Today is Only Yesterday's Tomorrow

I stopped by Sonic Boom a few weeks ago. What a great record store. How great? They had two (not one, but two) cds I was looking for in the racks. It's not everyday that one can find releases by The Poppy Family and Lothar & the Hand People in a retail setting. Go check.

I've written about both bands in the past, so I won't repeat myself. But I will tell you something about the cds. First up The Poppy Family's A Good Thing Lost 1968-1973 [What Are Records? 60017-2]. It's a good place to start as it covers most of the bands high points: "Free From the City", "Which Way You Goin', Billy?", "There's No Blood in Bone" and "Where Evil Grows" with track by track notes by Terry Jacks. But it is Susan Jacks voice that makes the countryesque- lite-psych tunes so effective.

Everything that Lothar & the Hand People released is available as Space Hymn: The Complete Capitol Recordings [Acadia ACAD 8058]. Nice that I could finally upgrade my battered vinyl copy of their second LP Space Hymn. What I like about the theremin named Lothar and his pals was how eclectic the group truly was: catchy folk pop, electronic experimentation, and that particular 60's whimsy. I would like to say that "Machines" was steampunk before anyone knew what that was. What can I say, Lothar & the Hand People are engaging, likable and weird. It's what you want in a pop group.

While I'm here I'd like to say that I'm looking forward to the nationwide release of Mono In VCF's debut. They cover The Poppy Family's "There's No Blood in Bone" and Terry Jacks' guests. How cool is that?

Love Song for the Dead Ché [Oscillations Part Two]

Of course, the Silver Apples were not the only rock band experimenting with electronic music in the 1960's. I suppose it's difficult to find a band that doesn't these days, but at one time the idea of introducing moogs and ring modulators and other miscellaneous electronic gadgets to a pop setting was incredibly wild and weird.

The best of these bands were The United States of America whose sole lp stands up remarkably well and would be of interest to fans of psychedelia or even trip hop (Portishead fans take note). At it's best the album features driving rock numbers such as "Hard Coming Love" and "Coming Down" and ethereal numbers like "Cloud Song" and "Love Song for the Dead Ché". It's on these numbers where all the elements blend perfectly; Dorothy Moskowitz's clear voice, Gordon Marron's electric violin and Joseph Byrd's electronics.

There are the low points of course. It was the 60s and there are the obligatory denunciations of the emptiness of middle-class existence: "Where is Yesterday" and "I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife for You, Sugar", the lyrics of which are more than a little tiresome. Then again, Dear Leader Roger Waters has made a career out of that sort of thing (The Wall, Animals and so forth.) Tell me I'm wrong.

A couple of years ago, Sundazed produced a reissue with ten bonus tracks. Buy that one.

OK. You've now bought the Silver Apples and the United States of America, what else is there? There are still some fine, fine bands to be heard like the very strange Fifty Foot Hose whose story can be told here and here. Their Limelight album Cauldron is truly great with spacey psychedelia and short abstract tone poems and a wonderful cover of Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child".

Last, but certainly not least, is Lothar and the Hand People who were in many ways the oddest yet most approachable of all these groups. Much of their material is a kind of upbeat country/folk/pop with theremin and moog flourishes, yet they can out-weird anyone when they put their mind to it: just spin "Ha (Ho)" and the Devo-like "Machines".

Why not check it out for yourself?