"The Complete de Wolfe Sessions" by THE ELECTRIC BANANA [The Pretty Things under a pseudonym] – Including Six UK Library Music Albums from 1967, 1968, 1969 (two), 1973 and 1978 on the Music de Wolfe label – featuring Richard Taylor, Phil May, John Povey, John Alder and Alan (Wally) Waller of The Pretty Things (September 2019 UK Grapefruit Records 3CD Clamshell Mini Box Set of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Free Love..."

Imagine you're a hip and happening dapper dude filmmaker walking down the King's Road in 1967 London with an afghan coat in one hand and a lysergic tablet in the other. You've just left the Tangerine Tandem Purple Ship Bicycles Bar with your copy of Oz that contains a fascinating article on the use of macrobiotic yoghurt in Himalayan yacks. 

But before that, you engaged in a very disturbing A/B-Button payphone phonecall to your moneyman (i.e. Producer). He has broken the bad news. If you want actual groovy cool music originals from the hipster bands of the Swinging Sixties in your film about nubiles mating with aliens from the planet EggNog at the Stonehenge Summer Solstice - the cost is prohibitive man. Drat - you think. You pop that tab from your right hand into your mouth and wallah! Suddenly, the fog of the hassling man has dissipated and all has become translucently and metaphysically clear baby. I need Library Music...

When I worked as the Rarities buyer in Reckless Records in Islington and Soho - the three big Library Music makers - KPM, Chappell and Music de Wolfe - would present themselves in collections at your counter in the form of albums with the same artwork - just different catalogue numbers. You would have song titles on the back sleeves like "Love Dance And Sing" or "A Thousand Ages From The Sun" - and have no earthly idea who was playing on what LP – or which one of these samey-looking buggers was worth the dosh. 

The dark arts of Library Music always elicited two reactions amongst collectors in my experience - frenzy or a yawn. There were those who adored the Psych and Film Music instrumentals you could stumble upon hidden inside these obscure LPs that turned up like musical thieves in the night in secondhand record shops. But there were also those who had forked out £20 for an LP that contained only insipid incidental interludes – none of which were interesting or cool (burned once, never again). And that’s where this superbly done 3CD Clamshell Mini Box set comes a bopping in.

Our Psych-rocking heroes moonlighting in the latter part of the 60ts as 'The Electric Banana' turned out to be none other than members of The Pretty Things (a quick perusal of the DW/LP credits beneath the titles showed that the songs were written by Richard Taylor, Phil May, John Povey and Alan Waller). A 60ts supergroup in their own right, but also an integral part of that underground scene which had its toes in eclectic films and TV programs - these records have always been touch stones for fans of the PT's. And they are rare in original form. 

The moniker 'The Electric Banana' never did get out an album on a major label, but as this box shows, managed six LPs on the British Library music label Music de Wolfe in 1967, 1968, 1969 (two), 1973 and 1978. And typically, Grapefruit Records of the UK have done a stunning job of shining a torch on a very dimly lit part of the counterculture. To the goose, the street girls, the orphan ladies and oodles of free love...

UK released Friday, 27 September 2019 - "The Complete de Wolfe Sessions" by THE ELECTRIC BANANA on Grapefruit Records CRSEGBOX058 (Barcode 5013929185807) is a 3CD Clamshell Mini Box Set that plays out as follows: 

CD1 (61:51 minutes):
1. Walking Down The Street [Side 1]
2. If I Needed Somebody 
3. Free Love 
4. 'Cause I'm A Man 
5. Danger Signs 
6. Walking Down The Street (Instrumental) [Side 2]
7. If I Needed Somebody (Instrumental)
8. Free Love (Instrumental)
9. 'Cause I'm A Man (Instrumental)
10. Danger Signs (Instrumental)
Tracks 1 to 10 are the UK Library Music album "Electric Banana" released 1967 on Music de Wolfe DW/LP 3040 in Mono - credited to ELECTRIC BANANA with TILSLEY ORCHESTRAL 

11. I See You [Side 1] 
12. Street Girl 
13. Grey Skies 
14. I Love You
15. Love Dance And Sing
16. A Thousand Ages From The Sun 
17. I See You (Instrumental) [Side 2]
18. Street Girl (Instrumental) 
19. Grey Skies (Instrumental) 
20. I Love You (Instrumental) 
21. Love Dance And Sing (Instrumental)
22. A Thousand Ages From The Sun (Instrumental)
Tracks 11 to 22 are the album "More Electric Banana" UK released 1968 on Music de Wolfe DW/LP 3069 in Mono

CD2 (77:35 minutes):

1. Alexander [Side 1]

2. It'll Never Be Me 

3. Eagle's Son 

4. Blow Your Mind

5. What's Good For The Goose

6. Rave Up 

7. Alexander (Instrumental) [Side 2]

8. It'll Never Be Me (Instrumental)

9. Eagle's Son (Instrumental)

10. Blow Your Mind (Instrumental)

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "Even More Electric Banana" - released 1969 in the UK on Music de Wolfe DW/LP 3123 in Mono [NOTE: see also Track 11, CD3]

11. Sweet Orphan Lady [Side 1]

12. I Could Not Believe My Eyes

13. Good Times 

14. Walk Away 

15. The Loser 

16. Easily Done 

17. Sweet Orphan Lady (Instrumental) [Side 2]

18. I Could Not Believe My Eyes (Instrumental)

19. Good Times (Instrumental)

20. Walk Away (Instrumental)

21. The Loser (Instrumental)

22. Easily Done (Instrumental)

Tracks 11 to 22 are the album "Hot Licks" - released 1973 in the UK on Music de Wolfe DW/LP 3284 in Stereo

CD3 (46:28 minutes):

1. Do My Stuff [Side 1]

2. Take Me Home 

3. James Marshall 

4. Maze Song 

5. Whiskey Song 

6. Do My Stuff (Instrumental) [Side 2]

7. Take Me Home (Instrumental)

8. James Marshall (Instrumental)

9. Maze Song (Instrumental)

10. Whiskey Song (Instrumental)

Tracks 1 to 10 are the album "The Return On The Electric Banana" - released 1978 in the UK on Music de Wolfe DW/LP 3381

11. The Dark Theme (Instrumental) 

Track 11 is from the album "Even More Electric Banana" - released 1969 in the UK on Music de Wolfe DW/LP 3123 in Mono [NOTE: see Tracks 1 to 10 on CD2 for the rest of the album]

These Clamshell Mini Box Sets always feel classy to the touch while three individual card sleeves do their back-and-front best to picture the five albums artwork in varying ways. DAVID WELLS has done the serious sleuthing liner notes to unravel the secrets for the 30-page booklet. Packed with period photos and snaps - you get stills from TV programs like Dr. Who, Monique, Edna The Inebriate Woman, Private Eye, The Sweeney and Dawn Of The Dead - all of whom used Electric Banana music. There is also a wonderful collage page of publicity stuff for the April 1969 movie "What's Good For The Goose" with Norman Wisdom and Sally Geeson - one that shows the band in period clobber looking very right on. The distinctive 'Pop Sound' LP artwork is there too as are repro's of those rare orange and white Music de Wolfe LP labels. 

Sound – the very essence of these recordings is Mono Grunge – so those looking for Abbey Road type Stereo magnificence and perfection should collect theirs at the kiosk now and leave. Not surprisingly there are no audio transfer credits, but the remastered sound is uniformly excellent even given the limitations of these late 60ts recordings. It feels like your eavesdropping on The Small Faces having an extra curricular or in the case of Side 2 of the LPs where you got instrumental versions of the five or six sung-songs on Side A – it feels like you’re listening to backing tracks by The Kinks or The Who - in all their hooky gonzo-bashing power. 

In fact even though the lyrics on Side 1 of the debut about "Street Girls" waiting for customers under the lamplight and self-centred men who sleep all day and come home late at night in "'Cause I'm A Man" are actually way better than most Sixties observations by other bands (excluding The Kinks) – it's the instrumentals and their naked backbeats that have always intrigued me. Striped of the loaded so-60ts references and words, you lock into the mostly guitar-driven Rock-Psych groove they got and I love that (Mods have always had a thing for their Small Faces sound too). And of course no commercially released LP would ever do this configuration – so the song/instrumental side-by-side dynamic was exclusive to Library Music LPs. 
People stare as they pass you by, knowing somehow that you've seen the promised land, says our likely lad in "Walking Down The Street" - whilst the Pretty Things cheeky bugger singer wants to forego foreplay down-payments directed at a woman's affection altogether and go directly to the free love bit in, well "Free Love". 

By the time you get to the genuinely improved excellence of album two, John Povey and Peter Reno have begun to contribute to the songs (alongside Phil May, Richard Taylor and Allan Waller) – examples being the superb Who-meets-The Charlatans vibe of "Grey Skies" and the "...give your soul to the wind...be free... " mantra of "Love Dance And Sing" – a song that eloquently sums up the very essence of breaking down emotional barriers – the stuff that indeed make the Sixties swing. And on it goes to the last LP that features a token PT presence but not a lot of anything else. 

For sure if you are a Pretty Things aficionado then "The Complete de Wolfe Sessions" is a must-own. But it also a way for others to get a crack at side projects – fringe listening that still stands up – songs and their instrumental counterparts. 
"Loving you was my first mistake..." our hero worries in "Danger Signs" – missing out on this will be our mistake now...

"A Place In The Sun: The Complete Jason Crest" by JASON CREST – Five UK 45’s from 1968 and 1969 on Philips Records plus Rare and Unissued Acetate Tracks and Radio Sessions from 1968 and 1969 – featuring Terry Clark, Terry Dobson, Paul Siggery, Derek Smallcombe, Ron Fowler and more (May 2020 UK Grapefruit Records 2CD Anthology – Ben Wiseman Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Turquoise Tandems..."

Now here's an obscure one with splinters that went off in every which way. 

Formerly known first as The Spurleeweeves then The Good Thing Brigade between 1965 and 1966 – British Psych darlings JASON CREST were quickly renamed and signed to Philips in 1967, thereafter managing to usher out five singles between 1968 and 1969 (but no album). 

Thereafter they morphed yet again, this time into the Island Records act called High Bloom. You will remember Toploader's year 2000 poppy cover version of High Broom's ''Dancing In The Moonlight" - originally an August 1970 UK 45-single on Island WIP 6088. Once High Broom had had its day (again no album), three former members of the five-piece (Roger Siggery, Derek Smallcombe and Terry Clark) went into a band called Holy Mackerel who managed a single self-titled album on CBS Records UK in 1972 (not to be confused with the American group of the same name who had an album on Reprise Records in 1968 that featured "Classical Gas" hitmaker Mason Williams). A tangled web indeed... 

Grapefruit's typically exemplary anthology "A Place In The Sun: The Complete Jason Crest" gathers together all 10 of those non-album single sides, further outtake rarities and even finds some previously unreleased radio sessions - lumping the lot onto a 2CD set that will surely act as the definitive document for a band's whose 45s now command big bucks (if you can find them). Here are the turquoise tandems...

UK released Friday, 20 September 2020 - "A Place In The Sun: The Complete Jason Crest" by JASON CREST on Grapefruit Records CRSEG078D (Barcode 5013929187825) is a 28-Track 2CD Anthology that plays out as follows: 

CD1 (59:42 minutes):
1. Turquoise Tandem Cycle 
2. Teagarden Lane 
3. Patricia's Dream 
4. A Place In The Sun 
5. My House Is Burning
6. King Of The Castle 
7. The Collected Works Of Justin Crest 
8. Black Mass 
9. Charge Of The Light Brigade 
10. (Here We Go Around The) Lemon Tree 
11. You Really Got A Hold On Me 
12. Two By The Sea 
13. Juliano The Bull 
14. Education 
15. Waterloo Road 
16. Good Life 
17. Black Mass (Dubious Mix Version) 
Tracks 1 and 16 are the non-album A&B-sides of their January 1968 UK debut 45-single on Philips BF 1633
Tracks 13 and 12 are the non-album A&B-sides of their April 1968 UK second 45-single on Philips BF 1650
Tracks 10 and 3 are the non-album A&B-sides of their August 1968 UK third 45-single on Philips BF 1687
Tracks 15 and 14 are the non-album A&B-sides of their February 1968 UK fourth 45-single on Philips BF 1752
Tracks 4 and 8 are the non-album A&B-sides of their August 1968 UK fifth and final 45-single on Philips BF 1809
Tracks 2, 6, 7, 9 and 11 first appeared on the July 1993 UK Various Artists LP "Syde Trips Three" on Tenth Planet TP006 
Track 5 is copyright 1994 Tenth Planet 
Track 17 is Previously Unreleased, Copyright 2020

CD2 (35:23 minutes):
1. Hold On 
2. A Hazy Shade Of Winter 
3. Fresh Garbage
4. California Dreamin' 
5. Paint It Black 
6. What's It Like 
7. Come Together 
8. It's A Way To Pass The Time 
9. Good Times, Bad Lines 
10. Better By You, Better Than Me
11. Percy's On The Run 
Tracks 1 to 11 first appeared 1999 on the UK Jason Crest LP "Radio Sessions 1968-1969" on Tenth Planet TP041, a numbered limited edition of 1000 copies. Tracks 1 to 5 recorded in November 1968, tracks 6 to 11 in November 1969 - both radio sessions. 

The chunky three-way foldout card digipak is pretty in resplendent orange and red day-glow images as is the typically jam-packed 24-page booklet. The memorabilia pictured includes a flyer for a July 1965 gig in The Bromel Club (Bromley, Kent) – the embryonic Spurleeweeves set up for Thursday the 19th. 

DAVID WELLS employs help from all sources as he pieces together the band’s progress – promo photos, acetate labels, a two-page display of trade gig adverts where Jason Crest share stages with Elmer Gantry, Kipperton Lodge, The Skatalites and Desmond Dekker. There is even a photo of them as High Broom and loads of other juicy factoids (it is a great read and an informative one too). 

BEN WISEMAN does his usual job of wickedly good remastering even if some of the acetate stuff is a tad ropey around the edges. 

Disc 1 offers us the singles and a wad of outtakes that first saw light of day in 1993 on the cult label Tenth Planet – and what an eclectic rattle they all make. Faves for me include "Juliano The Bull" and "Two By The Sea" whilst the boys got a little Rock-Soulful with their unissued cover of the Smokey Robinson & The Miracles classic "You Really Got A Hold On Me". In fact out of only one other cover version on CD1 - Roy Wood's 1968 "Move" debut album track "(Here We Go Round The) Lemon Tree" - Vocalist Terry Clark alongside Lead Guitarist Terry Dobson provided all of the songs. 

Which makes the strange cackle of covers on Disc 2 seem like some other project Jason Crest were pursuing in order to get noticed or even paid. After Disc 1, it is weird to hear The Mamas & The Papas, The Rolling Stones and Simon & Garfunkel covers even if their genius shows through on the Spirit classic "Fresh Garbage". There are intriguing contributions too from Drummer Paul Siggery and other guitarist Derek Smallcombe in "It's A Way To Pass The Time" – Smallcombe getting heavy too on his "Good Times, Bad Lines". 

You would not call this kind of Psych an easy listen by any means, but this JASON CREST 2CD Anthology is yet another reason why Grapefruit are so liked by collectors – they tread where others won't go and deliver every time...

"An Apple A Day" by APPLE – February 1969 UK Debut LP on Page One Records in Stereo - featuring Jeff Harrad, Robert Ingram, Denis Regan, Charlie Barber and Dave Brassington and Producer Caleb Quaye of Hookfoot and The Elton John Band (September 2020 UK Grapefruit Records Expanded Edition CD Reissue – Oli Hemingway Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Full Of Flavour..."

History is a double-edged sword when remembering, and I'd argue never more so than for the five-piece Welsh Psych-boys of APPLE. To understand the magnificence of this September 2020 Expanded Edition CD reissue from those hairy-men over at the much-loved Grapefruit Records, some musical backdrop is needed. 

In 2017, a Stereo (playable Mono) copy of the February 1969 LP "An Apple A Day" by Apple on Page One POLS 016 sold for a staggering four grand on a well-known auction site – the kind of Psych and Freakbeat rarity that makes fans of the genre sell small babies to unscrupulous piranha to acquire. And at that time little was known about the group in any discography anywhere – nearly half a century after the event. The band Apple and their fantastically grungy lone album were largely unknowns, which in some ways only added to the mystique. 

For this Grapefruit Records CD remaster and reissue, founder member and Bassist Jeff Harrad has finally come forth and upset the you-know-what cart by giving us a blow-by-blow account of the band's woes with Larry Page's Page One Records – a rushed signing to a London maverick they all came to bitterly regret. In fact the material is licensed from Harrad - remastered by OLI HEMINGWAY at The Wax Works and annotated by the much-lauded DAVID WELLS of Grapefruit Records (all good names amongst collectors). 

Page was a cheapskate on a gargantuan level. In a 20-page booklet, there are only three photographs of the band and they are in black and white because Page wouldn't pay for colour. The three 'demo' recordings they made with guitarist and future Hookfoot and Elton John Band member CALEB QUAYE as Producer at De Lane Lea Studios were only meant to be just that - demos. Then at another session in Page's Oxford Street studios, they recorded more demos only to find that instead of doing proper studio variants, Page slap-dashed the lot together and that became their February 1969 debut album. 

The front cover was a shot Page had borrowed from (wait for it) 'The Apple And Pair Development Council' of Great Britain and the album inexplicably contained a four-page insert of 'the juicy, full of flavour and crisp' nature of English Apples and Pears. It offered meringue recipes with further instructions on how to keep the fruits and ripen them - and even had a colour-coded calendar on their availability in English shops throughout the year (don't you just love it). Absolutely naught to do with the group or the wild music contained within the LP. The rear cover misspelled two of the band member names (Harrad as Harrod and Denis with two n’s) and the track list was arse-about face too. And worst of all of course, despite favourable press reviews, their debut barely made into any collection anywhere – hence its rarity value. In fact Harrad advises that keyboardist Charlie Barber was so appalled when he saw and heard the finished LP that he drew a nail across the tracks so they couldn't be played again. 

But here's the historical rub. The very kiss-me-quick nature of the demos where the fuzzed-up Psych guitar of Robert Ingram and Piano tinkles of Charlie Barber do battle with the barely audible drums of Dave Brassington, the vocals of Denis Regan and the bass of Jeff Harrad - gives the solos, passionate performances and sonic assault a wallop that polished studio variants would probably have lacked. This is a wee brute of a listen – so uncouth – and yet so bloody alive because of that. Page wouldn't have cared one way or the other at the time even if perfectionists in the band were appalled, but their mistakes then are a boon to us now – this being the kind of whig-out Syd Barrett Pink Floyd-esque sound subsequent collectors of the Psych genre worship at the feet of - and rightly so. 

Time to get Bramley Cake and Crumble on this sucker, here are the CD reissue details...

UK released Friday, 25 September 2020 - "An Apple A Day" by APPLE on Grapefruit records CRSEG079 (Barcode 5013929187924) is an Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster in a Card Digipak that plays out as follows (52:30 minutes):

1. Let's Take A Trip Down The Rhine [Side 1]
2. Doctor Rock 
3. The Otherside
4. Mr. Jones 
5. The Mayville Line 
6. Pretty Girl I Love You 
7. Rock Me Baby [Side 2]
8. Buffalo Billycan
9. Photograph 
10. Psycho Daisies 
11. Sporting Life 
12. Queen Of Hearts Blues
Tracks 1 to 12 are their debut and only album "An Apple A Day" - released February 1969 in the UK on Page One Records POLS 016 in Stereo

BONUS TRACKS:
13. Let's Take A Trip Down The Rhine (Mono Single Version) 
14. Buffalo Billycan (Mono Single Version) 
Tracks 13 and 14 are the A&B-sides of their debut UK 45-single released October 1968 on Page One POF 101

15. Doctor Rock (Mono Single Version)
16. The Otherside (Mono Single Version)  
Tracks 15 and 16 are the A&B-sides of their 2nd and last UK 45-single released December 1968 on Page One POF 110

The card digipak has a promo photo of the five-piece on one inner flap whilst a Grapefruit Records advert for other product lies beneath the see-through CD tray. DAVID WELLS has done a typically excellent job on the 20-page booklet and presentation. The genesis of Apple goes back to 1963 and a thriving Cardiff band on the popular R&B scene called Vance & The Vauqeros that featured drummer David Brassington and singer Denis Regan. Bassist Jeff Harrad came up through the ranks of another popular five-piece combo called Brother John & The Witnesses – both suited-and-booted beat groups are pictured on Pages 4 and 5 of the booklet. There are foreign pictures sleeves for the two 1968 singles hat preceded the album, a full repro of the ludicrous Apples and Pears insert and a fascinating flyer repro on Page 8 for a 25 June 1969 gig at the Paget Rooms in Penarth showcasing The Apple and support act, The Budgie (now there’s a noisy rocking gig). 

Apple (nothing to do with The Beatles of their label) managed two UK 45-singles in their short duration as band, both of which are pictured on the last page of the booklet in stock and demo copy form alongside a rare two-track Emidisc Acetate dated 7 September 1968 for their debut 7" single - "Take A Trip Down The Rhine" and "Buffalo Billycan" (see photos provided). I always wondered why the poppier "Let's Take A Trip Down The Rhine" debut 45 is listed in the Record Collector Rare Records Price Guide at more than "Doctor Rock" b/w "The Otherside" - because in my mind both sides of the second are way better - a genuinely stunning piece of mad Psych guitar frenzy that still amazes. 

As for the LP, of the twelve songs, you got nine originals and three contemporary covers - "Rock Me Baby" by Muddy Waters, "Psycho Daisies" by The Yardbirds and "Sporting Life" by Brownie McGhee. I love the Syd Barrett Floyd-era feel to "Mr. Jones" and the great grunge-drive of "The Mayville Line" despite its less than stellar Production values. Robbo (as the LP called him) puts in some fantastic guitar in "The Otherside" and although Grapefruit's Wells argues that the three covers dilute the original material and overall impact, I personally couldn't disagree more. The Bluesy "Sporting Life" is excellent and guitar frenzy is everywhere on the Morgan Mackinleyfield (Muddy Waters) classic "Rock Me Baby". We never do find out who the Brass Section is on one of the album's highlights - "Queen Of Hearts Blues" - and the delightfully titled "Buffalo Billycan" is surely the masterpiece 45-single Syd's version of Sixties Pink Floyd never made. 

For sure this kind of Psych and Freakbeat will not be everyone's idea of a pleasant punt down the canals of Oxford sipping tea and dreaming of strawberry spongecake. It's a snarler and I'd argue all the more brill for it (there is a reason why some collector parted with four large ones for an album listed at less than half that price). 

"...This is where their progress lies..." wrote Producer Caleb Quaye on the final line of his original 1969 liner notes. Well 51 years on, this unfairly forgotten band and we once-clueless admirers of them and their lone LP have at last progressed some, and we have Grapefruit Records of the UK to thank for it. Well done to all involved and nose bleeds to the rest...

"Bubblerock Is Here To Stay! The British Pop Explosion 1970-1973" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – featuring David Essex, The Sweet, Middle Of The Road, Bay City Rollers, Mungo Jerry, Lieutenant Pigeon, White Plains, Harmony Grass, Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs, Blue Mink, Marmalade, Kenny, Bill Fay, Peter Skellern, Millie, pre 10cc groups with Kevin Godley - Graham Gouldman and Lol Crème - Hotlegs - Festival - Grumble and more, The Tremeloes, Pickettywitch, Fumble, Paintbox, Piglets, Sparky, Pluto, Jonathan King – Pseudonym Acts and UK Records, Fickle Pickle, Design, Pete Dello, Flanelcat and more (October 2020 UK Grapefruit Records 3CD Capacity Wallet with Card Sleeve Artwork and Booklet – Simon Murphy Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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REASON TO BELIEVE

Classic Rock and Beyond 

1970 to 1974 - Volume 2 of 2 

Artists from M to Z 

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"...Don't Stick Stickers On My Paper Knickers..."

Fab 208, Pan's People, Ray Dorset's humungous sideburns, British DJs Dave Lee Travis and Kid Jensen with equally bulbous headphones grinning like Marty Feldman as they plug the latest 45-hitmaker, The Sweet in a wigwam bam, Lead Vocalist Sally Car of Middle Of The Hot in her Hot Pants (oh yes), The Bay City Rollers dreaming of shortbread, midriffs and tartan scarves and those earnest Strawberry Studios geezers in 10cc pre Rubber Bullets and The Wall Street Shuffle - God bless em all!

My fellow-sufferer/reviewer of all things Pop and Rock – The Punk Panther - has called this fascinating October 2020 3CD 85-Track trawl through the whiffy lavatories of English bubblegum rock (and other suchlike horrors) both appalling and thrilling at one and the same time. And you know what, I think the erudite lad has it nailed. I was kind of dreading this 1970 to 1973 pop-light listen (and I was right too in some cases), but then something weird happened – tune discoveries, an open mind and several bottles of paint-stripping Grappa convinced me otherwise. 

Grapefruit Records has built up a rep amongst bonkers-collectors and ancient aficionados like moi and "Bubblerock Is Here To Stay! The British Pop Explosion 1970-1973" is surely a good example as to why. Having said that, I can't in all honesty say that everything here is going tickle many fancies. But it will make anyone who was there for those first four astonishing years of the Seventies smile and occasionally even move them. The 1971 original of Mungo Jerry's "Lady Rose" on that Dawn Records EP for instance is quite rightly featured because it isn't dismissive cack – "Lady Rose" is perfectly lovely melodic harmonica-shuffling Pop that crosses over into the Rock genre (a nugget you overlooked). And I found quite a few more similar veins like that (the wickedly good pre 10cc band called Festival and the Northern Soul vibe of Brenda Arnau). 

So let's get to the Neanderthal Man, Groove with Mr. Bloe and lay it on Johnny Reggae (Reggae) - you big girl's blouse...

UK released Friday, 30 October 2020 - "Bubblerock Is Here To Stay! The British Pop Explosion 1970-1973" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Grapefruit Records CRSEG080T (Barcode 5013929188020) is a 3CD Capacity Wallet set of 85 Remastered Tracks and plays out as follows: 

CD1 (79:14 minutes):
1. Groovin' With Mr. Bloe - MR. BLOE (March 1970 UK 45-single on DJM Records DJS 216, A)
2. It's The Same Old Song - THE WEATHERMEN (December 1970 UK 45-single on B&C Records CB 139, A)
3. The Banner Man - BLUE MINK (June 1971 UK 45-single on Regal Zonophone RZ 3034, A)
4. Come On Around - PAINTBOX (October 1972 UK 45-single on President PT 384, A)
5. 17 - SIMON TURNER (November 1972 UK 45-single on UK Records UK 20, A)
6. That Same Old Feeling - PICKETTYWITCH (January 1970 UK 45-single on Pye 7N 17887, A)
7. Friend Of Mine - Dr. MARIGOLD'S (April 1972 UK 45-single on CBS Records 7986, A)
8. Feedback - MAJORITY ONE (from the July 1971 Italian LP "Majority One" on Jolly LPJ 5109) 
9. Pollution - GINGERBREAD (April 1971 UK 45-single on Pye 7N 45054, A)
10. Neanderthal Man - HOTLEGS (June 1970 UK 45-single on Fontana 6007 019, A)
11. I Fought The Law - POSSE (November 1973 UK 45-single on Santa Ponsa PNS 9, A)
12. Alexander Park (Palisades Park) - FUMBLE (July 1973 UK 45-single on Sovereign SDV 121, A)
13. Emma Louise - STUD LEATHER (February 1973 UK 45-single on Dart ART 2024, A)
14. Circus Girl - CLIFFORD T. WARD (from the September 1972 UK LP "Singer Songwriter" on Dandelion 2310 216)
15. My Little One - THE MARMALADE (February 1971 UK 45-single on Decca F 13135, A)
16. Gay Girl - JONATHAN KING (August 1970 UK 45-single on Decca F 13069, B-side of "Cherry, Cherry")
17. Dirty Old Man - LIEUTENANT PIGEON (from the February 1973 UK LP "Mouldy Old Music" on Decca SKL 5154)
18. Summer Feeling - PAUL GABRIEL (June 1972 UK 45-single on UK Records UK 3, A)
19. Tawny Wood - THE ANSWERS (January 1972 UK 45-single on Spark Records SRL 1058, B-side to "Give Me All That I Need")
20. My Little Girl - AUTUMN (August 1971 UK 45-single on Pye 7N 45090, A, a Harmony Grass cover version)
21. Hello, Hello, Hello - STORMY PETREL (June 1971 UK 45-single on CBS Records 7271, A)
22. Turn Me On - THE MATCHMAKERS (from the April 1971 UK LP "Bubblegum A-Go-Go" on Chapter One CMS-R 1004)
23. Sha La Ley - THE SECRETS (November 1972 UK 45-single on Spark SRL 1083, A)
24. Hello Goodbye - SPARROW [featuring Elaine Paige] (April 1971 UK 45-single on Spark SRL 1052, A)
25. Travellin' Man - TRISTAR AIRBUS (January 1972 UK 45-single on RCA Victor RCA 2170, B-side to "Willie Morgan" - B-side "Travellin' Man" written by Graham Gouldman and features most of 10cc as the backing band)
26. Sunday Girl - DUNNO (November 1971 UK 45-single on M and M Records FFMS 10013, A)
27. Top Ten Record - RICK PRICE (January 1971 UK 45-single on Gemini GMS 017, A)
28. Leap Up And Down - ST. CECELIA (April 1971 UK 45-single on Polydor 2058 104, A)

CD2 (79:41 minutes):
1. Johnny Reggae - THE PIGLETS (October 1971 UK 45-single on Bell BLL 1180, A)
2. Dreams Are Ten A Penny - KINCADE (September 1972 UK 45-singl eon Penny Farthing PEN 796, A)
3. Wig-Wam Bam - THE SWEET (September 1972 UK 45-single on RCA Victor RCA 2260, A)
4. I Like It That Way - THE TREMELOES (May 1972 UK 45-single on CBS Records CBS 8048, A)
5. It Ain't Easy - THE SAD (November 1971 UK 45-single on Phoenix NIX 124, A)
6. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow? - TINA HARVEY (September 1973 US 45-single on UK Records 45-49016, A - a Rolling Stones cover)
7. Baby Walk Back - GUMM (November 1970 UK 45-single on M and M Records FFM 10001, A)
8. Popsicles And Icicles - THE ANGELETTES (August 1972 UK 45-single on UK Records UK 11, A)
9. Da Doo Ron Ron - GRUMBLE (June 1973 UK 45-single on RCA Victor RCA 2384, A - a Crystals cover)
10. Big Fat Oranguman - JUNGLE JIM (August 1971 UK 45-single on Pye 7N 45092, A)
11. Loop Of Love - SHAG (August 1972 UK 45-single on UK Records UK 7, A)
12. Don't Stick Stickers On My Paper Knickers - X-CERTIFICATE (September 1973 UK 45-single on Spark SRL 1096, A)
13. Mayfair - MILLIE (March 1970 UK 45-single Trojan TR 7744, A)
14. On The Dole - ARTHUR'S MOTHER (March 1971 UK 45-single on Polydor 2058 093, A)
15. When You Are A King - WHITE PLAINS (May 1971 UK 45-single on Deram DM 333, A)
16. Cowboy Convention - CALIFORNIA BREAKMEN (April 1972 UK 45-single on M and M Records FFMS 10016, A)
17. Lady Rose - MUNGO JERRY (May 1971 UK 45-single 4-Track EP on Dawn DNX 2510, Track 1, Side A)
18. Sweet Water - JEFF ASTLE (November 1971 UK 45-single on RCA Victor RCA 2147, A)
19. Cecilia - HARMONY GRASS (February 1970 UK 45-single on RCA Records RCA 1932, A - a Simon & Garfunkel cover)
20. It's My Party - BUBBLEROCK (from the August 1972 UK LP "Bubblerock Is Here To Stay!" on UK Records UKA 1 – a Leslie Gore cover)
21. Rupert - JACKIE LEE (November 1970 UK 45-single on Pye 7N 45003, A)
22. Crickets - PETER COWAP (July 1970 UK 45-single on Pye 7N 17976, A)
23. Rag-A-Bone Joe - PLUTO (October 1971 UK 45-single on Dawn DNS 1017, A)
24. Round And Round - RICKY WILDE (February 1973 UK 45-single on UK Records UK 28, a Marty Wilde song and B-side of "April Love")
25. Come Into My Heart - RUSTY HARNESS (November 1970 UK 45-single on Ember EMBS 295, A)
26. Warm Me - FESTIVAL (October 1972 UK 45-single on RCA Victor RCA 2275, A)
27. She Left I Died - TERRY DACTYL & THE DINOSAURS (May 1973 UK 45-single on UK Records UK R 39, A)
28. Hang On Sloopy - SAKKARIN - (July 1971 UK 45-single on RCA Victor RCA 2107, A - a McCoys cover)

CD3 (79:46 minutes):
1. Suspicion - VIVIAN STANSHALL and GARGANTUAN CHUMS (December 1970 UK 45-single on Fly Records BUG 4, A - an Elvis Presley cover - 'chums' included Keith Moon and John Entwistle of The Who)
2. Golden Oldie Show - STARDUST (August 1973 UK 45-single on Sonet 2036, A)
3. I Can't Hide - BILL FAY - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (Recorded 1972)
4. Harry The Earwig - PETE DELLO & FRIENDS (from the July 1971 UK LP "Into Your Eyes” on Nepantha 6437 001)
5. The Rolly Pole Coaster - BUGGY (February 1970 UK 45-single on Parlophone R 5832, A)
6. I Want To Go Back There Again - (BRENDA) B.J. ARNAU (January 1972 UK 45-single on Mojo 2092 028, A - Berry Gordy song, Chris Clark cover)
7. The Jet Song (When The Weekend's Over) - DESIGN (April 1971 UK 45-single on Epic EPC S 7119, A)
8. Lamplight - DAVID ESSEX (November 1973 UK 45-single on CBS Records S 1902, A)
9. California Calling - FICKLE PICKLE (November 1971 Dutch 45-single on Negram DEX 03, A)
10. My Sweet Potato - BUTTERWICK (February 1972 UK 45-single on MAM Records MAM 63, A)
11. You Got A Good Thing - TOUCHWOOD (March 1972 UK 45-single on Ember EMBS 314, A)
12. Jennifer Please - GARY WARREN (August 1971 UK 45-single on President PT 344, A)
13. Keep On Dancing - BAY CITY ROLLERS (June 1971 UK 45-single on Bell Records BLL 1164, A)
14. Hello Blinkers - KEV and LOL (Original 1970 Release, Uncredited Promo-Only 45 on Inter City/Strawberry Studios IC 1215)
15. Our Jackie's Getting Married - PETER SKELLERN (November 1972 UK 45-single on Decca F 13360, A)
16. Nursery Lane - CHRISTYAN (November 1972 UK 45-single on Decca F 13275, A - featuring David Paton and Billy Lyall pre formation of Pilot)
17. Today - RICH TEA (September 1972 UK 45-single on Dart ART 2014, B-side of "Sing Me, Swing Me")
18. Samson And Delilah - MIDDLE OF THE ROAD (June 1972 UK 45-single on RCA Victor RCA 2237, A)
19. You Gotta Have It Sometime - SPARKY (October 1972 UK 45-single on UK Records UK 16, B-side of "(Do You Remember That) Summertime Woman?")
20. Who Is The Doctor? - JON PERTWEE (November 1972 UK 45-single on Purple Records PUR 111, A - features Rupert Hine)
21. Timothy Jones - ROD THOMAS (May 1972 UK 45-single on Cube records BUG 19, A)
22. Today's A Tomorrow - CRUSH (June 1973 UK 45-single on Santa Ponsa PNS 3, A)
23. Don't You Know (She Said Hello) - BUTTERSCOTCH (March 1970 UK 45-single on RCA Victor RCA 1937, A)
24. Heart Of Stone - KENNY (January 1973 UK 45-single on RAK Records RAK 144, A)
25. Living Right Next Door To An Angel - SUMMER WINE (March 1973 UK 45-single on Philips 6006 238, A)
26. Beep Beep - THE BUMBLES (June 1972 UK 45-single on Purple Records PUR 107, A - featuring David Curtiss of Curtiss Maldoon and John Cann of Atomic Rooster and Hard Stuff)
27. Drivin' Drivin' - HIGH NOON (May 1970 UK 45-single on CBS Records S 4972, A)
28. Yer Big Girl's Blouse - FLANELCAT (March 1973 UK 45-single on UK Records UK 33, A - by Mike Hugg of Manfred Mann)
29. Bubblerock Is Here To Stay - BUBBLEROCK (September 1972 UK 45-single on UK Records UK 14, B-side of "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock") - Jonathan King using a Pseudonym

Some have decried Grapefruit for abandoning the glossy 'clamshell mini box set' format and instead lumbering us with what is now called a 'capacity wallet' - a sort of thin card slipcase housing (in this case) individual card sleeves (generous playing times too in all three cases, a snip below 80-minutes) and a 40-page booklet (see photos provided). I'm easy one-way or the other, but for sure the clamshell box is sturdier and feels more substantial. Still, let's deal with what we do have. 

DAVID WELLS has done stunning liner notes before, packed with info and titbits that amaze and make you giggle into the bargain. Here DW digs deeper still, providing individual entries for each song sat alongside the photo displays that are both awesome. Speaking of displays in the booklet. As you can see from the listings above, each CD is largely made up of UK 7" singles and as anyone knows, most only came with label bags - UK Records, CBS, Decca, RCA Victor and so on. In order to provide visuals, someone has sought out those rare 'Euro' variants almost all of which came with exclusive pic sleeves of the bands/artists – the kind of shots collectors love. On top of that you are treated to period photos of 'Look In' magazine, sheet music for "Neanderthal Man" by Hotlegs (pre 10cc) and snaps of both the ladies in the audience of 'Top Of The Pops' and Pan's People as a trio posing in gold lame on its stage (Louise Clark, Babs Lord and Dee Dee Wilde looking hotter than a pepper sprout).  

Some of this stuff is funny and even plain weird. Little will prepare you for the shot of both The Who's Keith Moon and The Bonzo's Vivian Stanshall dressed up in Nazi uniforms to promote a Christmas single in 1970 (well of course they were) or the cherubic nice-tie and haircut teen Gary Warren sat straight-faced by the demonically-bearded Catweazle from the popular British TV show (Warren was literally one of The Railway Children in that Jennifer Agutter film) about to sing a B-side penned by the writer of Psych classics for City Smoke and Orange Seaweed. 
And if that wasn't enough, on disc 2, the playlist veers into rude innuendo and Benny Hill smut when X Certificate urges you to "Don't Stick Stickers On My Paper Knickers" while "My Boy Lollipop" Millie poses literally in the buff for her "Mayfair" 45. Disappointingly (and I know many will weep over this) - St. Cecilia's loose undergarments tune "Leap Up And Down" on CD1 where the picture sleeve is them literally in oversized underpants (apparently knickers was a very funny word in the early 70ts) – have been denied their topical follow-up "C'mon Ma (Burn Your Bra)" on this naughty clotheshorse of a compilation - a devastating blow I think you'll agree. What japes indeed! 

The 40-page booklet to "Bubblerock Is Here To Stay! The British Pop Explosion 1970-1973" is a fantastic and varied read, absolutely crammed to the gunnels with factoids that throw light onto artists and their tangled career trees. The SIMON MURPHY masters are a mixed bag of the good, the great and the just so-so. But I was so busy enjoying myself (or not) to notice audio compromises in such a huge number of acts. To the music...

CD1 opens strongly with the crowd-pleasing instrumental "Groovin' With Mr. Bloe" – the kind of cool tune that ends up in movies. But there are horrors lurking too – The Weathermen doing an insipid cover of The Four Tops Motown hit "It's The Same Old Song", the teen mulch that is "17" by Simon Turner and Jonathan King doing "Gay Girl" (oh dear). Discoveries and clever inclusions include a European LP-only track from Majority One and cracking songs from Stormy Petrel and Paintbox. Great Pop too from The Secrets and the lovely "Tawny Wood" by an obscure group called The Answers. And it still amazes me to think that the pre 10cc half-hearted seaside shuffle of "Neanderthal man" shifted over two million copies. 

We enter the world of the musically bizarre with Disc 2 where Nick Drake fans will find out that an unissued song of his called "Mayfair" was brought by his ace arranger Robert Kirby to Millie (of My Boy Lollipop fame) who then Reggae-fied it into a surprisingly dull effort on Trojan Records (God this is wrong on so many levels). With regard to the fab unsung hero that is Robert Kirby - see my review for the Ace Records CD compilation "When The Day Is Done - The Orchestrations Of Robert Kirby" (use Barcode 029667088022 to locate it). 

Jonathan King, his pseudonym bands and the UK Records label in general appear across all the discs - Shag, Sakkarin, Bubblerock and opening CD2 is the right tasty geezer Mavis of "Johnny Reggae" – a great deal more fun than I remember it. Productions values jump leaps and bounds for The Hollies meets The Moody Blues acoustic Rock of Kincade and their excellent "Dreams Are Ten A Penny". Discoveries include a creepy re-working of the Stones drug-tune "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?" by Tina Harvey, the wife who finds it hard to live with her bisexual husband in "It Ain't Easy" by The Sad (the BBC banned it for a while), and again the voices and productions of Gouldman and Crème in "Crickets" by Peter Cowap. Speaking of that band – the Festival tune "Warm Me" is such a hit but again didn’t make it. Neither here nor there looms large too in the West Bromwich Albion centre-forward come singer Jeff Astle or the awful "Rupert" by Jackie Lee. 

By the time we get to Disc 3, a case of diminishing returns and patience testing kicks in big time with tripe like Buggy or Pete Dello or Butterwick or Touchwood. But there is fun in the guitar pop of the Rich Tea B-side, the second 45 from David Essex "Lamplight" is welcome too (even if it borrows from a Leon Russell tune), and the lovely cover of the Berry Gordy-written Chris Clark tune "I Want To Go Back There Again" by B. J. Arnau – is a surprisingly sweet Northern Soul vibe in a compilation a million miles away from such things. Jon Pertwee tells Dr. Who fans "...through the cosmic waste, the Tardis flies..." in his distinctive and cool voice on "Who Is The Doctor?” while Design has those, Rotary Connection meets The Association harmonies on the go in a rather good tune called "The Jet Song..."

For sure, Grapefruit could be accused of trying to hold-in the fat belly of Seventies pop-light detritus with "Bubblerock Is Here To Stay! The British Pop Explosion 1970-1973", when they should lock it all up in a nuclear bunker and never let it out again for fear of contamination of vulnerable younger minds. But isn't that half the fun?

Where is a musical Playtex Girdle when you need one – right here baby...in a Capacity Wallet...