VA - New Moon's In The Sky (The British Progressive Pop Sounds Of 1970) [2019] (3 x CD's)

 

BRITISH PROGRESSIVE POP

VA - New Moon's In The Sky (The British Progressive Pop Sounds Of 1970) [2019] (3 x CD's)

Like the late 60's 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. (AllMusic Review by Tim Sendra)

To be honest, they had me when I saw the third and final disc concludes with Bill Oddie's immaculate reworking of "On Ilkla' Moor Baht' At" in the style of Joe Cocker's "WIth A Little Help From My Friends", which I hadn't heard since the much-missed "Walters' Weekly" was on Radio 1 in the early 80's. 

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Track lists

CD1

01 Procol Harum Piggy Pig Pig 4:45

02 Barclay James Harvest Good Love Child 5:08

03 Five Day Rain Good Year 4:02

04 Hawkwind Hurry On Sundown 4:57

05 Stray Around The World In Eighty Days 3:38

06 Humblebums All The Best People Do It 3:02

07 Magna Carta Give Me No Goodbye 3:09

08 Cressida Winter Is Coming Again 4:44

09 Tim Andrews Tiny Goddess 2:38

10 Angel Pavement Jennifer 2:19

11 Harmony Grass I've Seen To Dream 3:15

12 Penny Arcade Two Of Us 3:09

13 River California Here I Come 3:20

14 Canticle My Mind's Eye 2:18

15 Plastic Penny Celebrity Ball 2:41

16 Patto Time To Die 2:58

17 Sweet Mr. McGallagher 2:44

18 Seychelles I Will Be There 2:44

19 Good Vibrations Call Me Lightning 2:20

20 Tremeloes Me And My Life 3:09

21 Kevin Ayers & The Whole Wide World Singing A Song In The Morning 2:54

22 Flying Machine The Flying Machine 2:39

23 Love Sculpture In The Land Of The Few (single version) 3:22

24 She Trinity Climb That Tree 3:38

CD2

01 Marmalade Kaleidoscope 4:07

02 Honeybus Under the Silent Tree 4:01

03 Putney Bridge What's it All About 3:15

04 Jawbone Across the Universe 3:47

05 Atomic Rooster Devil's Answer (Demo Version) 4:01

06 Fox Lovely Day 3:27

07 Blonde on Blonde Castles in the Sky 3:27

08 Curved Air Blind Man 3:32

09 Meic Stevens Rowena 3:08

10 Lifeblud Bridge 2:24

11 Rusty Harness Goodbye 2:56

12 Ancient Grease Time to Die 4:05

13 Ufo Treacle People 3:24

14 Smoke Playing With Magic 3:04

15 Others Mr. Dieingly Sad 2:41

16 David and David In the City 3:13

17 Steamhammer Levinia 3:21

18 Fickle Pickle Sam and Sadie 2:16

19 Regime Mr. and Mrs. Franklin 2:04

20 Hollies Mad Professor Blyth 2:17

21 Yellow Taxi Anna Laura Lee 2:27

22 Paper Bubble Mother, Mother, Mother 3:05

23 Andromeda Step This Way 4:02

24 Fut Have You Heard the Word 4:31

CD3

01 Warhorse St. Louis 3:50

02 Bachdenkel An Appointment With the Master 5:17

03 Status Quo Shy Fly 3:48

04 Andrew Bown Tarot 2:25

05 Octopus Thief 3:36

06 Affinity United States of Mind 2:45

07 Doctor Father Umbopo 5:32

08 This Side Up Together in the Night 3:01

09 Gods He's Growing 2:28

10 Hard Meat Through a Window 4:00

11 Iron Maiden Ned Kelly 3:11

12 Move What 6:42

13 Sheridan Lightning Never Strikes 2:39

14 Flashman Hard Selling Woman 2:30

15 Airbus Alias Oliver Dream 2:54

16 Killing Floor Soon There Will Be Everything 3:52

17 Love Street Rock and Roll Woman 2:53

18 Savwinkle and Turnerhopper Your Mother Thinks I'm a Hoodlum 3:18

19 Fire Flies Like a Bird (Single Version) 3:58

20 Danny McCulloch Colour of the Sunset 2:41

21 Ghost Indian Maid 4:23

22 Bill Oddie On Ilkla Moor Bah'at 3:55

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