Bedazzled!

Le Système Crapoutchik - "L'Horrible Reve"

I had too much to dream last night ... C'est la faute au Système! ;)
(No, really... this is Sixties Pop-sike of the highest order, on par with the best from the Bee Gees, and the Idle Race... only Made in France, which makes it all the more special; get it from Spain's Wah-Wah records who made a Deluxe DoLP vinyl edition... seriously criminally Under-rated POP!) :

 

Deram DM 144 - Cuppa T - "Miss Pinkerton"

Two former members of the Overlanders, who did a nice version of "Michelle", get together as Cuppa T and record the self penned "Miss Pinkerton", a song about a very bored office worker, somewhat in the vein of Cat Steven's "Matthew and Son" lyrically. I love the over-the-top production with piccoloes, Indian style guitar sounds, and a marching band sound. Hard to figure this song and the British public didn't take to it enough to get it into the charts. A shame because it's a nice slice of 1967 BritPop. We'll meet Cuppa T one more time for their second Deram release.

 

 

Deram DM 142 - The Flowerpot Men - "Let's Go To San Francisco"

John Carter and Ken Lewis were a very prolific songwriting and performing team in the 60s. Starting with Carter-Lewis and The Southerners in 62 (with Jimmy Page on guitar) and on to The Ivy League, where they backed The Who on "I Can't Explain", and they had a string of chart successes with songs like "Willow Tree", "Funny How Love Can Be" and "Tossing and Turning" . There were a lot of personnel changes with The Ivy League, and Carter-Lewis moved on to other projects. But in 1967, with kaftans, joss sticks and flower power in the air, they came together to write "Let's Go To San Francisco". "San Francisco" by Scott McKenzie was a chart success at the time, and Carter-Lewis decided to do their own variation of this theme of flower wearing love children in San Francisco, and this was the result. Upon release, it hurried up the charts to peak at 4 and you couldn't avoid it if you listened to Radio Luxembourg, like I did, that Summer. Named after a children's show on BBC, the Flowerpot Men were marionettes aimed at kids, but with some adult themes to keep the grown-ups watching. This video is taken from the Nov 25th, 1967 episode of Beat Club. This is the 'road' version of the FPM. John Carter, who wrote and sang it, didn't want to tour. Ironically on this same episode of Beat Club, Scott McKenzie also performed his hit. A lot of San Francisco for one show! The Bee Gees were also on, singing about "Massachusetts". Ironically I was on Haight Street today in San Francisco, so DM 142 is meant to be I think!

 

Deram DM 127 - The Wards of Court - "All Night Girl"

The Wards of Court released one single, "All Night Girl" in May of 1967, in the same release batch as "Whiter Shade". It couldn't have been more different. A pleasant enough pop song, it has a Peter Lee Stirling production that has piccolos, some nice drumming, trumpets, and a rather jaunty feel, for want of a better word. Bit of a grower, it sticks with you after a few listens. The flip side, "How Could You Say One Thing" is a great bit of driving freakbeat, with a very much to the fore drum sound. The Wards hailed from Essex, and after "All Night" didn't chart, presumably went back home to work at Wimpys and talk about what could have been.

  

Deram DM 125 - The Outer Limits - "Just One More Chance"

For Deram 125, former Leeds skiffle group Three G's Plus One morphed into the trendier sounding The Outer Limits and released "Just One More Chance" in April of 67. Some say that future "Yellow River" man Jeff Christie was a 'Limit', but we aren't sure. Their next release was on the Immediate subsidiary, Instant. Guess the lack of chart action didn't sit well with the Deramic folks.

 

Deram DM 120 - The Warm Sounds - "Birds and Bees"

For DM 120, the duo called The Warm Sounds sing about the "Birds and Bees". Denver Gerrard and Barry Younghusband supposedly met in a publishers office in 66, formed Warm Sounds and this was released in April of 67. By now Mike Hurst was doing a lot of production work for Deram and this has his signature sound. Pretty infectious pop tune, with a string quartet popping in in the middle. They made a little noise on the charts with this one. They released 2 more singles on Deram before calling it a day. Denny Gerrard went on to release a solo album in 1970 and produced High Tide, whose album some consider a psych classic.

 

Deram DM 119 - The Gibsons - "Magic Book"

DM119 was the 2nd single by The Gibsons on Deram, "Magic Book". Nice little morality tale with a 'happy chappy' sound. Of their 8 singles from the 60s, this may be the best one. They moved on to Major Minor after this failed to chart. Written by the hit makers Greenaway and Cook and released in March of 1967.

 

Deram DM 111 - The Pyramid - "Summer Of Last Year"

DM 111 was the pride of Southorpe, The Pyramid, with their non-charter "Summer Of Last Year". Released in Jan of 67, it falls right into the genre now referred to as sunshine pop. Listen carefully and you will hear Ian Mathews on vocals before he headed off to Fairport Convention. Also notable for the Denny Cordell production. He was involved in a number of Deram releases. The Pyramid seemed to be on quite the Summer tip, as the B side of this was "Summer Evening". This was their only release.

 

Deram DM 103 - The Gibsons - "Two Kinds of Lovers"

Deram 103 was The Gibsons's "Two Kinds of Lovers", released Oct 66. A bit happy chappy, but a nice piece of sunshine pop nonetheless. The Gibsons were Aussies, who managed to get 8 singles out in the 60s, on CBS, Deram and Major Minor.

 

Peppermint Trolley Company - "Trust" on The Upbeat Show

Peppermint Trolley Company "Trust".mov
On Upbeat! I guess...
Written By Paul Williams & Roger Nichols
Here's a great Peppermint Trolley Company page.

Check out the comments for some background from Danny Faragher of The Peppermint Trolley Company. Here's an interview he did on Luxuria Music.