SINGLES

THE BEATLES-Hello Goodbye/ I Am The Walrus (Parlophone) #1
BEE GEES-World/ Sir Geoffrey Saved The World (Polydor) #9
BONZO DOG DOO-DAH BAND-Equestrian Statue/ The Intro And The Outro (Liberty)
THE BUNCH-Looking Glass Alice/ Spare A Shilling (CBS)
PETER COOK AND DUDLEY MOORE-Bedazzled/ Love Me (Decca)
THE CYMBALINE-Matrimonial Fears/ You Will Never Love Me (Philips)
DAVE DAVIES-Susannah’s Still Alive/ Funny Face (Pye) #20
ELMER GANTRY’S VELVET OPERA-Flames/ Salisbury Plain (Direction)
THE FACTOTUMS-Cloudy/ Easy Said Easy Done (Pye)
CHRIS FARLOWE-Handbags And Gladrags/ Everybody Makes A Mistake (Immediate) #33
FELIUS ANDROMEDA-Meditations/ Cheadle Heath Delusions (Decca)
FLOWERPOT MEN-Walk In The Sky/ Am I Losing You (Deram)
GRANNY’S INTENTIONS-The Story Of David/ Sandy’s On The Phone Again (Deram)
MARMALADE-Man In A Shop/ Cry (CBS)
MINDBENDERS-Schoolgirl/ Coming Back (Fontana)
MOODY BLUES-Nights In White Satin/ Cities (Deram) #19
THE NICE-Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack/ Azrael (Angel Of Death) (Immediate)
NITE PEOPLE-Summertime Blues/ In The Springtime (Fontana)
ORANGE BICYCLE-Laura’s Garden/ Lavender Girl (Columbia)
PINK FLOYD-Apples And Oranges/ Paintbox (Columbia)
PRETTY THINGS-Defecting Grey/ Mr Evasion (Columbia)
THE ROKES-Hold My Hand/ Regency Sue (RCA)
SEARCHERS-Secondhand Dealer/ Crazy Dreams (Pye)
SKIP BIFFERTY-Happy Land/ Reason To Live (RCA)
THE SMOKE-It Could Be Wonderful/ Have Some More Tea (Island)
THE SOCIETIE-The Bird Has Flown/ Breaking Down (Deram)
THE TICKLE-Subway/ Good Evening (Regal Zonophone)
TUESDAY’S CHILDREN-Baby’s Gone/ Guess I’m Losing You (Pye)
UNIVERSALS-Green Veined Orchid/ While The Cat’s Away (Page One)
VIOLENT THIMBLE-Gentle People Parts 1 And 2 (Polydor)
KEITH WEST-Sam/ Thimble Full Of Puzzles (Parlophone) #38
ZOMBIES-Care Of Cell 44/ Maybe After He’s Gone (CBS)

 

 

ALBUMS


 

BLOSSOM TOES-We Are Ever So Clean (Marmalade)
CREAM-Disraeli Gears (Reaction) #5
HAPHASH AND THE COLOURED COAT-Featuring The Human Host And The Heavy Metal Kids (Minit)
KALEIDOSCOPE-Tangerine Dream (Fontana)
MOODY BLUES-Days Of Future Passed (Deram) #27
PROCUL HARUM-Procul Harum (Regal Zonophone)
TEN YEARS AFTER-Ten Years After (Deram)

HAPPENING!

The Tremeloes--Dee Time

 

WATCHING!

REVIEWS

DotBee Gees

World: Another big 'un. It's another hauntingly simple tune and registers quickly--maybe because it immediately reminds you of something else (could it be "Secret Love"?) It's encased in a gorgeous backing of shimmering strings, but this time, between each of the stanzas, there's a contrasting instrumental passage of twangs and other raucous sounds. The combined effect is quite stunning! It's melodic, delightfully harmonised and incredibly well produced. I can't get the tune out of my mind!

World: This tremendous new Bee Gees single will soar up the charts. With rolling, swaying piano, a hard screeching guitar plus waterfalls of harps and that buzzing, electrifying string sound they have come up with a truly beautiful, stunning sound. Soulful and powerful lyrically and musicianly it's good to know that, at last, the Bee Gees have arrived to give us all.

DotBlossom Toes

We Are Ever So Clean (LP): Produced by Giorgio Gomelsky, this is a restless, somewhat distorted set of beat tunes, done with a lot of "holding back" in the sound department, though I liked their Telegram Tuesday, What On Earth and Mister Watchmaker. Wistful on the whole, and sometimes a bit dull, nevertheless this Cheshire quartet has the right sound to succeed.

DotPeter Cook and Dudley Moore

Bedazzled : The title song from Pete and Dud's new film, but scarcely a showcase for the duo. It's a sparkling toe tapper, with a bustling orchestration and the vocal handled by a girl group.

DotElmer Gantry's Velvet Opera

Flames: A subtle blend of blues, soul and pop make this new British group a very commercial proposition. It's a fiery, dynamic sound with a driving beat. Perfect for discotheques.

DotFactotums

Cloudy: A bouncy, foot-tapping rhythm blends effectively with the wistful lyric of this ballad. Soloed with echo chanting, which creates a strangely haunting quality. Delicate accompaniment, including cellos.

DotFelius Andromeda

Meditations: Opens with monk-like chanting, then breaks into mid-tempo. Enigmatic Procol-type lyric soloed by the leader, and dominated by an impressive cathedral-like organ. It was, in fact, recorded in a church. The resultant sound is rich and awe-inspiring.

DotFlowerpot Men

A Walk In The Sky: No doubt about it--the Flowerpot Men simulate America's West Coast Sound more accurately than any other British group. The complicated counter-harmonies and falsettos on this disc might almost be mistaken for the Beach Boys. To add to the illusion, there's a sudden break in tempo halfway through, which makes it sound like a completely different record! It's melodic, exceptionally well produced and performed, and extremely commercial. Should do very well.

DotKaleidoscope

Tangerine Dream (album) : This is it! Kaleidoscope have presented us with a masterpiece for their first LP. Their fantastic single Flight From Ashiya didn't make it, but Tangerine Dream will set that to rights-quality like this just can't go unnoticed. Every track would make a better single than ninety per cent of the top thirty. The words that come come to mind are all played out-words like creative, fabulous (in the true sense), dream-weaving, moving, poetry. The group have made their own completely original scene, with the name Kaleidoscope providing the key to it all. The sounds on this record are shifting colours for a moment into a beautiful stained glass pattern, then shifting again into a fresh and still more beautiful pattern. All wonderous stuff-and certainly not too far out for mere mortals. It is important music-as singer Peter Daltrey says on the lovely sleeve notes, the collective subject of their songs is simple-the life and people. What more could anybody want?

Marmalade

Man In A Shop: The title character has a beautiful dummy in his window, which compels all the wishful-thinking girls to cluster around gaping at its luscious attire--then it's replaced by another dummy which doesn't have the same magic. The Marmalade make a very good job of this medium-pacer, aided by an imaginative backing.

DotMoody Blues

Days Of Future Passed: Here is a new type group LP, with Peter Knight conducting the London Festival Orchestra behind the Moody Blues, and the whole LP covers a day, from dawn until night, on seven tracks. It's quiet and arresting, with strong, bluesy undertones, and varied vocal and instrumental sound patterns. Recorded by the Deramic Sound System.

Nights In White Satin: Their first on Dram. It's a sombre and somewhat melancholy disc, with the minor-key heightening the doleful effect. The soul-searching lyric is soloed by the leader, whose vocal is framed in a magnificently scored semi-classical arrangement.

DotThe Nice

The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack: Pat Arnold's backing group with a deep-thinking number, framed in a startling backing of organ, celeste, clavioline, strings, walloping beat and incredible tempo changes. Who is Emerlist Davjack? Well, he (she or it) wrote it--and it's good!

The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack: To believe or not to believe this was once PP Arnold's backing group before a monstrous cosmic explosion hurled them onto another path, leading up tinkling, spiralling staircases where they found a together, unified kind of propulsion which put energy into their thoughts, soul into their sound, and their space was nice. This is The Nice, they are, and they wrote it, and played it, and produced it, and they produce enough heavenly energy for four groups, let alone for four people. But that's where the mysterious Emerlist Davjack comes in with his eternal youth and his chartbusting music.

DotOrange Bicycle

Lauras Garden: During the rehearsal for this number, everything went wrong for the group - they didn't know they were on Candid Camera at the time! But the finished product is fine - a colourful rhythmic ballad, with ear catching harmonies and fugal influences.

DotPink Floyd

Apples And Oranges: The most psychedelic single that the Pink Floyd have yet come up with. The vocal rises in octaves as it progresses, until it's roaring into the heights, and behind there's a perpetual growling, shuddering noise, coupled with a reverberating organ resonance. It takes several spins before you get to grips with it, and then you realise that a great deal of thought has gone into it. Although much of the track is way-out, there's a catchy and repetitive chorus which should prove a reliable sales gimmick.

Apples and Oranges: A heavily electronic number swinging in tinkling, whirring electricity. The Floyd's music is always vibrant, energy-laden stuff but this particular number is pretty hard to get hold of, and a number more like the flip, "Paint Box" with its hollow "Day In The Like" feel is a more interesting and hard-hitting "commercial"-even- thing. A good record, with some exciting sounds but I think it'll go over a few people's heads, and will certainly freak-out Jimmy Young, 'cos he's too old.

DotPretty Things

Defecting Grey: A label switch coincides with a change of style and image. Unabashed r-and-b is abandoned in favour of "free form" in this mixture of oom-pah waltz-time, frenzied Hendrix-like blues, and strange psychedelic noises--with a chorus of razzamatazz to round it off! Not a disc you can dance to because of the constantly changing tempo--but certainly a disc with a difference!

DotSkip Bifferty

Happy Land: This switches back and forth between a meditative ballad and a storming up-tempo bouncer. It's vital and alive, with a bustling backing, but I wish it was all beaty without the slow lapses.

DotThe Smoke

It Could Be Wonderful: This is a forceful number in which the pounding beat doesn't detract from the strong melodic content. It's very well arranged and performed, and if Tony Blackburn and his mates latch on to it--well, it must stand a chance.

DotThe Societie

Bird Has Flown: A new group on Deram is always an exciting prospect and The Societie maintain the label's reputation for pop progression and quality. Produced by Hollie Allan Clarke, this medium-pacer is noteworthy for the group's sensational harmonic blend, recorded most effectively on deep echo. Can't say I was over-impressed with the material, but it's worth hearing for the performance.

Bird Has Flown: A big clanking sound, with some beautiful distant yet predominant piano and a high, hard vocal sound. Lyric line is hard to follow in the big sound but the number works to a powerful and penetrating finale. A nice first one but the material will have to be more striking to put the Societie into the charts.

DotThe Tickle

Subway (Smokey Pokey World): Here's a disc that makes you sit up and take notice. A startling collection of sounds, both instrumental and vocal, plus an intriguing lyric. A progressive and well produced adventure in pop.

DotKeith West

Sam: Another saga of village life, in which a story-in-song is dressed up in majestic symphonic style--and again taken from the Teenage Opera. It's as massive a production as Keith's first hit, with 80-piece orchestra, blaring brass, sweeping strings, kiddie's choir and even train noises. For this is the story of an engine driver--and, for good measure, there's a touch of Christmas in the lyric, and a solo from a seven year-old girl. A shattering five-minute-plus production that's every bit as good as the first one, and has even more fireworks to offer. Unfortunately, it doesn't have such a catchy chorus as Grocer Jack, but clearly it's another triumph.

Sam: Another great song from Keith, and Mark Wirtz has excelled himself this time on the production work which is quite out of this world. Into another tale of Grocer Jack land goes Keith, singing of Sam the train driver, whose only love is for his engine. One day though, poor Sam goes into the village office and hears that his railway line is losing money and he'll have to be made redundant--so Sam runs away, train and all and steams off over the horizon. Using an 85-piece orchestra, a Brownies choir, sleigh bells and balalaikas, this is certainly one of the largest and most astonishing sound journeys that any single record has embarked upon. It's a unique and spine-chilling experience produced by the beautifully interwoven orchestral sound and one can only mutter on hearing such a moving record, the name of Sam's train: "Glory."

Sam: A deep lungful of cool fresh air from the Teenage Opera again must put Keith on the right track for another smash hit. A magnificently, carefully and majestically executed pop single, over 5 minutes long, vividly painting another beautiful fantasy picture of Grocer Jack land. An all-enveloping , radiating kaleidoscope of changing mood music, built with Mark Wirtz's flowing, flying 80 piece orchestra is certainly a stimulating and inspired creation. Look thoughtfully into this tale of engine driver Sam and his steam machine for many jewels can be discovered embedded in the landscape as it hurtles by.

DotThe Zombies

Care Of Cell 44: In this song, we have to imagine that the singer's girlfriend is in prison, and that he is writing her a letter explaining what wonderful times they will have together when she gets out! Despite the depressing nature of the subject, and it's questionable taste, it's extremely well treated. Sincerely rendered by composer Rod Argent, enhanced by colourful Beach Boy-type harmonies, with a mid-tempo beat, clavioline and a delicious string scoring.

 

 

 

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