LP 240: Original London Cast - Fresh Hair (Polydor, 1970)

Side 1
01 (a) Washing The World (b) Hashish (c) Manchester, England
02 Dead End
03 (a) I Dig (b) Initials (Tricky Dick)
04 (a) Hello There (b) Mr Berger (c) Going Down (d) Mess O' Dirt
05 (a) Om Mame Padme (b) Don't Put It Down (The Flag)
06 Be In (Hare Krishna)

Side 2
07 Oh Great God Of Power / Aquarius (Reprise)
08 (a) One Thousand Year Old Man (b) So Sing The Children On The Avenue
09 Exanaplanatooch
10 (a) Sheila Franklin (b) I Believe In Love (c) The Rally
11 You Are Standing On My Bed
12 Eyes Look Your Last / Ain't Got No (Reprise) / Let The Sunshine In

Fresh Hair was conceived almost immediately after its predecessor (see LP 176). The idea was to record the remaining "pearls from Rado, Ragni and MacDermot that had been omitted from the first London Hair album". That had one drawback; there wasn't enough songs. So they went back to the Holy Trinity who kindly supplied them with a further selection of numbers originally conceived for the New York production - but which had been superseded or subsequently replaced.

The end result is surprisingly good. After a so-so start (Washing The World and Dead End), things pick up with the introspective I Dig and throwaway Initials (Tricky Dick). The good humour continues with the groovy Mr Berger and rocky Going Down with a show-stopping motorik Hare Krishna stealing the side one thunder.

The heat is turned up by Paul Nicholas and The Tribe with a epic One Thousand Year Old Man - think of Dead Can Dance's Brendan Perry backed up by the Pixies. Elsewhere Exanaplanatooch makes for thoughtful musing while the rousing finale Eyes Look Your Last / Ain't Got No (Reprise) / Let The Sunshine In is carried off with fuzz and overblown theatrics that just about work.  

Comments and feedback are welcome.

LP 239: Various - Top BBC TV Themes (BBC, 1978)

Side 1
01 Yannis Markopoulos - Who Pays The Ferryman?
02 Dominic Frontiere - Washington Behind Closed Doors
03 Chris Farlowe and Dave Greenslade - Gangsters
04 The Alexander Faris Orchestra - Wings
05 Area Code 615 - Stone Fox Chase
06 Gheorghe Zamfir - Doina De Jale
07 Richard Denton and Martin Cook - Hong Kong Beat

Side 2
08 Pete Mac Junior - The Water Margin
09 Ship's Company and Band of HMS Ark Royal - Sailing
10 The Alexander Faris Orchestra - The Duchess Of Duke Street
11 U.K. Brass - Softly Softly March
12 Norrie Paramor and The Midland Radio Orchestra - Last Of The Summer Wine
13 Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen - Saturday Night At The Mill
14 Alan Parker - Angels

Top BBC TV Themes was released in 1978, the first in a four volume series from the broadcaster. All four instalments combine a mixture of good, bad and ugly themes emerging annually until 1981.

We start with the lilting continental sounds of Yannis Markopoulos's Who Pays The Ferryman? before the booming brass of Washington Behind Closed Doors kicks in. Neither are worth getting excited about. The LP springs to life with the third track, the eerie symphonic paranoid soul vibes of Gangsters. Check out the crazy series too.

Alexander Faris contributes two duff numbers - totally naff when compared to his groovy Capone Investment theme (sadly recorded for Southern though). The evergreen Old Grey Whistle Test theme, Stone Fox Chase, makes a welcome appearance, still sounding fresh and funky. Breaks! Another chunky tune is the bluesy jazz of Hong Kong Beat made great by Richard Denton and Martin Cook.

Zamfir brings out the panpipes for the Light Of Experience theme, Doina De Jale. Oddly affecting as is the Sailor theme by the Ship's Company and Band Of HMS Ark Royal. All alone at sea. The remaining tracks range from Pete Mac Junior's hokey Japanese singing of The Water Margin tune to Norrie Paramor's gentle Last Of The Summer Wine before signing up with the mean library rhythmic riffage of Alan Parker's Angels.

Comments and feedback are welcome.

LP 238: Laurie Johnson - The Belstone Fox Original Soundtrack (Ronco, 1973)

Side 1
01 Belstone Fox Theme
02 Early Days
03 The Friendship
04 Separation
05 Reunion
06 The Legend Starting

Side 2
07 Tag's Escapades
08 Kennel Woods
09 The Belstone Hunt
10 Vendetta
11 Badger Hill

The Belstone Fox is a somewhat overlooked film from the early 1970s. It's a heartwarming yet steely tale about a fox (Tag) and a hound (Merlin) starring Eric Porter (Soames from The Forsyte Saga) and Dennis Waterman (before his Sweeney breakthrough). The score was composed by Laurie Johnson who, by 1973, was a dab hand at theme arrangements. The morals and rights / wrongs of foxhunting are dealt with in clear and unambiguous fashion, with a thought-provoking and emotionally bleak conclusion.

The soundtrack is a pastoral and melancholy listen which is difficult to break down or analyse as individual segments. If you like John Cameron's Kes soundtrack that Jonny Trunk released some years ago, then The Belstone Fox should resonate. The album's centerpiece is the brooding Belstone Hunt which swoops and soars into a dramatic finale. The gorgeously melodic Badger Hill sets the scene for the touching climax.
 
Comments and feedback are welcome.

LP 237: Roger Whittaker - I Don't Believe In If Anymore (Columbia, 1970)

Side 1
01 Mistral
02 Emily
03 Flap Flap
04 Finnish Whistler
05 The Book
06 I Don't Believe In If Anymore

Side 2
07 I Should Have Taken My Time
08 Lullaby For My Love
09 Festival
10 Swaggy
11 Sugar My Tea
12 Halfway Up The Mountain

The whistling starts within 10 seconds of the first song. Zack Laurence is the arranger, Roget Whittaker is the singer. And whistler. The album is I Don't Believe In If Anymore, released on Columbia's Lansdowne Series in 1970. Mistral is an epic beginning, like Scott Walker on loads of speed. There's an immediate comedown with the fey and tender Emily, a pastoral tale of a 16 year old. Her first romance is over.

The ebullient and joyful Flap Flap is next before we're treated to the exquisite tones of Finnish Whistler. Have a guess what that one sounds like. The epic pop grandeur contributes with a majestic blast of The Book before the anti-war sentiments of the title track kick in.

Roger ups the regret threshold with I Should Have Taken My Time and the mournful gallic tones of Lullaby For My Love. The next track is the killer, the ace in the pack. It's called Festival and sounds like percussive exotica overload. Mandingo pursuing their collective lips. The first time I played this out saw four people immediately run over to the decks demanding to know What the hell is that crazy sound?
The record runs out of steam at that point before regaining energy with the gospel vibe of Halfway Up The Mountain.

Comments and feedback are welcome.

LP 236: Max Greger and His Orchestra - Sunshine Starshine (Polydor, 1970)

Side 1
01 Let The Sunshine In
02 Love Is Blue
03 Time Is Tight
04 Aquarius
05 Soul House
06 Hot Cha

Side 2
07 Honky Tonk Woman
08 Spinning Wheel
09 Oh Happy Day
10 Soul Breeze
11 Sweet Emma
12 Good Morning Starshine

Sunshine Starshine. Have a guess what musical was happening around the time Max Greger threw caution to the wind and made the funkiest record of his long career. Well the three heavyweights are here - a blissed out Let The Sunshine In, a slowed-down, druggy Aquarius (reminds me of Primal Scream) and the percussive meets brass uptown groove of Good Morning Starshine.

But that's only a quarter of the goodness on offer. There's a face-melting version of Love Is Blue that's undoubtedly the best ever made by anybody. Time Is Tight is edgy jitter-funk while Hot Cha and Sweet Emma slink by in smooth brassy fashion. This LP was arranged by Les Humphries who pro-offers his own Soul House for your ears. It's a molten mod dancer that should prove to be dynamite on any dancefloor. Beautiful flute too.

And there's more. A take on Honky Tonk Woman that's just as sweet as a nut, a sparkling Oh Happy Day that comes with breaks and an equally hip-shaking Spinning Wheel. A memorable record is crowned by the breathless boom of Soul Breeze.

This is one hot record. Get it while you can.

Comments and feedback are welcome.

Edit 18 April 2011 - link has been removed upon request

LP 235: Taste of Honey - Pay Tribute to The Beach Boys (Rediffusion, 1969)

Side 1
01 California Girls
02 Then I Kissed Her
03 God Only Knows
04 Why Do Fools Fall In Love
05 I Can Hear Music
06 You're So Good To Me

Side 2
07 Fun Fun Fun
08 Darlin'
09 Help Me Rhonda
10 Sloop John B
11 Do It Again
12 Barbara Ann

This competently-played Beach Boys tribute LP appeared on the Rediffusion label in 1969. During the same year, the Beach Boys had released their 20/20 album and two of its tracks are tackled here - the soulful Do It Again and the plaintive I Can Hear Music.

Other highlights include four numbers from the Summer Days And Summer Nights! LP - sunstroke harmonies of Help Me Rhonda, California Girls, Then I Kissed Her and You're So Good To Me.
Elsewhere Pet Sounds' Sloop John B is given the gauché yet endearing rockist workout while God Only Knows is mighty convincing in a kooky and celestial fashion. Top marks for the closing rocker Barbara Ann [Bop-Er-An].

Comments and feedback are welcome.

Edit 18 April 2011 - link has been removed upon request

LP 234: The John Gregory Orchestra - The Detectives (Philips, 1976)

Side 1
01 Cannon
02 The Rockford Files
03 Kojak
04 Theme From S.W.A.T.
05 McMillan And Wife
06 McCloud
07 Streets Of San Francisco

Side 2
08 The Six Million Dollar Man
09 Police Woman
10 Banacek
11 Columbo
12 Harry-O
13 The Sweeney
14 Griff

John Gregory's The Detectives is another groundbreaking LP that I encountered when first treading in lounge waters back in the mid 1990s. As the title suggests, it's a cop / private eye vibe with all bar one of themes coming from across the Atlantic. The pressing I have is the second one - on Philips' Sonic Series offshoot - which means that a cracking version of Robert Earley's Special Branch is replaced by max-funker Theme From S.W.A.T.

It starts with Cannon, which starred William Conrad and spawned a spin-off - Barnaby Jones. It's a groovy opener with a nice break. Super lively takes on both The Rockford Files and Kojak follow, the latter sounding particularly gritty. McMillan and Wife and McCloud are both mid-tempo jazzy themes with decent shades of brass. The first side ends with a storming run through The Streets Of San Francisco - amazing drums and sax.

Second half highlights include the piano-led Policewoman, an atmospheric Six Million Dollar Man and an eerie Columbo. The only UK entry is The Sweeney which doesn't disappoint while we finish up with the uptempo blaxploitation-like groove of Griff, a short-lived ABC series from 1973 / 1974. Again, there's some super funky breaks here.

A stone-cold classic.

Comments and feedback are welcome.

Edit 13 April 2011 - link has been removed upon request.