Missing Vinyl Records "Like Making History"

 Missing Vinyl Records is a label focusing in sixties and seventies music productions that remain long out of print and are absent from the market for a long time.With a strict vinyl direction, the label takes care for exact reissues and deluxe editions,dealing also with new artists and groups from the wide area of the psychedelic,folk and progressive contemporary scene.Founder Nick Voukoutis opens the diary.




What motivated you to start a label?

 Actually it was not supposed to become a label… it was supposed to be the "Truth:  Of Them and Other Tales" pressing only.I wanted to own Truth on vinyl, since I first heard it on cd, but none of the existing labels had plans to reissue it, so I decided to have it pressed myself.

When and how did it start?

 

 After I had arranged for rights, master tapes etc. for Truth, I realized, that I would be sitting for ages on the 1000 copies I intended to press, if I did not have a package to sell. So, we had a brainstorming session and decided that Kenny & the Kasuals and Armando Piazza's Suan would be very good to accompany TRUTH, in one batch.In late 2008, it was just a batch of three titles but not a label yet.

 

  A vague idea was there, but I had no clue of what to issue next. I did not even know, if I am going to issue anything at all.Then, I accidentally ran into the website of the Kuckuck label….We gave it a try and were very surprised to see the legendary Eckart Rahn granting us rights for historical albums like Out Of Focus, Armaggedon, Deuter Murphy Blend etc. I am grateful to him for entrusting us with his youth’s work, and for giving us the chance to prove we can do it well.With the second and third batch of Kuckcuck reissues, Missing Vinyl Records became a label and got some awareness with collectors.

 

Is it sometimes a financial struggle?

We only issue new albums, when the previous ones have covered their cost, so there is no financial struggle associated with the label itself. We have tied some starting capital to the first issues, which is being slowly recovered. One can certainly not make a living out of label of our kind, but it’s also not a losing business.

What other labels influenced you?

I am a collector since I remember myself– I have seen several nice releases on various labels through the years – it would be unfair not to mention some, and too long to list all of them.

Who are your competitors?

  There is no competition in the conventional sense.It’s not like: “if a customer buys the other brand’s yoghurt, he will not buy mine”. On the contrary we form the market together, and the more releases there are, the more interest is being created for our kind of music, so the more each one of us sells.World In Sound, Guerssen, Garden Of Delights and several more labels are no competitors, they are partners in arms and we enjoy receiving and selling each other’s releases and exchanging information about several issues.OK, admittedly, when one of them comes up with a once-in-a-lifetime record, I may get a bit jealous (how on earth did he manage to locate the band to get rights?.... why did I not think of this album? etc….), but down the line, I am happy, that I may include this record to my wholesale catalogue… and also keep one copy for my private collection.

There is a very bad competition though: bootleggers and pirates. There are so many great albums out there, which have been reissued by pirates. Rights holders get no money and are being deprived from getting some royalties from us or other official labels. Pirated LPs are usually medium-to-bad quality pressings, they are cheaper than ours due to lower manufacturing cost and/or due to the fact that they pay no royalties, and they result in killing a good record’s market potential.

 



How did you choose the name?

 A wordplay with the word “missing” before “vinyl”.In 2008, when we came up with the name, people were missing vinyl for longer than a decade – the vinyl resurgence was yet to come.It also reflects our fundamental choice, to be issuing albums, that were missing, i.e. unavailable for ages. 

 
Whatʼs your guiding principle?

 Long unavailable on vinyl, or –better- never before issued or reissued, quality psychedelic and/or progressive music. Never reissue a record, which I would not choose to have in my collection. Always official reissues.

 

Can you sum up your labelʼs outpout ?

Three first ever issues of great albums: Dino Valenti’s lost recordings, Truth and the english version of Ihre Kinder / Leere Haende (Empty Hands).The first ever Kuckuck label reissues, among them the three Out Of Focus LPs, Armaggedon, Murphy Blend, CWT, Hanuman, the Ihre Kinder's Jeanscover and Deuter: D.Our South African first-ever reissues, two McCully Workshop and Canamii – great music!

 And John Bassman group, a great record, for which it took ages and serious detective work to locate members to get rights.Ciccada (voted 8th best album of 2010 at progarchives.com) and Allison, two great contemporary Greek bands and the two Manticore’s Breath records (this is Will-o-the Wisp in their new heavier style) and Crystal Thoughts.Carolyn Hester - two albums, Crash Coffin and the two great American first-ever on vinyl reissues Oxfords and Sandstone (what a record!) – the three first Nektar albums, made double to accommodate several never before on vinyl bonus tracks, and the 2 Gurnemanz LPs – great female vocals here!.Last but not least, the three Aphrodite’s Child LPs due in next week. 

How important is the look and packaging of your records?

Very important! Collectors nowadays are far more demanding, than 30 years ago.We make 180g vinyl, 350g covers – the best European technology can offer at a feasible price.We had some great help for making our reissues exactly as the originals were. Mr. Willie Oertel, the renowned German vinyl collector, has trusted us and sent us expensive original covers of several records from his own collection, for us to use for scans in order to achieve perfectly exact reissues.

 


Of which release are you the most proud?

  I am proud of all releases.TRUTH has a special position in my heart, having been our first issue. And then I am definitely proud of the three Out Of Focus LPs, that made a label out of Missing Vinyl. I believe a breakthrough will come now with the three Aphrodite’s Child albums, that address a larger audience, not only the psych and prog collectors.

  

What are your future plans for expanding the label?

 

 Several UNIVERSAL releases, long missing.Hopefully a new Ciccada and Will-O-The Wisp album.

 How do you survive through the years?

  Through wholesale – the label would not be enough (far not) to make our living, but it helps and it gives me this great feeling, every time I see a new batch arriving from Germany – it’s like making history, it’s productive, it’s fun.

 

How do you find new acts?

Books, internet, customers’ ideas, my friend Jimi “Psychoson’s” ideas….etc.etc.

(As told to High Fidelity Stories)
contact :www.veamusic.com)

Venus In Furs "Dead Europe"

 

  For a long period of time, Venus In Furs was believed to be the lost binding bond between post-punk and new wave music of Greece. Despite however, their exceptional appearances and their three demos, recorded from summer 1985 until their final split in 1993, their only musical inheritance was the extremely rare album “New Horizon”, in 10 copies!! The limited number of copies resulted due to numerous technical sound problems that lead to the discontinuance of the album’s production. Almost twenty years after this first edition, B-otherside records represented in 2011 this masterly missing album that incorporates gothic sound, post-punk and new wave with harmony and aptitude. The sound mix and the elaboration of songs were prepared by the two founding members of the group, an attempt that indicates their reformation. The 250 numbered copies of the vinyl lp contain a two-page colored inset along with the band’s photographs of period 1985-1989, as well as a full biography and a two-page black and white inset with lyrics and the six original hand made posters. Furthermore, the package includes a numbered reprint in A4 size of one of these posters.

 

 This year the legendary ‘80’s post-punk group, returns in full ecstatic blast with a new album under the title  “Dead Europe” , a record pulsing with the reverberations of the global metamorphosis. Their naturally “distorted” sound based on dark wave with psychedelic and roots influences , forms the subversive rock music of the near future. The lp is released in a limited run of 300  hand numbered copies,150 of them are in violet coloured wax and the rest 150 in classical black vinyl, containing an inner sleeve with lyrics and informations.The band offered for download the full album including the artwork here.

Andreikelos "Euryphaessa": Cinematic Soundscapes Through Neo Psych Passages

     A well known producer and engineer in Greece, Andreikelos may still be the best kept secret from the global leftfield electronica genre. Having created his own style with his significant drum pattern and synthesizers use this EP is adventurous as it is

deep.The title track, “Euryphaessa”, stands at the barrier between instrumental alt-rock and moody electronica. Named after the ancient Greek Titan-Goddess, Theia Euryphaessa,it is a perfect blend of heavy drum patterns, crunchy beats and distorted synth lines.Second comes “Under Pressure”, this instrumental hip-hop track is a hybrid ofsynths and samples enhanced by a heavy drumbeat blended with rock-ish cymbals and beautiful violin sounds for the finale.The following track, “Deserted”, is dark and cinematic. A blend of acoustic and electronic instruments alongside heavy drum sounds, creating a deeply emotional and atmospheric track that grabs the listener right from the word go. The whole arrangement of these sounds is so elegantly put, that it continuously drags the listener’s emotions from left to right, dark to light and back again, making this perfect soundtrack music.The final track is a remix of “Euryphaessa” by Greek producer Starflyer. His version enhances the electronic nature of the original with orchestral textures, smoothly blended onto a down-tempo beat pattern making this trip-like tune a perfect catalyst to fuel the overall sound.

 Additionally, on the digital version of the release you can find another remix of the title track by Geste from France – a more experimental take on the track, a neo-psych approach that pulls the listener’s attentioninto the unique sound of Geste. Andreikelos has probably outdone himself with this EP. The music is deep, building,dark yet melancholic and profoundly beautiful. Being Part 3 in the “Black On Black” vinyl series the “Euryphaessa EP” is released as a very limited (100 hand numbered copies) vinyl 12” alongside a poster. Furthermore, 25 cassettes will be given away to the firstcustomers that buy directly from the Equinox Online Store. They include 3 tracks of the EP mixed together in two 10 minute sets plus an exclusive bonus track called “Sawlead Rock”.

"The Whirlings": Mountain Stoners Are Here!

  A new name that is willing to spread the electric psychedelic sound from the Apennine mountains and the Mediterranean area to the globe.Combining the intension of the heavy rock through a seventies prism with some dreamy post overview,the Whirlings( Andrea Lolli,guitar,Mattia Lolli,guitar,Diego La Chioma, bass guitar and Giulio Corona,drums) seem that they want to redefine the stoner idiom their own way.Andrea,bandleader of the Italian combo is here to tell the story.

Tell us few things about the Whirlings.When did you start, how did you meet each other?

 We started to play together about 2008.I knew the other members separately; Mattia is my cousin and with him we used play  acoustic guitar and then, when in NYC, I bought my first guitar and we decided to play what we feel. Then in L’Aquila, I called Diego, one of my best friends, and Giulio one of the best drummers in town.Then, after a long pause caused by the earthquake in our town, and when we were ready we started again.

 

How did you first get into playing and writing music?

 At first we played into an underground rehearsal room for hours jamming an trying some different riffs. I don’t know much, almost anything, about notes so we had to play necessarily our music. Then we gave to our tracks a structure(very hard for who, like me, played for the first time in a band) and the game was done! Only Giulio and Mattia played in another band before the Whirlings.All of our tracks are composed mainly by our instinct and feelings, each one of us put something in the tracks, riffs, sounds etc.

 

What did your first songs sound like and who were your main influences?

 

 We’re influenced by classics as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath etc. but also by contemporary bands like Colour Haze, Dead Meadow, Mogwai etc.

How did you get your name?

 The band’s name was originated both by the Dead Meadow song and also by the psychedelic and symbolic concept of the spiral!

 

 Are there any other groups that sound similar to you in Italy?

 Fortunately in Italy there aren’t so much psychedelic instrumental bands so we have enough opportunities to play!

  

How would you describe your music?

 Our music is a mix of classic psychedelia, progressive, desert stoner and post-rock. We live in a mountainside so we can say than we play mountain-stoner instead desert-stoner rock.

How did you get the decision to self released your first project?Have you sent any demos to a  label before you release it?

  We decided to avoid at first place to have a label deal because we need our space to create our music without any kind of interferences and some contract dead line time for releasing recordings. Without a label, on the other side we face some difficulties for the physical distribution of our work.

Tell me a few words about all 5 tracks of the ep.How did you choose titles etc….My favourite is Calcutta’s Sewers,what’s the story behind?

  We put the titles after the final version of each track, there isn’t a particular way of choosing it, the tracks inspiring  us the titles not the opposite. Calcutta’s Sewers is one of our first track composed, we worked on it a lot, than on day, after a long rehearsal room session playing it Mattia told us: “we must call this track Calcutta’s Sewers!!!”. We laughed a lot and the title was given!!!

 

Do you think of adding vocals in the future?

 Only if we’ll meet a really good vocalist (Maynard from Tool???) we could think about a singer in our band, since that day we’ll continue with the original vocation of the music… the universal instrumental language! 

What are you doing for living?

 Unfortunately we can’t living only by playing music, or better, we’re living for playing, so we have to work, when it is possible.

 

Describe the atmosphere in your concerts. How people react in your music?

 During our lives we project some psychedelic clips and visuals made by Diego, a little help for the audience to travel into our trips!

What is the feedback you get from people who listen to your music?

 We’ve a lot of positive feedback by our audience, during our lives but also by the web.

 Through the years a lot of groups are mainly known via internet and not from the their cd or vinyl releases. What is your opinion about this?

 Internet is quite useful for us because is the only free broadcasting we had and a lot of people listen our tracks on youtube, myspace, reverbnation, etc. and buy our music on cd or mp3.

Which are your future plans?

  Now we’re going to record our next work, an  full album this time with 7 new tracks, influenced by a more structured heavy psych and post-rock as well.

(As told to High Fidelity Stories)

Contact : thewhirlings1.bandcamp.com/album/the-whirlings-ep

               facebook.com/TheWhirlings

 

Sir Psych Sends Popsike Greetings From L.A.

  
   Sir Psych(formerly known as Martin Nunez) had a fatal accident in his childhood,similar to Obelix's one with the cauldron of magic potion:he was unable since then to live without music.And further more, he got into deep psychedelic moods,being a record collector willing to share his rare finds through his blog,making incredible compilations of 60's tracks or having some hip hop adventures by sampling some fractals of his massive vinyl library. "The Popsike World Of Sir Psych" is a 19 track compilation,a fully homemade project with all music and instruments played and arranged by Martin himself(with a little help from his pal LA.AL). Balancing trippy minimal harmonies with some dreamy fragile vocals,mixing echoes,various effects, some harpsichords here,some sitars there,Sir Psych is creating a psychedelic universe with shiny pop diamonds.All driven by living memories from his dusty vinyl background with a fresh feeling for liberated listeners.But please.forget about sterile sixties revival,this is a great sample of contemporary psychedelic songwriting.Sir Psych proves that sky is the limit.Or not?

 

 

"Los Jovenes Viejos" A Brilliant Film Score!

     His balkan roots made him say that he was "first of all miracles" as his father came from Croatia and his mother was Serbian. For many people,he was the last dandy of jazz in his country.For others,he was Cole Porter of Argentina.Sergio Mihanovic(1937-2012) was a low profile hard working musician in many fields.He wrote music for films and theatrical acts,worked in nightclubs as a pianist and vocalist and during his career has composed four figure themes and songs although as it is said he could not "write" music.A well respected man in jazz(and pop) scene,Sergio Mihanovich saw his name witten in the Real Book Of Jazz Standards as his most famous work "Sometime Ago" crossed the borders of Buenos Aires and sent him to eternity through Bill Evans,Joe Pass,Stan Getz and much more countless various instrumental and vocal versions till today.You can read a summary of his life written by Gaspar Zimmerman for the Clarin newspaper here.                                                                

Sergio Mihanovic made the music for the Rodolfo Kuhn's movie "Los Jonenes Viejos"(The Old Young People), a landmark of the argentinian film history(VIK LZ  

1076) that was the country's official selection for the 1962 Oscar awards in the foreign language film category.I remember buying this lp a couple of years ago through an auction.Soon,became one of my favourite ones,cool jazz at its best moments.Sixteen tracks  for a great score played by great musicians: Brothers Jorge and Oscar Lopez Ruiz play contrabass and guitar(Oscar also took care for the arrangements),Osvaldo Mazzei is behind the drums,Ruben Lopez Furst plays the piano,Osvaldo Bissio on vibraphone,Domingo Cura on tumbadora,Jorge Barone on flute,Louis M.Casalla on trombone,Leandro Barbieri on saxophone and Ruben Barbieri(yes, the Gato one) on trumpet.The whole record will please not only the avid soundtrack collectors but the jazz lovers as well.A vinyl copy on VIK(sublabel of RCA Victor Argentina) rarely shows up on sale lists or in auctions but it worths every penny if you find one in nice condition.It was only 2008 when Sony BMG Argentina released the score on cd together with another brilliant album of Sergio Mihanovic("Buenos Aires Jazz by Sergio Mihanovic",originally also on VIK).Los Jovenes Viejos is the only known score released by Sergio Mihanovic and i think it deserves to (re)discoverd.If anyone knows another film score by this wonderful musician,please drop a line...

 

 

Fruits De Mer Records: The Future Rarites On Colour Vinyl

   

"Fruits de Mer Records - possibly the world's smallest vinyl-only psych/prog/acid folk/krautrock/spacerock record label - but then again, maybe not - what do we know?"That was once upon a time because now Fruits de Mer are in danger of becoming a UK national treasure" as written on Ptolemaic Terrascope.So,what's the story so far behind a record label that all its releases sell out very fast and become instant collectibles? Hear the tracks,buy the vinyl,smell the fish!Keith is here to explain everything.

 
                                                                           

 What motivated you to start a label?

 I've been a lover of music and an obsessive record collector for a long, long time. Who wouldn't want to set up and run their own vinyl label if they had the chance!?

When and how did it start?

 

2008. Andy Bracken is an old friend and he had been running an indie label called (coincidentally) Bracken Records for a couple of years. We'd talked for a long time about creating a new label together, and one day we decided to stop talking about it...

Was it a financial struggle?

It doesn't cost a lot to put a 7" record out. But in the first year  it was a real struggle to sell copies, to get anyone to stock the records and to get anyone to review them - thank god for Heyday, Norman Records, Rough Trade, Piccadilly Records and Record Collector magazine - they all supported us from day one.

    

What other labels influenced you?

                                               


 The owners back in 2008 of the Immediate and Charisma back-catalogues!  

The original plan for our first release was simply to license the VDGG version of 'Theme One' and the original opening theme to The Small Faces' 'Ogden's Nut Gone Flake'  - but no-one at the companies that owned the tracks wanted to know us. I had already, naively, paid the MCPS songwriting license, so we got a band Andy had already worked with - Schizo Fun Addict - to record new versions, and Fruits de Mer was born.

 Who are your competitors?

 

Downloads, CDs, apathy, computer games, X-Factor,  anything that makes recorded music less important to people than it was, or should be. Other record labels aren't competition, the more labels there are out there promoting vinyl, the better.

  Why the name?

                                             My wife and i love eating shellfish.

 

 What’s your guiding principle?

It was that it had to be music that Andy or I loved. Andy's now taking a break from record labels, so it has to be music i love  - if i love it, I'll find a way, or an excuse, to release it.

Can you sum up your label’s output ?

 Classic and obscure psychedelia, progressive rock, spacerock, R&B, krautrock, acid-folk - and if i hear something that doesn't quite fit with any of the above but i want to release it, I'll change the description so it does.

 

How important is the look and packaging of your records?

Not as important as the music, but important all the same - the sleeve and what goes with it is all part of what makes a vinyl release so much better than a CD. We always tried to make every release interesting for vinyl junkies, and I'm always looking for something new and different.

 

     Of which release are you the most 

proud?

It changes by the day, the 'Head Music' double album is my favourite right now in musical terms - i've loved krautrock since the beginning of the 70s. But it tends to be whatever the latest releases are - nick nicely's 'Hilly Fields' is an absolute classic single that I'm proud to be associated with, but releasing The Pretty Things' new single has to be the most amazing thing for the label - if someone had told me four years ago I'd have the chance to release new recordings by the UK's No.1 R&B and psych band ever, I'd have asked what they were smoking; and there's more to come from The Pretty Things on Fruits de Mer this summer - something VERY special!

  

What are your future plans for expanding the label?

More singles, a Hollies psych compilation and - sometime in the next 12 months - Cranium Pie's follow-up to 'Mechanisms Part 1'. Andy is busy writing a book of his record label exploits so Fruits de Mer is now a one-man band, which makes it kind of self-limiting in terms of what is possible - although Nick Leese at Heyday  and Clear Spot Distribution are doing a great job between them at handling sales outside the UK for me - and Record Industry in the Netherlands are a really professional vinyl pressing plant, who cover up my mistakes very well!  

                                                                           
                                                                      

  
How do you survive through the years?

It's not a case of surviving, I do it because i love it - if it ever becomes 'a job', I'll stop. The feedback from people who discover the label and get hooked is a great buzz.

How do you find new acts?

Word of mouth, bands tend to contact me now - they've seen a review, heard one of the tracks, or spoken to one of the bands that have appeared on an FdM release. Two of the singles I'm releasing in August are a result of new artists sending tracks into me, and me thinking, "I've GOT to release that!" 

 (As told to High Fidelity Stories)
contact :www.fruitsdemerrecords.com

The Reporters "Bare Hands"

  

Geheimnis Records is pleased to announce the reissue of the classic 1983 album of The Reporters’ “Bare Hands”, including the tracks from the 1982 7’’ single “Computer World / I Wanna Know”, in a special limited edition release with the title “Bare Hands / 30th anniversary edition”. This reissue has highly emotional aspects, cause both the band’s releases are one of our all time favorites, amongst the Greek new wave bands of the 80’s and, apart from this, it’s the catalogue number 01 of the legendary Creep Record’s LP releases. This year, we’re celebrating 30 years, since their first release back in 1982 on Creep Records. 

The band itself was a collaboration and coexistence of very talented young musicians and it was bad luck that it was disbanded one and half year after its first appearance. It managed though to inherit us 2 records (one 7’’ single and a full-length LP album) of very-well-constructed and formed contemporary New Wave/Post Rock sound of that era, but at the same time very unconventional and out of the blue. All the instruments are at the right place, the right time, without keeping though a traditional tempo/form, predictable and finally  bored.

 The bass line of Solon (Akis) Stathopoulos is dominant, the drums of George Roumanis are unmistakable and with depth, the guitar of Paraskevas (Voulis) Karamikes is sharp as surgical blade, the synthesizers of Chrisostomos (Makis) Mouratoglou create all the stressed, anguished and sometimes vivid – or someone might say happy – environment and of course, Costas Pothoulakis (Parthenogenesis, Homicide, Villa 21) stays on the edge, adding his characteristic voice to the whole structure. The result of it are 10 songs of sound-balancing frenzy, that you can’t find easily, especially in groups of that period, that released only 2 records and then disappeared…
The reissue will come out on July 2012 (exact date t.b.a.) in 400 hand-numbered, remastered from the original master tapes, highly collectable copies in a double 10’’ album, including the tracks of both the album and the 7’’, with its original insert + some rare photos of the band. Half of the copies will be pressed in original black vinyl and the rest in transparent orange.(GHMN.004)

We Love The Beatles!

  It was just a few days before Christmas of 1996 that the first autonomous issue of Zoo magazine  made its appearance in the newstands.The history of this greek music edition begun first as a few page insert of the monthly legendary "Pop & Rock" and after seven issues,the time for Zoo to stand alone in the market had come.And it was there!A classic black and white photo of Jim Morrison on cover(with a 12 page tribute to the Lizard King,including a Ray Manzarek interview),red and black lettering and subtitled with "It's only Rock'n'Roll" motto.There were also advertsided articles about Donovan,The Charlatans(the Frisco ones),Joni Mitchell and Jingle Bell Rock(the songs for the last days of the year).


 Through the 148 pages there were news,lot of reviews, special section for album reissues, pages for movies and books and much more.Zoo,during its short living, was a great magazine,focusing mainly on the music of past decades,with detailed info from almost all genres.Especially in times with not wide internet use,without youtube and social networks,magazines like Zoo could make happy almost every music lover.It was also the drachma period for Greece and its price was 2.000 drachmas.The magazine was published every two months.In this first issue,the headline was "extra cd with songs of the Beatles!".

Well, there was a 12 track cd housed in a standard jewel case(the compilation was made by Beetle Eater),the cover was a variation of the "Meet The Beatles" lp and all titles were licenced through Polygram.There were covers of course except one.Inside the magazine, the editor Nikos Petroulakis makes a presentation of the songs that appear in this compilation,talking also about a bunch of other(lot of) tracks that could be presented on the cd but for various reasons they were not,providing also useful infos of every release,catalogue numbers and comments(which will be included in this post in italics).

First track is "Yesterday" sung by Marianne Faithful,taken from her 1965 single  released on Decca(F12268)."Faithful would have a great folk pop career and this is proven by her fragile singing this tune but she chose to spend the decade of 60's with Mick Jagger"



   
  
  

Second track comes also from 1965 and it is performed by Silkie."You've Got To Hide Your Love Away"(Fontana TF 603).
 Recorded only three days after the release of the Beatles' original version, this cover from the Brian Epstein managed quartet was produced by John Lennon, and features Paul on guitar and George on percussion.For the record,Silkie's cover was more succesful in the US than in England.  




 

Track number three is a taken from The Spooky Tooth and their 1970 album "The Last Puff",released on Island label(ILPS9117)."The band faces a music deadend and their cover on "I'm The Walrus" is a remarkanle sign of this situation but still not comparable to the awful Oasis one"

 Track number four comes from the Motown era."And I Love Her" is presented here by Smokie Robinson & The Miracles,taken from their album "What Love Has...Joined Together"(Tamla 301).Smokie attempted effectively to combine his velvet tenoro with his wild loving falsetto.

Fifth track is "Let It Be" by Gladys Knight & The Pips, taken from their "If I Were Your Woman" lp,released in 1971 for the Soul label(S731).The album was recorded during the period that the quarte was guided by the producer Johnny Bristol away from blues and gospel influences and was transformed into a sensual,gragile vocal combo.Let It Be was indelibly stamped by Gladys Knight and the figures of Merald "Bubba" Knight,William Guest and Edward Patten.

 Sixth song is "Michelle" by The Four Tops,taken from their album "Four Tops On Top" for the Motown label (M647).Although there were recent succesful covers by David & Jonathan and Overlanders,the Four Tops version was an overmatching one because the Motown ensemble was very generous in using harmonies with the huge displacement of Levi Stubbs.

 Sergio Mendes & Brazil 66 are in the seventh track of the compilation with "Fool On The Hill"(1968,A&M 731).Sergio was one of the first musicians from Brazil who were benefited from the bossa nova explosion.With an amazing comfort he could adapt various pop hits to his smooth latin style.He was involved with Beatles songs a couple of times and "Fool On The Hill" was one of them.

 On number eight, there is "Hey Jude" by The Temptations,a cut from their 1969 lp "Puzzle People"(Gordy,949).At the same period there was also a blues cover by Wilson Pickett but it was fatal to be overtaken by the most succesful band in the black music history, in a record that not only was full by psychedelic soul but also fueled the Motown formula with social and political elements.

"Eleanor Rigby" is track number nine performed here by Richie Havens.The last of his eleven song album entitled "Mixed Bag" for the Veve Folkways label(released in 1967, FT3006).Richie Havens was always a special case,so special as the cover on this Beatles tune with his soft and hoarse singing.

Number ten is Billy Preston's version of "Get Back", a single that came out from the soundrack of the 1978 film "Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"(A&M 2071).The movie, inspired from the Beatles album was not succesful but the entire soundtrack was a hit parade.Billy Preston also appeared in the original Beatles vesrion so he had an absolute valid point of view for the song.
                                         
 
 Track number eleven comes from The Supremes and is "A Hard Day's Night" and it is included in their 1964 album "A Bit Of Liverpool"(Motown 623)which was also released with a different title in the UK(With Love-From US To You).

 

 A great collection of tracks from the iconic soul group, paying tribute to the acts of the contemporary 'British Invasion' featuring many tracks written/performed by the likes of The Beatles, Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Animals and The Dave Clark Five.Diana Ross and her company, sing also "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "Can't Buy Me Love"

Last but not least,number twelve in this unique promo greek only compilation is "My Bonnie" by Tony Sheridan and The Beatles.A standard tune,very polpylar in Hamburg,Germany that was recorded during the summer of 1961 in a Gene Vincent style by Tony Sheridan and the ...Beat Brothers(John,Paul,Ringo and George of course before changing their name and the global music history).The UK edition of the single came on the Polydor label in early 1962(NH66833).Still uknown at that time even in the UK,the Beat Brothers/Beatles appeared in the other side of Atlantic ocean with Tony Sheridan and My Bonnie of course on a Decca single in April of 1962 with catalogue number 31382.This particular single still is one of the holy grails of the Beatles collectors worldwide.
 

A last note before completing this post.The title of this compilation was taken from a 1963 single by The Vernons Girls which was "We Love The Beatles"

 

Enjoy!