There are two songs on this "Weekend Mix" that have been taking up a considerable amount of my listening time the last couple of days. The first is by The Millennium. If you're unaware of this band, or like me, had only heard bits and pieces of the various CD reissues that have been floating around for years, here is AMG's take on the band:
Influenced by psychedelia and California rock, pop/rock producer Curt Boettcher (the Association) decided to assemble a studio supergroup who would explore progressive sounds in 1968. Millennium's resultant album would find no commercial success and only half-baked artistic success, but nonetheless retains some period charm. Influenced in roughly equal measures by the Association, the Mamas and the Papas, the Smile-era Beach Boys, Nilsson, the Left Banke, and the Fifth Dimension, Boettcher and his friends came up with a hybrid that was at once too unabashedly commercial for underground FM radio and too weird for the AM dial. It would have fit in better on the AM airwaves, though; the almost too-cheerful sunshine harmonies and catchy melodies dominate the suite-like, diverse set of elaborately produced '60s pop/rock tunes.
The other is the song by Jericho. AMG got a bit lazy on this one:
Frank De Felice, Danny Gerard, Fred Keeler and Gord Fleming, known as Jericho, released a self-titled album in 1971 on Ampex Records and split soon after.
Gee, thanks. I can tell you that Jericho's only record piqued my interest for years as it was one of the earliest Todd Rundgren productions. 40 years after it's release, I finally got a chance to hear it...by accident. It was one of those iPod shuffle moments, somewhere in a subway tunnel, where a song starts and in an instant my mind is racing. With "The Road I Never Took," my brain was trying to comprehend how The Band, the Flying Burrito Brothers and of course Todd Rundgren were all appearing on a song I had never heard before.
As for "It Won't Always Be The Same," well, it's a bit of a lost pop treasure, if you ask me. The Millennium, Curt Boettcher, and all of the people associated with Boettcher like Sandy Salisbury for example, have a very uneven catalogue of music to explore. There is crap among the gold, but enough gold if you have the time and patience.
I wanted to get those songs to you, but it seems I built the rest of the mix with something else in mind.
Enjoy, because I think...
...it sounds good altogether.
TRACKLIST
You Should've Been There- Marshall Crenshaw
I Think It's That Girl- Dwight Twilley
Rock & Roll- The Redwalls
Lady Friend- The Posies
Call My Name- Starclub
Moment In Paradise- Electric Light Orchestra
It Won't Always Be The Same- The Millennium
Whenever You're Ready- The Zombies
A Girl Like That- NRBQ
The Road I Never Took- Jericho
Used To Be My Used To Be- Bram Tchaikovsky
Play Myself Some Music- Jason Falkner
Just Once In My Life- The Beach Boys
Church Of Women- XTC
Reflections Of My Life- Marmalade
zip
6 comments:
What? No Game Theory?
This is exactly where my musical headspace it right now. In fact, I just listened to Begin by the Millenium yesterday morning! Weird. Thanks for another great one Sal!
-BlakeS
I didn't know the Redwalls were known outside the Chicago area.
RIP Scott Miller.
Glad you're back, Sal. I'd comment more often but my comments tend to be so superficial they annoy even me. It ain't that I don't appreciate the bloggin' you do.
I just want to say I very much enjoy your mixes and blog...thanks for your efforts..
I'm a big fan of your weekend mixes even if I don't always get the theme contained in the mix, which I know isn't important so long as the music's good - which invariably it is. And thanks for the Bram Tchaikovsky - a long underrated gem in my opinion. Cheers!
All your mixes are great, but I'm finding this one especially great. The Zombies song is a real find. And as you said that Millenium tune is great.
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