Spaceark - Don't Stop (vocal & instrumental). 1976 USA-Los Angeles

From Los Angeles, Spaceark is a super example of funk and early disco with fine horns, sax, and organ. Strong jazz undertone. It's the same track on each side, with one featuring female vocals that makes the song that much better. This has some of the smoothest grooves you can hear. Excellent. This is the original black label. There's another pressing of these two tracks, on the same imprint, with a blue label under the name of Dolly Way & Space Ship Earth.

Own. Found at a local estate sale (2024).

8/4/24

Poor Richard - Good Time Music / Eyes. 197? USA-Los Angeles

From Los Angeles. Starts off as you might expect in a boogie rock state, with some fine organ. The B) side is more introspective, still in pop rock mode with dominant vocals, piano, and organ. Doesn't appear to be related to any of the other Poor Richard's out there. 

2.5 / 2.5

8/2/24

The Rubber Band - Bubble Tree / Agnes Ries. 1967 USA-California

I'll get to the group's details below. For the music, this is the kind of garage folks are turning every stone over for. Side A has a dreamy melodic structure. The B side has a folky underpinning, with a punk attitude, and an excellent guitar solo. 

We do know from a YouTube comment from the band member's sister some details: It was recorded in Los Angeles in 1967. The group were from Bishop, California, which is way out in the eastern part of the state near Nevada.

Ownership: SP: 1967 Harlow. Obtained from a local shop for a $1 weeee (2024). 

We'll start with the rarity - it has never sold on Discogs, and the one and only copy that sold on ebay was 11 years ago for $350. You can only guess what it would go for now in a Carolina Soul auction. According to Discogs, the label has 6 releases (probably more) every one of them obscure.

Now we'll talk about the mistakes. The label shows The Bubber Bands on one side and The Rubber Bands on the other. My copy - and the submitter to Discogs copy (shown here) - has the final "S" rubbed out on each side. Above sister stated they were called The Rubber Band. What a mess.

7/14/24 (first listen / review / new entry)

Rhonghei - Long Time Gone / Assassination. 1970 USA-California

Another southern Californian group (Rosamund). Fits loosely in the psych funk soul camp. B) side features some fine fuzz. A) has a deep groove with bluesy guitar. Not bad all. 

3.5 / 3.5

2/23/24

Starfire - Islands / Slippery. 1974 USA-Los Angeles

Interesting one here. I knew both of these tracks from their sole album, which is also extremely obscure. Somewhere along the line I ended up with the bootleg CD, so that's how I heard them in the first place. Never expected to find the original 45 though, and not expensive either! For 1974, the progressive rock presented is a bit out of date, but there's not a whole lot from the States that played in this genre back then either. Heavy on the Hammond organ, sounds more like a 1970 transitional album out of psych. Maybe like SRC's Traveler's Tale.

Ownership: SP: 1974 Crimson. Online acquisition (2021).

4.0 / 4.0

11/2/21 (first listen); 1/27/22 (review / new entry)

PBX - Milktoast Repose / Gangplank. 1978 USA-San Francisco Bay Area

This is an old CDRWL discovery, and I recently picked up a copy for myself. My original scratch off notes stated simply: Fantastic progressive rock from the Bay Area (Los Gatos). Very complex similar to a Yes/Gentle Giant/King Crimson hybrid. The first group that leaped to my mind was Yezda Urfa!

Pretty hard to argue with that really. And at 10 minutes and change, you get your money's worth for a 45. I can say at this point, this is the best progressive rock 45 in my collection. It was The AC who discovered it (as was often the case), and his full notes are far more comprehensive. He wrote: "Bay Area (Los Gatos) prog band who's only release was sadly this obscure EP. Usually, I wouldn't submit an EP quite this short (around 11 minutes total) for inclusion here, as it would be tough to reissue without additional archival material, but in this case we already know that such material does indeed exist. And what wonderful news that is, as I can say without risking hyperbole that this release is amongst the strongest ever recorded by a progressive rock band in the United States. The usual ultra-complex Yes/Gentle Giant-isms of the US underground prog scene are here in full force, but the real difference is that this is more guitar-driven (no keyboards here at all, surprisingly) and ferocious than the usual suspects, with heavy elements of mid 70s Crimson and even some classic Mahavishnu stylings on display. The guitar absolutely rips through the solos (especially on side 2) and the drumming is flat-out world class, in the Billy Cobham/Furio Chirico mold. Vocals are surprisingly smooth and melodic for an underground US act, giving it an almost British touch at times. Just jaw-dropping stuff, really. It's nothing short of a tragedy that they never recorded a full studio album, but as I mentioned above, there is some good news to report. Guitarist/band leader Peter McKibben (who is still musically active) has been contacted and had this to say:

"PBX was a crazy band, trying to make a mark in the Bay Area (SF) music scene when punk and New Wave were starting to become popular. Probably wasn't the right time for a progressive jazz/rock outfit to try to get noticed, but we were having fun, so we didn't care. We actually played on some punk/wave shows, opening up for Pearl Harbor and the Explosions and the Dead Kennedy's (they hated us). I just found an old cassette from 1978 of PBX playing outdoors in Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley. On the other side of this cassette, is a live recording of PBX playing at a weird dive called the "I Café"...I believe Pearl Harbor played after us on that occasion. Anyway, a longtime friend of the band knows an engineer who's been converting cassette recordings to cd. I don't know what kind of condition the tape is in, but he's going to try and make the transfer."

Well - that was 6 years ago, and obviously nothing's come of it yet. But who knows? Maybe this will serve as a reminder. For someone. Anyone....

Ownership: SP: 1978 Collage. With picture sleeve. Recent online acquisition (2021).

5/17/15 (first listen / review); 6/6/21 (update / new entry)

Bitter Root - Distant Song / Movin'. USA-Los Angeles

'Distant Song' starts of with a mean funky beat, which leads to some nice rhythm guitar, cool-dude vocals, tight horn charts, and screaming fuzz solos. This is my kind of horn rock! 'Movin' gets us going with a rockin' Steppenwolf rhythm guitar, followed by more horns and passionate vocals. And more screaming fuzz solos. Dig it. Great two sider.

Ownership: SP: 19?? Dor-Don. Online acquisition (2021) 

4/19/21 (first listen); 6/6/21 (review / new entry)

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)

Royal Teens - Tears In My Eyes / Chicanery. 1967 USA-Los Angeles

Odd discovery here. Royal Teens were like many southern Californian bands from the late 60s. There was music to be made, and off they went for a go. It's psychedelic but not overtly so. The songwriting is a bit disorienting. The b) side blends in a trippy sequence from The Beach Boys, as an example. I'm not sure of the date to be honest. The last 2 digits of the catalog number on some of the Rev 45s seem to indicate the year, but it could be coincidence. 1967 is about right, though 1966 seems even more realistic. There's some residue from the garage still left in here. Overall, a good one worth seeking out.

Ownership: SP: 1967 Rev. Online acquisition (2020)

Well I was quite pleased with my new unknown purchase at the time. And it still seems that way. However, one ebay reseller recently unloaded 50 new ones onto the marketplace, as a lot sale. Well, so much for that rarity, unless the buyer is keeping it under wraps. But if you start seeing mint ones creep out, then you'll know the source. And that same seller is still listing new copies sporadically. There is supply, that's for sure. Fortunately I'm not selling. 

My copy was part of this fantastic release: Heroes and Villains: The Sound of Los Angeles 1965-1968. We learn from this compilation that the 45 was released in May of 1967, so the label was informative on that front.

11/16/20 (first listen); 5/16/21 (review / new entry); 9/24/22 (update)

The Beautiful Daze - City Jungle Prt. 1 / City Jungle Prt. 2. 1967 USA-Los Angeles

From Los Angeles, The Beautiful Daze gives us exactly the sound every collector wants from a psych single. A good tune wrapped in massive amounts of fuzz. It's one song stretched to two sides. I have a bunch of heavy psych comps, and these tracks missed them all.

4/19/21

The New Life - Backwoods Annie / Ha Lese (Le Di Khanna). 1969 USA-California

The New Life were from Fresno, California. The A side sounds like you would imagine, that of country rock. It's OK. The B side is somewhat legendary and was used in a biker flick. Mostly screaming fuzz psych with hyperactive drumming, though not overly memorable.

4/19/21

Straight - Save Your Breath / Coming of the Rain. 1975 USA-Los Angeles

Obscure horn rock presumably from the Los Angeles area. 'Save Your Breath' is a kick ass ripper with superb analog synthesizer and electric guitar. 'Coming of the Rain' is from the pop side of the genre, yet no less satisfying, and contains a great melody with strong instrumentation. 1975 is way late for this kind of music, and thus Straight didn't make much of a name for themselves, though they did get picked up by ATCO for one more single. If you're a horn rock fan like me, you'll want to get this.

Ownership: SP: 1975 Encore. I found two copies in one week (one in Rapid City, South Dakota, one in Denver). 

10/16/20 (first listen / review / new entry)

Jr. & Punky Lee - Slippin' And Slidin' / How Does That Taste In Your Mind. 1971 USA-Los Angeles

How is this not more well known? The A side is bubblegum. It's decent, but not going to move the needle. It's the B side that you're going for here. It's every bit as good as the title suggests. Great 60s organ sound, with driving bass, and fuzz guitars. It's an instrumental track that moves in different directions and could be considered early progressive rock. The sound is late 60s, but the music is more forward thinking. A lot gets done in its allocated 2 and a half minutes. No idea where these guys are from. Never been comp'd either. Last of the great sub $10 finds...

Ownership: SP: 1971 Lionel. Recent acquisition in a bulk buy.

---

We have some more info from the producer: I produced and arranged How Does That Taste In Your Mind B side of Jr & Punky Lee. Thanks for the great review!!!

I was working with the band Storybook in the mid late 60's when they were approached by Dick Clark Productions to record a track for Psych Out Movie track. Nothing happened with their recording and were not picked up by DCP.

I went into the studio and recorded 5 tracks with them intending to put vocals on all the tracks. Most of the songs recorded I had written with Jeff Wayne, before he moved to UK and did Rock On with David Essex and War Of The Worlds which sold 3 million copies world wide. How Does That Taste was written with Dick Monda (aka Daddy Dewdrop and Jr.) & Punky Lee (who was his wife), whom I was writing with since Jeff Wayne was busy in UK.

Dick needed a b side for Slippin & Sliding . I had the track and the track with a scratch vocal of Dick doing the song which needed to be re done. Instead, I gave him the track for the production credit and half the publishing on the track.

Paul Robin

Here is some other stuff I wrote with Dick:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCkcIw43dOA Collection Of Hearts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCgQdKpwioQ Spats - The Upsetter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9iMyIIOTcM The Novells 1968] Age Of Innocence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOGfGZp7BY0

More band information from Paul:

They were from San Fernando Valley (Los Angeles). The group included:

Dennis's Myers - Bass
George Cox- lead vocals
Jay Tressler- other guitar and vocals
Steve Bacon- keyboard and vocals
Ben Barrigan - Drums
Ron Brunswick - Guitar

5/9/20 (first listen); 9/20/20 (review / new entry); 12/24/21 (update)