The Redcoats - Meet the Redcoats Finally (Full Stereo/Mono Album) (2001)

This album is available at: http://www.amazon.com/Meet-Redcoats/dp/B00005B67D/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie;=UTF8&qid;=1374600424&sr;=1-2&keywords;=the+redcoats+finally (taken from AllMusic, written by Richie Unterberger) The Redcoats, if the label notes to the 2001 compilation Meet the Redcoats! Finally are to be believed, were an extremely Beatlesque band that formed in Wildwood, NJ, in 1964. Just one single, "Love Unreturned"/"The Dum Dum Song," was released on a small New York label. However, those two tracks and ten other songs were issued on Meet the Redcoats! Finally. Comprised wholly of original material, the material is pretty fair pseudo-Beatles in both their Merseybeat and Magical Mystery Tour phases, not to mention their Revolver and Beatles for Sale ones, too. Of course, it's not remotely like the real thing, but neither is it embarrassing or unenjoyable. Steven Rappaport's liner notes for Meet the Redcoats! Finally are the prime source for information on the band, and leave some holes in the story. When future Redcoats drummer John Spirt was 16 in 1963, he sang on the Top 20 novelty hit "Martian Hop" by the Ran-Dells, which he co-wrote with the record's producer, Rappaport. After the Beatles hit, Spirt joined a band that also included bassist Randy Bocelle, rhythm guitarist Zack Bocelle, and lead guitarist Mike Burke. Spirt and Burke were co-writers of the Redcoats' original material, and some studio recordings were produced by Rappaport. Their 1965 single matched a Merseybeat-ish ballad, "Love Unreturned," with the extremely Herman & the Hermits-like "The Dum Dum Song," and only received airplay in southern New Jersey. Rappaport produced other gutsier songs for the band, but couldn't get them a recording deal (some of those tracks appear on Meet the Redcoats! Finally). After Rappaport ended his association with the group, he wrote in his notes, they got tied to a ten-year management contract with a society woman. They did use money from that deal to finance some more recordings, a few of which also appear on Meet the Redcoats! Finally. Again, according to Rappaport's notes, the Redcoats did record a released album using a different name, none of their songs, and only session musicians on the instruments, although the name of the band, the album, and for that matter the manager aren't named in those notes. Unsurprisingly, the Redcoats got no further before splitting. The blatantly Beatles-derived material on the CD is more promise than fulfillment, but it's pretty good as far as extremely Beatles-like '60s rock goes. (taken from AllMusic, written by Richie Unterberger) There are few specific chronological details on this collection of 12 songs, which have obviously been pasted together from sessions recorded at various points; only the tracks from the rather unrepresentative "Love Unreturned"/"The Dum Dum Song" single were previously released. Although the liner notes infer that the cuts are from the mid-'60s, and many of them obviously are, some are obviously too Sgt. Pepper- and Magical Mystery Tour-influenced to be from before 1967. Anyway, this is decent, though not wonderful, original music from young fellows who obviously worshiped the Beatles. "You Had No Right" fits right into the mid-1965 Help! period, with its jangling guitars and well-thought-out exuberant harmonies. "Words of Wisdom," "Sing a Song," "When Tomorrow Comes," and "Opportunity" fall squarely into the Beatles' 1967 mode of bouncy, mid-tempo keyboard-dominated tunes and optimistic, cosmic-tinged lyrics. "Man" is very much like the harder-rocking Revolver songs, with its audibly "Paperback Writer"/"Taxman"-informed high harmonies. "Another Took Her Place" must date from earlier, with its hard Merseybeat sound, as must "Back to His Door," with its stomping Dave Clark Five beat and "Anyway You Want It"-like effect on the chorus. If a convincing emulation of the Beatles and the British Invasion was their strength, it was also their obvious problem: there's not much originality going on here. All the same, it's quite a refreshing contrast to the cruder, less-melodic, and less-musically accomplished sounds that are far more the norm for super-obscure '60s garage reissues. 1. You Had No Right 0:00 2. Words of Wisdom 2:42 3. Opportunity 5:51 4. Man 7:46 5. When Tomorrow Comes 10:04 6. Another Took Her Place 12:00 7. Sunny Man 14:06 8. Love Unreturned 18:01 9. Back to His Door 20:23 10. Baby Don't Go 22:32 11. The Dum Dum Song 24:57 12. Sing a Song 27:03 Personnel: John Spirt -- Drums Mike Burke -- Guitar Randy Bocelle -- Bass Guitar, Vocals Zack Bocelle - Guitar, Vocals