Le Orme - Piccola Rapsodia Dell'Ape / Raccogli Le Nuvole. 1980 Italy

Both tracks are from their 1980 album which I don't own. A playful set of classically oriented tunes with a solid rock rhythm base. B side adds in Italian vocals Nice pic sleeve. Worth keeping.

Own.

1/24/26 (new entry)

The Gale – Gotta Run Away / Make Up My Mind. 1972 USA ~ Birmingham, Alabama

A very interesting two sider here. The a) side starts with an excellent bass and drums groove. The song itself is a laid back organ rocker with excellent harmony vocals. The guitar and organ solos are clearly from the jazz school. The b) maintains the excellent groove though moves over to the soul funk genre, especially considering the addition of female vocals and wah wah rhythm guitar. At first I thought this was the weaker track, but here the guitar solo is based more in the psychedelic tradition. Obscure as they get.

4.0

1/5/26 (new entry)

Hercules & The Black Majic - War (Parts 1 and 2). 1970 USA ~ Des Moines, Iowa

The a) side is a fairly straightforward cover of the Edwin Starr classic. A little more rough and ready. More psych'd out I'd submit. Not really enough to call out on its own though. It's the b) side that captures the attention. While still the same song, it's a completely rearranged, improvised psychedelic funk instrumental with loads of killer fuzz. Good one here.

3.5 / 4.5

1/5/26 (new entry)

Pappys Hauted House - One More Time / Dude. 1972 USA ~ Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

One of those classic misspellings that that no doubt haunted (had to do it) the band for years to come. The a) side is mostly soul / jazz with the song belonging to the former and the organ to the latter. Nice wah wah rhythms and horns. It's the b) side that ignites the flame here. They add in wicked fuzz, and primarily go psychedelic with some hints of funk. 

The leader of the band was John Papi, who is the organ player, and led a jazz trio at one point. He's quite an interesting character. Much more info about him can be found here: https://oldmonmusic.blogspot.com/2010/01/john-papi.html

1/5/26 (new entry)

Ning - Machine / More Ning. 1971 England

Someone must've thought Ning was going to be the next big thing. It does rhyme, have to give them that foresight. Discogs shows no less than ten pressings around Europe, US, and Turkey. 

The a) side is fairly heavy in sound though musically it's pretty simplistic with somewhat annoying vocals. Cowbell opens the b) side ('Morning' yuk yuk) which leads to a laid back, almost Allman Brothers like instrumental jammer. Features a nice mid song riff and good soloing. Organ also plays a major role. I like this 45, though I didn't hear any commercial potential myself.

Pic sleeve shown is the German version. I haven't run into this title yet, but since there are three domestic pressings (no pic sleeve for the US versions), I'll probably find it (and keep it).

1/4/26 (new entry)