VICTORIA PHANTASIA - Eccentric British Sounds from the Psychedelic Era
- British Psych - The Unexplored Underground, 1968-1972 -
Queen Victoria (CAT#2002), 2002.
Limited to 400 copies.
01. WOODY KERN - Biography / Tell You I'm Gone (Pye, 1969)
An A-side that appeared a year after the 'Awful Disclosures Of Maria Monk' LP sank without a trace on Pye.
This five-piece captured the lighter styles of The Attack and Andromeda perfectly, but presumably followed
the misfortunes of their LP soon after.
02. BULLDOG BREED - Austin Osmanspare (Deram Nova, 1969)
Lord knows who this poor soul was but this is one of the true Psychedelic highlights from their brilliant
'Made In England' LP on Deram's Nova series label. They have connections to T2 and a recently
unearthed Please recordings, also from '69. Their outstanding lone 45, 'Portiscullis Gate' / 'Halo
In My Hair' also appeared on Deram, but not on this LP.
03. THE MINDBENDERS - Blessed Are The Lonely / Yellow Brick Road (Fontana, 1968)
By now, a well-documented group who worked better without the croonings of Wayne Fontana and this is a
perfect example of their talents. A heady brew of Psychedelia lies on the flip of 'Blessed Are The Lonely'
from '68 and hits all the right spots. Check out the "liquid piano"!
04. THE GODS - Baby's Rich / Somewhere In The Street (Columbia, 1968)
Formed by ex-Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, who left to join John Mayalls' Blues Breakers in '67. This flip
to their debut from 1968 is a truly wonderful piece of Psychedelic inspired pop rock from a band whose
members kept drifting into other outfits, including Greg Lake of ELP.
05. VILLIERS & GOLD - Of All The Little Girls / This East (Polydor, 1968)
A truly obscure 45, presumed to be a lone single from this unheard of group who sound very much like a
West Coast American group, but there's nothing to indicate that these were American at all. Instead we
presume these were a British group adopting their favoured accents and musical styles. All in all,
a wonderful 45!
06. THE LOVE AFFAIR - Lincoln County / Sea Of Tranquility (CBS, 1970)
Known for their successful string of hits in the later 60's and respected for Steve Ellis' amazing voice
which is particularly glorious here. This is a forgotten 45 that appeared in 1970 when the Affair weren't
making it to the Top Of The Pops studios as much as they were. Their hits were usually penned by the
songwriting talents of Phillips Goodhand-Tait who was also performing on keyboards in his own group Circus.
Tait penned the flip to this wonderful Psych/prog epic masterpiece. This is a remarkable side to the Affair.
07. CHRIS BRITTON - Sit Down Beside Me (Page One, 1969)
A wonderfully produced track from the solo efforts of The Troggs' guitarist that is the best slice from
a sought after, but mainly dull, LP. Forgive the brass and you have a British Psychedelic Nugget!
08. PANAMA LTD. - Dangle Wild (Harvest, 1970)
An overlooked band whose second LP 'Indian Summer' is one of the most tragically underrated records
in the history of Psychedelia and Avant Garde Rock! For this LP, Anne Matthews replaced Liz Hann on
vocals and the band dropped "Jug Band" from the name. Some kind of magic appeared to work so much
better here than on their first LP and the divine swagger towards Captain Beefheart is perfect.
Hopefully, a bit of justice has been done here.
09. SHARON TANDY - Gotta Get Enough / Somebody Speaks Your Name (Atlantic, 1969)
Already and rightly well known for her tremendous voice and associations with The Fleur De Lys. This
South African born singer was one of the best alongside Shocking Blue, Julie Driscoll, Jefferson
Airplane, etc.... This is another of Sharon's amazing 45's that features the infamous Freakbeat exploits
of The Fleur De Lys.
10. CUPID'S INSPIRATION - Without Your Love / Different Guy (CBS, 1970)
A laid back slice of obscure late 60's rock with a psychedelic flavour featuring the vocal talents of
Terry Rice-Milton who failed to make a success of his solo career after this. Most of the Cupid's output
was typical late 60's pop, but this and the flip to their debut, 'Dream' in 1968, are their finest moments.
The band also featured Gordon Haskell of The Fleur De Lys.
11. MOSAIC - Bluebird / Bird Of Time (Parlophone, 1970)
Never heard of this bunch before, the vocalist sounds much like David Bowie in his Space Oddity days.
The A-side is a Vanda-Young composition.
12. CLOWN - Lord Of The Ringside / Rumania (CBS, 1972)
Another obscure band whose roots lie in England's west country area. This is their lone 45 for CBS and
there were rumours of a possible LP existing somewhere, although persistent efforts to locate this have
so far been unsuccessful.
13. QUARTET - Joseph / Mama, Where Did You Fail? (Decca, 1970)
One of those Decca demos from 1970 that seem to appear in huge quantities, but their worth is put to the
test painfully in most cases. This is one of the exceptions. No clues as to who they are (Britten, Spencer,
Tarney, Peek), but another Decca demo appeared a year earlier in '69 entitled 'Now', the flip of which
is worthy of your attention.
14. PAUL BRETT SAGE - 3D Mona Lisa (Pye, 1970)
Paul Brett, a former guitarist for Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, teamed up with Dick Dufall (bass) and
Bob Voice (percussion) from the Fire. Also including Nicky Higginbottom on flute and sax, this debut LP
is an interesting item to hear. '3D' is a perfect taster for it. Their next two LP's in '71 and '72 were
released on the Dawn label.
|
