Sparks anyone?

I was somewhat a fan of Russ and Ron. I remember having the "Kimona My House" album. Didn't know Russ was one of the earliest "rappers" tho...see link two:-)

I liked some of their stuff and their sense of humor.  I'm not sure why I didn't get into them a little more.  I'll have to take another listen.  Thanks for the reminder, Shambler.  

Ouch!. Just checked out those links. The last time I saw those guys was in 76 and they obviously went through some changes, like getting rid of the rhythm section. When I watched the vids, a little voice was saying "so that's what happened to them".

Hi,
 
KIMONO MY HOUSE!

jamesg1213
They were always the kind of band I liked when I heard them, but couldn't get the enthusiasm up to buy an album. Very creative guys though.

I have over 500 hours of recordings from an import show in Santa Barbara in the late 70's. They cover about 5 years worth.
 
There is a lot of stuff in there that is far out, different and sometimes silly. I mean hearing the Clams do Bapu's favorite song by the Carpenters, is not something that you want to go home to mom and talk about, but it is funny, and even Bapu can't do it, or dance to it! Hearing Ogden's Nut Gone Flakes, is STILL not old to me, and far more advanced and defined/designed than half the music out there anywhere in the top 100 of anything. It's still one of my all time favorite albums!
 
Some of the side stuff in those days, that appeared in that show, was different, strange and sometimes crazy. I mean listening to Ralph Lundsten's robot trying to pick out a date with another robot in a dance, is a bit ... what??? ... and then you hear Germany's Cherubin do "Choo Choo Train" (massively awesome song!!!!), and then something from Sparks and then something from Edgar Broughton Band (like Roccococooler!), and right after some Family, and then some David Watts (oops ... early Kinks), followed by Curved Air, Rare Bird, Sutherland Brothers and Quiver, and then Unicorn, and then String Driven Thing, and then Wolf, and then Grobbschnitt, and then Pink Floyd and then Le Orme, and then Horslips, and then Steeleye Span, and then Mike Oldfield, and then ... you got the idea? ... there are a lot of great things and a lot of not so great things, but the difference in all of them is magnificent.
 
The big problem in most radio is WHERE/HOW these are given to you, because if you place a known something right in the middle of all these instead of the whole sequence non-stop, you do not learn to catch the subtleties in other music, because you are too well attuned to the things that you know, and the things that you DON'T, do not click as much.
 
The context of where/how the music is shown, and heard, is the single most important part of it all. If you hear 2 minutes of ENO next to your band when you are playing or next to your hour of Black Sabbath, you're not going to like it ... and in fact, it will sound a bit weird and disrupting to your mood and feel, and this is an issue when it comes to these things that are so damn different!
 
The only way you can learn to appreciate the difference is making time for some of them, but 5 minutes of it, is not going to teach you a whole lot. It might, but not likely, because right after you went back to the same thing! If it were an injury, it would not be able to heal properly because it got infected again!

jamesg1213
 
Yes, if you added Stomu Yamashta, Moon, The Silly Sisters, Widowmaker, Five Hand Reel, Michael Chapman and Greenslade that would sound like the playlist from Alan Freeman's 3hr long Saturday Rock Show, which I listened to avidly circa 1973.
...

Much more than that ... we had Stomu when he was doing Red Buddha Theater, when most people never heard of him until "GO". Chappo and Family and Streetwalkers are STILL, some of my most favorite things to hear. Greenslade is excellent, and you might even check out the things that Dave Lawson produced, like Stackridge! 
 
Want me to continue? The list is so big, that you will end up saying ... is there anything he didn't hear? The Roger Dean and Hipgnosis contingents, up until at least 1979 or 1980, were played almost exclusively, as it was a great way to find out about new bands. ALL of them, right down to Third Ear Band and Lol Coxhill and Kevin Coyne and his Marjorie Razorblade! About the only one I never got into much or understood was "East of Eden" and I'm not sure why. 
 
Want more?
 
My whole English collection is fairly well versed in that era. I think the only things I'm missing would be the likes of Cockney Rebel, and some of the other copies of things, but in terms of the major bands, they are all covered pretty well. I'm missing the bunch of John Mayall as well, that I used to check out and follow many of the musicians he had with him!
 
NP: Ogden's Nut Gone Flakes. Strummy, that is such a far out album! Fun listens too!

Moshkiae
 About the only one I never got into much or understood was "East of Eden" and I'm not sure why. 
 

'Jig-a-Jig' gave them a one-off hit over here.

jamesg1213

Moshkiae
 
Streetwalkers

'Red Card' is one of my favourite albums.

There isn't a whole lot of theirs I don't like. I love "Walking on Water" from the album with the great legs, and then Gypsy Moon, and Chili con Carne. And that live double LP of theirs is a heck of a power house.
 
I got lucky and came across Chapman's "Hyenas Only Laugh for Fun", and it is also a fabulous album with outstanding guitar work as usual!