VA - Miles Out to Sea, The Roots of British Power Pop 1969-1975 [2022] (3 x CD's)

 

BRITISH POWER POP

VA - Miles Out to Sea, The Roots of British Power Pop 1969-1975 [2022] (3 x CD's)

Cruising the dusty side streets and forgotten alleyways of rock & roll history, there are all kinds of treasures to be found if one takes a left turn away from the accepted canon whenever possible. Case in point, the brilliant collection Miles Out to Sea: The Roots of British Power Pop 1969-1975, which makes a valiant effort to posit that great pop music didn't just fade away after the Beatles packed it in. The three discs here are jammed with warbly glam rockers, jangling dreamers, introspective piano pushers, melodic hard rockers, tuneful oddballs, and radio-friendly gumdroppers, all looking for that rousing moment when a cascading melody, plangent vocal, and trilling vocal harmony cuddle up next to a little bit of power -- maybe a flashing guitar riff, a thudding drumbeat, or some booming bass -- and make magic happen. Some of the alchemists here are well-known, like the Kinks with their moody rocker "This Man He Weeps Tonight," the Move with the hyperactive "Chinatown," and the Who, who teeter on the far edge of the pop-to-power scale on "In a Hand or a Face." Of course, Badfinger, the band who are the poster children for this whole enterprise, shine with the painfully pretty ballad "Know One Knows." Scattered across the rest of the set are fun surprises, too. Who knew Slade could write a melancholy melody with the song that gave the collection its name or that Iain Matthews ("So Sad [No Love of His Own]") went to Ridgemont High with Jackson Browne?

The best thing about comps like this is discovering acts who were unjustly lost to time, and there are plenty of them here. A short list of winners has to include Shakane's glimmering cover of Neil Young's "When You Dance I Can Really Love," Liverpool Echo's lovely Merseybeat/folk-rock hybrid "Girl on the Train," Neil Harrison's so-George-it-hurts "Bicycle Driver," and Stray's ripping rocker "Alright Ma!" Most incredible of the lost gems is Pagliaro's "Some Sing, Some Dance," a song that takes full advantage of the era's anything-goes ethos and comes up with pop music at its most breathtaking. A few names that rate a little high on the familiarity scale do drop by with some gems as well: Stealers Wheel add some funk to their strum on the delightfully loose "Go as You Please," a pre-prog Barclay James Harvest turn in the nifty mod groover "Good Love Child," and who in their right mind could resist the sunny delight of First Class and "Beach Baby"? Or Rocking Horse's "Biggest Gossip in Town"? This is just a partial listing of the treats that await travelers willing to set aside history and do a little off-road exploring, a task made easy by the effort and care put into Miles Out to Sea by the genius crew of spelunkers who make up the staff at Grapefruit. Long may they dig when the results are as glittering and golden as these. (AllMusic review by Tim Sendra)

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Pt.1      Pt.2 

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Track lists

CD1

01 Slade Miles Out To Sea 3:50

02 Pilot Just A Smile 3:16

03 Rockin' Horse Biggest Gossip In Town 2:45

04 Michel Pagliaro Some Sing, Some Dance 2:43

05 Octopus Rainchild 3:06

06 Shape Of The Rain I'll Be There 3:41

07 Starry Eyed And Laughing Going Down 3:06

08 Shakane Please, Eliza 3:06

09 Rotten To The Core Don't Let Me Wait Too Long 2:44

10 Honeybus Black Mourning Band 3:14

11 Bachdenkel You Lied About Your Age 3:09

12 Brinsley Schwarz (What's So Funny 'bout) Peace And Understanding 3:33

13 Dave Edmunds When Will I Be Loved 2:58

14 Unicorn Nightingale Crescent 3:36

15 Rusty Brighton Rock 3:48

16 Byzantium You Made Me Stand Up Straighter 2:25

17 Neil Harrison Bicycle Driver 3:29

18 The Tremeloes Try Me 3:38

19 Sweet Peppermint Twist 3:29

20 Marmalade She Wrote Me A Letter 2:44

21 Raw Holly Love's Made A Fool Of You 3:46

22 Help Yourself Strange Affair 3:24

23 Paintbox Let Your Love Go 2:21

24 Gerry Rafferty Where I Belong 2:03

25 Ragamuffin Fresh As A Daisy 3:01

CD2

01 Badfinger Know One Knows 3:15

02 Move Chinatown 3:08

03 Liverpool Echo Girl On The Train 2:47

04 Jimmy Campbell Lonely Norman 3:17

05 Nimbo Forget Her 2:18

06 Majority One Get Back Home 2:46

07 Stackridge Dangerous Bacon 2:43

08 Stealers Wheel Go As You Please 3:41

09 Keith Riley Second Time Around 4:02

10 Sutherland Brothers & Quiver Champion The Underdog 4:14

11 Stray Alright Ma! 3:10

12 Atlantis I Ain't Got Time 3:02

13 Sheridan And Rick Price Sometimes I Wonder 2:42

14 Bo' Flyers So Young And In Love 2:49

15 Ducks Deluxe Something's Going On 3:03

16 Small Wonder Ordinary Boy 2:58

17 Hammersmith Gorillas Leavin' 'ome 3:33

18 Hollywood Brats Zurich 17 (Be My Baby) 3:05

19 Octopus Girlfriend 2:56

20 Sheephouse Hole In The Sky 2:28

21 Billy Bates Money Makes The World 2:32

22 Fabulous Ratbites From Hell Sparkle 5:51

23 Bachdenkel The Ring Of Truth 2:53

24 Who In A Hand Or A Face 3:24

25 Budgie Rolling Home Again 1:43

CD3

01 Kinks This Man He Weeps Tonight 2:40

02 Rockin' Horse Don't You Ever Think I Cry 3:51

03 Shape Of The Rain We're Not Their Boys 4:22

04 Fickle Pickle Let Me Tell You 2:17

05 Simon Turner Baby (I Gotta Go) 3:13

06 Liverpool Express Smile (My Smiler's Smile) 3:27

07 Penny Arcade I Don't Need You Any More 2:37

08 Fresh Air It Takes Too Long 3:35

09 Shakane When You Dance I Can Really Love 3:03

10 Billy Kinsley Annabella 3:43

11 Liverpool Echo Sally Works Nights 2:46

12 Rusty Stay At Home 2:23

13 Starry Eyed And Laughing Chimes Of Freedom 2:54

14 Ironbridge Back Room 3:43

15 Black Label No Matter What 3:00

16 Barclay James Harvest Good Love Child 5:07

17 P.c. Kent Little Baby Won't You Please Come Home, Honey-Child Won't You Just Allow Me One More Chance, Please 2:34

18 Iain Matthews So Sad (No Love Of His Own) 3:49

19 Wolfe Jewel 3:08

20 Airbus Walking The Silver Hay 3:34

21 Angel Pavement Maybe Tomorrow 4:11

22 First Class Beach Baby 4:53

23 Keith Riley From Me And From You 0:56

24 Rupert Holmes I Don't Want To Hold Your Hand 3:06

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