When I heard that there was going to be a collaborative album between the sweet sounding Campbell with the life lived baritone of Lanegan, I thought it was an April Fool’s. It just goes to show how wrong you can be. The duo produced three albums along with associated singles/EPs between 2006 and 2010. With Lanegan’s passing in 2022, the chance of the pair recording together again has now passed.
Campbell was the driving force behind this pair up, writing most of the songs as well as producing the records but did not want to continue touring. The grind of going out on the road was one of the reasons she had quit Belle and Sebastian back in 2002. The relationship with Lanegan had also become strained but what we got when they did work together, it was a modern version of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood. Enjoy.
Dusty Wreath
We Die & See Beauty Again
You Won’t Let Me Down Again
Snake Song
Shotgun Blues
The False Husband
Deus Ibi Est
Ramblin’ Man
Time Of The Season
Something To Believe
Come On Over (Turn Me On)
Cool Water
Saturday’s Gone
Lately
Rambling Rose, Clinging Vine
No Place To Fall
Trouble
Revolver
Keep Me In Mind Sweetheart
The Circus Is Leaving Town
The cover is adapted from the duo’s third and final album, ‘Hawk’. This play list could not be reproduced with one or more songs not being available on Spotify.
I only started buying Isobel Campbell’s solo records once she had left Belle and Sebastian. This occurred after the release of the bands ‘Storytelling’ LPs and it as though her leaving was one of the reasons why some of the tweeness left the band. What I didn’t realise until much later is that she released two album whilst still a member of Belle and Sebastian under the name of The Gentle Waves. These Gentle Waves albums could even be considered lost Belle and Sebastian albums as members of the band provide backing to her songs. Campbell released a number of records until 2006, when she collaborated with Mark Lanegan on a number of albums, but more on them later in the month. After the release of he last Campbell/Lanegan collaboration, there was silence for ten years. That does not mean that Campbell wasn’t doing anything. She had moved to American with her husband and had recorded an album but when her label folded, she spent a long time trying to obtain the rights to her own recordings so she could release them herself. Luckily for us, she did this and when ‘There Is No Other’ came out in 2020, there was an option to buy the album with a different, acoustic mix. Any songs where I have used these acoustic versions have been listed as such. Enjoy.
Disc 1
Milkwhite Sheets
Bang Bang
Hold Back A Thousand Years*
Solace Of Pain*
Renew & Restore*
Time Is Just The Same
Evensong*
Weathershow*
Song For Baby
Argomenti
This Land Flows With Milk
Beggar, Wiseman or Thief?
Hori Horo
O Love Is Teasin’
Are You Going To Leave Me?
Monologue For An Old True Love
Loretta Young*
The Breeze Whispered Your Name (Part 2)
There is No Greater Gold*
Let The Good Times Begin*
There Was Magic, Then…*
Rose, I Love You*
Thursday’s Child (Coda)*
This play list could not be reproduced with one or more songs not being available on Spotify.
Disc 2
City Of Angels
Rainbow (Acoustic)
Ant Life (Acoustic)
Just For Today (Acoustic)
The National Bird Of India
Runnin’ Down A Dream
Love For Tomorrow
Johnny Come Home
Falling From Grace*
Pretty Things*
Flood*
Reynardine
Tree Lullaby*
Yearning
Vultures (Acoustic)
See Your Face Again
Loving Hannah
Willow’s Song
Hey World (Acoustic)
Emmanuelle, Skating On Thin Ice*
Enchanted Place*
The Heart of It All (Acoustic)
A Chapter In The Life Mathiew*
*The Gentle Waves
Some of these songs are from the acoustic version her last album. This play list could not be reproduced with one or more songs not being available on Spotify.
The cover is adapted from the EP, ‘Time Is Just the Same’.
Before I start talking about the band in this era, I will point out that a couple of the tracks on this compilation come from the bands tenure on the Jeepster label. I quite liked the tunes and couldn’t find a place for them on the Jeepster compilation, so I thought I would use them here. They don’t sound out of place which is a bonus.
The bands time on Rough Trade started with intent as they had Uber producer Trevor Horn to work on their ‘Dear Catastrophe Waitress’ LP. It not only signalled a period of time on a new label, but a newish sound. The songs were not as twee as they once were as the songs had a bit more production to them. The instrumentation more diverse and they also started to release singles that was already on an album, which was a change from what had gone before. With Trevor Horn on board, the fact that the band became louder and more mainstream should not have been a surprise.
This period also produced the ‘God Help the Girl’ project. This was initially an album of songs sung by women but written by Belle and Sebastian’s main songwriter, Stuart Murdoch. Though not classed as a Belle and Sebastian album, I have included songs from this project here because they fit in with the overall sound. These records also had a number of people from the band playing on them so that is close enough for me. The project would eventually lead to a film of the same name and because there was such a focus on this, there was only one Belle and Sebastian album released between 2007 and 2015.
Disc 1
Fiction
I Didn’t See It Coming
God Help The Girl*
Come On Sister
The Blues Are Still Blue
Last Trip
Funny Little Frog
I’ll Have To Dance With Cassie*
Pretty Eve in The Tub*
Your Cover’s Blown
You Don’t Send Me
Song For Sunshine
Calculating Bimbo
Dress Up In You
If You Could Speak*
The Psychiatrist Is In*
Baby’s Just Waiting*
Stay Loose
Perfection Is A Hipster*
Mornington Crescent
Fiction Reprise
Disc 2
Act Of The Apostle*
I’m In Love With The City*
Susie In The Graveyard
He’s A Loving Kind Of Boy*
Stop, Look & Listen
Blue Eyes Of A Millionaire
If She Wants Me
Suicide Girl
White Collar Boy
Dear Catastrophe Waitress
Come Monday Night*
Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John
Musician, Please Take Heed*
I Just Want Your Jeans*
Roy Walker
We Are The Sleepyheads
Another Sunny Day
I’m A Cuckoo (Single Version)
I’m Not Living In The Real World
Asleep On A Sunbeam
A Down & Dusky Blonde*
I Took A Long Hard Look
Night Walk
The cover of this compilation is adapted from the album, ‘The Life Pursuit’.
This month, I will be focusing on Belle and Sebastian, as well as the solo career of past member Isobel Campbell. I think the first time I heard of this band was when they won the British Breakthrough act at the Brit Awards in 1999. I did ask myself who they were especially as their victory annoyed Pete Waterman who felt that Steps, a group he produced should have won claiming Belle and Sebastian had rigged the online vote to win. The Brits checked the votes and found nothing wrong, but any band that can annoy Pete Waterman is alright with me. It was not long after this that I read that their first album from three years before was going to be re-released. I was also interested in this release because ‘Tigermilk’ which was the name of the first album had only originally been released in a limited edition of 1000. I went down to my local Our Price (remember them?) and ordered it.
‘Tigermilk’ was a lot more twee than the majority, if not all of the records I owned up to that point but I loved it. It is one of the few albums I can put on and play all the way through without wanting to skip over a single song. From the opening song, ‘The State I Am In’, I was hooked. Considering this album was made as a college project, it is better than a lot of more famous albums that had a lot more money thrown into its production. Just goes to show you that money doesn’t buy you everything. After the first play through, I knew had to find out what other records they had made.
At that point, it included three albums and four EPs which rather quickly made their way into the Squire Archive. The first two albums were both originally released in 1996 and the second was called ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’. I found this album a bit hard to get into initially but with perseverance, it paid dividends. The band spent 1997 releasing a number of EPs instead of an LP. The first one was ‘Dog On Wheels’, which is essentially the demos that the college heard which lead to the recording of ‘Tigermilk’. Two more EPs followed, each with a number of classy songs but would show the way forward for the group as they contained songs not written by main writer, Stuart Murdoch. This democratic approach would continue into their third record, ‘The Boy With The Arab Strap’.
With all this great music blaring out of my stereo system, I began to look forward to the next album. I did not have to wait long for. “Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant” came out in 2000 and I remember being very disappointed with it but there were still a couple of good tunes on here for me to enjoy. The band ticked over between this and their last album on the Jeepster label by releasing some singles, none of which appeared on any of the LPs. You cannot accuse Belle and Sebastian of not giving their fans value for money. This view all came crashing down with their last album on the Jeepster label which was called ‘Storytelling’. The album was meant to be the soundtrack to a movie of the same name, but only six minutes of music was used. Without looking at it too much, I’m sure I did not use that much more on this compilation either. It was an album of musical cues and most probably a contract filler. The band would sign with the Rough Trade label for their next release.
Even though they could not maintain the quality of the songs (what band can?), there was so much great material during the years they were with the Jeepster label that I could produce a three disc compilation. I love this era of the band and I especially love the music contained on the first two disc. It brings back lots of memories of a time in my life and in their win at the 1999 Brit Awards, showed that manufactured groups did not always get their own way. All of these songs were available on Spotify so the playlists are available to listen to.
Disc 1
The State I Am In
Expectations
She’s Losing it
You’re Just A Baby
Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying
If You’re Feeling Sinister
I Don’t Love Anyone
Photo Jenny
I Know Where The Summer Goes
Mayfly
I Could Be Dreaming
Lazy Line Painter Jane
My Wandering Days Are Over
Mary Jo
Ease Your Feet In The Sea
Like Dylan In The Movies
Beautiful
The Rollercoaster Ride
Disc 2
It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career
Is It Wicked Not To Care?
Seeing Other People
The Loneliness Of The Middle Distance Runner
The Model
Don’t Leave The Light On Baby
The Boy With The Arab Strap
Chickfactor
I Love My Car
Seymour Stein
Women’s Realm
Waiting For The Moon To Rise
A Summer Wasting
Marx & Engels
The Gate
Take Your Carriage Clock & Shove It
We Rule The School
The Chalet Lines
Judy & The Dream Of Horses
Electronic Renaissance
Songs For Children
Disc 3
I Fought In A War
Black & White Lines
Storytelling
Wandering Alone
La Pastie De La Bourgeoise
Me & The Major
Nothing In The Silence
Big John Shaft
The Wrong Girl
There’s Too Much Love
Put The Book Back On The Shelf
Simple Things
Dirty Dream Number 2
Winter Wooksie
A Century Of Fakers
Nice Day For A Sulk
Family Tree
The Boy Done Wrong Again
The Magic Of A Kind Word
The Fox In The Snow
You Made Me Forget My Dreams
This Is Just A Modern Rock Song
The front cover is the same as the cover to the ‘Dog On Wheels’ EP.
Looking back, over 50 years since their first album was released, it might be hard for the audience today to get their heads around the amount of albums this band sold. Every single one of their records released in their ten year of recording new material achieved Platinum status in the US and UK markets and their fourth album has sold over 20 millions copies in the America alone. The band have also tightly controlled their output, famously not releasing an official single in the UK until 1997. The 70s were their decade but they did not last into the next decade having decided not to continue after their drummer, John Bonham, died in 1980.
I knew very little about Led Zeppelin before 1990, and then I heard Stairway to Heaven on the radio. Asking around, I found a friend at school had a copy of the album that song came from and lent me the record. I was hooked. This just happened to coincide with my first forays into buying my own records instead of just what was in the house. Coincidently, it was around this time that the band announced that they going to release a 4 CD Boxed Set, remixed by Jimmy Page who had not only played on all of the albums but had produced them the first time around. I had to have it and on Christmas Day morning, there it was.
I seem to remember the set was produced because Page was annoyed with the mastering job that had been done on his music when they first released on CD and felt that he could do a better job. He was not wrong in that respect. The sound is in you face from the moment ‘Whole Lotta Love’ comes out of the speakers. The rest of the first CD is uniformly excellent with enough light and dark in the music to show that they are not just a hard rocking outfit. CD 2 is a bit more folkie and mellow and that was all I could take on the first sitting. It took me a while too warm to the music on the latter discs, especially CD 3. Like most bands I like, the longer they go on, the less I seem to like the music. The CD 4 was the same.
What annoyed me a little bit about this Boxed Set was that at the same time, a two disc highlights set was also released and contained the song ‘Good Times Bad Times’ that was missing from the set I had. With funds limited, there was not way I was going to be able to buy the two disc set just for one song. I was also able to borrow most of the individual albums off of other people to hear the songs that I was missing and I left it at that. However, Led Zeppelin did something that no other band have done to the best of my knowledge. That was, they released another Boxed Set which included all of the songs not on the 1990 set. This meant that I now had every song from their albums including BBC sessions, unique remixes and outtakes. Well done Zeppelin; an excellent example to other bands of not ripping off your fans.
This compilation is my own best off of Zeppelin songs over three discs as they produced so much good music that it had to be that long. Enjoy!
Disc 1
Good Times Bad Times
Living Loving Maid (She’s Just A Woman)
Whole Lotta Love
Heartbreaker
Communication Breakdown
Babe I’m Gonna Leave You
What Is & What Should Never Be
You Shook Me
Boogie With Stu
Tangerine
Baby Come On Home
Thank You
Gallows Pole
Ten Years Gone
Kashmir
When The Levee Breaks
Disc 2
Black Dog
Over The Hills & Far Away
Immigrant Song
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Black Country Woman
Rock & Roll
Four Sticks
Misty Mountain Hop
The Battle Of Evermore
Hey Hey What Can I Do
Going To California
Down By The Seaside
That’s The Way
Ramble On
The Rain Song
Stairway To Heaven
Disc 3
Your Time Is Gonna Come
Black Mountain Side
Travelling Riverside Blues
The Girl I Love She Got The Long Black Wavy Hair
The Lemon Song
Since I’ve Been Loving You
How Many More Times
South Bound Suarez
Bring It On Home
The Rover
Poor Tom
Houses Of The Holy
Custard Pie
I’m Gonna Crawl
All My Love
Bron-Yr-Aur
I used the artwork from that 1990 box set for this collection. To me, it was perfect.
And so we reach August. This is the time of year when the majority of schools in the UK and therefore the general population are on holiday. What better time to share the third and last (so far) of my compilations looking at the wonder of the Sunshine Pop genre. There are the usual suspects in here (The Association, The Millennium and the 5th Dimension) but also some more obscure artists such as Griffin, The Parade and The Arbors with their rather fine cover of ‘Touch Me’ by The Doors. Remember folks, the night are now drawing in and it will soon be Christmas.
Disc 1
Someday Man – Paul Williams
Rumours – Eternity’s Children
Sweet Pea – Tommy Roe
Hands Off The Man (Film Flam Man) – Peggy Lipton
Sugar Town – Nancy Sinatra
Odds & Ends – Dionne Warwick
Sweet Blindness – The 5th Dimension
Hotel Indiscreet (Mono Single Version) – Sagittarius
I’ll Never Find Another You – The Seekers
It’s Getting Better – Mama Cass Elliot
Frog Prince – The Parade
Don’t You Care – The Buckinghams
Kissin’ My Life Away – The Hondells
Along Comes Mary (Single Version) – The Association
Sunday Will Never Be The Same – Spanky & Our Gang
(They Long Top Be) Close To You – Josie & The Pussycats
Touch Me – The Arbors
So Many People (Mono Single Version) – Paul Williams
Oh What A Lovely Day – Twinn Connexion
Master Jack – Four Jacks & A Jill
Don’t Sleep In The Subway – Petula Clark
I’ll Never Fall In Love Again – Dionne Warwick
You’re So Good For Me – Twice As Much
She’s Not Coming Home – Ohio Express
My Sentimental Friend – Herman’s Hermits
Share With Me – The Millennium
Sister Marie – Chad & Jeremy
Always You – The Sundowners
Disc 2
Come To The Sunshine – Van Dyke Parks
Green Tambourine – The Lemon Pipers
Early In The Morning – Vanity Fare
Baby, It’s Real – The Millennium
Luckie (Mono) – Laura Nyro
Cynthia At The Garden – Sidewalk Skipper Band
Yours ‘Till Forever – Griffin
If You Don’t Want My Love – Robert John
From You Unto Us – Eternity’s Children
Sweet Sounds – Tommy Roe
Flying On The Ground – Summer Snow (feat. The Peppermint Trolley Company)
Brandy (Doesn’t Live Here Anymore) – The Eight Day
My World Fell Down (Stereo Single Version) – Sagittarius
There’s Got To Be A Word – The Innocence
Beautiful People – Kenny O’Dell
Riding A Carousel – Petticoat & Vine
Come On In – The Association
She’d Rather Be With Me – The Turtles
Hey Baby (They’re Playing Our Song) – The Buckinghams
And Suddenly – Cherry People
I Can Make It With You – Pozo-Seco Singers
Neon Rainbow – The Box Tops
Pageant – Blades Of Grass
Mornin’ I’ll Be Movin’ On (Mono Single Version) – Paul Williams
Make You’re Own Kind Of Music – Mama Cass Elliot
Living Together, Growing Together – The 5th Dimension
With the UK experiencing some of the hottest weather in its history, it is time to post another section of music that encapsulates the summer. It must be said that there is something joyous about listening to the Sunshine Pop that came out in the late 60s and early 70s. Sunshine Pop was influenced by pop acts such as The Beach Boys as well as groups such as The Mamas & The Papas and The 5th Dimension. It does border on Easy Listening in places but nothing says the summer has arrived than listening to songs like these.
Disc 1
We Can Fly – The Cowsills
Sunny Day Girl – The Hobbits
Peaceful – Kenny Rankin
The Drifter – Heidi Brühl
I Just Want To Be Your Friend (Single Version) – The Millennium
Creeque Alley – The Mamas & The Papas
Lazy Day – Spanky & Our Gang
Sweet Blindness (Mono) – Laura Nyro
If You Know What I Mean – The Gas Company
I Live For The Sun – Vanity Fare
Wait ‘Till Tomorrow – The Banana Splits
See My Love (Song For Greg) – The Gentle Soul
I’ll Grow Stronger – The Ballroom
Green Tambourine – The Lennon Sisters
Punky’s Dilemma – Don Costa
Different Drum – Stone Poneys
Do You Know The Way To San Jose – Dionne Warwick
Stoney End – Peggy Lipton
Bitter Honey – The Four Fullers Brothers
Say A Little Pray For You – Aretha Franklin
Glory Train – Drake
I Think I’ll Just Go & Find Me A Flower – Moonpark Intersection
King Of A Drag – The Buckinghams
Let’s Ride – Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends
This is the first (and only time) I am posting a compilation that I have not compiled myself. For me, this was a shop bought tape released on the legendary K-Tel Record label and I was given before I made it to school age. I played this tape so much, it wore out. It was also chewed up by numerous tape players but on each occasion I managed to salvage it and play it again. By the end, it sounded as though the tape had been recorded through mud but I still loved it. At this point, I had acquired my first proper stereo system and looking through the Squire Archive revealed that I already had a number of the songs on this compilation. I thought it was time I acquired the rest so I could reproduce the tape for myself.
It would take a few years to buy everything as this was as time before the internet and Spotify. Eventually I was be able to recreate this compilation for myself and when I look at it, my musical preferences are here for all to see. Great songs, written by great songwriters and sounding as fresh as they did when they were first released. I first reproduced it on a tape, but found that the songs did not fit onto the tape I had bought that was the same length as the original. It was then that I released that some of the songs had been edited down. It just meant I needed to buy a longer tape. I have recreated on CD and mp3 and no doubt this compilation will follow me to the grave.
I am sure that if this was released today, someone would say that the title was not an accurate reflection of the artists contained within as not all of them were British. Manfred Mann and Jimi Hendrix spring to mind, but all of the bands themselves were formed in the UK. It’s still a great compilation and I still give it a spin every so often. Enjoy.
Side 1
Gimmie Some Lovin – The Spencer Davis Group
My Brother Jake – Free
Get It On – T. Rex
With A Little Help From My Friends – Joe Cocker
Down The Dustpipe – Status Quo
54321 – Manfred Mann
Stay With Me – The Faces
Here I Go Again – The Hollies
All Day & All Of The Night – The Kinks
Hush – Deep Purple
Side 2
Substitute – The Who
Fire – The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
A White Shade Of Pale – Procol Harum
Sunshine Of Your Love – Cream
Hey Joe – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Crocodile Rock – Elton John
Resurrection Shuffle – Ashton, Gardner & Dyke
Blackberry Way – The Move
Layla (Single Edit) – Derek & The Dominos
Something In The Air – Thunderclap Newman
The cover is based on the one that came with the tape. A K-Tel classic from a by gone age.
It is the start of the summer months, so in the UK that normally means lots of rain. However, that does not mean that the music must match it so here is the first of a series of compilations featuring songs that I hope will bring a touch of sunshine to your day.
Disc 1
Spinning, Spinning, Spinning – The Ballroom
Stoned Soul Picnic (Mono) – Laura Nyro
You Showed Me – The Turtles
Groovin’ – The Young Rascals
Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In – The 5th Dimension
Five O’Clock World – The Vogues
Walk Right In – The Rooftop Singers
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head – B. J. Thomas
Monday, Monday – The Mamas & The Papas
Daydream – The Loving Spoonful
The 59th Bridge Street Song (Feeling Groovy) – Simon & Garfunkel
Pleasant Valley Sunday – The Monkees
Windy (Mono 45 Mix) – The Association
Good Morning Starshine – Oliver
Yellow Balloon – Yellow Balloon
Ain’t Gonna Lie – Keith
Only You Know & I Know – Delaney & Bonnie
Crystal Blue Persuasion – Tommy James & The Shondells
I Can’t Let Maggie Go – Honeybus
Baby You Come Rollin’ ‘Cross My Mind – The Peppermint Trolley Company
What The World Needs Now Is Love – Jackie De Shannon
Both Sides Now – Judy Collins
This Girl’s In Love With You – Petual Clark
Look, Here Comes The Sun – The Sunshine Company
Angel Of The Morning – Merrilee Rush
Disc 2
Come To The Sunshine (Mono 45 Mix) – Harpers Bizarre
Judy In Disguise – John Fred & His Playboy Band
Good Day Sunshine – The Trembles
Sunshine Superman – Donovan
My Name Is Jack – Manfred Mann
Hair – The Cow-sills
Elenore – The Turtles
(There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me – Sandie Shaw
Eli’s Coming (Mono) – Laura Nyro
Take My Hand – Lee Mallory
Sunshine Girl (Mono 45 Mix) – The Parade
Light My Fire – José Feliciano
Let’s Go To San Francisco – The Flowerpot Men
Elusive Butterfly – Bob Lind
Daydream Believer – The Monkees
A Beautiful Morning – The Rascals
You Didn’t Have Top Be So Nice – The Lovin’ Spoonful
Younger Girl – The Critters
The Rain, The Park & Other Things (Mono 45 Mix) – The Cowsills
I Saw Her Again Last Night – The Mamas & The Papas
Everything Is Sunshine – The Hollies
A Melody For You – The Grass Roots
Mr. Bojangles – Nina Simone
Talking To The Flowers – The Everly Brothers
Back On The Streets Again – The Sunshine Company
I Just Can’t Help Believing – B. J. Thomas
The cover is adapted from a 2005 Warner Brothers compilation of the same name.
In another dimension, Curt Boettcher would have been a superstar performer and producer, spoken about the same way that Brian Wilson and Phil Spector are. In Phil Spector’ case, just his music he produced, not the mad shit and murder he was later in the press for. Anyway, I digress. Boettcher died in 1987, all but forgotten but as with artists such as Nick Drake, his work has be reassessed in the years that followed and today he is lot more famous than he was, but he still not a well known name to the mainstream.
He first started recording his music with his band The Goldebriars. This was his flirtation with folk rock scene that was gaining traction at the time, even though The Goldenbriars did not have a hit, they did make an appearance in the film ‘Once Upon A Coffee House’. After The Goldenbriars split up, Boettcher formed Our Productions with Steve Clark from Vee Jay records and started to produce work for other artists whilst continuing to make music of his own. He started off with Tommy Roe and his LP ‘It’s Now A Winter’s Day’ but he really stamped his new Sunshine Pop sound on a little known band from Los Angeles called The Association. They recorded ‘Along Comes Mary’ and that became a top ten US hit. They follow this up with ‘Cherish’ which was also massive hit and everything would have looked rosey. However, The Association decided to change their management and this prevented Boettcher from working with the band again.
Boettcher was not one for resting on his laurels and formed a new band called The Ballroom. They recorded a massive amount of material but only one single was slated to be released at the time, even though it got no further than the promo stage. The recordings would not surface until the late 1990’s. One time Brian Wilson collaborator Gary Usher then bought Boettcher out of his Our Productions contract and sets him up as a staff producer at Columbia Records. Usher uses Boettcher on his Sagittarius project which yields the hit single ‘My World Fell Down’, but the follow ups and album are not successful. The recordings do well enough for Columbia to finance Boettcher’s next project, The Millennium.
Many records are called lost classics but this is one that truly deserves that title. The album and singles are masterpieces but none sell particular well and the band folds. Usher goes on to form Together Records and brings Boettcher on board and though second Sagittarius album is released, it is like its forebear and is not a success. Boettcher continues to work within the music business but little of his output is successful. He sings backing vocals on some Elton John sessions and is the mix down engineer on Emitt Rhode’s ‘Farewell To Paradise’ album. He did produce a 10 minute disco version of the Beach Boys’s, ‘Here Comes The Night”. He continued to work but none of these records matched the heights he achieved in the 60’s.
I looked at the works of Curt Boettcher in two Podcasts, the links of which are listed below. What this compilation covers is not only the bands that Boettcher was in in the late 60s (The Ballroom, The Millennium, Sagittarius) but some of the acts he produced (Sandy Salisbury, Michael Fennelly, Lee Mallory etc). What you get is a masterclass in 60s Sunshine Pop that should have lead to a considerably more successful career than it actually was.
Disc 1
Prelude (Demo) – The Millennium
To Claudia On Thursday (Demo) – The Millennium
Would You Like To Go – The Ballroom
Love’s Fatal Way – The Ballroom
Forever – The Ballroom
Keeper Of The Games – The Ballroom
The Island – The Ballroom
I’m Not Living Here – The Ballroom
Sing To Me – The Millennium
Magic Time – The Ballroom
It’s You – The Millennium
Some Sunny Day – The Millennium
It’s A Sad World – The Ballroom
I’ll Grow Stronger – The Ballroom
A Time For Everything – The Ballroom
Blight – The Millennium
Song To The Magic Frog (Will You Ever Know) – Sagittarius
Lead Me To Love – The Ballroom
Artificial Light (Of All The Living Lies) – Sagittarius
