The Dolly Rocker Movement : Our Days Mind the Tyme 2009

The Dolly Rocker Movement were formed in 2002 in Sydney by Ricky Drabsch on bass guitar, Daniel Poulter on lead vocals and guitar, Christopher Rudge on drums and Martin Walters on keyboards.

The group has played with such acts as The Black Keys, Lime Spiders, The Stems and The Lovetones. The band has had material showcased outside of Australia on various releases, including Northern Star Records' three Psychedelica compilations, and the Greek "Peace Frog" and "Lost in Tyme zines".

In 2009 Denmark-based label Bad Afro announced it would release their third album, Our Days Mind the Tyme, in all non-Australian territories.

BMA Magazine's Cat Woods described Our Days Mind the Tyme as, "a flawlessly produced invitation to psychedelic '60s revival. 

Sunshine, electric pop, garage pop." She found the group difficult to categorise, "Just when I think I've pinned down their sound, they go on a wild trip into other eras, other lands, and the only thing that I'm assured of is that it will be awesomely fun."

In late 2009 Poulter travelled to Los Angeles to start demo recording new solo and band material with producer Rob Campanella.



There, the band was reformed to include Poulter, Jimmy Sweet (formerly bassist of Hot Hot Heat), Emily Stoia (keyboards), and T.J. McDonnell (drums). The band disbanded in 2013.

Poulter, named as Daniel Darling, led Kill City Creeps and by April 2015 was renamed Danatalia "Natalie" de Silver and fronted "The Dandelions", a four-piece band, "who weave retro nostalgia with swirling, driving psych rock and pop."

Discography

    2006 - Electric Sunshine (LP)
    2006 - A Purple Journey Through the Mod Machine (LP)
    2009 - A Sound for Two (EP)
    2009 - Our Brave New World/Mystery Man (7-inch single)
    2009 - Our Days Mind the Tyme (LP)
    2013 - Your Side of Town (single)

TRAXS  

01. The Only One     4:50
02. Sold For Sinners     2:29
03. A Sound For Two     3:15
04. Coffin Love     3:16
05. My Heavenly Way     2:56
06. Borne With Gills     2:58
07. Enjoy A Paranoia     5:35
08. Memory Layne     3:43
09. Our Brave New World  2:45
10. The Ecstacy Once Told  5:03

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Link Wray and The Ray Men : Early Recordings 2006

Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray, Jr. (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American rock and roll guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who became popular in the late 1950s.

Building on the distorted electric guitar sound of early records, his 1958 instrumental hit "Rumble" by Link Wray & His Ray Men popularized "the power chord, the major modus operandi of modern rock guitarists,"facilitating the emergence of "punk and heavy rock". Rolling Stone placed Wray at No. 45 of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. In 2013 and 2017 he was a nominee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Though he began in country music, his musical style went on to consist primarily of rock and roll, rockabilly, and instrumental rock.

Three songs he performed were named for indigenous peoples: "Shawnee," "Apache," and "Comanche." "Apache" was an instrumental composed by Jerry Lordan; it was originally a hit in the United Kingdom for The Shadows in 1960 and reached #2 on the Billboard charts in the U.S. on April 3, 1961 by Danish guitarist Jorgen Ingmann. Wray recorded a cover version 30 years later, when it was also associated with The Ventures and the Incredible Bongo Band.

In 1958, Wray's first hit, "Rumble," was banned in New York and Boston for fear it would incite teenage gang violence. The record was first released on Cadence Records (catalog number 1347) as by "Link Wray & His Ray Men." Before, during, and after his stints with major labels Epic and Swan, Wray released 45s under many names. Tiring of the corporate music machine, he began recording albums using a three-track studio he converted from an outbuilding on his brother's property that his father used to raise chickens.

Jack Rose cited Wray as an influence, as did Iggy Pop and Neil Young. Jimmy Page says that Link Wray had a "real rebel attitude" and credits him in It Might Get Loud as a major influence in his early career. According to Rolling Stone, Pete Townshend of The Who once said, "If it hadn't been for Link Wray and 'Rumble,' I never would have picked up a guitar." "The only people I ever really looked up to were Link Wray and Iggy Pop," said Mark E. Smith of The Fall. "Guys like…Link Wray…are very special to me."

Drawn from the one LP and the dozen or so singles Link Wray recorded for Swan Records between 1963 and 1966, Early Recordings, first released in this configuration by Chiswick Records in 1978, remains the best single-disc introduction to this powerful guitar player, even though, at 32 minutes in length, it falls on the brief side. No matter.

It burns like a runaway gas fire, from the ragged, surging "Batman Theme" that opens things clear through to the remake of his signature "Rumble" that closes up the sequence. This is powerful, spooky, and haunting stuff. Wray is said to have invented the power chord and to have traced the template for grunge guitar way back in the mid-'50s, but what he really is, more than anything, is the precedent for players like Jimi Hendrix, a guitarist who wanted to wring every last blast and rattle out of his amp by any means possible.

The lone vocal track, a cover of Willie Dixon's "Hidden Charms" (by way of Howlin' Wolf), is a slice of sneering garage rock that sounds like metal fingernails on an electric chalk board for two minutes and forty five seconds. Powerful stuff, and absolutely essential. 

THE RAY MEN

Link Wray : All Guitars
Shorty Hortom : Drums
Vernon Wray : Bass
Joey Welz : Keyboards

TRACKS

01. Batman Theme (Written-By – N. Hefti)
02. Ace Of Spades (Written-By – F. L. Wray Sr., M. Cooper)
03. Cross Ties (Written-By – F. L. Wray Sr.)
04. Jack The Ripper (Written-By – F. L. Wray Sr., M. Cooper.)
05. Hidden Charms (Written-By – Willie Dixon)
06. I'm Branded (Written-By – F. L. Wray Sr.)
07. The Shadow Knows (Written-By – F. L. Wray Sr., M. Cooper)
08. Fat Back (Written-By – F. L. Wray Sr.)
09. Run Chicken Run (Written-By – F. L. Wray Sr.*, M. Cooper)
10. Black Widow (Written-By – F. L. Wray Sr.*, M. Cooper)
11. Scatter ( Written-By – N. Wood (2))
12. Turnpike U.S.A. (Written-By – F. L. Wray Sr.)
13. Mr. Guitar (Written-By – F. L. Wray Sr.)
14. Rumble (Written-By – Wray Sr., Grant)

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Various Artists : Pebbles Volume 2: Various Hooligans, Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics 1992

Various Artists : Pebbles Volume 2: Various Hooligans, Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics [AIP CD 5019] - Released 1992
CD cat. #: AIP CD 5019

 
In his review of the Pebbles series for Allmusic, Richie Unterberger comments: "Though 1972's Nuggets compilation reawakened listeners to the sounds of mid-'60s garage rock, it only focused on the tip of the iceberg. Behind those forgotten hits and semi-hits lurked hundreds, if not thousands, of regional hits and flops from the same era, most even rawer and cruder... More than any other factor, these compilations [in the Pebbles series] were responsible for the resurgence of interest in garage rock, which remains high among collectors to this day."

Including the Highs in the Mid-Sixties series, Best of Pebbles series, Essential Pebbles series, Planetary Pebbles series, and two box sets, more than 60 compilation albums have been released using the Pebbles name. Following on the heels of the success of the Pebbles series, dozens of other series of garage rock compilation albums have been started, with numerous albums being released each year for several decades.

Not to be confused with The Essential Pebbles Collection, Vol. 2, which overlaps somewhat with this album, Pebbles, Vol. 2 is part of the original series of '60s garage punk collections that began in 1979 (the CD version omits a couple songs from the LP and adds six bonus tracks). The opening number, "Makin' Deals" by the Satans, is a mid-tempo rocker featuring a vocalist who snarled "Can you

guess my name?!?" two years before Mick Jagger pranced through "Sympathy for the Devil." "99th Floor," an organ-driven stomper recorded in 1967, features ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons. Sons of Adam do a respectable cover version of Arthur Lee's "Feathered Fish"; this is followed by an extra track, a '60s commercial in which the Electric Prunes endorse the Vox wah-wah pedal.
"You Rub Me the Wrong Way" is a good fuzz-drenched B-side by the Road from the surprisingly late date of 1969. "So What" by the Lyrics and "Bad Girl" by Zakary Thaks rank among the best numbers in this collection, which probably explains why they were included in the Nuggets box set. "Lost Innocence" by the Buddhas is hyped-up bubblegum rock, while the fantastically crude "Green Fuz" by Randy Alvey & Green Fuz makes the Cramps' cover version sound like a symphony orchestra in comparison.

Little Boy Blues, who are from Chicago, do a spirited version of "I Can Only Give You Everything"; Bobby Fuller, who is from Texas, covers "Wine, Wine, Wine," which was a local hit for the Nightcaps; the Dovers, who do "She's Gone" and "What Am I Going to Do," are somewhat reminiscent of the Ju Ju's; and Phil & the Frantics, who do "I Must Run," are somewhat reminiscent of the Zombies.

The Choir, one of the better obscure '60s bands (and the progenitor of the Raspberries), do the Merseybeat-influenced "It's Cold Outside" (which can be found on the Nuggets box set). The CD also includes their Rolling Stones-influenced "I'm Coming Home," which is not even on the group's Choir Practice compilation.

Other CD bonus tracks include "Be a Caveman" by L.A.'s Avengers (not to be confused with several other bands with the same name, including the '70s West Coast punk band), "She'll Lie" by Satan & D-Men, "Freedom of Love" by Undesyded, "Don't Want Your Lovin'" by Mark IV, and "Crazy Things" by Quid; however, the CD version of Pebbles, Vol. 2 omits the Squires, who do "Go Ahead," and the Litter, who do a Yardbirds-inspired rave-up of Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man." In any case, this is an excellent collection that should appeal to those who are want to delve deeper into the treasure chest of '60s garage punk music.

--Todd Kristel, AllMusic.  Rating: 4,5/5 stars.
 

TRACK LISTING

01. The Satans : Makin' Deals    - 02:00
02. The Moving Sidewalks : 99th Floor - 02:18
03. Sons of Adam : Feathered Fish - 02:30
04. The Electric Prunes : Wah-Wah Peddle - 01:03
05. The Road : You Rub Me The Wrong Way - 02:31
06. The Lyrics : So What - 02:51
07. The Buddahs : Lost Innocence - 02:10
08. Zakary Thaks : Bad Girl - 02:10
09. Randy Alvey and the Green Fuz : Green Fuz - 02:01
10. Little Boy Blues : I Can Only Give You Everything - 02:33
11. The Dovers : She's Gone - 02:40
12. Phil and the Frantics : I Must Run - 02:39
13. The Dovers : What Am I Going To Do - 02:42
14. The Choir : It's Cold Outside - 02:39
15. Bobby Fuller : Wine Wine Wine - 01:57

BONUS TRACKS

16. The Choir : I'm Going Home - 02:35
17. The Avengers : Be A Caveman - 01:56
18. Mark IV : Don't Want Your Lovin' - 02:49
19. Satan and D-Men : She'll Lie - 03:08
20. Undesyded : Freedom Of Love - 02:49
21. Quid : Crazy Things - 02:58

Playing time...50:57

 

The second volume of the Pebbles series serves up another round of forgotten rock n roll relics from the glory days of the 60s. This time around, the songs are among the very best in the entire series: The Zakary Thaks' "Bad Girl" is a double-time pounder whose sneering vocals and storming drums foreshadow the 70s punk explosion, while the Lyrics' "So What" is an absolutely ferocius tune with some blistering harmonica solos.

The Satans' "Making Deals" is every bit as raunchy, mean-spirited, and brutally fun as the Rolling Stones at their best, and the Little Boy Blues' rendition of "I Can Only Give You Everything" threatens to burst at the seams with barely subdued sexuality. The Moving Sidewalks' "99th Floor" is a stomping, propulsive three-chord smasher, and the Road's "You Rub Me The Wrong Way" is a bleary-eyed frat-rocker that won't fail to get'cha dancing. The Green Fuz's "Green Fuz" is simply one of the greatest garage-rock songs of all time, a gruesome two-chord slopper that's every bit as catchy and addictive as it is deranged.

On the poppier side of the spectrum, we have the Choir's rousing, bemused sing-along "It's Cold Outside," as well as a pre-"I Fought the Law" Bobby Fuller performing the convulsive party anthem "Wine Wine Wine." Phil & The Frantics do an ethereal, smokey, and subtle piece entitled "I Must Run," which features a twisting keyboard and some hushed vocals. And then there are the Dovers.

Siply one of the most unfairly neglected rock groups ever, the Dovers were an incredible musical force. Their songs were uncanny, engrossing, and emotional, written and performed with a kind of flair that rivaled that of the most well-known musical acts of the day. The two Dovers tracks presented here are proof of that: "She's Gone," with its unique pop hooks and spiraling melody, could've (and should've) sat quite comfortably at the top of the charts.

"What Am I Going to Do," meanwhile, is a genuine masterpiece, a spine-tingling rush of unchecked emotion whose power is nothing short of stunning. These are only some highlights of an excellent disc, one that should be in the collection of any fan of lesser-known rock n roll.

--Amazon customer review

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Various Artists: Pebbles Volume 1: Various Misfits, Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics 1992

Various Artists: Pebbles Volume 1: Various Misfits, Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics [AIP CD 5016] - Released 1992
CD cat. #: AIP CD 5016

Pebbles is an extensive series of compilation albums in both LP and CD formats that have been issued on several record labels, though mostly by AIP. Together with the companion Highs in the Mid-Sixties series, the Pebbles series made available over 800 obscure, mostly American "Original Punk Rock" songs recorded in the mid-1960s — primarily known today as the garage rock and psychedelic rock genres — that were previously known only to a handful of collectors. In 2007, the release of the Pebbles, Volume 11 CD marked the final album in the Pebbles series (curiously, Vol. 12 had been issued in 1999). The following year, Bomp! marked the 30th anniversary of the original Pebbles album with a spartan, limited-edition, clear-vinyl reissue complete with the original pink cover insert.

The Pebbles series played a significant role in the emergence of a "canon" of garage-rock music and artists in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

[Originally compiled as a semi-bootleg vinyl compilation in the 1980s, as a thematic follow-up to the classic proto-punk anthology NUGGETS, PEBBLES VOL. 1 is now a legitimate anthology of rare and vintage garage rock singles from the style's 1960s heyday. The point of the PEBBLES compilations has always been that they take it as given that the listener is familiar with the best-known works in the style, such as the Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction." So these tracks are filled with the more obscure and often downright unhinged, like the Elastik Band's "Spazz," one of the most incoherent and bizarre singles ever released by a major label, or the Outcasts' apocalyptic study of disaffection, "I'm In Pittsburgh (And It's Raining)." This makes PEBBLES VOL. 1 an excellent second step into the garage rock underground.

--Charity Stafford, AllMusic.  Rating: 4,5/5 stars. ]

In his review of the Pebbles series for Allmusic, Richie Unterberger comments: "Though 1972's Nuggets compilation reawakened listeners to the sounds of mid-'60s garage rock, it only focused on the tip of the iceberg. Behind those forgotten hits and semi-hits lurked hundreds, if not thousands, of regional hits and flops from the same era, most even rawer and cruder... More than any other factor, these compilations [in the Pebbles series] were responsible for the resurgence of interest in garage rock, which remains high among collectors to this day."

Including the Highs in the Mid-Sixties series, Best of Pebbles series, Essential Pebbles series, Planetary Pebbles series, and two box sets, more than 60 compilation albums have been released using the Pebbles name. Following on the heels of the success of the Pebbles series, dozens of other series of garage rock compilation albums have been started, with numerous albums being released each year for several decades.


Pebbles is a compilation of US underground and garage single record releases from the mid- to late-1960s. It had a limited original release in 1978 and a more general release in 1979 (where the album was identified simply as Pebbles); this album was followed by several subsequent Pebbles compilations and albums (nearly 100 in all). This album is nowadays known as Pebbles, Volume 1 and was originally issued in 1978 as Pebbles, Volume One: Artyfacts from the First Punk Era, an obvious riff on Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, a similar, groundbreaking compilation from 1972.

The music on this first volume sets the tone for the obscure music collected in the Pebbles series. The first cut on the LP includes a skip during the break – on the original record, according to the liner notes – scrambling the line: "You say you love me, girl, but why are you so cold", but otherwise not really affecting the enjoyment of this genuine classic. Despite the fact that the Litter released three albums and is among the most well-known bands on this album, "Action Woman" was almost unavailable without this skip for many years. For instance, the bonus track at the end of the CD is a 1985 cover of this song which also omits the line. (The artist is not given on the CD but is identified on the AIP Records website as Echo & the Bunnymen).

The frantic cover of the Count Five classic by Positively 13 O'Clock is from a one-time studio session that includes members of Mouse and the Traps; it also appears on a retrospective album of this band that was released on Eva Records. The cover of Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" is hilariously to the tune of "Louie Louie".

Songs by well known bands are normally not included on Pebbles albums unless they are curiosities, and the track(s) by the Shadows of Knight – famed for their major hit with Van Morrison's "Gloria" – is no exception. Following a brief clip of "Gloria", the band introduces themselves with corny yet charming answers – sample: "What kind of fans do you prefer?", "I prefer electric fans" – followed by a song that the band wrote "especially for you". "Potato Chip" was originally released only on a five-inch cardboard record (possibly as a promotion for a potato chip company) and is surely the most earnest ode to a snack food ever recorded.

The bonus tracks on the CD include one of the most beloved of all garage rock songs, "Blackout of Gretely" by GONN. Remarkably, the band issued a reunion album 30 years later (in 1995) with all new material.

Due to a mastering error, many of the tracks printed on the artwork for this CD differ somewhat from the tracks actually included on the album. The above track list is correct.

The last track by Echo & the Bunnymen is listed as "surprise track" on the cover.

TRACKS

01. The Litter: "Action Woman" — rel. 1967
02. The Preachers: "Who Do You Love" (Ellas McDaniel)" — rel. 1965
03. The Floyd Dakil Combo: "Dance Franny Dance" — rel. 1964
04. The Outcasts: "I'm in Pittsburgh (and it's Raining)" — rel. 1966
05. The Grains of Sand: "Going Away Baby" — rel. 1966
06. The JuJus: "You Treat Me Bad" — rel. 1966
07. The Haunted: "1-2-5" — rel. 1966
08. The Soup Greens: "Like a Rolling Stone" (Bob Dylan) — rel. 1965
09. Positively 13 O'Clock: "Psychotic Reaction" — rel. 1966
10. Kim Fowley: "The Trip" (Kim Fowley)" — rel. 1965
11. The Elastik Band: "Spazz" — rel. 1967
12. The Split Ends: "Rich with Nothin'" — rel. 1966
13. The Shadows of Knight: "Radio Spot" — rel. 1967
14. The Shadows of Knight: "Potato Chip" — rel. 1967
15. The Wilde Knights: "Beaver Patrol" — rel. 1965

Bonus Tracks

16. The Sparkles: "Ain't No Friend of Mine" — rel. 1967, CD bonus track
17. GONN: "Blackout of Gretely" — rel. 1966, CD bonus track
18. The Weeds: "It's Your Time" — rel. 1966, CD bonus track
19. Echo & the Bunnymen: "Action Woman" — rel. 1985, CD bonus/surprise track

CDs — AIP Records

    Pebbles, Volume 1; #AIP-CD-5016
    Pebbles, Volume 2; #AIP-CD-5019
    Pebbles, Volume 3: The Acid Gallery; #AIP-CD-5020
    Pebbles, Volume 4: Surf N Tunes; #AIP-CD-5021
    Pebbles, Volume 5; #AIP-CD-5022
    Pebbles, Volume 6: Chicago 1; #AIP-CD-5023
    Pebbles, Volume 7: Chicago 2; #AIP-CD-5024
    Pebbles, Volume 8: Southern California 1; #AIP-CD-5025
    Pebbles, Volume 9: Southern California 2; #AIP-CD-5026
    Pebbles, Volume 10; #AIP-CD-5027
    Pebbles, Volume 11: Northern California; #AIP-CD-5028
    Pebbles, Volume 12: The World; #AIP-CD-5029 

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NUGGETS COMPILATIONS HERE

Magazine : Secondhand Daylight 1979

Magazine were an English post-punk band active from 1977 to 1981, then again from 2009 to 2011. The band was formed by Howard Devoto after leaving punk band Buzzcocks in early 1977. Devoto had decided to create a more progressive and less "traditional" rock band.

Magazine reunited in 2009 for a UK tour, with almost all the remaining members of the "classic" lineup, with the exception of guitarist John McGeoch, who died in 2004. He was replaced by Noko, who had played with Devoto in Luxuria.

Devoto formed Magazine in Manchester, shortly after he left Buzzcocks in early 1977. In April 1977, he met guitarist McGeoch, then an art student, and they began writing songs, some of which would appear on the first Magazine album.

They then recruited Barry Adamson on bass, Bob Dickinson on keyboards and Martin Jackson (previously of the Freshies) on drums, forming the first lineup of the band. After signing to Virgin Records, Magazine played their debut live gig at the Rafters in Manchester on 28 October 1977.

The new lineup was stable until mid-1980 and consisted of Devoto (vocals), McGeoch (guitar and saxophone), Adamson (bass), Formula (keyboards) and newly recruited drummer John Doyle. The first release with Doyle had been the "Give Me Everything" single from November 1978.

Magazine's second album, Secondhand Daylight, was released in 1979, reaching the UK Top 40. The album featured a greater use of synthesisers. That same year, McGeoch, Adamson and Formula joined electronic project Visage, recording and releasing the single "Tar".

The album was recorded in January 1979 at Good Earth Studios in London and using Virgin Records' mobile studio, which was used at Farmyard Studios. The album was produced and engineered by Colin Thurston. The album was Thurston's first production job; significantly, he had worked as an engineer for David Bowie's "Heroes" and Iggy Pop's The Idiot.

TRAXS

01. Feed the Enemy    Dave Formula    5:45
02. Rhythm of Cruelty    John McGeoch, Barry Adamson    3:03
03. Cut-Out Shapes    Howard Devoto    4:43
04. Talk to the Body    John McGeoch    3:34
05. I Wanted Your Heart    Dave Formula, Barry Adamson    5:13
06. The Thin Air     Howard Devoto, John McGeoch    4:10
07. Back to Nature    Dave Formula    6:40
08. Believe That I Understand    Howard Devoto, Barry Adamson    4:00
09. Permafrost       Howard Devoto    5:25

PERMAFROST LYRICS

Thunder shook loose hail on the outhouse again
Today, I bumped into you again
I have no idea what you want
But there was something I meant to say

As the day stops dead
At the place where we're lost
I will drug you and fuck you
On the permafrost

There's not much that I miss
I'm far too forgetful for that
Sugar's sweet some of the time
It's hard to keep some things in mind

As the day stops dead
At the place where we're lost
I will drug you and fuck you
On the permafrost

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Rare Bird : Rare Bird 1969

Rare Bird were an English progressive rock band, formed in 1969. They had more success in other European countries. They released five studio albums between 1969 and 1974. In the UK, they never charted with an album but charted with one single, the organ-based track "Sympathy", which peaked at number 27. It sold one million copies globally.

The history of Rare Bird began when Graham Field placed an advertisement for a pianist in a musical periodical. He got thirty replies and formed a group called "Lunch". He met Dave Kaffinetti in November 1968, and together they formulated the basic ideas for Rare Bird. In August 1969, they finally found the ideal rhythm section in Steve Gould, Chris Randall and Mark Ashton.

Field and Kaffinetti had originally envisaged that the band would be a four-piece and were looking for a singer/bass player. Steve and Chris, who had both previously been members of the Pop-Psych band "Fruit Machine", applied to the ad as vocals/guitar and bass respectively and were taken on. Lunch played a few gigs; one notable one was at the Tilbury Working Mens Club for the princely sum of five pounds.

The band had no van and they managed to get amps, drums, guitars and Hammond organ into their cars. The gig was marred by Chris receiving a bad electric shock whilst on stage. It later turned out that the founders of the band were more interested in Steve and convinced him to play bass. Chris was now high and dry and was kicked out of the band. Two weeks later, they had signed management and agency contracts, and three weeks later, were in the studio recording their debut album.

Before joining Lunch, Randall and Gould had previously written a song called "To the Memory of Two Brave Dogs". Rare Bird included this song in their debut album, renaming it "Iceberg" but Randall received no credit on the L.P. Along with Van der Graaf Generator and The Nice, they were one of the very first bands that signed to Charisma Records, the record label that Tony Stratton-Smith had founded.

In their debut featured an organist and an electric pianist, but no guitarist, resulting in a moody Hammond-heavy album from a band that would later become more progressive and varied in its sound. "Beautiful Scarlet" shifts easily from histrionic soul to offhanded slow-four interludes, and the instrumental "Iceberg" shows off the organist Graham Field and the rest of band's chops well. The whispered vocals and weird background noises of "God of War" achieves the kind of creepy gloom appropriate to an era of carpet bombing and napalm.

Their late 1969 release "Sympathy" reached No. 1 in Italy and in France, sold 500,000 copies in France and over one million globally.It became their only UK hit single, reaching No. 27 and staying on the chart for 8 weeks. A 1970 cover version of the track by The Family Dogg reached number two in the Netherlands. The song returned to the UK chart in 1992 when a version by Marillion reached No. 17.In 2001, the track was sampled by Faithless in their song "Not Enuff Love", named after a chorus line in "Sympathy". The first album released by "Lunch" in 1969 was called "Rare Bird", which now also became the band's new name.

In early 1971, Graham Field left Rare Bird to form a short-lived solo project, Fields. Later members included Fred Kelly (Nic Potter), Ced Curtis, Paul Holland, and Paul Karas on the Epic Forest album with Andy Curtis and Fred Kelly appearing on the album Somebody's Watching. The band finally split up in 1975.

TRACKS

01. "Iceberg" - 6:46 (originally "To the Memory of Two Brave Dogs" by Randall/Gould)
02. "Times"- 4:00
03. "You Went Away" - 4:17
04. "Melanie" - 3:27
05. "Beautiful Scarlet" - 5:23
06. "Sympathy" - 2:30
07. "Natures Fruit" - 2:32
08. "Bird On A Wing" - 4:13
09. "God Of War" - 5:08

Personnel

    Graham Field - organ
    David Kaffinetti - electric piano
    Steve Gould - bass guitar, lead vocals
    Mark Ashton - drums, tympani, backing vocals

GOD OF WAR LYRICS

God of War
God of War
God of War

Feel the morning brush my eyes
I know I have woken, I see the skies
Shepherd boy comes into sight
He's looking for his dog, his nocturne nights

God of War
God of War
God of War

His face is white, his body frail
The shepherd boy has told his tale
He told of love and war and hate
And the shepherd boy knew his fate

We saw strange sights in the night
The God of War was hard to fight
Many men have died they say
At the mercy of Mars, God of the Dead

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