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.

3/28/25 (new entry)

Vimana - Zebra / Masquerade. 1977 Brazil

If you arrived at Vimana's sole release with the idea that you were going to hear prog rock, then I think 'Zebra' will have you scratching your head. It's mostly a funk / disco hybrid, common for the 1977 era, though it does sport fine keyboard and guitar solos with some nice percussion sprinkled in. 'Masquerade' is, of course, the overt progressive rock track here. A real beauty, calling on the softer side of classic Yes, with a Mediterranean flair similar to the French and Spanish bands of the time. Some fine bass and flute propel the track to great heights. I can't think of another Brazilian band doing this kind of music in the late 70s.

2/23/20 (first listen / review); 1/21/25 (new entry)

Leong Lau - Late Night Flyer / One Dimensional Man. 1977 Australia

If you're already familiar with the album Dragon Man, then you know what to expect here. Psychedelic funk of the highest order, though in compact single form.

I almost let this get away. They are bonus tracks on the Strawberry Rain CD reissue, but are hidden (I was going to keep the LP reissue instead). Discogs didn't mention them (I just corrected the entry), only RYM did but without a track history. But I couldn't figure out why it said bonus tracks. Further investigation turns out it was my entry (I stopped contributing releases to RYM years ago, so this may have been one of my last ones). So I saved myself. lol.

Own as noted above.

3/1/14 (first listen); 1/18/25 (review / new entry)

Charlie Burton and Rock Therapy - Rock and Roll Behavior / That Boy and My Girl. 1977 USA-Nebraska

When I found this I thought it would be big money. It looks like some underground punk 45 - and from 1977! Nope. The A) side is retro 50's rock but with a 70s hard rock guitar solo, which is the highlight of both sides. B) side is more towards blues rock. From Lincoln, Nebraska. I'm keeping it for now. 

Own. From a thrift store in Sheridan, Wyoming (2024).

3.5/2.5

8/15/24

Passenger - Better Man / Sally Ann. 1977 USA-Tennessee

Here's another great find! The a) side is a total ripper, with a heavy guitar/synth riff and some mean organ. Sounds like a heavy version of Styx (think James Young). The flip side is more of a romantic ballad. Maybe think Dennis DeYoung here. Some definite Styx vibes. Maybe a little Elton John on the b) side too. But it's the first song that you're after here.

The label is mostly known for country music, so this is a real outlier in their catalog.

Ownership: SP: 1977 Prairie Dust. Online acquisition (2022).

4.5 / 3.0

2/5/22

The Mogul Band - Backdoor Romance / Whatcha Doin' To Me. 1977 USA-San Francisco Bay Area

So... they reversed the labels, and it's very apparent that 'Whatcha Doin' To Me' is the a) side. An excellent example of southern rock with a phased guitar riff, and some fine solos. The songwriting is pretty good as well. The other side is much more hickified, but with a good mid-song solo. It would seem The Outlaws were the primary influence for The Mogul Band. The area code on the 45 suggests this to be from San Francisco, an odd sound for the region. Guessing it's from the late 1970s. Worth keeping.

1977 has been confirmed, and a band member wrote in to say they were from Pleasanton, where I used to work!

Ownership: 1977 Arest. Online acquisition (2020).

8/30/20 (first listen); 5/16/21 (review / new entry)

Harmon, Pelot, Prichard & Bear / Joe Prichard - Loneliness / Advantage, Miss Evert. 1977 USA-Missouri

Sounding more like a law firm, Harmon, Pelot, Prichard & Bear get right down to proggy business straight from the get. This is the archetypal Midwest prog sound. Mixes hard rock, AOR, and complex progressions with ease. Apparently Joe Prichard is the keyboard player, as the b) side starts off more like an electronic track, but with saxophone layered on top. And a little boogie/honky tonk piano as well. An odd instrumental song honestly. The a) side is what you're after here. Desoto is a small town south of St. Louis. Before men played women sports, cutie Chris Evert dominated tennis in the mid to late 70s. Given that, I'd put 1976 or 1977 as the date of this interesting release (and that was confirmed later).

I've just been recently informed that this is the same Joe Prichard who was in the group Joe Prichard and Gibraltar, a very rare 1974 private album that I was unfamiliar with prior.

Ownership: SP: 1977 Cadde. Online acquisition (2020)

10/25/20 (first listen); 5/16/21 (review / new entry)

Storm - Break it Down / Back Off. 1977 USA-Chicago

Now this is my kind of hard rock! One of the best of my SP purchases last year. Heavy guitars and crunchy Hammond on side a), with Moog synthesizer and screaming guitar solos on the flip. Vocalist is screaming on top throughout. Not even 6 minutes of material here, and I'm still completely satisfied. I want to hear much more from these guys - maybe they have more in a can somewhere. Interesting they are on the same obscure label as the also excellent Damrod I spoke about last year on this blog. I presume, because of this, they are from Chicago as well.

Ownership: SP: 1977 Ruby promo. Online acquisition (2020). 

7/4/20 (first listen); 3/7/21 (review / new entry)

Luxus - Brown Matter / The Thinker. 1977 USA-Cleveland

An exciting new find here! Based on very recent data (as in since I purchased this only a few months ago), it appears Luxus were from Cleveland and they recorded this one single (33 RPM) in 1977. It's 12 minutes long, so an EP length really. And what a 12 minutes! This is such a bullseye for the Midwestern progressive rock sound, it practically defines it. Starts off a bit slow on 'Brown Matter' with a proggy AOR ballad like sound. Have no fear, as once the guitar gets to riffing, we never turn back. Brilliant proggy hard rock, with complex meters and great solos. This is only the setup to the sublime 'The Thinker'. No messing around this time, as the guitar gets to blazing right away. Rush seems to be an influence here, which is a little early for that band's influence to begin creeping into the garage. The progressions are more complex though, similar to Yes, Gentle Giant, or even Yezda Urfa. It's hard rock in the same way as Seiche or UHF, that is to say this is thinking person's heavy music for sure (as the title indicates) - but it's also mid 70s progressive rock in spirit. Keyboards play a minor role, mostly what sounds like an ARP string synth. It's the killer guitar breaks and solos that makes this one so special. Would be great if they had more material. It would be considered a top tier archival release for sure.

Ownership: SP: 1977 M.T.R. Online acquisition. 

4/23/20 (first listen); 7/20/20 (review / new entry)