... 12-inch, Vinyl record

The breakout album for The Cryan Shames – a wonderfully groovy harmony pop combo from the 60s – one with a sound that's very much the best Sunshine Pop of LA, even though these guys hail from our hometown of Chicago! The vocals come together with a really magical feel – sometimes mellow and drifty, ala The Association – sometimes vibrant and soaring, in a really catchy way! The whole album's great – with just a touch of Brit invasion guitar jangle behind the vocals at times – and titles include "Heat Wave", "We'll Meet Again", "If I Needed Someone", "Hey Joe", "Sugar & Spice", "July", "I Wanna Meet You", and "Ben Franklin's Almanac". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Groovy 60s pop – a mix of the harmony style of groups like Harper's Bizarre, with some of the more garagey sounds of groups like The Shadows Of Knight. The album's got a great jangly quality – especially on the guitars, which are produced with a nice sharp edge that offsets that sweetness of the vocals. Titles include "Hey Joe", "Sugar & Spice", "July", "I Wanna Meet You", and "Ben Franklin's Almanac". 18 tracks in all! CD

Very groovy instrumental work from the legendary Tony Hatch – served up here in a package that would help American audiences understand his role in the Petula Clark tune "Downtown"! This set steps off the same sort of energy as Hatch's British bounce on that cut – offering up a range of instrumental tunes that groove nicely with a swinging 60s London feel – tight orchestrations with a great sense of syncopation at the bottom – one that helps the music move a lot more groovily than American albums of this type! Hatch has a great sense of timing throughout – one that really helps things move nicely – and he's getting some great help with the group from the legendary Johnny Harris! Titles include "Downtown", "Forget Him", "Music", "Where Are You Now", "Roundabout", and "Sugar & Spice". (Now Sound, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

A really cool record from the European scene of the early 70s – a set that features rockish vocals and guitar, but also a heck of a lot of moog and other keyboards too – all of which makes for an album that's years ahead of its time! Sure, there had been plenty of moog pop instrumental records from the late 60s onward – and other groups would use the moog to spice up their songs – but Dan Lacksman's maybe one of the first to really use the world of analogue electronics so strongly next to catchy vocals and the kind of production that compresses the whole thing down together in a really great way – effortlessly bridging the generation of early Eno and Gary Numan – but with an offbeat wit that's all his own. Titles include "Monday Morning", "Happiness Is A Cold Beer", "Jet Set Woman", "Skylab", "Sunshine Is Gone", "Love You Every Day", "When We're Looking At The Barmaid", and "Sad Way". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful album of laidback psych from early 70s Brazil – the sort of more personal, more introspective work that some of the artists on the scene were cutting after the more experimental modes of the Tropicalia years! Guilherme Lamounier has a gentle sort of majesty in his music – very much in keeping with his image on the cover – stepping out in a trippier take on singer/songwriter modes, with his own vocals, guitar, and piano as the main focus on the tunes – touched nicely with keyboard work from Wagner Tiso, flute from Oberdan Magalhaes, and guitar from Lanny Gordin – artists used in these very sparing ways to spice up the sound, and give the record a loftier vibe than if Guilherme were just recording on his own. Lyrics are all in Portuguese, but the songs have a very universal appeal – a great sense of structure and building up energy – on titles that include "Freedom", "Mini Neila", "Patricia", "Passam Anos Passam Anas", "Amanha Nao Sei", "Capitao De Papel", and "Ols Telhados Do Mundo". (Brazil, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

The complete albums of this really unique group – all wrapped up in a single set, with bonus tracks too! First up is the self-titled debut – described on the cover as "Eight high-octane musicians who met and jammed in the great peanut butter octopus that is Los Angeles!" The record's got a really trippy approach that's partially folk rock, partially psychedelic soul, and which also has some great touches of groovy harmony pop and Latinized LA rhythms – all wrapped up in some totally great production overall! The whole thing skims and sings around like some of our favorite sunshiney pop from the time – almost a meeting of Triste Janeiro and Mamas & The Papas – with some great instrumental touches that include cello and electric harpsichord! Female lead vocals on most tracks, but the album also spins out nicely, so that you get plenty of instrumental passages too! Titles include "Why Oh Why", "Motherless Child", "Here We Go Again", "For Pete's Sake", "What's Wrong", "Come Take A Walk", and "In A Rainbow". Next is Just For You – the group's second album – and a really sweet batch of tracks that mix together rock and soul influences with touches of west coast hippy jazz, in a style that's almost an LA answer to Rotary Connection, but without all the baroque arrangements. The set's got a great version of "Compared To What", and the extended jazzy jammer "Just For You" – plus the cuts "Day Song", "Just For You", "Look Out", "Without Me", and "Windlace". Last up is Melon – a great little set from Sweetwater – a rock combo at heart, but one who also bring in a nice sense of soul too! The album follows strongly from other of their Reprise releases – almost funky in parts, with drums that kick in nicely, and a flowing sense of groove that features keyboards, flute, and added percussion that helps to spice things up. Most tracks have vocals, but there's some very strong standout instrumental moments – and titles include "Take It From Splice Boys", "Naturally", "Don't Give A Hoot", "Get It While You Can", "I'm Happy Today", "Rejoice The Smile Of Man", and "Join The Band". 2CD set features 8 bonus tracks – including one recorded at Woodstock! CD

A really cool record from the European scene of the early 70s – a set that features rockish vocals and guitar, but also a heck of a lot of moog and other keyboards too – all of which makes for an album that's years ahead of its time! Sure, there had been plenty of moog pop instrumental records from the late 60s onward – and other groups would use the moog to spice up their songs – but Dan Lacksman's maybe one of the first to really use the world of analogue electronics so strongly next to catchy vocals and the kind of production that compresses the whole thing down together in a really great way – effortlessly bridging the generation of early Eno and Gary Numan – but with an offbeat wit that's all his own. Titles include "Monday Morning", "Happiness Is A Cold Beer", "Jet Set Woman", "Skylab", "Sunshine Is Gone", "Love You Every Day", "When We're Looking At The Barmaid", and "Sad Way". CD

A huge double-length set from Husker Du – who were definitely making the most of their new opportunity with Warner Brothers! Titles include "No Reservations", "Up In The Air", "You Can Live At Home", "Standing In The Rain", "Could You Be The One", "Too Much Spice", "She Floated Away", "Bed Of Nails", "Ice Cold Ice", "Back From Somewhere", and "Tell You Why Tomorrow". CD

A huge double-length set from Husker Du – who were definitely making the most of their new opportunity with Warner Brothers! Titles include "No Reservations", "Up In The Air", "You Can Live At Home", "Standing In The Rain", "Could You Be The One", "Too Much Spice", "She Floated Away", "Bed Of Nails", "Ice Cold Ice", "Back From Somewhere", and "Tell You Why Tomorrow". LP, Vinyl record album

Smoking instrumentals from the California scene of the early 60s – tracks that nicely bridge the space between surf guitar, R&B, and exotica – served up with plenty of sax, organ, and searing guitar! Most of the work here came from the studios of tiny Downey Records – done in a rough-edged, garagey style that's simple, but extremely effective – and a really nice contrast to mainstream California instrumentals of the time. The groups vary throughout, but most of the tunes are linked with a shared production technique that uses heavy echo, straightforward performance, and the occasional spare added element to spice up the music – a really great sound that has plenty of dark edges! Titles include "Migrane" and "Eight Ball" by The Hustlers, "Blockade" and "Here Comes The Bug" by The Rumblers, "Intoxica" and "Comanche" by The Revels, "Space Battle" by Stories In Sound, "Water Wheel" by Chuck Higgins, "Here Comes The Sun" by The Rumblers, "Rosemary's Baby" by Ed Burkey, "Ghost Of Mary Meade (part 2)" by Little Caesar & The Ark Angels, A Week From Tuesday" by The Pastel Six, and "Theme Of Etiquette" by The Hindus. CD

The first-ever full length set from The Grasshoppers – a killer combo who made plenty of waves on the live music scene in the Twin Cities during the 60s, but one who only ever issued a single 45 at the time! Yet despite that lack of wax, the group have the sort of razor sharp sound that so many hard working combos of the generation had – really tight, groovy performances of material that's mostly original by members of the group – served up with twin guitars, bass, drums, and these great vocals from lead singer Jiggs Lee – an artist who knows how to put just the right sort of presence in the music! The whole thing is plenty darn catchy, and has the feel of stumbling onto a cool combo at some great backroom gig during these key years of homegrown scenes – on titles that include "Watch People", "Let It Be That Way", "Lonely Me", "Paper Cup Beggar", "Riding In My Car", "Still In Love With You Baby", "Sugar & Spice", and "Our Love". CD

A really cool record that was done for a strange 60s film about pop singers – one that features some rockish tunes that fit the spirit of the movie, but also some groovy instrumentals that spice things up in a mighty nice way! Most tunes are short, as these are the versions recorded for the film – and the vocals are done by the "idoles" who appear in the story, but the instrumentation is all handled by the Rollsticks – a group put together for the project, which features contributions from important French musicians who include jazzmen Michel Portal and Ivan Jullien, and the great Didier Malherbe – later of Gong fame. Titles include "Non Papa", "Youpelle", "Je Suis Seul", "Viens Dans Mon Coeur", "Du Byrrh", "La Meme", "Une Jaguar", "Number One Dance", "Danse Crawl", and "Les Gretschen". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes songs by the 1910 Fruitgum Company, the Genells, Chelsea Boys, Tidal Wave, Teri Nelson Group, JWC Ratfinks, Rare Breed, Magid Triplets, Spice Of Life, and others – 31 tracks total. CD

A pretty strange little record – instrumental versions of early Bee Gees hits, played by a group under the auspices of their manager, Robert Stigwood. The real talent on the album, though, is British leader Bill Shepherd (not the Chicago producer) – as he arranges and conducts the whole thing, bringing in a nice dream 60s Brit sound to the whole thing. In all, the tunes are a bit softer and less jaunty than their vocal counterparts, but still very much in the Bee Gees mode. Titles include "Holiday", "Words", "Birdie Told Me", "Massachusetts", "Sinking Ships", and "New York Mining Disaster 1941". (Now Sound, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album