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Hey what’s up, Sorry Staters? I hope you are all doing well. I know it’s a crazy world out there right now. Elections, sporting tournaments, you name it. Plenty to keep us busy and distracted by. This weekend is also a holiday here in the US; we are celebrating our possible last Independence day. At the same time, we’re experiencing brutal heat waves with the triple digit readings returning. Please people, do not leave your vinyl, kids and dogs in the car.
We recently bought a big collection from an industry guy who, between the late 1970s and early 1980s, must have acquired every promo copy of a new release going. He had all sorts of special promo only 12”s, 10”s and white label pressings. We’ve been pricing them up and selling them over the past couple of weeks. After we had made a couple of passes, I went through again looking for good bargain bin titles and for anything that we might have missed. Among the many decent records I found and brought to the store were a bunch of cool compilations. They were mostly label sampler promo type things and contemporary to the period i.e., late 70s/early 80s. I liked the Urgh! Soundtrack compilation, which had almost all of the artists who appeared in the film. The film itself consisted of just live footage shot at various venues and locations around the world in 1980. There was no narration or talking heads, just the live footage. As for the acts themselves? There isn’t a bad one on there, really. For me, the weakest selection was the very first cut by The Police (which isn’t so bad), but after that you get a ton of great live versions of good songs by good groups. I don’t think it will cost you a lot to buy. This collection had three copies, and I sold two as I was playing it in the store. The third I kept for myself. LoL.
From the same collection was another cool compilation that Columbia records put out in 1982 called Psychedelic Dream. It featured a mix of songs from bigger name bands that Columbia and Epic Records had released in the late 1960s, but also included lesser-known names and songs from records that didn’t sell so well and were, by the 1980s and beyond, quite rare and expensive. So in amongst the stuff from The Byrds, The Great Society, Spirit and The Hollies, you get some cool cuts from the likes of Kak, United States Of America, July, and The Head Shop. Those last four wouldn’t see their records being reissued until years later. So, if you were a punter back in 1982 and took this one home, it probably set you on a quest to track down these more obscure releases. The July album is one of my favorite U.K. 60s psych albums and so to get a couple of cuts from it on this comp was cool. The album jacket sports a third eye graphic with neon colors and cryptic lettering which might mean something and comes with a brief essay of nonsense which ends with, “The secret message lies written in chalk as the rain comes down on the other sidewalk.” Alright. Cool. There’s a track listing and production credits, but no more information. I’m not sure how well this sold and you don’t see it talked about as a cool must have in the same ways that folks talk about Nuggets, for instance, but even if it only draws from a couple of major labels, the track selection is decent and it’s a good listen. Jeff and I gave it a rinse in the store and enjoyed the play back.
Staying with the late 1960s and psychedelic music comes a great reissue of an obscurity from 1969. It’s Twentieth Century Zoo and their album titled Thunder On A Clear Day that originally came out on the Vault label out of L.A. The band themselves were from Phoenix, Arizona and were originally called The Bittersweets, but changed their name on arriving in L.A. to record and being informed that there was already a group on the east coast who had the same name. Apparently, the new name came from a remark made by a girl tripping on acid at one of their shows. The group had put out their first couple of 45s on the local Caz label. These two singles and a couple more that Vault released and then the album in 1969 are the band’s entire output. The album is a nice mix of heavy bluesy psych in a similar vein to Blue Cheer, The Savage Resurrection, The Litter’s Emerge album and of course Led Zeppelin, who were ruling the underground rock circles at the time with their first two albums. The songs that have a more garage-psych sound are the ones that interest me most. Years ago, Sundazed Records put out a 45 that compiled the two A sides from their first two singles, You Don’t Remember and Love In Your Face, plus the B-side of the second, a cover of Tossin’ And Turnin’. It’s been a fave in my collection since buying it. Those two A-sides get included on the album, but I believe they were rerecorded or edited. They sound close, but from what I have read were recorded at different studios. Certainly, the earlier versions didn’t have the sound effects that the album version has. This current reissue adds the B-sides from the two Vault singles whose A-sides are already included on the album, but either due to space, taste or publishing rights does not include the Caz label single B-sides, of which the cover of Tossin’ And Turnin’ is one of them. It’s a shame because the song has some wicked fuzz leads and solos. Otherwise, though, you get the bulk of their best material.
An original of this record has always been tough to see, let alone afford, and for that reason there have been several bootleg pressings put out over the years and a legit CD version, again from Sundazed Records, which has a bunch of unreleased tracks that might have ended up on a second TCZ album had they had opportunity to release one. Although their record was critically well received, and they did tour and play good size venues with the likes of the MC5, their career was cut short when lead guitarist Paul “Skip” Ladd was drafted. The band attempted to find a replacement, but those attempts failed and after a final single release the group officially disbanded in 1970. There’s a good interview with Skip that you can read here.
Take a listen to the tunes here, which includes those singles and B-sides, and snag a copy from us if you dig it. I know I will be.
Cheers - Dom