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Volume #0235 March 3, 1999
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musicality and a gift for surreal parody
Subject: The Creation
Received: 03/03/99 12:57 am
From: JM, jhorwXXXXXXXXwesleyan.edu
To: spectroXXXXXXXXgeocities.com
To Jim, who asked about this band:
The Creation were indeed a mid- and late-60s UK band, and a
very good one at that. They were associated with the mod and
freakbeat movements; as my friend Michael says, they are
"English freakbeat's most famous nonfamous band." The
Creation's producer Shel Talmy -- of Who and Kinks fame --
once famously proclaimed them to be the most talented group
he ever worked with (an obvious dig at Messrs. Townshend and
Davies).
The new Retroactive label (www.retro-a.com) has released the
complete works of The Creation on two CDs, which are nicely
mastered, packaged, and annotated and include many
previously unreleased tracks. Well worth getting, although
the one-CD collection 'Our Music Is Red - With Purple
Flashes' on Diablo is more flattering to the band.
The original Creation, with guitarist Eddie Phillips and
singer Kenny Pickett, didn't last very long. The 45s that
this version of the band released-- including the track
'Making Time' which appears in the beautiful new film
'Rushmore'-- are by far the greatest things in the Creation
catalogue. 'Making Time' itself is an unquestionably classic
single; 'Try and Stop Me' is almost as good. The later stuff,
in my opinion, is more than decent but relatively uninspired
mod (a poor man's Small Faces?). The Creation were a
notoriously raucous live band, though, and some tracks on
the aforementioned Retroactive CDs affirm this.
The Creation have had periodic rediscoveries and even had a
brief reunion in the late 90's (on the label that bears
their name); the recent death of Kenny Pickett closed the
door on that forever. The Television Personalities, a
terrific postpunk band also from London, were fans and their
spinoff, the Teenage Filmstars, covered three early Creation
songs in homage.
Hope that info does the trick.
Also, if any of you folks live in Connecticut, please check
out my radio show, Thursdays from 4 to 6pm on WESU
Middletown 88.1 FM. I play much stuff of probable interest
to Spectropop readers: info and playlists are at
www.wesleyan.edu/~jhorwitz/radio.html.
Thanks,
JM
PS Thank you to Spectropop's moderator; I've never belonged
to a mailing list so free of flames, spam, and pointless
tangents. It's really great!
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Subject: Re: The Creation
Received: 03/02/99 7:35 am
From: David Bash, BashXXXXXXXXom
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
> Subject: Creation
> Hi Spectropoppers,
>
> Does anyone have info on the above group? They have a song on
> the soundtrack to the movie "Rushmore". A friend said he thought
> they were a UK band from the '60's. Anyone familiar with 'em?
>
> Regards to all,
>
> Jim
Hi Jim,
The Creation were one of the purveyors of the mod/power pop
movement of the UK 60s, along with The Who and The Move, and
there are many fans of the genre that would rank them right
up there with the best.
There were 2 CDs of Creation material recently released in
the US, on Retroactive Records. I wrote a review of these
discs for The Pure Pop website, and you can check it out at
http://www.purepop.com/magazine/rev_creation.htm
--
Spectropop Rules!!!!!
Take Care,
David
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Subject: James Fisher reply & Robert Charles-Dunne Hello
Received: 03/02/99 7:35 am
From: Warren Cosford, raXXXXXXXXNet
To: Spectropop, SpectroXXXXXXXXties.com
Hi Folks:
James Fisher asked about a band called Creation. I think
they may have been produced by the legendary Shel Talmy.....
WHO, Kinks, Chad & Jeremy, David Jones (Bowie), Easybeats
etc.....the L.A. producer who talked his way into an indie
producer job at Decca England in the early 60's when few
people knew what an indie producer was.
Perhaps Robert Charles-Dunne who made a fabulous
contribution to this list last time out, would care to
comment.
WC
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Subject: Idle Race/Bonzos
Received: 03/03/99 12:57 am
From: Steve McClure, novaXXXXXXXX.com
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
Dave Mirich wrote:
>"Aside from Pet Sounds, Smile, Van Dyke Parks wonderful '60s
>music, Harpers Bizarre, Millennium/Sagittarius/Ballroom, or the
>Kinks, can anyone recommend other musical treasures of this type
>from this same era?"
I would recommend that you check out anything you can find
(there's a greatest-hits LP) by the Idle Race, the mid-'60s
pop group Jeff Lynne belonged to before he joined the Move
and then Electric Light Orchestra. Some of their stuff was
much too "twee" (i.e., overly cute) for my taste, but they
had some great tracks, full of whimsy and great pop hooks,
supporting Ian MacDonald's observation in his superb
"Revolution in the Head" that "... the true subject of
English psychedelia was neither love nor drugs, but
nostalgia for the innocent vision of the child." At the risk
of being pegged a terminal Anglophile, I would also recommend
with no hesitation whatsover anything by the Bonzo Dog (Doo
Dah) Band, who combined musicality and a gift for surreal
parody in a way that no one else has ever matched.
Steve McClure
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Subject: Stan Ross phasing
Received: 03/02/99 7:35 am
From: Carol Kaye, carolkXXXXXXXXlink.net
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
Here's the reply I got from Russ Wapensky, who has
interviewed and hung out with Stan Ross many a year now.....
.I don't know Leo Kulka, but I do know (and stand in back of
) Stan Ross and what Russ Wapensky says (a government man
btw):
>>>>Carol,
It was definitely Stan. Larry did the basic track & then Stan did
the phasing - all at Gold Star. I've heard both of them tell this
story dozens of times.
Russ<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Carol Kaye http://www.carolkaye.com/
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Subject: The Big Hurt album info
Received: 03/03/99 12:57 am
From: Jamie LePage, le_page_XXXXXXXXties.com
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
>As I mentioned on a previous post, I have that rare Toni Fisher
>album on Signet. The credits says Recorded at Gold Star and
>Mastered at Sound Enterprises, Inc.
Great post, Paul. Thanks! I think it is pretty clear now
that the track was recorded at Gold Star. The fact that it
was mastered at Sound Enterprises gives reason for Leo
Kulke to say he did the record. In fact, he may have even
developed the flanging technique before it was used on The
Big Hurt, but since Toni Fisher had the monster hit with
the effect, the credit for innovating the technique went to
that record and to Gold Star.
>Also Shanklin was not against multi-tracks because the
>whole album is in true stereo except The Big Hurt and in
>those days it would have been very easy to make a mono
>only album.
I guess what Shanklin was afraid of was overdubbing and
mixing (therefore my ill-worded statement that he had an
aversion to multi-track). We've already determined that The
Big Hurt was cut binaural (i.e., two-track), and we've
learned that he wanted to go with the "vocal-down" mix Ross
gave him, although he wanted to do something to enhance the
vocal. The fact that the rest of the album is in stereo
doesn't negate the possibility that Shanklin cut the
orchestra and vocal live all at one time, with the recording
going directly to stereo. Stan Ross explained to Doc that
Shanklin wanted everything cut simultaneously, so I expect
that is what they did.
>"...the finished recording was taken by Shanklin to his
>studio, where he locked himself in with the record, and
>spent the next 30 days dreaming up the gimmick (with the
>incredible help of the engineers at Gold Star Recording
>Studios) the end result being the Toni Fisher hit record
>of 'The Big Hurt'."
Liner notes of the day were often publicity blurbs more
than annotated facts. Since we have been told by Stan Ross
and Leo Kulke that Shanklin had little to do with it, I
guess Shanklin simply sat on the mix for a month wondering
what to do with it while Larry and Stan tried a few
different things.
>Probably the answer is this effect was not the sole work
>of any one person but a combination of efforts of several.
I think you are probably right.
>Since this is a mixing problem, I don't think the session
>sheets would help at all. That is because all involved
>indicate the session was past when the remixing that
>caused the phasing effect was created. As I posted the
>liners say it took place over a 30 day period.
Good point. I had asked about the session sheets for the
tracking date presuming that producers of the day
typically started and finished a record in a single studio.
Remember how everyone made such a big thing about Good
Vibrations being cut in several studios, as if that was a
very unusual thing at the time ('66). So, I thought if the
tracking date was done at Gold Star, chances are the master
came out of that studio too. Of course, the liner notes you
quoted indicate that was indeed the case. All reports on
this so far indicate that Leo Kuske definitely worked on the
record as mastering engineer.
Thanks again, Paul, for the informative post. Those liner
notes are incredible! I feel I have learned a lot more
about this landmark record from Doc, Alec and you.
All the best,
Jamie LePage
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Subject: Del's Big Hurt
Received: 03/03/99 12:57 am
From: Frank Youngwerth, FMXXXXXXXXom
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
When EMI did their Liberty Years compilation on Del Shannon
a few years back, they included his decent 1966 cover of the
Miss Toni Fisher classic. Apparently Del's version even
emulated the original's phasing effect, but for the CD
reissue it got removed. I guess the compilers didn't
consider it to be an essential element of the song--although,
judging from the discussion here, it practically is.
Just wish to add that the song's chord changes are out of
this world as well.
Frank
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Subject: Kathy Young
Received: 03/03/99 12:57 am
From: Ian Chapman, iandXXXXXXXXlnet.co.uk
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
Am I correct in thinking Kathy married John Walker of the
Walker Bros.?
Ian
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Subject: Re: The Beckies
Received: 03/02/99 7:35 am
From: David Bash, BashXXXXXXXXom
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
> From: Robert Charles-Dunne, XXXXXXXXlt.com
> Michael Brown from The Left Banke had a much harder sound in
> Stories ["Brother Louie"], which most people know about. However,
> his real defining post-Left Banke moment came - in my humble
> opinion - with The Beckies, a truly obscure Sire release from
> the early '70s. Pure pop so sugary sweet it'll give you diabetes
> and rot your teeth. Lots of energy and drive, however.
Hi Robert,
I definitely agree! In fact, The Beckies album is one of my
five favorite albums of all time! It's criminal that it
hasn't been reissued on CD, but apparently this is due to
Warner Bros. not wanting to release the master unless they
received a substantinal payment from a label that might want
to reissue the album. Of course, WB doesn't want to reissue
it themselves, more than likely because they assume there
wouldn't be enough sales to warrant the time or effort,
making "The Beckies" album caught in an unusual catch-22.
Is there anyone on this list who is affiliated with Warner
Brothers who might be able to shed some light upon this?
David Ponak, perhaps?
--
Spectropop Rules!!!!!
Take Care,
David
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Subject: Re: various soft pop threads from digest #0223
Received: 03/02/99 7:35 am
From: Rainier Wolfcastle, MUV96XXXXXXXXnt2.lu.se
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
Jack Madani wrote:
>Thanks to a Spectropop friend, I have a precious tape of some
>real obscure (to me, anyway) softpop gems,
Would you mind sharing the tracklisting for your tape with
the list? You can send it to me personally if it clutters up
the list too much. No hurry...but I sure like to find what
else is out there in the world of soft pop/rock!
Dave Mirich (wasn't it you who made me that Gary Zekley
tape??) wrote:
>I bought the Left Banke compilation CD with liner notes by
>Andrew Sandoval...
Is it "There's Gonna Be A Storm..."? Y'know, I have read
soooo many rave reviews of The Left Banke but I still can't
see what's so special about them. IMO, they are the most
overrated of all the soft rock bands...
>Other outstanding albums available on CD from this time frame
>are the Flowerpot Men
What do they sound like?
> and Moby Grape. Aside from Pet Sounds,
>Smile, Van Dyke Parks wonderful '60s music, Harpers Bizarre,
>Millenium/Saggitarius/Ballroom, or the Kinks, can anyone
>recommend other musical treasures of this type from this same
>era?
Hmmm, judging by the names you list, there is of course the
fairly obvious recommendation that is The Carpenters. Also
in a similar style is The Free Design. They just had a
fantastic compilation (or is it a reissue?) released called
Kites Are Fun which I KNOW you'll like! I would too like to
hear more about similar "lost gems" from the sixties...
Tobias
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Subject: Where is Phil?
Received: 03/02/99 7:35 am
From: Mark Landwehr, mslXXXXXXXXbs.com
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
> My father has an autographed photo of Phil Spector. Since he
> won't sell it to me, I would like to write to Phil and request
> one myself. Does anyone have an address for Phil?
>
> Jeremy Povenmire
>
I was waiting to see if anyone else could respond to this...
Jeremy, to the best of my knowledge (and this is from the
mouth of a Spector relative), Phil is living in Pasadena,
has a P.O. Box address, and has a secretary who picks up his
mail and weeds out unimportant mail - Which, for Phil, is
probably about 99% of what he gets. Any fan mail has a
slim-to-none chance of getting past the secretary.
I could have asked the relative for his address, but out of
respect for his (Phil's) privacy and not wishing to make it
look like I was just "using" this person to gleen private
info about Phil (the relative is a very nice person), I
didn't. I think you might have a better chance of getting an
autograph by bidding in an auction that features such an item
...Phil is not into fan mail, I guess. Sorry - maybe someone
else can provide some hope to your wishes.
Mark (Philles Phanatic)
Phil Spector Record Label Gallery
(updateXXXXXXXX://www.toltbbs.com/~msland/Spector/PSindex.htm
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Subject: Gary Usher Productions
Received: 03/02/99 7:35 am
From: Ron Weekes, WeekXXXXXXXX.edu
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
I posted the following request on other similar lists a few
months ago. But at the time I wasn't a part of this list. If
you can help me find any of the following Gary Usher related
productions, a fellow collector friend of mine will be very
grateful. He's been looking for this material for over 17
years. What we need is a clean audio cassette dub of each 45
plus a photocopy of each label side.
E-mail me privately if you can help out.
Ron Weekes
Looking for:
Joanne Sommers - "It Doesn't Matter Anymore/Take A Broken Heart" -
Columbia 4 43950 - 12/66
Lightmyth - "Across The Universe/Quest of the Golden Horde" - RCA 74-0361 - 06 /70
The Guild - "What Am I Gonna Do/Heavy Church" - Elektra EK 45823 - 11/72
Ray Peterson - "Changes/Fever" - UNI 55275 - 03 /73
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Subject: Amen Corner
Received: 03/02/99 7:35 am
From: Ron Weekes, WeekXXXXXXXX.edu
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
Robert wrote:
Amen Corner - A seven piece Welsh band fronted by Andy
Fairweather-Lowe. Some great studio stuff, but the live releases
were astonishing too. Lots of power and energy, but never lost
the pop element.
Wow, I had forgotten about these guys. Being a big Small
Faces (pre Rod Stewart and Faces) fan due to a British pen
pal back in the 60s, I found a live two-LP set years ago
that had one live disc of Amen Corner. I still think the
Small Faces were one of the best pop groups to come over as
part of the British Invasion. Ogden's Nut Gone is a must.
Ron Weekes
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Subject: Peppermint Rainbow
Received: 03/02/99 7:35 am
From: Paul Urbahns, PaulurbXXXXXXXXom
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
Albums that will probably never see the light of day on CD:
>Will You Be Staying After Sunday-The Peppermint Rainbow
This is a great album in super stereo on most cuts, and I
have the two follow up singles (also issued in stereo). Love
that drum sound on these
Paul Urbahns
paulurbXXXXXXXXom
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Subject: 60s psych pop list (fill in missing info)
Received: 03/02/99 7:35 am
From: Dave Mirich, DmirXXXXXXXXom
To: Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
Hey folks, please add any titles to this list of 60s psych
pop, or fill in missing data on titles, lables (where needed),
whether cd or lp. I have had more fun learning about
music and listening to the things you folks recommend than I
can say. This list, when complete, will give me a lifetime of
enjoyment. Thanks to everyone.
Dave Mirich
Dave Mirich listed the following cds of 60s psych pop:
Left Banke "There's Gonna Be A Storm: Complete Recordings 1966-1969"
Yellow Balloon "Yellow Balloon"
Beach Boys "Smile"
Van Dyke Parks "Song Cycle"
Harpers Bizarre "WB Archives" compilation
Millennium "Begin"
Sagittarius "Present Tense"
Ballroom "Preparing For The Millennium"
Kinks (help me here, which ones exactly?)
Flowerpot Men "Let's Go To San Francisco" Sunny/Repitoire
Moby Grape (first album)
The Move Best Of The Move" Music Club
Jan and Dean "Save For a Rainy Day"
Zombies "the Collection" Castle
David (Spectropop Rules!!!!!) offered the following
titles of 60s psych pop on cd:
And Along Comes The Association-The Association
The Association "Renaissance"
The Association "Insight Out"
The Association "Birthday"
Harmony Grass "This Is Us"
The Tokens "It's A Happening World"
The Tages "Studio"
The Hollies "Evolution"
The Hollies "Butterfly"
The Turtles "Happy Together"
Grapefruit "Around Grapefruit"
The Grassroots "Let's Live For Today/Feelings" (2 Fer on Repertoire)
The Kaleidoscope "Tangerine Dream"
The Clique "The Clique"
The Pleasure Fair "The Pleasure Fair"
The 8th Day "The 8th Day"
and then there are great compilations by bands like:
The Montanas
Marmalade
The Rockin' Berries
Tony Rivers and the Castaways
The Arbors
The Cyrkle
The Choir
The Critters
The Ivy League
Pinkerton's Colours/The Flying Machine
Jack Madani added these cd titles:
Zombies "Odyssey & Oracle"
VA "The Melody Goes On: Soft Rock Vols.1-3" M&M Japan
Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends "The Drifter"
Antonio Carlos Jobim "Wave" 1967, A&M CD 0812
Beach Boys "Friends"
The Cyrkle
The Critters
Jack then said:
"Actually, looking back over all the names here, I begin to
wonder if Pet Sounds belongs. Not to say it isn't great (duh!),
but rather does it fit in with the hard-to-express otherliness
of the rest of the titles?"
(You are probably right - PS doesn't quite fit on this list.)
David (Spectropop Rules!!!!!) gave these names of "tremendous
albums that haven't seen the light of CD day are..."
The Colours "The Colours"
The Smoke-The Smoke
Elephant Candy-The Fun and Games
So Good-Don and the Goodtimes
Tones-The Gordian Knot
Eternity's Children-Eternity's Children
Timeless-Eternity's Children
Five Man Electrical Band-Five Man Electrical Band
The Tuneful Trolley-The Tuneful Trolley
Chamaeleon Church-Chamaeleon Church
Basic Magnetism-Teddy and The Pandas
Will You Be Staying After Sunday-The Peppermint Rainbow
Robert Charles-Dunne in a splendid pot added these LP
(and song?) titles:
Stories "Brother Louie" (Michael Brown from The Left Banke)
The Beckies (also with Michael Brown)
The Walker Brothers
Scott Walker's solo work
White & Torch
Amen Corner
PP Arnold
Badfinger - "Straight Up" album
The Iveys "Maybe Tomorrow" (preBadfinger)
The Easybeats
Bee Gees
Rick Springfield "Speak To The Sky."
Buffalo Springfield
Marmalade -
The Herd - (Peter Frampton)
Andy Bown solo albums (from the Herd)
Chad & Jeremy - "Of Cabbages & Kings"
Grapefruit -
Golden Earring - (an eponymously titled album on Polydor from about
'70/71)
Spooky Tooth - "It's All About A Roundabout"
Love - "Forever Changes"
The McCoys - "Human Ball" and "Infinite McCoys"
Bubble Puppy - "A Gathering Of Promises"
Emitt Rhodes - (solo albums)
Raspberries - "Go All The Way"
The Soft Boys - "Underwater Moonlight" (80s)
5 Man Electrical Band - "Coming Of Age"
Anthony Moore (from Slapp Happy) solo album "Flying Doesn't
Help." Quango label in the UK, reissued by Canadian El Mocambo
Judy Get Down," "Caught Being In Love" and "Lucia"
Mick Greenwood - "Living Game"
Paul Slade - "Life Of A Man"
Graham Gouldman - "Graham Gouldman Thing"
Tony Hazzard - "Loudwater House"
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