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(The Peanut Butter Conspiracy - naming your band after a food product had certain disadvantages)

Despite the name and despite the hype, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy were actually a good band with a lot of talent. I saw them several times during the period 1967-1969 and they held their own with some pretty stiff competition. But they were straddled with that name, and as history has proven, bands with food-group names (Peanut Butter Conspiracy, Ultimate Spinach, Vanilla Fudge, etc.) generally fell out of favor rather quickly or were pegged as "novelty bands" and not taken seriously - which was too bad.

They did however, have tons of promise when they first came out, and the gimmick worked (bumper stickers and posters plastered all over Hollywood proclaiming "the Peanut Butter Conspiracy Is Spreading" created an impression) and their first album sold quite well, with their initial single "It's A Happening Thing" in the top 40. It was their second single, the one I'm featuring today, Why Did I Get So High that got them in trouble. I remember hearing it once over KBLA (a sort of renegade top 40 station in Burbank) with the disclaimer "let's put the boss on a bummer with a record only the Burner dare play!" (the Burner being DJ Dave Diamond). And yep, it was banned right after that.

(You know you're in trouble when your Publicist has to send around notes assuring people you're not dangerous)

They couldn't seem to shake the dope-soaked characterization and the Food Group Name and their subsequent singles got very little airplay. After switching to another label and failing to score there, by 1970 the band had broken up.

Despite all that, they have gone on to achieve cult status and a reevaluation of their merits as a legitimate band. Luckily, fans are forgiving.

Moral of the story: Be careful what you name your band - it may be stuck with you for the rest of your life.

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(The Stone Roses - Suddenly, music got jettisoned out of the doldrums)

I can't believe it's been 20 years since The Stone Roses released their first album. Up until that time music was going through a period of ennui. The 80s were coming to a close and things were getting a little complacent, musically. The Reagan Years could have something to do with it. MTV was busy converting the taste of most mainstream music into who was pretty and who was not - and that determined who would get a video made and who would languish in musical limbo. Radio saw the writing on the wall and playlists became tightly regimented, as corporate takeovers and mergers made freeform a thing of the past.

But then things took a brisk change. Seattle started pumping out Grunge and the UK started pumping out Madchester. And music suddenly took a turn for the better and The Stone Roses appeared.

As movements go, this one didn't last all that long. But it's presence and influence have been felt even to this day. And the first Stone Roses album, from which this cut This Is The One, is featured tonight, has become a classic, and is still fresh twenty years later.

You know you're on to something when you can make it sound timeless without much effort. And The Stone Roses are timeless.

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(The Creation - When they said their music was red with purple flashes, they weren't kidding)

Back to the 60s tonight with the dawn of psychedelia and Freakbeat. Creation were one of the cornerstones of the wild aggressive turn pop music had taken. Along with The Who, The Creation were a totally visual and sonic experience, taking the music to a new level. Fronted by singer Kenny Pickett, with guitarist Eddie Phillips whose technique of bowing his guitar predates Jimmy Page's use of it with Led Zeppelin by a few years, the band also included such luminaries as Kim Gardner and Ronnie Wood (Rolling Stones). Gardner and Wood joined later, as did other members, but Phillips and Pickett were founding members. Their first incarnation from 1966-1967 yielded tracks like the one tonight "How Does It Feel To Feel", which was released in two different versions; one for the US and the other for the UK. The insane guitar solo is from the US version, which doesn't appear on the UK version. The band went through a quick dissolve, but resurfaced in early 1968 with new members and continued until the end of 1968. From that point on, the band has achieved legend status and has been cited by countless musicians as a pivotal influence. Their songs have been reissued several times and even their rare TV appearances have made it over to YouTube in recent months.

Definitely a band worth checking out if you've never heard them before. They came along at a time when being outrageous was a completely new concept. And they wore it incredibly well.

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(H.P. Lovecraft - for once, there was a certain amount of truth in advertising)

No self-respecting stoners record collection would have been complete in the late 60s without at least one H.P. Lovecraft lp, usually the self-titled first one. And invariably this track, The White Ship, was the one usually the most worn on the album.

And with good reason - it's a classic. H.P. Lovecraft were together for a comparatively short period of time. Personnel and direction kept changing, but their first album, released in late 1967 is probably the most memorable owing to it's completely unique sound and eerie vocals, particularly the high tenor of Dave Michaels who turns The White Ship into the haunting masterpiece it is.

1967 was indeed an interesting year.

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(Sopwith Camel - their solitary hit pigeonholed them forever as lightweight)

Sopwith Camel were a San Francisco band that had a lot more going for it than being a lightweight pop outfit. Nevertheless, they became pigeonholed through their only hit "Hello Hello" and couldn't seem to shake it.

They lasted until the end of 1967 before calling it a day. Reforming in 1971 and issuing one album on Warners before putting it to bed for good in 1974. A second album was in the can, but only released in 2001 when interest in their work resurfaced.

They probably got further than many of their contemporaries at the time, but the end result was the same. Lack of interest, bad timing, lack of support, lack of airplay - the same old story.

At least there's Postcard From Jamaica to consider, their second released single from their first and only album for Kama-Sutra in 1967.

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(The Dukes Of Stratosphere - aka XTC - a side excursion into psychedelia)

In 1985 XTC took up a side project, calling themselves The Dukes Of Stratosphere, putting together an almost note perfect homage to the heady musical form known as Psychedelia. It managed to fool a few people at the time - so much so the success of their first endeavor "Twenty-Five O'clock" was followed by "Psonic Psunspot". Of course by then everyone was in on the joke, but it was too good to be dismissed. They were actually really good at it.

This track, off of "Twenty-five O'clock" was a cheeky take-off on "I Am The Walrus" called The Mole From The Ministry.

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(Apple - Only album released in 1969 - dismal failure, but history had other plans)

There have been those bands whose first and only album came and went unnoticed at the time, but years later achieved Holy Grail status.

This was the case with Apple, a UK band that started in 1968 and promptly disbanded in 1969 and whose sole album "An Apple A Day" became one of the most sought after by collectors for years. Since they achieved no airplay and minimal sales, their reputation grew strictly by word of mouth and from the people who held on to their original vinyl copies like glue.

It's easy to see why. For anyone with a penchant for Psychedelia, Apple is right up your street without being too on-the-money. Probably because they were light on gimmicks it made them enduring over the years, and always good for conversation that starts with "I'll bet you never heard this before."

This track, Buffalo Billycan was actually issued as a single (one of several). Luckily for everyone, the album has been reissued on CD in Europe. So you don't have to go into hock to find a copy.

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(The Ganjas - Mind Melting, new Millennium style)

Santiago Chile - doesn't ring any bells as a hotbed of psychedelia, does it? Just goes to show - what you think you know and what you know you know are two different things.

The Ganjas have been around since 2001, blazing their own particular trail of ear-piercing psych, becoming one of the most popular bands in Chile, at least from an underground standpoint.

This track, Sonic Redemption, is from an EP they put out in 2007.

Nice to know the Freak Flags are still waving.

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(Blossom Toes - They were ever so clean)

Back to 1967 tonight - the unsung heroes of the Psychedelic era, Blossom Toes. A great band whose members went off and joined other groups after their split up in 1970. Resurrecting somewhat slightly as B.B. Blunder in the early 70s for one album and then splintering off into other bands again and solo careers.

It's a wonder Blossom Toes weren't more popular or even issued in the States. But it's one of the many mysteries and perplexities of the music business that turns obscure clumps of vinyl into solid gold and mythical legends out of a bunch of guys who were good at what they did and had a lot of talent.

This track, You is off their first lp "We Are Ever So Clean", recorded for Giorgio Gomelski's Marmalade Records in 1967.

1967 continues to be an interesting year.

From the grunge era but not quite of it, Stone Temple Pilots really excelled most when the world of flannel was in decline, diving deeper into psychedelia and power-pop on their last three albums. Since they continued to get better after their heyday, there's reason to suspect great things in the works for the reformed band's new album, which they're currently working on with legendary producer Don Was (and Weiland's longtime collaborator friend of the site Douglas Grean on engineering duties.)

Sour Girl, from their fourth album aptly titled No. 4, shows the band sounding more like the Zombies than Pearl Jam, a form which always worked well for them.

STP is hitting the road for 24 shows with the original quartet intact. Dates after the flip.

Continue reading »

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(Before ELO, Jeff Lynne had a little band called Idle Race)

I just noticed Late Night Music Club put up some ELO, and that reminded me of an earlier band Jeff Lynne was in. Idle Race were certainly one of the catchier bands of the psychedelic era, and the bore a strong musical resemblance to another band from the same period, The Move. So much so, that Idle Race actually recorded (or covered as they used to call it)a Move song "Here We Go Round The Lemon Tree". So it would only make sense that Lynne would join The Move in 1970 which would eventually morph into ELO a few short years later.

But for now, here is a track off their first album, Birthday Party issued in 1968 for Liberty Records in the states and the UK, On With The Show - don't let the cartoon music fool you at the intro - it gets down to business in a few seconds.

But Psychedelia was unpredictable that way.

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(RO-D-YS - I know, how can you know about a band when you can't even pronounce their name?)

Contrary to public opinion, not all Psychedelia originated in either England or the U.S. - no, the whole world embraced it rather well, and it came in a bunch of different languages.

A lot of psych, and later prog-rock came out of Holland from the mid-sixties onward. One of those bands had the unlikely name RO-D-YS - which, as near as anyone can guess is pronounced Rowdy's, since there were at least two other bands calling themselves The Rowdy's milling around Holland. So rather than change their name, they just changed the spelling. Fair enough.

Nothing they recorded was ever released in the States, or even the UK, even though the band recorded quite a bit and had several singles on the Dutch charts.

This particular track "Sleep,Sleep, Sleep" was released in 1968, and I believe it was their third or fourth single release.

RO-D-YS lasted from 1966-1969, with various members wandering in and out of other Dutch bands. They weren't destined to become a household name, but they were part of an interesting and active movement that also included some innovators for the next decade. Stay tuned.

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(Ginhouse - The original vinyl lp is going for silly money)

For every band that has achieved fame and riches from their music, there are at least a thousand who recorded one single or one album and vanished without a trace. A lot have good reason for their obscurity, but a lot arrived at that status for no good reason.

Ginhouse were such a band. A power trio that weaved back and forth from Psychedelia to Prog-rock consisted of Geoff Sharkey, guitar - Stewart Burlison, Bass and Dave Whitacker on drums. Together a few short months in 1971 before splitting off in other directions. Sharkey was previously with the band Sammy who later morphed into Audience. Burlison and Whitacker are mysteries. But Ginhouse never had a single enter the charts and this one lp came and went with very little notice and wasn't even issued in the States. How I found out about them was something of an accident. I had done some work for Charisma Records (the label who had Genesis, Van Der Graaf Generator, Lindesfarne and many others) - they were distributed by B&C Records who dabbled in rock and Prog-rock but were primarily a Reggae label with the exception of bands like Atomic Rooster and Arnold Corn (David Bowie). The Press Officer for Charisma sent the album as an afterthought and I was hooked from Side One.

Luckily, the album has been reissued on CD by a couple of small labels in the U.K. since the original album has been seen going for hundreds of dollars on the collectors market.

This track, or actually two of them since they blend into each other are "The Journey" and "Portrait Picture".

File under Unjustified Neglect.

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(Aorta - came and went in a flash, but oh what a flash)

Even though I promised to do mellow this week, this track was already lined up to go for weeks and I had already promised some friends I'd run it. So bear with me.

Aorta was one of those phenomena so prevalent in the 60's. Bands that were really interesting either suffered at the hands of no airplay, no press or poor timing. In Aorta's case, I think it was all three.

From what little I know of them, they were from Michigan and recorded two albums for Columbia. I don't know what became of them; who they morphed into or even if they continued on in their musical careers. I am sure there is information around if you want to dig further.

Suffice to say this track, Sleep Tight (which also transitions into Catalyptic, so it's two tracks) has always been one of my favorites ever since first hearing the album when it came out.

And maybe it might do the same for you.

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(Grapefruit - all the right moves - all the right sounds - but . . .)

Even when you come with a name by Lennon, liner notes by Derek Taylor, publishing by Apple and production by Terry Melcher you can still fail to click with the record buying public. Such was the case with Grapefruit, a band with all the earmarks of a screaming success which, sadly came to very little.

Together for less than two years, Grapefruit formed in 1967 and recorded two albums (one released in 1968 and the second "Deep Water" released in 1969), and released a score of singles before packing it in and going their separate ways.

What they did leave is an awful lot of potential and some very good music.

Their first album "Around Grapefruit", issued in the U.S. on ABC-Dunhill, was laced with all the psychedelic hooks and twists needed to make each track memorable on its own. Great expectations were attached to it, but it failed to chart. And by the time their second album came out, issued on RCA, things had cooled considerably in the expectation department and its release went virtually unnoticed.

After splitting up, George Alexander, bass guitar, whose real name was Alexander Young, teamed up with his brother George and Harry Vanda who had just left The Easybeats to do sessions under the name Marcus Hook Roll Band. Vanda and Young, you will remember eventually morphed into AC/DC. So all was not lost.

Back to Grapefruit. This track, "Yesterday's Sunshine" is a blend of pop and psych with more emphasis on psych and it's typical of all the work on this album.

Another addition to the bulging "should've been" file. It doesn't deserve being ignored.