: Twink and some former members The In-Crowd formed Tomorrow, Jon Lord started Deep Purple, and we all know what happened to Ronnie Wood...

Among those great obscurities there are some well-known songs: Sunny Goodge Street' by Donovan, 'Hippy Gumbo' by Marc Bolan, 'Circles' by Fleur de Lys, and one of my all-time favorites 'Up The Wooden Hills To Bedfordshire' By The Small Faces. There are also two songs by The Kinks - 'Fancy' from Face To Face album (1966) an Dave Davies'  'Love Me Till The Sun Shines' from Something Else (1968). Although The Kinks were one of the first bands to flirt with psychedelia as far back as 1965 ('See My Friends') they never turned fully psychedelic, not even in summer of 1967. They did however, record a few tracks that delicately hinted at psychedelia, like the two fore-mentioned ones, or great ''Creeping Jean' from 1968 (also written by Dave Davies).

Second disc is titled Plant A Flower Child Today. From the sleeve notes: Do not adjust your mind, there is a fault in reality...Psychedelia's high summer in full and glorious bloom as sweet floral Albion passes its London Social degree and sets the controls for the heart of the currant bun...

Songs that stand out are Skip Bifferty's 'Man In Black'..

 

Skip Bifferty, 1968

'The Clown' by Eire Apparent..

Eire Apparent were an Irish band based in London. 'The Clown' is a great track from their 1968 album Sunrise, which was produced by Jimi Hendrix and it featured Noel Redding on bass and Soft Machine's Robert Wyatt on organ.

In 1967 Eire Apparent went on a package tour with Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, The Move and The Nice.

'Boy Meets Girl' by Paper Blitz Tissue - a brilliant piece of heavy psych from 1967

Other great songs from disc two are Billy Nicholls' saccharine ode to Swinging London - 'London Social Degree', 'When The Wind Arises' by The Rokes, and 'Love, Hate, Revenge' by Episode Six - a band which featured two future Deep Purple members Roger Glover and Ian Gillian.

Disc three, probably the weakest one, is called Happydaytoytown (after Small Faces track). Songs that stand out are 'Nodnol' by Spectrum, classic 'Hey Mr. Carpenter' by The Fox, and Arthur Brown's novelty track 'Give Him A Flower'..

There is also a song by Gun titled 'Sunshine' - a b-side to their proto hard rock hit 'Race With The Devil' from 1968.

 

Now, I have a little bit of a problem with this track - It is one of the favorite songs of Noel Gallagher. It is not hard to see why.The formula presented by Gun on 'Sunshine' - nursery rhymes combined with simple repetitive chorus, is exactly what Oasis mastered 25 years later. In fact, if you take out the guitar solo, this song could easily pass for a lost Oasis track (I did spoil it for some, didn't I?)

Disc four is called Circus Days Are Here Again. Sleeve notes say: (referring the cult film Withnail & I) The slow, but inexorable slide into Prog Rock: both London and the Sixties swing themselves to a standstill, and party revellers wake up with a Camberwell carrot-sized hangover...

Stand-out tracks are: 'No Home Today' by The Kult (1969)

 

  

'Go Your Way' by Andromeda (1969)

'My Gration Or?' by Opal Butterfly (1969) - psychedelic heavy rock gem - easily one of the best tracks on the whole box-set.

Opal Butterfly, 1969

The ever-changing line-up of Opal Butterfly at some point included Dave O'List (ex member of the Nice and The Attack) and future heavy metal god Lemmy. A very different incarnation of this band had recorded an awful soundtrack to a film Groupie Girl in 1970.

Other great tracks from disc four are 'The Diamond Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon' by The Nice, 'Cold Embrace' by Sam Gopal (a Hendrix-style guitar freakout; Lemmy - briefly a member of Sam Gopal - played  bass on this 1969 song) and proggy 'Venus' by Samson from 1970.

All in all, It is a very enjoyable compilation. The only criticism could be that there are too many average songs on disc three - some of the tracks seem to have been dug out purely for the obscurity value.Also, putting the unreleased versions of 'hits' does not always work, either. It makes sense in case of  the Smoke's demo of 'My Friend Jack' seeing as the lyrics are completely different, but the BBC session versions of Arthur Brown's Fire (disc two) and Status Quo's 'Pictures Of Matchstick Man' (disc three) are barely discernible from 'official' versions. Wouldn't it make more sense to put a different track entirely, like for example, Quo's 'Ice In The Sun' or Arthur Brown's 'Spontaneous Apple Creation'?

For those who are new to the 60's British Psychedelia, I would also recommend few other compilations: John Peel's Perfumed Garden, Piccadilly Sunshine and first ten volumes of Rubble Collection (which is now available on Spotify). Also check out Marmalade Skies - one of the best pages devoted to 60's British Psych. It looks like hasn't been updated for a while, but it still contains a lot of interesting information, photos, links, etc.. 

I'll end with these wise words from John Peel...

No comment necessary.....

New Psychedelics - London 60's Revival Scene of 1980-1981 - Interview with Anne-Marie Newland

Anne - Marie Newland circa 1980

About year and a half ago, I did a post about early 1980's psychedelic revival scene in London which followed Mod revival. All I had was two great photos from Ted Polhemus' book and very little information about a shop called a Regal and designer Andrew Yiannakou. Since then, the emergence of documentary The Groovy Movie on YouTube helped  to throw some light on this obscure and almost forgotten movement. I also discovered A Splash Of Colour - a compilation from 1981 containing some of the most memorable  songs of the bands from that scene. 

Recently, I have been contacted by Anne-Marie Newland, who was one of the central figures of  1980's psychedelic revival scene. At the time, she ran a boutique called Sweet Charity, which was a part of The Regal.She was also a drummer in a psych band called The High Tide (which appeared on A Splash Of Colour) and a partner of a designer and owner of The Regal, Andrew Yiannakou. Ms. Newland kindly agreed to answer some questions about High Tide, Sweet Charity, The Regal, Andrew Yiannakou and her memories of the 1980's psychedelic revival scene in London.

DIA: How did the psych revival come about? Would you say it was a logical next step after 1978 - 1979 Mod revival?

 AMN: It came about from the Regal, a men’s clothes shop founded by Andy Yiannakou. His clothes were fantastic, he was a real tailor and of course the Psychedelic clothes were copies of the Dandy’s back in the 18th century.

The Regal shirt by Andrew Yiannakou

(Photos courtesy of Ula Wawrzynczyk, who found this amazing garment in vintage shop in a remote location of Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland)

Outfit from the Regal (photo from Surfers, Soulies, Skinheads and Skaters by Claudia Shnurrmann and Cathie Dingwall)

DIA :How did you get into it? I am assuming you were too young to actually remember original movement...What were your sources of knowledge about that era in late 70's/early 80's?

AMN:  Too young? That’s hilarious! No, I am and was not too young -  in fact, I was doing it the 2nd time around. I was born in 1955 and Andy in 1948. The Regal opened in Kensington Market in 1980/81. His name cards were made to look like the old cinema tickets. Very cool and retro. Andy started getting a young mod/hippy following. It was great to see the young guys wearing out there clothes and looking smart in the post punk era. I had been a ballet dancer then a punk drummer and met Andy in Camden lock. I had been selling vintage clothes. We became and item and seemed naturel to start designing girls clothes for the girlfriends. My resources were Mary Quant of course, Barbarella and Emma Peel…. Groovy!

The Groovy Movie  - documentary about 1980 -1981 Psychedelic revival scene (Part 1 of 4)

  DIA: I've heard from quite a few people who lived through 1980's, that apparently it was quite easy then to get original 60's clothes from charity shops. Would you say it is true?

AMN: Yes its true you could pick up original clothes in the rummage shops as we call them up here in Leicester! But I also used to get new unused clothes from old warehouses. I had an almost diving talent when it came to getting stock that had sat there for years. I only used original psychedelic cloth too. I would find it at the bottom of rolls of fabric buried in layers from the 60’s to the 80’s. Loved that aspect of designing.

DIA: Tell us about your boutique, Sweet Charity. How did you get started? Were you a part of first Regal in Kensington Market? Did you design the clothes yourself? If yes, which 1960's designer was your main inspiration? Do you remember the prices? Who were your customers? How did you advertise it? How long did The Regal/Sweet Charity last? 

AMN: My shop was a wow to look at. I used scaffolding for the rails. I had huge pots of paint in the shop to allow people to create graffiti befitting the era. I have some great pictures taken by the famous street fashion photographer Ted Polhemus. I designed the clothes myself and had never had any formal training but had a good eye for posture so it was easy to judge how the front of a garment was not the same as the back! As I Said before I only sourced original fabrics and some of the stuff I found was truly amazing. Needle cord with paisley patterns in yellow and turquoise was one of my best finds and a roll of textured cotton with super psychedelic designs put me on the map! Mary Quant was a good inspiration but I also took a lot from the men’s designs which were originally Regency…hence Andy calling his the Regency…2 meanings in one. I was not part of the first Regal as I met Andy after. But as a natural progression I was well established in the Market anyway when I had my vintage shop there. I was next to Jesse Birdsalls and Gaz’s Rockin’Blues, a great vinyl record shop. I do remember that my hipster drainpipe jeans cost £17-50 and in the Thatcher years that was expensive. My customers were aged between 12 and 35! I had such customers as Annie Lennox, The Belle Stars, Kim Wilde, Paul Young, and Kid Creole and the Coconuts! I made clothes for bands on photo shoots in a matter of hours that gave us a great reputation. U2 visited the shop when Bono still played the drums and sang, Paul Weller popped in and to be honest the shop was buzzing most of the day…FUN! I advertised in the Face, ID and put out flyers at the Groovy Cellar. Mostly it was word of mouth. Sweet Charity lasted 3 years until I sold up and passed it on when I went off to India…it was there for another few years. Not sure Bout the Regal…6 years? 

Photo taken outside The Regal, which appeared in Ted Polhemus' Street Style. From left: Marc - violinist from band Le Mat,  Gary, singer from Le Mat, who also worked at The Regal, and unidentified girl. 

Page about Andrew Yiannakou and Psychedelic revival scene in Surfers, Soulies, Skinheads and Skaters

DIA: Tell us about your band , The High Tide. Were you sharing your time between your band and your boutique? Who were your fellow members? What were your main influences? Was the main emphasis on recreating the original 1960's sound, or did you try to give your music a little bit of contemporary, 80's feel? Did you ever tour?

The High Tide circa 1980

AMN: Our Band was The High Tide. I was the Drummer and my now ex-husband was the singer. I played in the band at night, worked in the shop in the day and also taught jazz dance…I never slept and had more energy than most people I know…that’s still true today! The members were Chris as singer, John on bass, Martin guitar and Andy on keyboards. I joined the band early on while they were still forming. We made a couple of singles and had the single from the compilation album Splash of Colour with Mood Six, Marble staircase and Doctor and the Medics. We were a psychedelic band; others were a bit hip 60's ,a bit fluffy we thought! We were in the 80’s so we would not consider doing anything 80’s if you see what I mean! We toured around London but apparently after Chris and I left for India they got another singer, Gary, and must have had a drummer and went to tour Sweden. 

'Dancing In My Mind' By The High Tide, which appeared on A Splash Of Colour compilation.

DIA: Did the bands from psychedelic revival scene of 1980-81 receive any press attention, or was it strictly an underground thing?

         AMN: The bands did get a lot of press attention…in fact I have some news paper cuttings from Melody Maker and NME somewhere. They thought us odd but interesting and there was certainly a market for it as a backlash to punk and new romantics. We did keep our underground integrity too though, I feel. 

The Groovy Movie (part 2 of 4) in which sales assistant Gary talks about The Regal

DIA: Tell us a bit more about the scene itself - What were your main hangouts? Who were the Dj's and the regulars? What sort of music did the dj's play?

       AMN: The main hang out was either my shop or Andys! I used to have the kettle on all the time and the of course LSD being part of the scene was available in around the hangouts! Our club was the Groovy Cellar then there was the Attic too…again I do have some of the tickets to these places. Of course the movie Groovy Movie also shows the scene. Our main DJ was The Doctor (Of Doctor and The Medics fame) of course! 

DIA: How did "A Splash of Colour" compilation come about? Did it mark the end of the scene? 

AMN: I don’t know whether it marked the end of the scene because I had gone onto my next stage of life but it did not do as well as it should have done…the music scene then was really bubbling with the Eurhythmics, U2, etc.…lots of bands were making it big…we were out of time. 

DIA: Tell us briefly what do you do today? Do you keep in touch with Andrew Yiannakou or your former band mates?

       

AMN: Andy has 3 daughters who have children but he is very much a grumpy old man according to his daughters! I married the singer of High Tide eventually as I married my Yoga Teacher first and have 3 children with him. Chris and I have a daughter Talitha who is beginning to think we are pretty cool now! I have a school that trains people to be yoga teachers. It’s an international school and I travel around the world training. I manage to work around my 4 children. Not one of them has gone into the music business but all are creative and have good business acumen. I was a businesswoman in the end. I still love my time in the industry. I was part of the original Punk scene too! I am writing a book at the moment about my life which I must say has continued to be …A SPLASH OF COLOUR!!

(A Dandy In Aspic, 2012) 

'Electric Blue' - Brilliant psych epic by The High Tide