We'll let you know (King Crimson) (LP 302-303)

King Crimson Earthbound (Vinyl - Island, 1972) ***
King Crimson Starless And Bible Black (CD - Island, 1974) ***

Genre: Progressive rock  

Places I remember: Earthbound came from Flashback Records on the Essex Road, close to Upper Street, Highbury/Islington, while Starless And Bible Black came from JB HiFi in Palmerston North, NZ.  

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: 21st Century Schizoid Man (live version from Earthbound). I couldn't find that one youtube so here's a brilliant version featuring Greg Lake on vocals.




Gear costume: The Great Deceiver (Starless And Bible Black)  

Active compensatory factors: Old friends,Margo and Clay, clued me into these albums back in the early eighties. They gave me a coverless copy of Earthbound and I listened with open mouthed awe to the scungy, ragged version of 21st Century Schizoid Man.

Although two years apart, in my brain these albums are closely aligned. Most of Starless is based on live material, albeit better recorded than the brutal lowfi approach of Earthbound. But that too has its own charms.

Forty years later and KC's prog rock still astounds.

Where do they all belong? My KC collection is patchy - I have their first two albums featuring Greg Lake and these two. Their catalogue is quite daunting!

Sorry that I keep apologising

Apologies - I'm in transit back to Nu Zild, normal service will resume shortly!

Let your hair hang down (The Tremeloes) (LP 301)

The Tremeloes Here Come The Tremeloes (Vinyl - CBS, 1967) ***

Genre: English pop  

Places I remember: Chaldon Books and Records 

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Here Comes My Baby




Gear costume:  Even The Bad Times Are Good

Active compensatory factors: I had this on watch for a few months in Chaldon Books and Records up on the hill (sadly - my last visit before we head back to NZ was on Saturday). It had a sticker on it saying that it had been played a lot but was still good.

I hummed and harred each time I went in for months - when I eventually checked it looked like some surface marks, so it was ultimately worth a risk. Eventually my love of The Tremeloes and the fear that someone else would snap it up outweighed any misgivings re quality of the disc.

I needn't have worried - no surface clicks or anything! Pretty remarkable for a record that has been played for 40ish years!

Here Come My Baby is the standout, of course. I've written about it before (remarkably I glossed over the bad miming on the video): it really is an amazing song - the lead out track here and the de facto album title.

The rest? Well it varies from good filler to very good filler before ending with another knock-about hit - Even The Bad Times Are Good.

Where do they all belong? Firmly in the pantheon of stellar 1967 pop moments with Here Comes My Baby!  

Tonight and forever (Carly Simon (LP 300)

Carly Simon Spoiled Girl (Vinyl - Epic, 1985) *****

Genre: American pop/rock  

Places I remember: Chaldon Books and Records (Caterham on the hill)  

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: My New Boyfriend




Tired Of Being Blond



Gear costume: Everything else - Spoiled Girl, Come Back Home, Tonight And Forever, The Wives In Connecticut, Anyone But Me, Interview, Make Me Feel Something, Can't Give It Up.

Active compensatory factors: Five stars? Really?? - I can hear you now. But I have no hesitation showering this album with pure pop classic status.

Roger Marbeck started the ball rolling by giving me a load of old recorded cassettes, this album was on one side of a C90. I played it in the car endlessly. My children will know all of these songs!

I eventually found a proper cassette version, then a CD, and now the vinyl from up the road at Chaldon Books and Records. When I bought it the old guy who owns the shop ('nothing good came out after 1956') said, "Oh I love Carly Simon!"

The best pop record of the eighties? I know that's a big call but for me, it's a resounding, 'Oh Hell Yeah!!'

And I should hate it! Drum machines when there aren't eighties drum sounds, Linn drums, eighties synths, schmaltzy ballads that have all of those things (Make Me Feel Something/ Tonight And Forever), but the songs are so damn catchy, the singing is so brilliant and the production creates such a great warm sound, that I can't think of an eighties album that I play more than this one.

One of the things I love about these songs is their intelligence. Carly doesn't suffer fools and her stance throughout the album is solidly #Metoo before that concept existed. Song after song is female-centric in a totally refreshing way.

The lasting impression is one of Carly having fun, so I always have a great big grin on my face whenever I listen to it. It makes me feel great - hence it being thrashed on road trips.

Where do they all belong? This was her last peak - so I suggest going back to Anticipation or No Secrets or just put Spoiled Girl on again! 

All he wanted was to be free (Roger McGuinn) (LP 299)

The Byrds, The Electric Prunes, The Fraternity Of Man, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Holy Modal Rounders, Roger McGuinn, Smith, Steppenwolf  Easy Rider (Vinyl - EMI Stateside, 1969) *****

Genre: Soundtracks  

Places I remember: Chaldon Books and Records (Caterham on the hill)  

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: If Six Was Nine (The Jimi Hendrix Experience)




Gear costume: Wasn't Born To Follow (The Byrds); The Pusher (Steppenwolf), Ballad Of Easy Rider (Roger McGuinn) 

Active compensatory factors: I'm breaking my own guidelines again by featuring a soundtrack album comprised of a variety of groups and artists.

But I just couldn't go past this one this week, as you will understand if you peek into my Jewels For The Thirsty blog.

My memories of the Easy Rider movie and record are all gold plated. 

My first viewing was during a weekend poetry camp while I was at Auckland University. Our lecturer, Roger Horrocks, had a print of it which he projected onto the wall in a communal area we all shared.

There were no artificial stimulants - I just simply had a magical experience. 

Shortly afterwards, I bought the soundtrack. 

It's a weirdly compiled sequence of songs - apparently they appear in the movie in this order, so we get two Steppenwolf songs leading us off (The Pusher and Born To Be Wild) and two Roger McGuinn performances to finish (a Dylan song, then the majestic Ballad Of Easy Rider). 

As each song was carefully selected to accompany sections of the film, the whole thing makes sense (apart from Smith going The Band song for contractual reasons) and gives a pretty instant version of the movie each time it's played.

Where do they all belong? Not sure, but it must be one of the first rock soundtracks to compile the actual performances from the movie by various people (rather than incidental music or things like A Hard Day's Night). From around 1970 onwards this was pretty much how all soundtracks appeared.