I am floored by how many iconic British bands of the 70s debuted in this video… I was especially shocked to see Joey Molland of Gary Walker and the rain end up in the group Badfinger about a year later….. this video may be the most important introduction to future 70s band ever uploaded !
One thing I’ve learned from your excellent videos is the stultifying effect that the blue stocking BBC had on popular music, and what gave rise to the need for pirate radio.
John Mayall descanse en paz el padre del blues Británico, maestro de muchos bluesmans del mundo, te hecharemos de menos, le mando un respetuoso abrazo a su familia desde Zacatecas México.
It’s not only interesting to see the fledgling Genesis, Traffic et al, it’s amazing to learn just how many quality British bands were around at this time. Thanks to your excellent research, we can still enjoy this music and explore it further. Thanks YP, fabulous as always. RIP John Mayall.
@@deirdre108 I read Vashti Bunyan's book. she and nick were both managed by joe boyd (o.g. pink floyd manager) and she said nick could not sing and play at the same time. i wonder how they got around that...
I like when you show silent everyday footage of London at that time in the background. It reminds you this all happened, and for most people it was just another ordinary day.
Manfred's brilliant 'Up the Junction' the pick of the crop this month I think. And RIP John Mayall, the Godfather of the British Blues Boom who died this week, and without whom many of these bands and records would never have existed.
For a statesider this batch of singles was mighty obscure. I love Up the Junction, but I had never heard the flip. Many thanks - I am also quite fond of Cubist Town by Tom McGuiness. I also never heard the Equals doing Get So Excited. I was only familiar with the version by the Grass Roots (I Get So Excited) which was about the only enjoyable tune on their Lovin' Things album. And thanks for including the Pretty Things, particularly this from my favorite period of the group. Just another well done posting.
@@total.stranger Thanks! I did know as I was born in '48 and about to spend over 35 years working in a record store. And I did buy that album (Hughie Flint was on the Mayall & Clapton album - RIP John Mayall). Still my favorite Dylan album (along with Tim O''Brien's Red on Blonde).
This is the only time that I have seen Alvin Lee and 'fantastically underplayed guitar' in the same sentence. I saw TYA four times and, to my taste, Alvin was more excited by the speed of his playing rather than 'underplaying' to highlight the song.
Bidding farewell to the psychedelic era will be nearly as painful as having missed it the first time by some 10 years (for reasons of her own, I suppose, mom didn't let me drop acid and go to shows at age six). Thanks for this, and for The Pretty Things, who I foolishly never followed up on after hearing their brilliant songs covered on Bowie's Pinups many moons ago. I know those guys must have felt right at home a decade later when punk became a thing.
My word! 'Little Girl' tells a story of a couple, as told by the man, who engaged in premarital adult relations. When they announced their intention to wed - the mother opposed. So, the unwed mother and father became parents of a little girl.
Now I'm curious about that movie "Up the Junction". Anyway, thanks for the survey, as always. I've only heard of a few of these. I wish more British stuff had traveled to the States. "British Invasion"? Only kinda, evidently.
@@phatphat7089 He was a couple of months short of his 91st birthday. He had a good run and was working until very recently. In the words of Neil Young, it’s better to burn out than to fade away.
Many thanks for another brilliant and mesmerizing video 👌 Great shout about Dave Mason's first single! Many fantastic records that month: I always loved Ten Years After's first single "Portable People/Sounds". Decades later I organised a concert with Alvin Lee in our club which broke the attendence record. When I came to fetch Alvin in his hotel room to drive him to the location just at this very moment the biggest radio station in Germany played "Portable People" and announced his gig in our club. A huge grin spread over Alvin's face🎉
I loved "Portable People", too - and had to send away to England to get a copy, as it wasn't available anywhere in my area (Rhode Island/Massachusetts).
@@total.stranger Those were the days when you had to write letters to different countries in order to get the records you loved. And you paid by postal orders 😅 But it worked beautifully because most everyone in the business LOVED the music! That applied to most bootleggers as well. I remember I once received a broken Stones boot from the States. I just wrote a letter quoting Dylan "To live outside the law you must be honest" and received the money back as the bootleg was no longer available unfortunately.
I'm an American and there were so many great bands there that didn't really cross over here. This channel is a gold mine for discovering bands I never heard of.
I was 9 years old at the time but this was the year of my true music awakening and i absorbed the psychedelic sounds and its progression from that point as music evolved and moved on leaving small traces behind but really loved this sound and now i want to start collecting them no doubt its going to be a budget challenge but will try and thank you for putting these together a stimuli aural package that straps me up in the Time Machine and takes me back to these golden years - Thank you
Cosmic vibes! 😎✌️ The Pretty Things were superb. I’d regard their track “London Town” from “ Get the Picture” released in 1965 as a very early example of psychedelic folk. As well as FS Sorrow, their Emotions and Parachute LPs are worth a listen too. They also recorded as The Electric Banana and I’ve got a reissue of that 1967 lp - it’s essentially library music and captures the Swinging 60s sound perfectly. Hearing the original Cold Turkey is a new one on me as I’m only familiar with it as a track on the superb “Give Daddy the Knife Cindy” by Naz Nomad & the Nightmares - AKA The Damned - who did a great parody back in 1984 of a 60s garage band. Thanks for the videos they are absolute gems! PS: a feature on Penny Valentine would be good.👍
Another fascinating, impeccably researched episode! I’d not heard that interesting Love Sculpture record before, the B side ‘Brand New Woman’ is the Dave Edmunds I know & love… a superb guitarist & producer who I always felt didn’t receive the full recognition he deserved!
"Rather dated and VERY noisy" and "A throbbing up-beat item" and "The room temperature goes up ten degrees" and "Fruity-voiced soloist" Cracks me up 16:54 Who's that girl? lol... 19:53 Wow - Bar Italia in the sixties and who is that band at 20:00 ???? Great great great video!!!!
I was tapping my feet to this video. Some great tracks were released in February 1968. The picture of Gary Walker & The Rain shows the band member Joey Holland which must be a typo because it is Joey Molland who went on to fame with Badfinger and is still performing today keeping the Badfinger legacy alive
Psychedelia wouldn't begin to slip out of vogue until around the middle of the year (I'd say "Jumpin' Jack Flash" in late May marks an inflection point), so there's still *plenty* of great singles in and around the genre at this time, as this clip proves: Traffic, The Pretty Things, Mike Stuart Span, Manfred Mann, Ten Years After (the flip side, "The Sounds", is great), Fairport Convention, Donovan, all fantastic stuff!!! I had never heard of the Paul & Barry Ryan or Nerves singles, both are interesting. As for what you missed, that would include Kytes' "Running In The Water", The Human Instinct cover of "Renaissance Fair", the great Bystanders B-side "Cave Of Clear Light" and the New Generation B-side "Digger". I love all the footage here--and shocked that you were able to find any of Mike Stuart Span, and in color to boot! London is still very much swinging at the time. Can't wait for what you come up with for March! I know we've got The Beatles, The Fire, The Status Quo, Nirvana, The End, Ice, The Spencer Davis Group, West Coast Consortium, The Idle Race and The Yardbirds (great final B-side!), among other delights. I know so many people (including myself) pour their love into '66 and '67, but '68 was just *fantastic* as well, no question!
Great video. Tempted to make a playlist of your recommendations here - just to get in the zone. It’s interesting how all these bands in their formative years were all trying to copy a certain ‘hip’ sound (that was psychedelia in this instance.). Later they’d all establish their own sound and trade on it but it looks like pretty much like everyone who was anyone came through the same psychedelic school. Even ‘Spinal Tap’ from what I recall!
Early '68 was also still paisley and psychedelic with songs like Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) but that summer it all blew away and everything got heaavy.
Another great video, one of my favorite channels on RU-vid. Love these looks back on these old singles, finding so much great music I never heard before. Quality music and content for a long time here. Keep up the great work.
Ha ha haaah!! The curse of the "dark l" strikes again!! That's what they call that non-pronunciation of the final "L" in a word (so that "paddle", for instance, comes out sounding something like "paddaw"). Done to "Tull" it sounds very like how a Brummie especially would say "toe". Reckon someone somewhere misheard the name over the phone. They almost certainly wouldn't have heard of the 18th-century agriculturist who originally bore the name. Jethro to most people back then meant the character from TV sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies.
Busy week for me, which is why I didn't get to your vid 'til Saturday (there are some glimmers of hope over here on the stateside of the Atlantic now, as I'm sure you're aware, rather than what seemed like our slow-motion zombie-like walk into barf-orange-tinted fascism, but still lots to worry about- and work against, and for). Thank you again for another beautiful flash back to early '68. Many songs I wasn't familiar with and hope to hear more of- sorry to end on prepositions. And of course some that I've had imprinted on my consciousness for over 50 years, especially Traffic's haunting "No Face No Name No Number." Looking forward to your review of March '68 and thank you again.
Sitting here in Singapore, a long way from home, and thought I'd tune in to YP. I wasn't disappointed! Yet another very very cool and interesting session to spend some life time with. Cheers YP ;-)
Great video as always. I've always loved the "Up The Junction" soundtrack album but would never admit it to my pop-psych-freakout friends at that time because it wasn't hey-wire enough!! hahahaha it's true. We were all too busy DEFECTING GREY to give turntable time to such a gentle disc! Rock on!!!!
I think this was during a top-rated TV series called 'the Beverly Hillbillys'. A big role in the show was playing the large son of the family named Jethro. It's possible Jethro Tull may have used Jethro Toe to suggest the popular bare footed hillbilly? It's rough starting out and by the '70s Jethro Tull certainly deserved the highest respect.
It's been said, but wow! You really get a sense of the shift from 67's psychedelia to the musical landscape of the early 70's. The seeds have been planted and are slowly coming to fruition... "No Face, No Name, and No Number" wasn't on my radar until I read Pete Townshend's memoirs: at a solo gig in the mid 70's, her covered songs that he considered to be his favorites ("Amoureuse" was another one) and "No Face..." was one of them. Naturally this lead me to the original which blew me away. It lead me to '68 era Traffic and I'm excited to hear what you have to say (fingers crossed that you give a nod to "Shanghai Noodle Factory"! "Crying to be Heard" is another great deep cut.) "Spooky" is a great track. I liked the original, but I have to agree with the journalist who preferred Walker's "spin" on it. That Equals song sounded strangely familiar and it turns out I'd heard the version by an Irish band called The Real McCoy. I'd heard it in a Noel Gallagher interview and if my memory stands Johnny Marr was the one who turned him onto it!
'No Face, No Name, No Number' and 'Silent Sun' are the best of the tracks I've heard before, with 'Jennifer Juniper' third. 'Magic Spectacles', both sides of the Ryans single, 'Up the Junction' and 'River to Another Day' are the best of the ones I haven't heard (although I have a Manfred Mann comp and it might have their song on it)
Great releases , Pretty Things are among my favorites bands those two singles are really cool ; Big boy Pete , Love Sculpture , Mike Stuart Span I had never heard them before and I liked them
Those scenes of London traffic reminded me of what the air smelled like then…. And the hard little bogies that the pollution led to, each day. It really struck this country boy visiting in 1966. A later colleague of mine had classified this particular bogey type as a ‘Blooter’. It was very satisfying to pick at😉😆. The first man dressed as a woman also struck me. She paraded West Ken every afternoon. Nobody turned to look. London was truly pathbreaking then. Still is really.
I first heard "Sunshine Day" and "If I Had A Ribbon Bow" on an LP anthology of neglected British singles from the period (almost 10 years later), and liked them both immediately. I remember there was something by John's Children, and the first single by Soft Machine (with Daevid Allen) as well. Quite an education, that record was.
It will be fascinating to see how music develops this year. Psychedelia was very much still alive in the early months of 68, but by Autumn heavy rock had become the new thing.
Those who have wondered how Genesis became a bunch of popsters, especially when guitarist Steve Hackett left, I tell them just go back to their first recording, From Genesis to Revelation, to see their pop origins. The song you featured, The Silent Sun, was an homage to The Bee Gees, since Jonathon King admired the singing of Robin Gibb. If you listen to Peter Gabriel’s (sigh…) vocals, he deliberately is singing in the style of Robin. You made this old girl very happy featuring early Genesis.
Cheers! Yep, their early stuff is very poppy and remniscent of the Bee Gees. I definitely prefer their prog rock stuff but their first couple of albums have some good moments.
@@YesterdaysPapers I agree, in,those early recordings there is a bubbling brilliance ready to come out. Their second album, Trespass, they make the nascent move to Prog. On that album, the song, The Knife, has been a fan favorite. For me, it was the song, Stagnation. Tony Banks’ pitch bending notes by turning the organ off and on is sheer brilliance. Not on that album, but the song, Twilight Alehouse, features that technique even more so to wonderful effect. I don’t think Tony gets the love like his contemporaries, Rick Wakeman, and Keith Emerson.
@@spiritof6663 I’m sure Mr Banks is doing very well for himself. Monetary security is nice, but I think legacy would be just as important or even more so.
Yet more excellent psych and obscure singles in this month. UTJ absolutely brilliant record. You don’t mention Skies Above by the Equals which I reckon is superior to the A side.
Great bands pass by again, bands/singles to dig for, like Big Boy Pete who I haven't heard of. "40,000 Headmen" and "Up The Junction" are blistering songs! My only complaint is that it's too short 😂!
Magic Spectacles is a great '60s song. "sunk without a trace." I have no idea why it wasn't a hit. It's been comped on bootleg CD's since the early 2000's and for good reasons.
UP THE JUNCTION Is a fabulous Psych Pop soundtrack, definitely a highpoint in Manfred Mann's career and should be more well known. Also, big fan of early GENESIS here, my favorite albums from them are in fact, FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION + TRESPASS.
As a naive youngster, I bought 'From Genesis to Revelation' as the band was getting a lot of buzz in the music press... I hated it, but made myself listen so I wouldn't feel so ripped off (as a teenager, I didn't have a lot of money...). And... it grew on me. And became one of my all-time favorite albums. I adore it. It truly 'paid' off! 'Up the Junction' is good, too.
I love The Pretty Things, and there was certainly a lot of other good stuff that month. Looking forward to hearing The Penny Peeps' "Model Village," though I don't know in which month of 1968 it was released.
Nary a mention of Badfinger's JOEY MOLLAND, who was a member of Gary Walker & The Rain? His name was even in the newspaper clipping shown. (I recognized him from his eyes.) A shout-out to @wmfthe5th376 in the comments section who did mention Badfinger in his comment. Another crackin' good job, YP! (Well, except for Joey Molland!)
New YP vid shows up, make a list of new/old classic songs to listen to later. But this time around got over a dozen songs PLUS a film to check out: Up The Junction. I'll be out for the next few days. Thanks YP.
"Maybe the madman" is obviously the favourite of yesterdays papers, and it ist great, written by guitarist Chris Britton. But "little girl" has a nice, catchy melody, but mysterous lyrics. It charted here in Germany too, but in UK it was the last hit, the Troggs ever had, while here they had one follow-up in late 68 ("hipp hipp hooray").
I was an 8 yr old Beatles fan, big rock fan still to this day I listen, only AM radio back then until FM came along much later, then it was like steely Dan sang, " No static at all "
Another great episode. I do like to hear Penny Valentine's record reviews. You can tell she really loved her subject matter. As a fan of Sandy Denny it was interesting to hear the Fairport Convention single with Judy Dyble as lead vocalist. I think I must have assumed she was kind of a Pete Best figure in the Fairport story but she had a really pleasant voice. Not as good as Sandy of course but who is? ps didn't those Boyd sisters do well for themselves?
Sorry Gentlemen , I wasn't around in 1968 but I forget how literally things are taken on social media. I like that the Denver based reply is the first time the individual has ever posted on the channel. I suspect , No I know trolling is happening here. Get a life guys . 🙅♂️
@@davidellis5141 I don't see any "trolling" here. I see you saying that you never heard the song on radio and then two responses simply stating that they had. It's not a knock on anything you said, it's just people factually stating their experience. I too, used to hear it on oldies radio in LA in the 80s and 90s. Try not to be so sensitive.
@spiritof6663 I know my situation & you don't. There is a specific reason I addressed these individuals. I'm not being " sensitive " being proactive. Notice they are silent 🤫 .. I'll leave it there.
I get so excited was the debut single by the equals. The track did chart but it was only a minor hit reaching number 44 and staying in the top 50 for 4 weeks.