Various Artists - New Moon's In The Sky (@320)

 

Repost

New Moon's in the Sky: The British Progressive Pop Sounds of 1970 Review by Tim Sendra.

Like the late '60s that had just come to a shuddering close, 1970 was a confusing time for music in the U.K. (and everywhere else too). Psychedelia was fading out, bubblegum was on its last bounce, prog was getting fired up, and bands were getting heavier, moving to the country, and searching for mellow vibes. An expansive overview of the year would make for some very eclectic listening; the Grapefruit label chose to narrow the scope down just a bit on their three-disc collection New Moon's in the Sky: The British Progressive Pop Sounds of 1970. The bands they chose were operating on the fringes of the pop scene; some of them were old hands like Honeybus, the Marmalade, and the Hollies, some were superstars caught on the rise (the Sweet), and the large majority of them were lost to the sands of time. Check names like Rusty Harness, Hard Meat, Ancient Grease, or She Trinity, and if you remember them, you were probably a member. Some of these obscure groups provide highlights: Stray's "Around the World in Eighty Days" is rambling, post-Byrds psych-pop; the Seychelles' "I Will Be There" is a fun mashup of swinging '60s pop and easy listening vocal harmonies; Affinity's tender Brit-folk ballad "United States of Mind" is one of the few songs with a female vocalist; Bachdenkel deliver an amazing proto-metal fantasy rocker with some truly fiery guitar leads on "An Appointment with the Mater"; and Putney Bridge come through with a grown-up stick of bubblegum on the singsong "What's It All About." Along with these lost gems are fun songs by bands on the cusp of prog but not quite there yet (Barclay James Harvest's rollicking "Good Love Child"), settling into their denim-clad role in life (Status Quo's "Shy Fly"), dipping into metal by way of some evil psych-blues (UFO's "Treacle People"), or getting ready to launch into space (Hawkwind's folky "Hurry on Sundown"). Overall, the songs chosen for the set show that there was a healthy bit of experimentation and freedom in the air and everyone here took a deep breath. If a band wanted to make music that sounded like an elevator ride to the moon soundtracked by the Beach Boys -- Harmony Grass' "I've Seen to Dream" -- they went for it. If they thought slapping some unhinged Syd Barrett-style guitar freak-out on a grooving country-rocker worked -- Kevin Ayers & the Whole World's "Singing a Song in the Morning" -- they let it rip. It makes for an extremely fun collection of musical weirdness that's tied together by a strong pop sensibility. No matter how weird the song, these groups still thought they had a chance at a hit. Of course, there are no hits here, but the collection itself is a smash. A few decades too late for the bands, yet just in time for lovers of oddball pop, off-kilter productions, and stylistic leaps of faith.

 

Tracklist:

 

DISC 1:

 

1. PIGGY PIG PIG – Procol Harum

2. GOOD LOVE CHILD – Barclay James Harvest

3. GOOD YEAR – Five Day Rain

4. HURRY ON SUNDOWN – Hawkwind

5. AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS – Stray

6. ALL THE BEST PEOPLE DO IT – The Humblebums

7. GIVE ME NO GOODBYE – Magna Carta

8. WINTER IS COMING AGAIN – Cressida

9. TINY GODDESS – Tim Andrews

10. JENNIFER – Angel Pavement

11. I’VE SEEN TO DREAM – Harmony Grass

12. THE TWO OF US – Penny Arcade

13. CALIFORNIA HERE I COME – River

14. MY MIND’S EYE – Canticle

15. CELEBRITY BALL – Plastic Penny

16. TIME TO DIE – Patto

17. MR. McGALLAGHER – The Sweet

18. I WILL BE THERE – The Seychelles

19. CALL ME LIGHTNING – The Good Vibrations

20. ME AND MY LIFE – The Tremeloes

21. SINGING A SONG IN THE MORNING – Kevin Ayers & The Whole Wide World

22. THE FLYING MACHINE – The Flying Machine

23. IN THE LAND OF THE FEW (single edit) – Love Sculpture

24. CLIMB THAT TREE – She Trinity

 

DISC 2:

 

1. KALEIDOSCOPE – The Marmalade

2. UNDER THE SILENT TREE – Honeybus

3. WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT – Putney Bridge

4. ACROSS THE UNIVERSE – Jawbone

5. DEVIL’S ANSWER (demo version) – Atomic Rooster

6. LOVELY DAY – The Fox

7. CASTLES IN THE SKY – Blonde On Blonde

8. BLIND MAN – Curved Air

9. ROWENA – Meic Stevens

10. BRIDGE* – Lifeblud

11. GOODBYE – Rusty Harness

12. TIME TO DIE – Ancient Grease

13. TREACLE PEOPLE – U.F.O.

14. PLAYING WITH MAGIC – The Smoke

15. MR. DIEINGLY SAD – The Others

16. IN THE CITY – David & David

17. LEVINIA – Steamhammer

18. SAM AND SADIE – Fickle Pickle

19. MR. AND MRS. FRANKLIN * – The Regime

20. MAD PROFESSOR BLYTH – The Hollies

21. ANNA LAURA LEE- Yellow Taxi

22. MOTHER, MOTHER, MOTHER – Paper Bubble

23. STEP THIS WAY – Andromeda

24. HAVE YOU HEARD THE WORD – The Fut

 

DISC 3:

 

1. ST. LOUIS – Warhorse

2. AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE MASTER – Bachdenkel

3. SHY FLY – Status Quo

4. TAROT – Andrew Bown

5. THIEF – Octopus

6. UNITED STATES OF MIND – Affinity

7. UMBOPO – Doctor Father

8. TOGETHER IN THE NIGHT – This Side Up

9. HE’S GROWING – The Gods

10. THROUGH A WINDOW – Hard Meat

11. NED KELLY – The Iron Maiden

12. WHAT? – The Move

13. LIGHTNING NEVER STRIKES – Sheridan & Price

14. HARD SELLING WOMAN – Flashman

15. ALIAS OLIVER DREAM – Airbus

16. SOON THERE WILL BE EVERYTHING – Killing Floor

17. ROCK AND ROLL WOMAN – Love Street

18. YOUR MOTHER THINKS I’M A HOODLUM – Savwinkle & Turnerhopper

19. FLIES LIKE A BIRD – Fire

20. COLOUR OF THE SUNSET – Danny McCulloch

21. INDIAN MAID – The Ghost

22. ON ILKLA’ MOOR BAHT’AT – Bill Oddie

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