Bondzmen – Smoke In The City / Come Along With Me. USA ~ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Both tracks are dreary soul numbers with a hint of garage. A) side is more upbeat but still depressing in its content. B) side has an overlong chorus. 

Derived they were from Philly based on the publisher name, but that could be incorrect.

2.5 / 2.0

4/26/25

The Revised Edition - Thoughts / Illusions Of You ~ USA ~ North Carolina

From Asheboro, south of Greensboro. A) side is high energy garage driven by organ and excellent drumming. The B) side turns up the amps while slowing things down. Bit of doom even. Has a nice fuzz solo in the middle.

3.0 / 3.5

4/26/25

Tapestry Garden - She Needs Love / I'd Like To Get To Know You Better. 1968 USA ~ Texas

The debut from Tapestry Garden (see below for their last release). The A) side is also feminine psych but much more edgy. Excellent guitar, and in particular, hyperactive drum work. B) side is more like a Brill Building type single with strings, though the drummer is still cooking along quite nicely. 

4/24/25

Tapestry Garden - Lay Down (Candles In The Rain) / 1 - 2 - 3. 1970 USA ~ Texas

Tapestry Garden (cool name!) hailed from Corpus Christi, Texas. They had two singles and this is their second. Definitely a focused play for the radio of the time. Both are feminine sung psych. A) is a Melanie tune and is geared towards the folk crowd. The B) side has horns. 

4/24/25

T.M.L. - Should Have Done Better / Can’t Take It No More. USA ~ Chicago, Illinois

A) side is a moderately paced driving song with a scratchy sound and a nice fuzz break. Chorus is overlong. B) side is more moody. Organ is a distinguishing feature. Seems the latter track is going to break out into a proggy bit but always holds back. Sort of like Procol Harum I suppose.

3.0 / 3.0

4/20/25 (review)

Amber Band - Keep It Burning / I'm So Confused. 1980 USA ~ San Diego, California

A) side has a hard driving riff though the song is 70s classic rock in construct. I liked the B) side better which contains soft flute and more than a nod to fellow Californians Ambrosia. Nice piece of yacht rock.

3/3.5

4/11/25 

The Fabulous Raindrops - People Need A Beat / El Putty. USA ~ Denver, Colorado

Now this is something special. I bought a milk crate full of 45s for $5 last weekend from an old Hispanic lady. I took them home and sorted through them. Most in bad condition and about 98% of them were donated to a thrift shop and a few found their way to my $2 show bin. There were two gems in there: The Mod Squad and... by far and away the big one: The Fabulous Raindrops. This was the heavy hitter. And hyper rare. That's how 45 buys go. 200 nickel records and one $500+ treasure.

The labels aren't very telling. One side says "Soul" the other "Ranchera". Do you know what Ranchera is? Think Mexican country music. The label, from the Denver industrial suburb of Commerce City, specialized in Latin music. Hence the style typed on each side. That's just what Latin labels do. If one was to just hear the Ranchera side first, you'd already be in for a surprise. It's instrumental and barely Mexican in construct. 

It's the A) side that is a... banger. And a half (I'm such a hipster now). It's as if someone made it recently as the perfect example of late 60s (or early 70s - who knows?) heavy psychedelic funk. So much phased acid guitar and heavy beats. Separated perfectly for those who love to sample. And what a groove the organ sets. It's not Soul as you would typically associate the term with. And I don't think the label had any idea what they were putting out. With names like Spike and Ricky Martinez, it's interesting that the music sounds more like a private Detroit or Philly ghetto release.

Seeing some dates of 1966 thrown around. No chance. Way too psychedelic for that. I'd go '67 but probably later than that.

Brilliant I tell ya. It's on YouTube so check it out. You can also hear this track on Gear Fab's Psychedelic States: Colorado in the 60s. 

Own.

4/4/25 (new entry)

The Mods - Dry My Eyes / Rosalie. 1967 USA ~ Lincoln, Nebraska

Excellent blue eyed soul that yields to early funk. Good horn charts, solid melodies, high energy, and makes you want to hop around. Great organ too.

The song 'Dry My Eyes' was written by a well known band called The Fabulous Flippers, a group from Genius Hans' favorite town of Hays, Kansas. And the single was released on Fona. There are allegations that The Mods were a pseudonym for The Fabulous Flippers. However it's documented they were "The Modds" and were from Lincoln, Nebraska. They are in the Nebraska Music Hall of Fame in fact. So they grabbed the tune from their label mates is all there is to the story.

Own.

3.5 / 3.5

4/4/25 (new entry)

The Mod Squad - Charge / Mod Squad You All. 1970 USA

This is my kind of funk. Tight, heavy sound, great horn charts, nice vocals. Excellent bottom end. No ripping solos but otherwise a good seat jammer that will have you movin and groovin.

Not sure where they're from. Recorded in Los Angeles and no doubt influenced by the show. Especially brother Linc.

Own.

4/4/25 (new entry)

The TKO's – Dancing With My Baby / Getting Into Something. 1966 USA

I believe this is what they call "a dancer". All instrumental soul funk with wonderful fuzzy organ and jazz tone guitar. The flip side is more Latin influenced. 1966 is the year everything began to turn, and this is another one of those transitional 45s.

Own.

3.5 / 3.0

4/1/25 (new entry)

The Dan Terry Thing ‎– Big Daddy / Funin'. 1968 USA

Of late I've had an interest in big band jazz rock. The Dan Terry Thing is an excellent example of that sound. The stage band charts are excellent and energetic though the soloing is odd. Seems like a kazoo (!?) at times. Were that fuzz guitar instead, this 45 would be a $500+ rarity. You can hear some Maynard Ferguson and Buddy Rich in these grooves.

I have the SP here, not sure I'm going to keep it. Will hold onto for a bit.

3/3

4/1/25 (new entry)

Headwinds - Warrior Song / Just To Be With You. 1977 USA ~ Los Angeles, California

I can't remember how I first heard about Headwinds, but the 45 found its way onto my want list eventually. The music here is a commercially oriented progressive rock. Somewhat like same era Yes and Starcastle. And the B) side leans towards Styx even. The synthesizer work in particular is very much from the prog school. Nice saxophone, acoustic guitar, and harmony vocals. It's not rhythmically complex, so this for fans of lush "symphonic", though it would have been better served had it featured mellotron. Headwinds aren't for underground fans looking for psych excursions. Given that this is a custom pressing, I'll presume the band had no real intention of getting radio airplay. Rather they were documenting their efforts to that point in time. One wonders if they have more material sitting in a vault somewhere.

After some research I found 'Warrior Song' on YouTube posted by keyboardist Mark Poynter (going by Eric). It's a longer take. So there may be more after all.

Further research teaches us that Headwinds were from Pasadena and often played with Van Halen. Now isn't that interesting? Especially back then when Mammoth / VH were at their heaviest. After breaking up in 1980, two of the members (guitarist Michael Britton and keyboardist Poynter) joined forces with Tommy Lee (yes, pre-Motley Crue) to form a hard rock band called Dealer (there is an archival CDr demo of their recordings). Later, guitarist Michael Britton went onto to form Romeo then his namesake Britton, who managed to put out three albums. Later Britton found Woodbury Boys in Salt Lake City and that seems to be the end of the line from a recording perspective.

You would never know that Headwinds housed heavy metal / hard rockers in their midst as they didn't display that angst on this 45.

Own.

4 / 3.5

3/28/25 (new entry)

The Pop Workshop - Fairyland / When My Little Girl Is Happy. 1968 England

A) side is fairly typical harpsichord driven popsike. B) side is better with jangly guitars and a more thoughtful melody sequence.

Own.

3/28/25

Orchid - Go Big Red / Act Naturally. 1973 USA ~ Wisconsin

Orchid were high school kids from Edgerton, Wisconsin between Madison and Janesville. 'Go Big Red' has become noteworthy due to its appearance on one of the many Bonehead comps out there. To me 'Go Big Red' means the University of Nebraska, but it turns out to be both a high school anthem as well as a tribute to the University of Wisconsin's hockey team. What makes the track great are the freaky guitar solos, though the song is lacking. The B) side is more of a country rocker. 

3/2/25

Harpy - Backseat Love / Mr. Jimmy. 1975 USA ~ Syracuse, New York

Harpy were from Syracuse, New York and this is their only known recorded work. Their music could best be described as AM radio rock of the mid 70s. Something akin to Three Dog Night. There is an excellent synthesizer break on the A) side making it more interesting than usual. This track was featured on a local Syracuse 2xLP comp in 1976.

3 / 2.5

3/2/25

Cherry People – Sea And Me / Come on Over. 1971 USA ~ Washington, D.C.

At one point I had Cherry People's first single from 1968 and my notes there stated: "Saccharine pop for the psych era. Safe for the whole family. "As seen in Better Homes and Gardens" one can predict. 'Imagination' has some trippy effects, so not too bad on the whole. But this is miles away from the best groups of the genre such as The Free Design. Not keeping."

'Sea and Me' is an interesting shift of sound from this DC based band. Here they are peddling early 70s styled North American hard rock. Nice guitar work though the tune lacks any kind of memorable melodies. Still it would be interesting to hear a whole album of music like this.

3/2/25

Young Presidents - Mac-10 Morning / Not In Love. 1987 USA ~ Monterey, California

Average anthem hard rock with a slight metal tone. The wildcard here is the use of harmonica, not an instrument we typically here in music such as this. One presumes they used a lot of hairspray, but the vintage photos show them looking more like Huey Lewis and the News. Some older clips show saxophone as well, so it appears they really weren't metal at all. Band is still active as I enter this post.

2/5 / 2.5

3/2/25

The Red Barons - Bomb Out Of Your Mind / You Do. 1971 USA ~ New York ~ Pennsylvania

Both sides are consistent folk rock jangly pop styled. Led by a one Cheryl Barnes, her vocals recall a bit of Janis Joplin and Canned Haat. Or even Jean Ritchie. There's some old organ in play. The music sounds more like 1967 than '71. It appears the band were from the New York / Pennsylvania border, and there's some Appalachia in here too.

3 / 3

3/2/25

The Fun Band - Welcome To The Circle / It's Good. 1968 USA ~ Connecticut

One of those under the radar singles you'd think would be more well known and sought after. First side is high energy fuzzy funk, and you long for the guitarist to rip a solo. The b) side is even better, focusing primarily on Hammond with some horns and fuzz in the background. This one let's loose on the organ, and even features a couple of proggy breaks. Who were these guys anyway? And why isn't anyone into them? It's got the right sound. You can pick this 45 up dirt cheap online.

Own. My copy is the other promo but there's not a good photo of it on Discogs.

2/24/25 (review)

Energy - Nowhere to Hide / Fight For Your Freedom. 1983 England

Though labeled as part of the NWOBHM scene, you'll be looking for the data on supporting the metal claim. More like a punky hard rock, though the B) side does feature some thoughtful instrumental work.

Found this for a buck at a local vintage shop. Tempting to keep this because I'm a fan of the movement. But this one is just too blase for me. It does not appear that the album listed ever came out.

2/2/25