Procol Harum

Artist: Procol Harum

LP: Exotic Birds and Fruit

Song: "As Strong As Samson"

[ listen ]

Song: "The Thin End of the Wedge"

[ listen ]

Song: "Fresh Fruit"

[ listen ]

Speaking of classic bands I'm just now finally getting into: Digging up a terrific Procol Harum single (no, not "A Whiter Shade of Pale") at my local record store a month or two ago prompted me to embark on a mini-binge, buying just about all of the group's early LPs, which the store just happened to have used copies of in stock. "Exotic Birds and Fruit" is Procol Harum's 7th LP, released in 1974. Peaking at only #86 on the US album charts, it was their least successful record up to that point...which, as we now know, probably means it was their best one so far!

Formed in 1967, Procol Harum is one of those bands whose name I'd heard and whose records I'd seen over the years, but I'd just never bothered looking into them. (Others are Three Dog Night, UFO, Uriah Heep...there are a bunch of them.) Anyway, these guys are good. I'm glad I've finally added some of their stuff to my collection! You can read about Procol Harum here, and there's info on this particular record right here.

 

[ Procol Harum ]

Progres 2

Artist: Progres 2

LP: Mozek
Song: "X.A.Z." / "Kdo Je Tam?"

[ listen ]

The vinyl appreciation Meetup group I've joined a few times in the past, Seattle Spinsters, just announced their next gathering! The theme will be 'world music' since it's summertime and people are planning their vacations. I've already picked out too many LPs to bring, including ones from Hong Kong, Panama, Russia, Italy, Korea, the Caribbean, and this wonderful thing from Czechoslovakia in 1984. I've missed the last two Seattle Spinsters get-togethers since I was stuck at work until 8pm, but I'm starting a new job on Monday! You can read about Progres 2 here; there were four fellas in the group when this LP came out, but according to the Progres 2 photo below, at one time there were five.

[ Progres 2 ]

Birth Control

Artist: Birth Control

LP: 7" single

Song: "Gamma Ray - Part 1"
[ listen ]

Okay, so now flash forward five days into the future—past my train trip to Figueres, to Girona, and past the death of Aretha Franklin. I had returned to Barcelona on Friday morning and found 10,000 Records locked inside an inaccessible storefront. But there was one other shop called Daily Records that I'd tried to visit the previous Monday in the same neighborhood as Discos Revolver and Revolver Records, but on Mondays they're only open 4-8pm...and that's when I was at Discos Impacto and Discos Paradiso! On Saturdays, however, Daily Records is open 11am-3pm and 4-8pm, so I got there early in the day on Saturday, August 18th. 

Daily Records is a cute little shop with a small red portable plastic listening station that the clerk set up for me on the counter right next to the register. They seemed to specialize in rock, punk, new wave and stuff like that, but they still had a really good variety and I found some cool and amazing stuff...including this 1975 single by a German prog rock band called Birth Control. 

I'd never heard of them before, but they're apparently still going strong today. Well, sort of. Birth Control formed in Berlin in 1966, but by 1971 none of the original members remained. They've evidently gone through numerous lineup changes since then; Wikipedia includes a list of 27 people who have at some point been members of the group. 

 [ Birth Control ]

[ Daily Records — Barcelona, Spain ]

Jane

Artist: Jane

LP: 7" single

Song: "Love Song" 
[ listen ]

This 1978 single from popular German prog rockers Jane sounds like something from The Traveling Wilburys when it begins, but then Joy Division suddenly appears in the studio halfway through when the strings come in. Interesting. You can read more than you've ever wanted to know about the splits, splinters, drama and lineup changes Jane's been involved in since their 1970 inception on Wikipedia here.

[ Jane in 1980 ]

Seventh Wave

Artist: Seventh Wave

LP: Things to Come
Song: "Old Dog Song"
[ listen ]

I've never had a dog of my own, but I like dogs and dogs seem to like me too. Here are one, two, three, four, five, six, seven...yes, eight adorable pictures of lovable old dogs. You can read about the short-lived mid-'70s psychedelic synth-rock band Seventh Wave here and here, sing along to "Old Dog Song" with the lyrics included below, and find one last neat old dog photo here.

Roy Wood's Wizzard

Artist: Roy Wood's Wizzard

LP: Wizzard's Brew

Song: "You Can Dance Your Rock n' Roll" 
[ listen ]

Song: "Wear a Fast Gun" 
[ listen ]

Speaking of funny face makeup, here's something I found at one of the best record stores in the South—Vertical House Records in Huntsville, Alabama. As I mentioned earlier, I had a limited amount of time to spend at this store, so I was only able to flip through bins A—G. I would have missed this 1973 Wizzard LP both alphabetically and entirely if someone else hadn't already recently listened to it and rejected it (!), leaving it atop a pile of records to be re-filed. Andy, owner of Vertical House, brought it over to me before re-filing to see if I'd be interested.

As you can read in the the cocky-yet-not-very-well-written LP liner notes included below, Roy Wood was a member of both The Move and The Electric Light Orchestra before going stark-raving-bat-shit brilliant and embarking upon Wizzard in 1972, a project that involved members of both of Wood's former groups. Wizzard is pretty exciting stuff that holds up remarkably well today, though they've made one of my mid-'80s psychedelic art-rock favorites, Doctor & The Medics, seem like more of a cheap reproduction than I'd formerly believed. You can read all about Roy Wood here, his Wizzard here, and there's a link below where you'll find Wizzard performing one of the most joyous Christmas tunes ever put on wax.

 Roy Wood's Wizzard on YouTube:

[ "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day" ]

[ Roy Wood: Wizzard ]