‘Crazy World of Arthur Brown’ returns

“The Crazy World of Arthur Brown” gets another shot at salvation with the release this month of a remastered special edition. The album includes a second disc of bonus material.

The hard-edged psychedelic classic returns Feb. 25 in the U.S. and Feb. 22 in the U.K. via Esoteric Recordings, which is part of the Cherry Red label group in London.

“The Crazy World of Arthur Brown” ranks No. 16 on our list of the most important psychedelic albums in rock history. (Read the full Arthur Brown review.)

The album is best known for the smash single “Fire,” with its blazing intro: “I am the god of Hellfire and I bring you fire!” The centerpiece is the “Fire Suite,” a side-long, five-track rock operetta once called “Tales From the Neurotic Nights of Hieronymous Anonymous.” (The rock opera king, Peter Townshend, associate-produced “Crazy World” with Who manager Kit Lambert.)

The CD initially came out in 1991 as a PolyGram U.K. import that, unfortunately, ruined the concept album’s concept with the appearance of four mono tracks from the album before the complete stereo version began. The 1997 release from Retroactive ran through the work before starting with the bonus tracks, which include the first three extra tracks presented here. Universal Japan put out a vinyl version in 2006, packaged in an LP cover.

The upcoming release’s bonus disc begins with “Devil’s Grip,” a 1967 single, followed by its B-side, “Give Him a Flower.” Then it’s “Music Man” (aka “What’s Happening”), the B-side of the 1968 “Nightmare” 45. (These tracks are not included in the 2003 retrospective “Fire! The Story of Arthur Brown.” The singer recut “Devil’s Grip” in 2007.)

Two songs from an April 1968 BBC Radio 1 session are led off with a short interview by Brian Matthew, the influential U.K. TV and radio personality who hosted almost all of the era’s major rock acts. (The five songs from this BBC session were previously bootlegged.)

The mono tracks of the Fire Suite return (marked as “alternate mono mixes”) along with a “first” version of “Fire.” A reprise of “Nightmare” comes from the unreleased U.K. movie “The Committee,” which features a terrific sequence with Arthur Brown (wearing a flaming headdress), the brilliant Hammond organist Vincent Crane and drummer Drachen Theaker (video below).

Here are the track listing, as provided by Esoteric.

CD 1: The original album remastered
Prelude Nightmare
Fanfare Fire Poem
Fire
Come and Buy
Time/Confusion
I Put A Spell on You
Spontaneous Apple Creation
Rest Cure
I’ve Got Money
Child of My Kingdom


CD 2: Bonus tracks
Devil’s Grip
Give Him a Flower
Music Man (Stereo mix)
Fire (first version previously unreleased)
Prelude Nightmare (alternate mono mix)
Fanfare Fire Poem (alternate mono mix)
Fire (alternate mono mix)
Come And Buy (alternate mono mix)
Time/Confusion (alternate mono mix)
Brian Matthew interview (BBC session April 1968)
Fire Poem Fire (BBC session April 1968)
Come And Buy (BBC session April 1968)
Nightmare (From the soundtrack of “The Committee” movie)

Strawberry Alarm Clock on Corgan label

The sound you are about to hear is the Strawberry Alarm Clock, still ticking after 40-some years.

The psychedelic-era hitmakers (”Incense and Peppermints”) are back in the music media with the announcement that they’ll be recording for the new label from Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins.

Keyboardist and singer Mark Weitz told Psychedelic Sight that the band is getting back to its 1960s roots, “trying to do what our fans like. … We’re picking up where we left off, but with a modern sound.”

The Strawberry Alarm Clock, which charted at least five singles in the 1960s, produced a more melodic strain of rock than the era’s similarly named acid rockers. But the group still retains a connection to the dazed days:

“We take listeners on trips in the form of songs — and gently let them down again,” Weitz said. “We create songs that put you in a different place.”

The Strawberry Alarm Clock’s new material is being recorded at Smashing Pumpkins producer Kerry Brown’s studio in L.A. and is in “the demo process.”

Weitz performed with Corgan at last summer’s L.A. tribute to the late Sky Saxon, and went on to tour with that nine-member band, called Spirits in the Sky. The Strawberry Alarm Clock is penciled in to perform “Mr. Farmer” on the upcoming Saxon tribute album.

Along with recording new music, the SAC is working on a project that combines material cooked up in recent years as well “revisited and rerecorded” versions of their 1960s songs.

Based on a sampling from Weitz’s stash CD, it’s impressive stuff, not easy to pin down stylistically. While the songs are all originals, you’ll hear passages that bring to mind the Who, the Beach Boys, XTC, the Beatles, prog rock and, yes, some old-school psychedelia.

“Everything we do we try to ‘Clock it up’ — our signature sound of catching the ear while doing something you wouldn’t expect,” Weitz said. “Our songs never sound the same — every one is its own entity.”

Original members remaining in the band are Weitz and George Bunnell (pictured above right) as well as Howie Anderson. They’re all writing new songs for the group, as is percussionist Randy Seol.

Steve Bartek (Oingo Boingo), who played on the first SAC album in 1967, had evolved into a longtime band member but recently pulled back due to his workload with Danny Elfman’s film music. “Steve will always be involved with the band on some level,” Weitz said. He anticipates a heavier keyboard sound for the SAC given its personnel shifts.

Other groups connected with the Corgan-Brown label are the Electric Prunes, the Germs (fronted by the guy from the biopic) and Fancy Space People.

Brown said in introducing the label: “We are very excited to be collaborating with amazing artists that have made a huge impact on the underground music world. … From the psychedelic garage rock of the 60’s and the punk rock insanity of the 70’s and 80’s to the post-punk Pleiadian power-pop that is now.”

The Strawberry Alarm Clock’s catalog albums are handled by MCA. Check out the Strawberry Alarm Clock website.

‘New’ Hendrix album among 2010 rereleases?

A “new” Jimi Hendrix album of unreleased studio material could be in the wings for this year.

The widely distributed report came from London columnist Gordon Smith, whose online post mostly consists of a rehash of what’s already known about the Hendrix estate’s plans for the 40th year after the guitarist’s death.

“Incredibly, I’ve heard there is a new album in the works made up of unreleased studio material,” Smith wrote Jan. 6.

What’s known is that “definitive deluxe editions” of Jimi Hendrix’s classic albums will be released this by Sony Music Entertainment, according to the record label and the psychedelic guitarist’s estate.

The project also will include “never before heard studio recordings, alternate versions of classics, one of a kind ‘live and in concert’ performances and more.”

Sony’s “Legacy Recordings,” its catalog division, has done outstanding work on many of the ’60s and ’70s rock classics.

The core classic Hendrix albums — “Are You Experienced?” “Axis: Bold as Love” and “Electric Ladyland” — were last remastered and rereleased in 1997. “Band of Gypsys” resurfaced in 1998. These albums as well as some of the mountain of posthumous releases will be part of the 2010 campaign (those produced by the Hendrix family via the Experience Hendrix organization).

All music from the Hendrix reissues will be available digitally, according to the original Sony and Hendrix Experience press release of August 2009.

The Hendrix campaign comes a year after the long-overdue rerelease of the Beatles catalog.

Pink Floyd performance from ‘67 unearthed

Rare and battered footage of the Syd Barrett-fronted Pink Floyd has been discovered, restored and will screen next month as part of a London preservation festival.

The performance of “See Emily Play” comes from the BBC One Music show “Top of the Pops,” which aired in July 1967 just as Pink Floyd was beginning its recording career.

Steve Bryant, senior curator at the British Film Institute, said: “This is an enormously significant discovery that will generate huge interest amongst music fans all over the world, even though the surviving material is in poor condition.

“Footage of Pink Floyd from this era is extremely rare.”

Bryant said his staff had restored the performance “as much as has been possible.” The footage came from a reel-to-reel tape held by a private collector, reportedly a rock star.

Syd Barrett wrote Pink Floyd’s first three singles, of which “See Emily Play” was the second, peaking on U.K. charts at No. 6. It came from “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” album, largely made up of Barrett songs. The rock singer’s drug-fueled mental health problems led to his estrangement from the band and eventual departure in the months to follow.

The British Film Institute will show the Pink Floyd footage at its “Missing Believed Wiped” series screenings on Jan. 9.

The “MBW” initiative has unearthed some significant performances from the BBC pop music shows ” Juke Box Juries,” “Thank Your Lucky Stars,” “Ready Steady Go,” Oh Boy!” and “Top of the Pops.”

“Tele-recordings” were routinely erased at the time, especially those in the fading black-and-white format.

In other Pink Floyd doings, the neo-psychedelic band Flaming Lips will perform “Dark Side of the Moon” in its entirety at a New Year’s Eve show in its home state of Oklahoma.

The show at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City features the Lips kicking off side 1 of “Dark Side” at midnight, with assistance from its frequent opening band Stardeath and White Dwarfs. Phish played the album in concert in 1998, Rolling Stone points out.

The Flaming Lips and Stardeath recently recorded “Dark Side of the Moon” for release on iTunes, with guest stars Henry Rollins and Peaches.

Follow this link to the Flaming Lips doing “Eclipse” on KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic” show (skip to the 30-minute mark to hear the song).

As for “Emily” …

The Velvet Underground, in person

Velvet Underground members Lou Reed, Maureen (Moe) Tucker and Doug Yule are reuniting, sort of.

The art rockers will discuss their music and history Dec. 8 as part of the New York Public Library’s “Live From the NYPL” series. The conversation wrangler will be rock journalist David Fricke.

The gathering of three Velvets is quite unusual — the Library calls it “unprecedented.” MIA is (to no one’s suprise) John Cale, who has performed with the band only a few times since the 1970s. Sterling Morrison and Nico have both died.

The The Velvet Underground probably wouldn’t have made it out of the underground without the artwork on its 1966 debut album by band backer Andy Warhol. That yellow banana and the rest of the artifacts connected with the band are celebrated in the new book “The Velvet Underground: New York Art”. The Velvet Underground book retails for $50.

The talk is sold out, alas (tickets “may” be available at the door). Here’s the good news: The “Live From the NYPL” series is archived in audio and/or video on the library site, and video excerpts find their way to the Live from the NYPL playlist on YouTube.

Meanwhile, fans can revisit the band’s formative years with the short-but-sweet audio documentary series “Psychedelics” from Seattle’s KEXP. The series, which just wrapped, covers the Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, the Velvet Underground, the Beatles, Sly and the Family Stone, Pink Floyd, the Orb, Spiritualized, the Flaming Lips and Animal Collective.

The Velvet Underground radio docu covers the band’s history, starting with Warhol’s traveling multimedia experience “The Exploding Plastic Inevitable.” Reed recalls: “It was an interesting conglomeration. We were known all the way downtown, and then a lot of the uptown people came to it.” Cale says, “It was an attempt to be revolutionary. It was an attempt to combine both the avant-garde and the commercial.”

The Velvets, positioned as an East Coast answer to the California psychedelic bands, turned to heroin, not LSD. The band’s songs such as “Heroin” and “Waiting for the Man” generated some minor media shockwaves at the time, when drug references almost always were cloaked in rock music. The street-level reporting in Reed’s lyrics had nothing to do with peace and love, but plenty to do with reality.

Their early music was darkly experimental and trance-like, largely due to Cale’s interest in the droning musical styles of India and Tucker’s primitive drumming style, oriented more toward Africa than U.S./U.K. rock. This before the music of Ravi Shankar and other world musicians was widely heard in the West.

Listen to the the Velvet Underground radio documentary, which runs 10 minutes.

Psychedelic Beatles rarities up for auction

What appear to be the rarest and strangest of all Beatles album pressings are coming to auction next week.

The story begins back in the twilight of the vinyl era. A Capitol Records employee who worked in the label’s Toronto pressing plant killed time by making multicolored vinyl records, colorful psychedelic things. Among them, appropriately, were the psychedelic classics “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Revolver.”

Canadian collectors Akim Boldireff and Aaron Keele bought the vinyl beauties from the ex-record presser, who apparently kept them in a closet. They said the presser had access to the original plates of the Beatles records.

Keele told the Vancouver Sun: “The real thing that makes this fascinating is that they were pressed at the original plants, using original stampers with the catalogue number of the original release as issued and created by Capitol Records.”

The eBay sale might have gone relatively quiety, except for the Guardian newspaper in Britain, which decided to dub them “the rarest Beatles albums ever.”

(This days after bestowing the title on an in-house version of “Sgt. Pepper” that had Capitol execs’ faces replacing the 1960s celebrities’ mugs found on the famed cover.)

Here is the Guardian’s description of the eBay goods:

“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band on bright baby-blue marble vinyl, the 1967-70 greatest hits compilation on swirled blue-and-white vinyl, and a translucent blue LP with side A of “Revolver” and side B of John Lennon’s “Plastic Ono Band” album. However, the most beautiful item in the collection is the Beatles’ “Love Songs” anthology, made with gold vinyl. This is streaked with an abstract expressionist rainbow, like an explosion at a paint factory.

Opening bids for each of the albums is $1,000, but this being the Beatles, look for soaring values. The fun starts on eBay on Nov. 10.

The Beatles remasters: Yeah, yeah, yuck

The two new Beatles box sets are in the stores, and the reviews are flying in. They’re almost uniformly positive. Almost.

The reactions run from (the predictable) rave reviews to the (equally predictable) crabbing from Beatles audio purists. Sorting out the Fabs’ various mixes and intentions has always been a messy affair; the pair of Beatles box sets no doubt continues the tradition.

The new releases, of course, are “The Beatles: Stereo Box Set” and “The Beatles Mono Box Set.”

After wading through dozens of day-and-date reviews, it looks like the consensus (of the better critics) is that the mono mixes are preferable to the stereo, at least up until “Rubber Soul.” From “Revolver” to “Sgt. Pepper’s,” the stereo wins out, with notable exceptions. (”Abbey Road” and “Let It Be” rise above the debate, as they started life in stereo, only.)

Unfortunately, Capitol Records chose not to include both the stereo and mono mixes on the CDs, which would have been an easy fit on most of the albums (the early ones run a half hour or so). Good business. Bad karma.

Another dodgy decision was releasing these treasures to CD only, when DVD-Audio and Blu-ray would have offered much higher-end audio — as well as the option of more Beatles in surround sound.

If the CD format is dying, what a way to go, though.

Here are observations scooped up from various critics; Psychedelic Sight will be reviewing the “psychedelic” Beatles albums in a few.

From the New York Times’ Beatles review:

In most cases this music has dimension and detail that it never had before, and the new packaging reflects each album’s musical and cultural importance. Over all, the new discs sound substantially better than the Beatles’ original CDs, which EMI issued in 1987. The most striking and consistent improvements are a heftier, rounded, three-dimensional bass sound, and drums that now sound like drums, rather than something in the distance being hit. … some discs are improved more radically than others, and some are hardly improved at all.

Reviewer Allan Kozinn says that “some discs are improved more radically than others, and some are hardly improved at all. Probably the most revelatory of the new transfers is the stereo ‘White Album.’ ”

MusicRadar.com weighed in on the Beatles remasters with detailed and authoritative coverage, using two critics to cover 1963-1966 and 1967-1970 separately.

“Should you buy ‘The Beatles In Mono’ and ‘The Beatles Box Set: Remastered In Stereo’? If you are a completist, absolutely. Just don’t expect the stereo box to be the last word. In some cases, better stereo mixes exist elsewhere already, and in others, the mono versions simply have more impact.”

Of the two approaches, the verdict is: “Both have strong, if not essential, selling points.”

Pitchfork.com chimes in on the revived Beatles CDs:

“The sound of these remasters, mono or stereo, is exceptional. I’ve always felt that the sound quality of the original 1987 remasters was slightly underrated. … But whatever you think of the 1987 remasters, these new versions are a marked improvement. In terms of clarity and detail, they are consistently impressive. But they’re also successful for showing restraint.”

Echoing other reviewers, Mark Richardson points to the upgrades for bass and drums, both of which suffered in the 1987 CD releases, which often sounded shrill and thin. (One reviewer actually came to the defense of those discs, but didn’t have company.)

“Listening to the new masters, the differences in sound quality generally manifest in three ways: songs have more ‘punch,’ with Paul McCartney’s bass (an absolute wonder throughout) and Ringo’s drums hitting with more force; the separation is better, so that instruments and (especially) layered vocals have more definition– when the Beatles are harmonizing, you can more easily pick out the different vocalists, and the voices have more presence; and finally, the sound in general seems just a touch brighter, with various sound effects, cymbals taps, and so on, ringing with more clarity.”

CNN singled out one of the later albums: “But it’s perhaps on 1966’s ‘Revolver’ … where the magical mystery work of Abbey Road recording engineer Guy Massey and the many others involved is most apparent.”

Entertainment Weekly went all gushy over the new Beatles box sets:

“Beatlemaniacs of all degrees who re-purchase these beloved albums are in for a listening experience that is nothing short of revelatory. … Never before have the studio explorations of 1966’s ‘Revolver,’ 1967’s ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band‘ and beyond felt quite so wondrously otherworldly. … To say the remasters sound perfect would be to miss the point, though. It’s the minute human flaws and unpredictable variations heard so clearly here that make even tunes as overplayed as 1968’s ‘Hey Jude’ (’Past Masters’) or 1969’s ‘Something’ (’Abbey Road’) sound improbably fresh, alive, real.”

Speaking of ‘Hey Jude,’ apparently it’s possible to hear McCartney mutter “fucking hell” as he hits a dud note about 2:60 into the anthem.

Bob Gendron of Tone Audio posted a solid critique of the new Beatles CDs:

“(There are) near-miraculous improvements in the key areas of information retrieval, hidden details, palpable physicality, expanded midrange, transient presence, and frequency response. … Without diminishing the value and impact of the stereo editions, which blow away their 1987 digital predecessors in every imaginable facet, the mono discs are where it’s at for experiencing the Beatles in the most “authentic” manner.”

“For kicks, comparing the 1987 digital issue of ‘Sgt. Pepper’s’ to the new remasters lends perspective to just how awful the former are, and how amazing Capitol’s 2009 entries sound.”

Gendron offers up a solution that’s going to prove expensive, since the mono CDs aren’t sold separately: Owning both the mono and stereo mixes of “Revolver,” “Sgt. Pepper’s,” “Magical Mystery Tour” and “The Beatles (White Album)” albums “borders on mandatory,” he writes.

Rolling Stone, once the magazine of record for rock reviews, has posted an anemic look at the Beatles box sets that manages to make the case for the mono mixes:

“The 12-CD ‘The Beatles in Mono’ box set is more than a collector’s indulgence. The warmth and punch of early albums ‘With the Beatles’ and ‘Beatles for Sale’ evoke the experience of first hearing songs like ‘All My Loving’ on the original vinyl. But in stereo or mono, these albums have finally received the treatment they deserve.”

Finally, one guy wondered why all the fuss over “the Beatles, a 1960s band so obscure that their music is not even available on iTunes.” A good one, considering 9/9/09 failed to deliver the rumored news that the Fabs’ recordings would finally be available for downloading.

Beatles for sale:

Buy “The Beatles: Stereo Box Set” at Amazon.

Buy “The Beatles Mono Box Set” at Amazon (both discounted).

Organist wins ‘Whiter Shade of Pale’ case

The hassle over song credit and royalties for the psychedelic classic “A Whiter Shade of Pale” appears to be over. A court of Lords has ruled on the side of organ player Matthew Fisher, and against his old bandleader Gary Brooker.

Lyricist Keith Reid and Brooker were previously credited with writing the spooky rock ballad. Fisher’s contribution was the Bach-inspired organ theme, haunting and evocative. The song begins with his immediately recognizable eight-bar Hammond organ intro.

In 2006, the British High Court found Fisher was due 40% of the copyright, but no earnings prior to 2005. Last year, an appeals court ruled that Fisher was not entitled to royalties because he had waited decades to file the lawsuit. The Lords took up the “Whiter Shade of Pale” case in April.

Last week’s ruling by the Law Lords of the House of Lords reinstated the 2006 ruling, noting that Brooker and Reid had actually benefited from Fisher’s delay in seeking his credit and royalties.

Fisher, a computer programmer, has performed on and off with Procol Harum since its heyday. He told the BBC: “This was about making sure everyone knew about my part in the authorship. … A win without money was never going to be recognized as a win at all.”

Fisher said he had asked many times for piece of the psychedelic ballad’s fame and fortune, but was denied. The musician didn’t press too hard in fear of losing his job in a major rock act, he explained.

“A Whiter Shade of Pale” was a major hit on AM and FM radio during the ’60s, and has continued its successes as a popular soundtrack addition in TV and film, perhaps most famously in “The Big Chill.” There are hundreds of cover versions, and the song remains in heavy rotation on classic rock and oldies stations.

Procol Harum’s classic albums are being remastered and rereleased this year. Brooker remains the only original member of the band, which has seen numerous personnel changes over the decades.

“A Whiter Shade of Pale” is a top 10 entry on this web site’s Top 100 Psychedelic Songs of all time.

Procol Harum, Dukes fuel own reissues

The members of Procol Harum and the Dukes of Stratosphear have taken charge of their vintage works by steering the albums’ reissues on CD. The albums come from the original master tapes and offer generous collections of bonus tracks selected by the artists.

Procol Harum, of course, is the English band best known for the haunting 1967 hit “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” one of the most popular songs in rock history. Their first two albums proved hugely influential, inspiring Queen, Pete Townshend, the Band as well as the genres of prog rock and (to some extent) heavy metal.

The Dukes of Stratosphear, on the other hand, were influenced by pretty much anyone of note in Britain’s 1960s psychedelic scene. The fictional band dropped their cover story in the liner notes to the resissues of their two CDs and are now fully identified as members of the 1980s band XTC — not that the XTC side project was ever much of a secret. The two reissues of recordings from 1985 and 1987 comprise the totality of the Dukes output.

Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale” and “Shine on Brightly” are leaving for the U.S. coasts this week as part of the 40 Years reissue series from Britain’s Fly/Salvo labels. Those albums, plus “A Salty Dog” and “Home,” have been available in Europe since April and May (and in the U.S. via Amazon UK).

The new version of the oft-changed debut album can be identified by its shocking pink (Italian) version of the cover. All of the reissues are marked with “40 Years” labels on the covers. Amazon U.S. has made a mess of the proper CD release dates and song listings of these albums, so make sure you’re getting the new ones. Follow the links to the U.K. store for correct information on “Procol Harum” and “Shine on Brightly.”

Procol Harum leader Gary Brooker and lyricist Keith Reid helped the record label with the reissues, while Brooker curated the generous bonus tracks for these albums. “Procol Harum” includes the group’s two initial singles, “Whiter Shade of Pale” and “Homburg,” which weren’t on the original album (typical of the times, see the Beatles).

“Shine on Brightly” was among the group’s best albums, tight and mysterious. Guitarist Robin Trower had joined the band at this point (his best work would come on the “Broken Barricades” LP, also set for rerelease on Salvo. The “Shine on Brightly” cover, unfortunately, is not the one U.S. audiences remember from back in the day (the psychedelic green art with the mannequin and the piano).

The Procol Harum reissues come from the original masters and return production elements of the sound that haven’t been heard on previous digital versions. Early reviews rave about the audio but point out that the albums are in the original mono. Some of the bonus tracks are in stereo.

The unreleased “Understandably Blue” song on the debut album’s bonus tracks is another draw for fans and collectors.

The Procol Harum CDs are said to include online bonus materials, a la Blu-ray Live, although the label’s web site refers to a lack of content so far.

The Dukes of Stratosphear reissues also come from the original analogue tapes. Group members Dave Gregory, Colin Moulding and Andy Partridge wrote individual liner notes that are informative and typically odd. The sound seems more wide open and detailed than on the previous CD release, a compilation called “Chips from the Chocolate Fireball” from 2001.

The original Dukes record, “25 O’Clock,” was an EP with six songs. The follow-up work, “Psonic Psunspot,” was a full album. Neither has been released individually on CD until now. A healthy serving of alternate versions and demos fills out both CDs, released by Ape Records.

“25 O’Clock” is named after the bogus group’s best song, while “Psonic Psunspot” is a more realized project. “Psunspot” songs derive from obvious influences (Electric Prunes, the Kinks, early Pink Floyd, Brian Wilson, the Beatles). It leans on the whimsical side of the psychedelic genre — think “For the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” not “Tomorrow Never Knows” — “See Emily Play,” not “Echoes.”

The vibe would carry over to XTC’s masterpiece “Skylarking,” produced by Todd Rundgren.

Partridge, XTC’s leader, noted with a big wink: “The Dukes were the band we all wanted to be in when we were at school. Purple, giggling, fuzztone, liquid and arriving. If you want to know where those cheap charlatans the Beatles, Pink Floyd, the Byrds, the Hollies and the Beach Boys stole their ideas from, well just listen to this and weep.”

The somewhat reclusive bandleader Andy Partridge did a long interview with the Chicago Tribune’s Mark Caro that’s worth a read for any XTC/Dukes fan. He has this to say about psychedelic music:

“I think a lot of the allure of that psychedelic thing and specifically psychedelic singles was that kind of compact magic, all these effects that people hadn’t heard before and everybody looking for new ways of mashing up conventional sounds in the studio. And of course these days you’d just lean on a button, and there it is; it’s all sampled and pre-screwed-up for you. But then you really would have to play an electric saw at the bottom of a well and then have that spun in backwards and stuff like that.”

Of the two Dukes records, Partridge says: “To me they just look like the next XTC records. Because ‘Skylarking,’ which happened between the two Dukes releases, is like the missing Dukes album, or vice versa. ‘Psonic Psunspot’ is the missing XTC album after ‘Skylarking.’ There’s no barrier.”

“Skylarking,” produced by Todd Rundgren in infamously stormy recording sessions, no doubt will find a place on the Top 50 Psychedelic Albums list, along with “Psunspot.”

Both new Dukes CDs feature the promo videos for each album’s single. The packaging is sublime, bringing to mind small hardcover books printed with great care. All collectors editions should look so good.

Money: Pink Floyd sues longtime label EMI

Psychedelic icons Pink Floyd are suing their longtime label EMI, reportedly in a dispute over royalties.

London’s the Observer said the legal action probably occurred as part of the psychedelic pioneers’ reoccurring three-year negotiations over royalties.

The band’s back catalog — among the richest in rock music — includes the eternal best-seller “Dark Side of the Moon” and the highly successful “The Wall.”

EMI recently lost Radiohead and Paul McCartney, whose old band the Beatles released all of their through the music company. The Rolling Stones ditched EMI’s Virgin Records. The investment group Terra Firma, run by Guy Hands, bought EMI in 2007 and quickly managed to alienate many of the company’s top artists. Both EMI and Pink Floyd declined to comment for British media.

Pink Floyd has been with EMI since 1967.

Two of the band’s founders are dead — the noted acid casualty Syd Barrett and keyboardist Rick Wright, who passed in September 2008.

Cool Pink Floyd links:

• Wired takes a look back at the psychedelic band’s early days in “May 12, 1967: Pink Floyd Astounds With ‘Sound in the Round’ “
• Pink Floyd’s “Echoes” could be a synch to the “Jupiter and Beyond” segment of “2001.” The supporting evidence is better than usual.

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