SINGLES

THE ACTRESS-It’s What You Give/ Good Job With Prospects (CBS)
AMAZING FRIENDLY APPLE-Water Woman/ Magician (Decca)
BEE GEES-First Of May/ Lamplight (Polydor) #6
BRUTE FORCE-King Of Fuh/ Nobody Knows (Apple Withdrawn)
CHERRY SMASH-Fade Away Maureen/ Green Plant (Decca)
DEEP PURPLE-Emmaretta/ Wring That Neck (Parlophone)
SIMON DUPREE AND THE BIG SOUND-Broken Hearted Pirates/ She Gave Me The Sun (Parlophone)
EPISODE SIX-Mozart Versus The Rest/ Jak D’or (Chapter One)
FLEUR-DE-LYS-You’re Just A Liar/ One Girl City (Atlantic)
THE GODS-Hey! Bulldog/ Real Love Guaranteed (Columbia)
THE GUN-Drives You Mad/ Rupert’s Travels (CBS)
HAPHASH AND THE COLOURED COAT-Colinda/ Wall (Liberty)
HAPPY MAGAZINE-Who Belongs To You/ Beautiful Land (Polydor)
HOLLIES-Sorry Suzanne/ Not That Way At All (Parlophone) #3
JASON CREST-Waterloo Road/ Education (Philips)
JON PLUM-Alice/ Sunshine (SNB)
THE JULIAN KIRSCH-Clever Little Man/ Adventures Of A Young Cuckoo (Deram)
DAVE KUBINEC-Schopi/ Lady Loves (Parlophone)
LEGEND-National Gas/ Wouldn’t You (Bell)
MISUNDERSTOOD-Children Of The Sun/ I Unseen (Fontana)
MONTANAS-Roundabout/ Mystery (Pye)
RAINBOWS-Rainbows/ Nobody But You (CBS)
BARRY RYAN-Love Is Love/ I'll Be On My Way Dear (MGM)
THE UGLYS-I See The Light/ Mary Cilento (MGM)
WHITE TRASH-Road To Nowhere/ Illusions (Apple)
WORLD OF OZ-Willow’s Harp/ Like A Tear (Deram)
YOUNG BLOOD-Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill/ I Will (Pye)

ALBUMS

APPLE-An Apple A Day (Page One)
EYES OF BLUE-The Crossroads Of Time (Mercury)
THE GUN-Gun (CBS)
KOOBAS-Koobas (Columbia)
PLASTIC PENNY-Currency (Page One)
PROCUL HARUM-Shine On Brightly (Regal Zonophone)
TEN YEARS AFTER-Stonedhenge (Deram) #6

HAPPENING!

WATCHING!

 

 

 

REVIEWS

Amazing Friendly Apple

Water Woman: Funny name for a group. Their sound is fairly straightforward, nothing especially new, but there's a catchy riff in this song which could easily take off in a big way.

The Apple

An Apple A Day (LP): Not sure about the name (is it a gimmick to cash in on the name of that well-known organisation in Saville Row?) but this is an interesting first album from a new five-piece group. They sound talented and exciting on wax.

An Apple A day (LP): A lively five-man group--and a lot of people thought they were on a hit single not so long ago. Perhaps a wierd name for a group, but the music they play is pretty progressive, innately tasteful...and above all delivered with a great deal of zest. For a sample try "Rock Me Baby" but most of the other tracks are good, too.

Bee Gees

First Of May: Oh dear, confusion in the Bee Gee camp. Much as one respects the group and their song-writing ability, it has to be reported that a goof of some catastrophic proportions has been perpetrated with the release of two songs that barely rate as C or D sides. First Of May is allegedly the A side with Robin billabonging about Christmas trees, and the other side, Limelight, is too dreadful for words, my dears.

First Of May: Fine piano introduction at a moodily slow tempo, then strings and solo voice and some extra-special lyrics which come over with the usual Bee Gee-ian charm. Actually it's the lyrics which did most for me, but the near-classical swings and swerves of the backing is quite splendid. At first hearing, maybe not their most instantly commercial, but keep at it because it is tremendous stuff all round.

Deep Purple

Emmaretta: Electronic in a big way, but this one could make it. The group has anyway done very well in the States. This is rather on the jerky side, compelling most of the way, with group vocal powering on a staccato sort of theme. Comes off very well, but I could be wrong about its chart prospects. Hope not.

Gods

Hey Bulldog: Repetitive opening to this fair-enough and certainly spirited treatment of the Beatle song. Group believe in hitting hard on the lyrics and there is enough here to suggest it could break through, given air support.

Happy Magazine

Who Belongs To You: Great stuff here, another Record Of The Week. An Alan Price production of a newish group and if it doesn't register first time out kindly give it another chance. It's a very good pop record.

Julian Kirsch

Clever Little Man: Quite a clever little song, built mainly on some enterprising vocal touches. Pushes along at a fair old lick. Too tongue-twisty for the charts? Perhaps.

Koobas

Koobas (LP): Koobas are one of those exceedingly competent groups who failed to make a splashdown in the charts and spun off into limbo. This is a varied, often melodic album rather spoiled by over-arrangement. Enjoyable but striving too hard to be 'original'. The whole thing feels tense and purposeful. They should have relaxed more and just made music, but there are some nice things on the tracks like Royston Rose and Gold Leaf Tree. (N.B--The Koobas had already broken up before this album was released)

Dave Kubinec

Schopi: Probably a bit over-confusing to earn the necessary air-play.

Plastic Penny

Currency (LP): They are too good a group to vanish without trace after one hit. On this, their first album since Brian Keith left, they show they are talented songwriters as well as good performers. Apart from a rather dreary seven and a half minute version of Macarthur Park they come through well on tracks like Currency, Turn To Me, Give Me Money and Sour Suite, which includes a well-executed drum solo.

Procol Harum

Shine On Brightly (LP): Many Americans regard Procol's first album as a great influence on The Band's Music From Big Pink. That relaxed organ/drums sound typified by Whiter Shade Of Pale was continued through their first album which failed to make much impact here, and returns on Shine On Brightly. The Brooker/Reid compositions are thoughtful if tending to be much in the same mood, the lyrics poetic and the music rolling and tumbling.

Barry Ryan

Love Is Love: Here it is, the long awaited Journey Into Space epic follow-up by Barry to his mammoth hit Eloise. This reminds me of a cross between 2001, Spartacus, Jim Webb & Richard Harris, The Four Tops, the Leningrad Symphony, the Isle Of Man TT races, Titov's sensational space voyage in the Russian spacecraft Vodka III and the conquest of the Old West. A beautiful Paul Ryan song, given a brilliant arrangement and performed by Barry with skill and feeling. Another deserved hit.

Ten Years After

Stonedhenge (LP): A really superb album. The group has moved on from blues into an area that is impossible to stick labels on. It's just magnificent music.

Stonedhenge (LP): They get better and better. This is their third album for Decca and to my mind is the best yet. For a start there is so much diversity of musical feeling, yet it is all part of what TYA is about. They are more than just a Blues group--they represent the current situation in contemporary music. All of the tracks are good, but the ones I particularly like are "Woman Trouble", "Hear Me calling" and "No Title". It's all good stuff and you can hear why they have been invited to appear at the Newport Jazz Festival this year.

White Trash

Road To Nowhere: Any record from Apple is bound to be interesting. Even if the financial experts are telling them that they don't know what's happening baby, debit and credit account wise, the men and women at the core of the matter are winning soundwise. I don't like the name of the group at all but the noise they make is enormously powerful. Produced by Tony Meehan, it features a strong lead singer and moody arrangement.

World Of Oz

Willow's Harp: Good but hard to see in the charts as it is from a new album, but a Record Of The Week nevertheless. Can't understand to this day why "Muffin Man" didn't make it. This is excitingly performed with off-beat sounds.

 

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