SINGLES

ANAN-Madena/ Standing Still (Pye)
RICHARD BARNES-Look Away/ Mr In-Between (Columbia)
BLONDE ON BLONDE-All day, All Night/ Country Life (Pye)
BRASS TACKS-Maxwell Ferguson/ Sunshine After The Rain (Big T)
BREAKTHRU’-Ice Cream Tree/ Julius Ceasar (Mercury)
CRAZY WORLD OF ARTUR BROWN-Nightmare/ Music Man (Track)
DAVE CLARK 5-Live In The Sky/ Children (Columbia) #39
CURIOSITY SHOPPE-Baby I Need You/ So Sad (Deram)
DEVIANTS-You’ve Got To Hold On/ Let’s Loot The Supermarket (Stable)
DONOVAN-Atlantis/ I Love My Shirt (Pye) #23
DOUGHNUT RING-Dance Around Julie/ The Bandit (Deram)
ECLECTION-Please (Mark 2)/ The Early Days (Elektra)
FAIRPORT CONVENTION-Meet On The Ledge/ Throwaway Street Puzzle (Island)
FAMILY-Second Generation Woman/ Home Town (Reprise)
FIRE-Round The Gum Tree/ Toothy Ruthie (Decca)
FORCE WEST-Like The Tide, Like The Ocean/ I’ll Be Moving On (CBS)
THE IVEYS-Maybe Tomorrow/ And Her Daddy’s A Millionaire (Apple)
JETHRO TULL-Love Story/ A Christmas Song (Island) #29
JIGSAW-Let me Go Home/ Tumblin’ (Music Factory)
KATCH 22-100, 000 Years/ Pumpkin Mini (Fontana)
KATE-Hold Me Now/ Empty World (CBS)
LACE-People People/ The Nun (Columbia)
LOVE SCULPTURE-Sabre Dance/ Think Of Love (Parlophone) #5
MANFRED MANN-Fox On The Run/ Too Many People (Fontana) #5
THE MOLES-We Are The Moles Parts 1 And 2 (Parlophone)
THE MOVE-Blackberry Way/ Something (Regal Zonophone) #1
THE NERVE-Piece By Piece/ Satisfying Kind (Page One)
A NEW GENERATION-The Police Is Here/ Mister C (Spark)
THE NICE-Brandenburger/ Happy Freuds (Immediate)
NIRVANA-All Of Us (The Untouchables)/ Trapeze (Island)
OEDIPUS COMPLEX-Holding My Hands Out/ Brought Me Such Confusion (Philips)
THE ONYX-My Son John/ Step By Step (Pye)
PLASTIC PENNY-Hound Dog/ Currency (Page One)
PRETTY THINGS-Private Sorrow/ Balloon Burning (Columbia)
RAINBOW PEOPLE-Sailing Song/ Rainbows (Pye)
SEARCHERS-Umbrella Man/ Over the Weekend (Liberty)
SIGHT AND SOUND-Alley, Alley/ Little Jacky Monday (Fontana)
SLEEPY-Rosie Can'Fly/ Mrs Bailey's Barbecue And Grill (CBS)
STRAWBS-The Man Who Called Himself Jesus/ Poor Jimmy Wilson (A&M)
TEN YEARS AFTER-Hear Me Callin’/ I’m Goin’ Home (Deram)
TIMEBOX-Girl Don’t Make Me Wait/ Gone Is The Sad Man (Deram)
TOGETHER-Henry’s Coming Home/ Love Mum And Dad (Columbia)
TUESDAY’S CHILDREN-She/ Bright-Eyed Apples (Mercury)
TURNSTYLE-Riding A Wave/ Trot (Pye)
TURQUOISE-Woodstock/ Saynia (Decca)
VANITY FAIR-Summer Morning/ Betty Carter (Page One)
THE WEB-Baby Won’t You Leave Me Alone/ McVernon Street (Deram)

 

ALBUMS

THE BEATLES-The Beatles (Apple) #1
GEORGE HARRISON-Wonderwall Music (Apple)
JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE-Electric Ladyland (Track) #6
THE IDLE RACE-The Birthday Party (Liberty)
JOHN LENNON AND YOKO ONO-Unfinished Music No 1: Two Virgins (Apple)
ROLLING STONES-Beggars Banquet (Decca) #3
TYRANNOSAURUS REX-Prophets, Seers And Sages, The Angels Of The Ages (Regal Zonophone)

HAPPENING!

 

WATCHING!

 

 

REVIEWS

DotCrazy World Of Arthur Brown

Nightmare: A brilliant piece off Arthur's last album, which will be greatly familiar to all his fans, but could make a reasonably commercial follow-up to "Fire." The climax of shouting trumpets and Brown screaming is highly hypnotic.

DotCuriosity Shoppe

Baby I Need You: Apart from the climax which sounds like a pinch from The Nice, this is as unoriginal as the title. A fuzzy, old-fashioned Carnaby Street flower power mess.

DotDonovan

Atlantis: Aaaah, isn't it pretty. Don recites in sincere tones a lengthy intro to a heavy beat tale of the lost continent that will be a mighty hit, and please the multitude.

DotDoughnut Ring

Dance Around Julie : A happy dance disc with a hand-clapping beat - plus a sing-along la-la phase at the end of every line of the lyrics! Also features some attractive group harmonies and a solid backing.

DotFairport Convention

Meet On The Ledge: A stand-out performance by a most underrated group. Better than many American groups of the same style, it is startling that they have not received more recognition. This is one for the discerning.

DotFamily

Second Generation Woman: Groups signed to record contracts are often expected to get hits and family, being in a charitable mood have decided to lay down a heavy rock beat, doubtless hoping to appeal to those who have not seen their more esoteric live performances. An excellent group and they make the big beat idiom work quite successfully.

DotThe Fire

Round The Gum Tree: Unbelievable teenybopper rubbish, as bad as all that Ohio Express and 1910 Fruit Gum Co bilge. There is a speeded up "Chipmunks" type passage. Own up chaps, this ISN'T what it's all about. Worst record of the year.

DotIdle Race

The Birthday Party (LP): A great deal of care has obviously been taken with this LP, from the set of original compositions by the Birmingham group to the handsome packaging. The trouble is that so much of the material is so reminiscent of other groups--notably The Beatles, The Bee Gees and The Move--which detracts a little from the enjoyment. But, on the whole, a very pleasant and promising album.

DotIveys

Maybe Tomorrow: Lead singer sounds like John Lennon for a bit, until they go into the harmony passage. A sad and lonely sound, well performed with tasteful string accompaniment.

DotManfred Mann

Fox On The Run: This sounds almost too easy to be true. A highly commercial tune with a sort of beer-jug waving foot stomping beat, it seems just the material to roar to number one.

DotThe Nice

Brandenburger: It's a cheeky, entertaining and brilliantly executed combination of modern group style performance with a Bach theme from the Brandenburg Concerto. An instrumental that could equal, if not better, their chart success with "America". 

DotPlastic Penny

Hound Dog: Well, here's a surprise, the old Elvis hit given a Plastic treatment. Taken at slow tempo, it is so badly performed the rockers of all Britain will doubtless be motor-cycling into town, out for vengeance. It would do the group a great favour not to play this on the radio, not only to protect our ears, but to protect their ribs.

DotPretty Things

Private Sorrow: This is a track from the Pretty Things forthcoming album which traces the life cycle of a man. Written by the group, it has a fascinating lyric - soloed with startling echo chanting. The guitar work behind the vocal is extremely impressive and the nagging in it's continual repetition of the same old riff phase. Gets a bit weird towards the end with the sound of marching feet accompanying the reading of roll of honour - and that's no doubt because it has been taken out of the context of the LP. Interesting and thought-provoking, but maybe a shade too way-out.

Private Sorrow: A vastly improved group who deserve more attention than they are getting. Both their live and recorded performances are a far cry from the rough old days. This is meaningful and inventive and should appeal to all Top Gear fans, which includes me. PS. Make this a hit folks.

DotSearchers

Umbrella Man: Interesting handclapping introduction and a sad but strong song, unpretentious and well in the tradition of quality, well-made early Sixties-type pop. 

DotTurquoise

Woodstock: I've got a feeling that Turquoise could emerge as one of our top groups, but I've got my doubts as to whether they will do so on the strength of this disc. It's earthy, raw, twangy, insidious - with it's reverberating guitar sound, tambourine and harmonies suggesting the early Stones. Even the lead singer's phrasing is a bit Jagger-ish - though I admit the Stones illusion fades when the other boys join in with harmonic support. Mid-tempo, compelling.

 

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