SINGLES

THE BAMBOO SHOOT--The Fox Has Gone To Ground/ There And Back Again (Columbia)
GEORGE BEAN-Bring Back Lovin’/ Floatin’ (CBS)
THE BEATLES-Lady Madonna/ The Inner Light (Parlophone) #1
BEE GEES-Jumbo/ The Singer Sang His Song (Polydor) #25
BLOSSOM TOES-I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight/ Love Is (Marmalade)
ALAN BOWN-Story Book/ Little Lesley (MGM)
JOHN BROMLEY-What A Woman Does/ My My (Polydor)
HANS CHRISTIAN-All Of The Time/ Never My Love (Parlophone)
CIRCUS-House Of Wood/ Do You Dream (Parlophone)
JOE COCKER-Marjorine/ New Age Of The Lily (Regal Zonophone) #48
THE COLORS OF LOVE-I’m A Train/ Up On A Cotton Cloud (Page One)
CROCHETED DOUGHNUT RING-Maxine’s Parlour/ Get Out Your Rock & Roll Shoes (Deram)
THE DAKOTAS-I Can't Break The News To Myself/ The Spider And The Fly (Philips)
SPENCER DAVIS GROUP-After Tea/ Moonshine (UA)
SIMON DUPREE AND THE BIG SOUND-For Whom The Bell Tolls/ Sleep (Parlophone) #43
EASYBEATS-Hello, How Are You? / Falling Off The Edge Of The World (UA) #20
ELLIOTT’S SUNSHINE-Is It Too Late/ ‘Cause I’m Lonely (Philips)
ANDY ELLISON-Fool From Upper Eden/ Another Lucky Lie (CBS)
THE END-Shades Of Orange/ Loving, Sacred Loving (Decca)
THE FIRE-Father’s Name Is Dad/ Treacle Toffee World (Decca)
FLEETWOOD MAC-Black Magic Woman/ The Sun Is Shining (Blue Horizon) #37
FORTUS MENTUM-Saga Of a Wrinkled Man/ Mr Partridge Passed Away Today (Parlophone)
FRUIT MACHINE-Cuddly Toy/ Follow Me (Spark)
THE GROOP-Lovin’ Tree/ Night Life (CBS)
HOLLIES-Jennifer Eccles/ Open Your Eyes (Parlophone) #7
HONEYBUS-I Can’t Let Maggie Go/ Tender Are The Ashes (Deram) #8
ICE-Ice Man/ Whisper Her Name (Maria Laine) (Decca)
IDLE RACE-Skeleton And The Roundabout/ Knocking Nails Into My House (Liberty)
KRIS IFE-This Woman’s Love/ I Gotta Feeling (MGM)
INCREDIBLE STRING BAND-Painting Box/ No Sleep Blues (Elektra)
PAUL JONES-And The Sun Will Shine/ The Dog Presides (Columbia)
KIPPINGTON LODGE-Rumours/ And She Cried (Parlophone)
LEMON TREE-I Can Touch A Rainbow/ William Chaulker’s Time Machine (Parlophone)
THE MUD-Up The Airy Mountain/ Latter Days (CBS)
NASHVILLE TEENS-All Along The Watchtower/ Sun-Dog (Decca)
NIRVANA-Rainbow Chaser/ Flashbulb (Island) #34
THE NITE PEOPLE-Morning Sun/ Were You There (Fontana)
THE ONYX-You’ve Gotta Be With Me/ It’s All Put On (Pye)
PENNY PEEPS-Little Man With A Stick/ Model Village (Liberty)
PLASTIC PENNY-Nobody Knows It/ Just Happy To Be With You (Page One)
PROCUL HARUM-Quite Rightly So/ In The Wee Small Hours Of Sixpence (Regal Zonophone) #50
RUPERT’S PEOPLE-I Can Show You/ I’ve Got The Love ( Columbia)
THE SMOKE-Utterly Simple/ Sydney Gill (Island-Unreleased)
STATUS QUO-Black Veils Of Melancholy/ To Be Free (Pye)
ROD STEWART-Little Miss Understood/ So Much To Say (Immediate)
SUNDRAGON-Blueberry Blue/ Far Away Mountain (MGM)
SYMBOLS-A Lovely Way To Say Goodnight/ Pretty City (President)
TURQUOISE-53 Summer Street/ Tales Of Flossie Fillett (Decca)
WEST COAST CONSORTIUM-Colour Sergeant Lillywhite/ Lady From Baltimore (Pye)
YARDBIRDS-Goodnight Sweet Josephine/ Think About It (Columbia-Unreleased)
YOUNG BLOOD-Green Light/ Don’t Leave Me In The Dark (Pye)

ALBUMS

THE MOVE-Move (Regal Zonophone) #15

HAPPENING!

WATCHING!

REVIEWS

DotBee Gees

Jumbo: The Bee Gees explode with a mightily atmospheric beat number. Lyrics are up to the Gibbs' usual high standards and remain imaginative and poetic, but the overwhelming romanticism of songs like "Words" is replaced with a bashing off-beat and some wailing Blues guitar which reminds of some of Jeff Beck's earlier work. Like the Walrus and Mighty Quinn, Jumbo joins a rapidly growing band of mystery figures. Presumably he is an elephant, but he could be an Eskimo. Either way he sounds like a monster...of a hit!

DotBlossom Toes

I'll Be Your Baby Tonight : Basic interest in this disc lies on the fact that it's a Bob Dylan composition. And to their credit, Blossom Toes do it full justice. Doesn't have the same immediate impact as "Mighty Quinn" because it's not such a forceful number. It's in the country blues idiom, with an easy going jog beat - and a flowing backing of acoustic guitars, harmonica, and piano.

DotAlan Bown

Story Book : Sounds like they've got diarrhoea. Sounds like the sort of music they play for heart operations on the television. Pink Floyd, is it? Don't like it very much. Probably one of those records that grows on you. Got some good things in it. I would be stupid to pretend that I understood it though. One of these records that is a bit vague but could be meaningful. It's a bit pointless really. But who said that pop music had to have a point, except to dance to. Definitely a hit.

DotJoe Cocker

Marjorine: A very "London" sound about all this--y'know, hip Cockneys. The scene is full of them. A Denny Cordell production and a song that sounds like the scene shifters march from the Theatre Royal, Stratford. Not a hit, but interesting.

DotCrocheted Doughnut Ring

Maxines Parlour : These boys generate a fascinating sound, strongly steeped in classical influences - with flutes, piano prelude and fugal harmonies. Interesting lyric, too. All things considered, an intriguing disc. Well worth hearing.

DotAndy Ellison

Fool From Upper Eden: Andy has a distinctive, quavery voice, and a penchant for solid organ and drum backings. He rocks along with groovy abandon and threatens to become one of the upheavals of '68

DotFire

Father's Name Was Dad : A rumbling, twangy backing, crashing cymbals emphasizing the thundering gallop beat, and a lead singer who sounds like the Troggs Reg Presley. The lyric's novel, but otherwise it has nothing special to offer.

DotHerd

I Don't Want Our Loving To Die: Gone are the bells of doom and mammoth orchestras. This time it's The Herd all the way, and a smash follow-up to their first hits. The tune is instantly commercial with some beautiful vocal harmonies. Organ and piano ripple through the intro behind some choral type singing, then they are off on a shouting, joyful rave-up that will blast them to the top.

DotHoneybus

I Can't Let Maggie Go : Very pleasant melody line. Bound to get somewhere. Very nice arrangement. It titilates the musical fancy. They've got a nice sound. It's got a bit of folk influence.

I Can't Let Maggie Go : Having heard the Honeybus on Top Gear several times, I have considerable respect for this talented group. And I like this new record, showcasing the boy's ear-catching harmonic blend. Attractive lyric, encased in a simple yet spellbinding scoring. The rhythm simply can't be ignored - and yet it's not overwhelming.

DotPaul Jones

And The Sun Will Shine: A mighty team of young talent has been assembled to ensure Paul has a hit. The Gibb's wrote the song, Peter Asher produced it and Paul's ex-Manfred Mann colleague Mike Vickers arranged and conducted the orchestra. Name-dropping aside, it's Jones' best effort in months, and cries out for hit status.

DotThe Move

The Move (LP): They have taken their time and the results justify their care. Most groups would have been delighted to have any one of the 13 tracks as a single. Their strength lies in their instantly remembered melodies and anarchic lyrics plus uninhibited, zestful performances. An excellent album.

DotProcol Harum

Quite Rightly So: Fade in organ, then fade out Procol Harum. It's a nice song, well formed, with that great wailing guitar they feature so well on numbers like "Repent Walpurgis". But for a lot of people the sound will be too much like their last hits.

DotRod Stewart

Little Miss Understood: Michael D'Abo wrote and produced Rod's first solo effort in quite a while and it's imaginative enough lyric and arrangement-wise to get him off the ground, which he deserves as a stalwart on the scene, who seems to have been unlucky for too long.

DotRuperts People

I Can Show You: Man or woman? Got a nice voice, whoever it is. Sounds like it's got more potential than they have been allowed to use. Be nice if they are a new group that the producers would allow to plough their own path. The only groups who are allowed to use their own inspiration are the groups who have made it. It sounds a nice record.

I Can Show You: When Rupert's People first started out, they the poor man's Procol Harum - largely because of the use of the cathedral like organ. On this new one, although the organ provides an effective richness to the backing, the boys break into mid tempo. The soloist handles the vocal with weird wraith like chanting and swirling effects giving the disc a haunting - almost supernatural - quality. Good performance, but needed a stronger tune.  

DotStatus Quo

Black Veils of Melancholy: It's often said that the 2nd chart entry is much more  important than the first - because, until an artist repeats his initial success, no one can tell whether or not he's just a one hit wonder. So this is the moment of truth for can they repeat their "Matchstick Men" triumph with this new one? Yes, I think they can. Mind you, it's not as good as the last one, and on the debit side are the un-necessarily gloomy title and the difficulty one has in comprehending the lyric. Otherwise, the sound is as tingling and electrifying as their first hit - complete with wowing organ and quivering twangs.

DotSundragon

Blueberry Blue: Two gents with an attractive name, and an attractive sound. Inventive production makes use of various effects like harp in the backing which stomps along with healthy vigour. The tune sounds uninspired on first hearing, but gradually insinuates into one's consciousness with cunning ease.

DotTurquoise

53 Summer Street: Here's a new group generating an ear catching sound, sprinkled with falsettos and carried along by a penetrating organ - flecked backing. Although not strong in melody, the performance is well above average, and the absorbing story - in - song holds the interest.

 

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