January 4, 2008

I Break for Well Dressed Hippies!



A few months ago on a used record buying binge I picked up two LPs that haven't really left my turntable since. For those of you with a low tolerance of cavity creating 60's psych pop I would suggest you look away now. . . but for those of you who love it as much as I do. . . let's hug. Or skip and hold hands. You decide.

I bring you two sunshiney bubble gum platters of pure sparkling joy. The Sugar Shoppe and Love Generation.

Both bands came from the late 60's and as far as I can tell The Sugar Shoppe were from Toronto, Canada and featured Peter Mann, Lee Harris, Laurie Hood, and Victor Garber. They released a few singles and this one S/T groovy long player. I don't think this record has ever been reissued and it is a crime really. It just begs to be cleaned up and given fancy liner notes littered with pretty technicolor pictures.

The Love Generation was a California group and they too fall under the sugar coated vocal pop group category. They don't just dabble in happy - they radiate it in every verse and chorus. This cd appears to available only as a pricey import from Japan but the song "Magic Land" alone almost makes it worth the splurge.

Even better - I bring you song samples. My blog doesn't host mps3 or I should say I have no idea how to make that happen... so I decided to create a myspace page where you can hear a full track from each band.

My goal from this point forward is this - when I find a kooky old record...either dusted off from my personal collection or unearthed from a record store's used bin - I will post a track from it on my blog's myspace page. I will only be posting out of print or really rare material and certainly if it is available in any way shape or form as a reissue I will point you in the direction of where to buy it. If someone knows of a reissue that I am unaware of please please please correct me and I will post the information for all to have.

My brand new Myspace blog page (drum roll please): http://myspace.com/lightningsgirlblog

Ummm... and yeah I know how incredibly lame "my blog has a myspace page" sounds. I am actually gagging as I type the phrase again but what can I say I am a technology failure and apparently manipulating teenage networking sites is about as clever as I get.

3 comments:

  1. a co-worker (both at the crutch and the niner) let me borrow the love generation collection cd which i burned to my hard drive. i can't remember exactly what it was which prompted the exchange, but it's some good stuff.

    Reply
  2. Let the sunshine in!

    Reply
  3. Anonymous 2/13/08, 4:48 PM

    Did you know Victor Garber from The Sugar Shoppe is Jack Bristow from Alias? I thought his name looked familiar.

    Reply