Sunshine Psych/Sunshine Pop

#1 Album-Chris & Peter Allen (Mercury, 1968)
The American Revolution-The American Revolution (Flick Disc, 1968)
A Symphony For Susan-The Arbors* (Date, 1967)
The Arbors Sing Valley Of The Dolls-The Arbors (Date, 1967)
I Can't Quit Her/The Letter-The Arbors (Date, 1969)
Are Not For Smoking-The Blades Of Grass (Jubilee, 1968)
Bound To Happen-Cashman, Pistilli, and West (ABC, 1968)
Chamaeleon Church-Chamaeleon Church (MGM, 1968)
The Cambridge Concept of Timothy Clover-Timothy Clover (Tower, 1968)
Rain And Shine-The Canterbury Music Festival (B.T. Puppy, 196?)
Peter Cofield-Peter Cofield (Coral, 1968)
The Collage-The Collage (Smash, 1967)
Colours-Colours (Dot, 1968)
We Can Fly-The Cowsills (MGM, 1967)
Captain Sad And His Ship Of Fools-The Cowsills (MGM, 1968)
II X II-The Cowsills (MGM, 1969)
Touch 'N Go With The Critters-The Critters (Project 3, 1968)
Daughers Of Albion-Daughters Of Albion (Fontana, 1968)
So Good-Don And The Goodtimes (Epic, 1967)
Edwards Hand-Edwards Hand (GRT, 1968)
Miss Butters-The Family Tree (RCA, 1969)
The Magic Garden-The Fifth Dimension (Soul City, 1967)
Five Man Electrical Band-Five Man Electrical Band (Capitol, 1968)
Elephant Candy-The Fun and Games (UNI, 1969)
Color Blind-The Glitterhouse (Dynovoice, 1968)
The Gordian Knot-The Gordian Knot (Verve, 1968)
Take A Picture-Margo Guryan (Bell, 1968)*
Blew Mind-The Hard Times (World Pacific, 1968)
Down To Middle Earth-The Hobbits (Decca, 1967)
Tic Tac Toe-The Jackpots (Sonet Svenska, 1967)
Jack In The Box-The Jackpots (Sonet Svenska, 1968)
Love Generation-The Love Generation (Imperial, 1967)
A Generation of Love-The Love Generation (Imperial, 1968)
Montage-The Love Generation (Imperial, 1969)
A Midsummer's Day Dream-Marc Eric (Revue, 196?)
Marshmallow Way-Marshmallow Way (United Artists, 1968)
Montage-Montage (Laurie, 1968)
Without Earth-The Moon (Imperial, 1968)
Mortimer-Mortimer (Phillips, 1968)
October Country-October Country (Epic, 1967)
Orange Colored Sky-Orange Colored Sky (UNI, 1968)
Will You Be Staying After Sunday-The Peppermint Rainbow (Decca, 1969)
Peppermint Trolley Company-Peppermint Trolley Company (Acta, 1968)
Hot, Cold, & Custard-Peter & Gordon (Capitol, 1968)
Procession-Procession (Smash, 1969)
Queen Anne's Lace-Queen Anne's Lace (Coral, 1968)
It's Happening-The Red Squares (Columbia Denmark, 1967)
The Robbs-The Robbs (Mercury, 1967)
It's Now Winter's Day-Tommy Roe (ABC, 1967)
Phantasy-Tommy Roe (ABC, 1967)
The Rose Garden-The Rose Garden (ATCO, 1968)
The Blue Marble-Sagittarius (Together, 1969)
The Smoke-The Smoke (Sidewalk, 1968)
Divided We Stand-The Split Level (Dot, 1967)
Captain Nemo-The Sundowners (Decca, 1968)
Basic Magnetism-Teddy & The Pandas (Tower, 1968)
Island In The Sky-The Tuneful Trolley (Capitol, 1968)
Twinn Connexion-Twinn Connexion (Decca, 1968)
For Women Only-Bergen White (SSS International, 1969)
Hair-Zen (Phillips Holland, 1969)
And Along Comes The Association-The Association (Warner Brothers, Japan)
Renaissance-The Association (Warner Brothers, Japan)
Insight Out-The Association (Warner Brothers, Japan)
Birthday-The Associaton (Warner Brothers, Japan)
This Is Us-Harmony Grass (EM Records, Japan)
Around Grapefruit-Grapefruit (Repertoire Records, Germany)
The Yellow Balloon-The Yellow Balloon (Sundazed, US)
Save For A Rainy Day-Jan & Dean (Sundazed, US)
The Cowsills-The Cowsills (Razor & Tie, US)
You're A Very Lovely Woman/Live-The Merry Go Round (A&M, Japan)
Give Me, Take You-Duncan Browne (Sony Special Products, US)
Would You Believe-Billy Nicholls (Sequel, UK)
Present Tense-Sagittarius (Sundazed, US)
Begin-The Millennium (Revola, UK)
Preparing For The Millennium-The Ballroom (Revola, UK)
Revelations/Attacking The Straw Man-New Colony Six (Listed as "Best Of
New Colony Six", but is in fact their two proper albums on
Mercury...Mercury,
Japan)
Would You Believe-The Hollies (EMI, UK)
For Certain Because-The Hollies (EMI, UK)
Evolution-The Hollies (EMI, UK)
Butterfly-The Hollies (EMI, UK)
The Parade-The Parade (A&M, Japan)
Walk Away Renee-The Left Banke (Mercury, Japan)
Odessey & Oracle-The Zombies (Big Beat, UK)
Now That Everything's Been Said-The City (Epic, US)
Ellie Greenwich Composes, Produces, and Sings (Raven, Australia)
Feelin' Groovy-Harper's Bizarre (Warner Brothers, Japan)
Anything Goes-Harper's Bizarre (Warner Brothers, Japan)
The Secret Life Of Harper's Bizarre-Harper's Bizarre (Warner Brothers,
Japan)
Kites Are Fun-The Free Design (Teichiku, Japan)
You Could Be Born Again-The Free Design (Teichiku, Japan)
Stars/Time/Bubbles/Love-The Free Design (Teichiku, Japan)
One By One-The Free Design (Teichiku, Japan)
Heaven/Earth-The Free Design (Teichiku, Japan)
Sing For Very Important People-The Free Design (Teichiku, Japan)
Spanky And Our Gang-Spanky And Our Gang (Vivid Sound, Japan)
Like To Get To Know You-Spanky And Our Gang (Vivid Sound, Japan)
Without Rhyme Or Reason-Spanky And Our Gang (Vivid Sound, Japan)
4-Harper's Bizarre (Warner Brothers, Japan)
The Clique-The Clique (Varese Sarabande, US)
All Strung Out-Nino Tempo & April Stevens (Varese Sarabande, US)
Bee Gees 1st-The Bee Gees (Polygram, US)
Horizontal-The Bee Gees (Polygram, US)
Idea-The Bee Gees (Polygram, US)
Salies Fforth..Plus-The Rainbow Ffolly (See For Miles, UK)
Outward Bown...Plus-The Alan Bown (See For Miles, UK)
The Pleasure Fair-The Pleasure Fair (Universal, Japan)
On-The 8th Day (Universal, Japan)
It's Been A Long, Long Time-The Hep Stars (Keystone Music, Japan)
Neon-The Cyrkle (Sony, Japan)
The World In A Sea Shell-The Strawberry Alarm Clock (Universal, Japan)
Wake Up, It's Tomorrow-The Strawberry Alarm Clock (Universal, Japan)
The World Of Oz-The World Of Oz (Si-Wan, Korea)

Compilations, Single Artists:

There's Gonna Be A Storm-The Left Banke (Polygram, US)
Sittin On A Fence (The Immediate Anthology)-The Twice As Much (Sequel, UK)
Colonized!-The Best Of New Colony Six (Rhino, US)
It's About Time-The Kit Kats (Jamie, US)
The Complete Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends (A&M, Japan)
Eternity's Children-Eternity's Children (Revola, UK)
The Sunshine Company-The Sunshine Company (Revola, UK)
Let's Go To San Francisco-The Flowerpot Men (Repertoire, Germany)
The Best Of The Cowsills-The Cowsills (Rebound, US)
Choir Practice-The Choir (Sundazed, US)
Anthology-The Critters (Taragon, US)
The Very Best Of-The Arbors (Taragon, US)
You've Got To Be Loved-The Montanas (Sequel, UK)
Flight Recorder-Pinkerton's Assorted Colours/Flying Machine (Sequel, UK)
Major League-The Ivy League (Sequel, UK)
Up, Up, And Away, The Definitive Collection-The 5th Dimension (Arista, US)
Back To The Story-The Idle Race (EMI, UK)
The Enfields/Friends Of The Family (Get Hip, US)
The Sun, The Wind, And Other Things (Collectables, US)
The Best Of Paul & Barry Ryan (Repertoire, US)

Compilations, Various Artists

The Melody Goes On, Vol. 1-3 (M&M, Japan)
Ripples, Vol. 1-4 (Sequel, UK)
Sunshine Days, Pop Classics Of The 60s Vol 1-5 (Varese Sarabande, US)
Melodies For You-Universal Soft Rock Vol 1 (Universal, Japan)
Morning Glory Days-Universal Soft Rock Vol 2 (Universal, Japan)
History Of American Pops, Vol 2 (Warner Brothers, Japan)

Man, everything ties into a Simpsons episode:

Homer: We don't have anything in common.
[opens the record cabinet, with "Marge" and "Homer" sections]
Look at these records: Jim Nabors, Glen Campbell, the Doodletown
Pipers. Now look at her records! They stink!

Or is it "let's re-live the nineties" day, because lord knows the nineties weren't awful enough the first time around.

*e.g. the "Come To The Sunshine" one has been retitled "A Whole Lot of Rainbows" - seems to be the exact same track list tho'.

Do you like the Michele album? its a bit folkier/hippier than the softpop i like, but song to magic frog is nice

should i pick up the love generation's montage LP?

vol 1:

Dalton And Montgomery - All At Once
The Brothers - The Girl’s Alright
The Clique - Soul Mates
Liz Damon’s Orient Express - You’re Falling In Love
Dalton And Montgomery - Tomorrow’s Women
Nino And April - You’ll Be Needin’ Me Baby
Lyme And Cybelle - Song #7/ Lyme And Cybelle - Write If You Get Work
The Everpesent Fullness - Darlin' You Can Count On Me
Laughing Gravy - Vegetables
Triste Janero - Rene De Marie
Triste Janero - In The Garden
The Committee - If It Weren’t For You
Sugar And Spice - Not To Return
Bittersweet - The Shadow Of You Love
The Dillards - One Too Many Mornings
Nino And April - The Habit Of Lovin’ You Baby
The Brothers - Love Story
Keith Colley - Enamorado
Dobie Gray - Do You Really Have A Heart
Horses - Freight Train
Matthew Moore Plus 4 Codyne
Matthew Moore Plus 4 You've Never Loved Before
Freddie Allen - We’ve Only Just Begun
The Hangtown Fry - The Quiet Side Of Love

vol.2

“Little Girl, Little Boy” - The Odyssey
“I’ll Be In” – The Answer
“Blackmail” - Dalton and Montgomery
“Superman (45 mix)” - The Clique
“Fine and Dandy (45 mix)” - Everpresent Fullness
“Why Do You Smile” - The Answer
“Goin' It Alone” - The Bears
“Work It Out That Way” - The Bears
“(It'll All Wash Away) With The Rain” - The Brothers
“Today Is Today” - The Brothers
“Out Of Nowhere” - Nino and April
“Break OF Dawn” - JK and Co.
“Little Children” - JK and Co.
“Make Me Laugh” - The Rainy Daze
“Space Walker” - The Space Walkers
“Just You Wait” - Walter Scott
“Honey, You Can Take It back” - Dobie Gray
“What A Way To Go” - Dobie Gray
“Beautiful People” - Kenny O'Dell
“Groovy Relationship” - Kenny O'Dell
“Cheyenne” – Horses
“Two Of Us” – Shake
“Christmas Is my Time Of Year” - The Christmas Spirit
“Will You Still Believe In Me?” - The Christmas Spirit
“The Room” - The New FBI Band

I know no band which counted Buddy Miles, Michael Bloomfield and Nick Gravenites as members should even REMOTELY be considered sunshine pop, but this track sounds like a hamfisted attempt at shooting for Spanky & Our Gang's crowd. The drums are heavier and the vocals sound a little too cynical, but otherwise, you can tell that the sunshine market is what they had in mind. Bloomfield even implicitly admitted, in Rolling Stone, that he was going for the flower-pop thing with this one (he said that since "groovin'" seemed to be the Top 40 catchword at the time it was recorded, in late '67 or early '68, he figured it would be a natural for the AM airwaves). It's on their A LONG TIME COMING album, and was the first single.

We're also extremely excited to be releasing the very first (and unreleased) solo outing from The Free Design frontman, Chris Dedrick titled, "Be Free". Chris's musical career began in the late '60s, at the age of 19, as a singer and principal songwriter in sibling vocal group The Free Design. In the midst of one of the most creative and competitive climates in pop music history, The Free Design produced seven albums (from 1967-1973) that stand among the most inventive and melodically seductive of their era. Of the group's hit debut single, "Kites Are Fun," New York Times critic Alec Wilder wrote: "...It was so fine that I literally wept when I heard it." Recorded just after his tenure in the seminal Enoch Light produced sunshine pop band, "Be Free" shows Dedrick extending himself into slightly more intimate and personal territory while staying true to the uniquely catchy melodic sense that he developed in his early days. A lost gem finally available after all these years.

yes, it's great.

do you own the chaemeleon church album, gareth?

i am not gareth, but i have this on mp3. it's ok, not essential.

Naw - only about 18 months off, by my calculations! ;)

Sounds good!

The Split Level's first untitled album has some stunning tracks. Absolutely worth tracking down for an awesome (almost dancey) number called "I'm on the right track" (or "there seems to be a way", maybe?) and the knock-out string-laden female ballad that follows it. The rest is interspersed with some odd interludes, one of which is a bizarre (and quite hilarious) vocal-only not-quite-choral piece that goes 'Shut up, Shut up, Shut up, Shut uhhhp!!!'.

And how about Corliss? Silverbird? Steam?

(just to add to the list of obscure bands on here that are without discussion)

And what about that Maypole album on Anopheles?

the newly-reissued In A Beautiful Place by Catherine Howe
Minor correction: this is called What A Beautiful Place.

other split level cut that i love dearly dearly: "Can't Complain."

Don't forget James Taylor's first LP. It's really good soft pop.

The Sundowners' "Always You" hasn't been mentioned yet. All sunshine pop, no psych; how it failed to be a hit is beyond me. Airy Association-ist arrangement, fab harmony vox, detailed and tight lyric - one of my favorites.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/515VPAu1uCL._SS400_.jpg

loving this.

got lured in by the presence of a few david axelrod productions, but to be honest, my fave is the cliche heavy vibes of 'i think i'll go out and find me a flower' by the moonpark intersection (great name !) and the left hand turn @ 15 seconds into this never ceases to give me a happy buzz :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi-1NXEFSQc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToDZ_iFcCvA&feature=player_embedded

I would have to go with Sunshine Girl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8Pz1_2sGMA

The Third Wave have a lot in common with Wendy & Bonnie, I think. each group was made up of teenage sisters from California who recorded a single pop album in 1969 with the backing of prominent jazz musicians (George Duke vs. Gabor Szabo) only to vanish shortly after its release. their vocal harmonies are very similar in spots.

the highlights on the Third Wave album tend to be its softer moments. they have an annoying habit on some tracks of harmonizing brashly at the top of their lungs, but when they get into a low-key groove in "Waves Lament" and "Stormy" and "Once There Was a Time", the result is an eerie, amateurish, almost old-timey beauty that doesn't have too many parallels from either then or now.

almost old-timey

"old-timey" in a '50s soft jazz vocal group sense, I mean. it's hard to tell whether the album was being targeted toward slightly conservative teens or slightly open-minded old people. maybe neither.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLa3X3IHXls