Archive for the ‘Sagittarius’ Category

The Forum

Sunday, March 17th, 2013

The River Is Wide / The Forum

Listen: The River Is Wide / The Forum
The

There was many a single during the year 1967 like this one. Although most acts survived to release three or four, it was usually only one that made a splash, picking up late night pre FM progressive play on the many AM Top 40′s that would go a bit free form in the early hours, especially prevalent during that summer. These singles would many times graduate to daytime play and eventually maintain themselves a several month spread across the US pop stations, and be regarded as signature to the year of flower power, even through to the present.

As with Sagittarius ‘My World Fell Down’, The Avant-Garde ‘Naturally Stoned’, The Third Rail ‘Run Run Run’ or The Strawberry Children ‘Love Years Coming’, The Forum’s ‘The River Is Wide’ has earned this honor. WNDR, the tighter of of the two Syracuse Top 40′s charted it.

Partially MOR, partially Rotary Connection underground soul, a hint of Bill Medley’s Righteous Brothers baritone vocal and some Four Seasons meets Fifth Dimension backgrounds, all produced under the guidance of Les Baxter and Norm Ratner. An unlikely recipe that collided perfectly together and was easily labeled as psychedelic when no other explanation would suffice.

From one of the many stacks WMCR donated my way, it’s fun reading what the label’s promotion guy wrote to the station’s MD on the single’s original company sleeve above.

The Merry-Go-Round

Tuesday, October 18th, 2011

Listen: Live / The Merry-Go-Round
Live

I think summer ’67 was the sunniest ever. I remember it like yesterday, and can still feel the angst of wanting every last record that was being released. I was insatiable, riding my bike daily, many times twenty miles each way on the back country roads either between Canastota and Oneida, or into Syracuse. Every night as I lay in bed with the transistor under my pillow, listening to AM broadcasts from far away places in the Midwest or way up into the Northeast via Boston or Maine, I’d be scheming out tomorrow’s plan of where to go, looking for, asking for records.

Back then, at dusk, AM stations were required to switch from broad, local signals, to limited radius and directional. This meant those directional beams would make local broadcasts from hundreds and hundreds of miles away sound down the street. And with many of the looser US Top 40′s playing the latest underground and psychedelic releases overnight, new discoveries became a daily occurrence. Whether it be Country Joe & The Fish, The Pink Floyd, Moby Grape, The Move, The Magic Mushrooms, Tim Hardin, The Lewis & Clark Expedition, The Flowerpot Men or The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, I was hearing it all and my want list was endless.

So off I’d go, to the various shops, blagging promo records, last week’s copies of BILLBOARD, CASHBOX and RECORD WORLD, music surveys from the local Top 40′s, inventory check lists the distributors would leave with the store buyers, I hoarded them all.

Wednesdays were when the national record label reps would hit the Syracuse stations promoting their wares. None of my friends dared join me, so I’d wait alone on my bike in the parking lots for them to pull up, and got good at talking singles out of these guys, handing my high school newspaper record reviews to them in exchange for a dig through their latest releases. I’ll tell you truthfully, I’ve tried just about every drug out there, but never have I found a high near the one a free for all through a promotion man’s trunk full of 1967 promo 45′s could provide.

What became known as sunshine pop surfaced amongst the sub genres and regional music scenes during that summer. God, I hated the term and generally cringe when having to admit liking music tagged as such. Along with The Third Rail, Sagittarius, Eternity’s Children, Colours and The Sunshine Company, I guess The Merry-Go-Round’s ‘Live’ inhabited a slot. Their obvious British looking haircuts caught my eye, and when ‘Live’ started to pick up a lot of daytime play quickly, I was hooked. Critics claim a similarity to The Beatles, I don’t hear it. I preferred to associate them closer to The Hollies or The Tremeloes, they certainly looked the part.

‘Live’ almost made it nationally, but stalled just short of Top 50, which was ultimately a real shame.

You know those songs that take you right back? This is one for me.

Colours

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

coloursloveheals, Colours, Sunshine Pop, Dot

Listen: Love Heals / Colours ColoursLoveHeals.mp3

A lot of great records were released in ’67, especially during that year’s summer. Decades later, and yet another genre from the day has found it’s own identity: Sunshine Pop. Not someone who happily admits to being a fan, without question there were some fine, no denying it singles to transport you right back to the moment if in fact you lived it. You couldn’t turn on the radio for more than half an hour and avoid a classic waiting to be. The Forum, Sagittarius, The Avant-Garde, The Cyrkle and The Third Rail all had their airplay moments with mid chart, near hits. Seldom lamented, Colours’ ‘Love Heals’ sits perfectly amongst the crop. Undeniably tinged with British influence, very Beatles to be specific, these one (near) hit wonders even spelled their name the UK way. Not sure about the album, but definitely find the 7″.

SAGITTARIUS

Friday, November 7th, 2008

Listen:  My World Fell Down / Sagittarius

Listen: My World Fell Down / Sagittarius MyWorldFellDown.mp3

Gary Usher was an early collaborator with Brian Wilson. One of them hugely influenced the other, not sure which, their work is so similar sounding. You might even say their sound was identical. Very much tied to the surf/hot rod California scene, he manufactured a bunch of bands in the genre: The Hondells being the biggest. In ‘67, the sound of LSD mixed with clean, west coast surf-pop trademarked his then current fictitious band: Sagittarius. This single was ever present during the summer of that year. Although it didn’t chart that high (#70), it warranted a full length that is really good. This is almost a blueprint of well produced, commercial drug pop.