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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9880 Posts |
 Posted - 23/07/2013 : 22:17:12
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The Millenium - Begin (1968)
Possibly the "pinacle of sunshine psychedelic pop"
I would compare them favorably to pre-Todd Rundgren power pop psych...only stranger in some ways
Begin-full album play
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvU_WPVif1E
-thealwaysbuesociety.blogspot.com
From what I've heard of the sunshine pop of the 60s, the Millennium's Begin could very well be the pinnacle of the genre. The Millennium was a studio supergroup headed by producer Curt Boettcher, who was known for his work with the Association. He formed the group while recording Present Tense, an album by producer Gary Usher's very similar studio pop supergroup, Sagittarius. This would be the Millennium's sole album, as it proved to be too strange for pop radio, yet too pop for underground radio. Begin is song after song of carefully crafted pop with dense instrumentation and ridiculously good melodies and harmonies. This **** will be stuck in your head for weeks, but in a good way. The production is extremely impressive, sounding polished but not overwhelmingly so. There are many psychedelic moments in the album, but it is definitely a pop record first and foremost. "Karmic Dream Sequence #1" is probably the most far out song on the record and it is pulled off well, sounding like a milder version of S.F. Sorrow-era Pretty Things. One of the best moments of the album comes right at the start with "Prelude." Innocent harpsichord chimes away and is suddenly interrupted by a nasty drum beat that sounds like a sampled jazz breakbeat from some 90s hip hop. It's definitely an unexpected way to start the record.
-Doug
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Old hippies never die, they just ramble on.
-lk |
Edited by - lemonade kid on 23/07/2013 22:59:02 |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9880 Posts |
Posted - 23/07/2013 : 22:22:30
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The Millennium was an American super group based in California, who were conceived by Curt Boettcher. The group consisted of psychedelic rock musicians, and they incorporated sunshine pop harmonies.
The roots of the band lie in several groups. Boettcher had originally worked with drummer Ron Edgar for a brief time in the folk group The GoldeBriars. Following the dissolution of The GoldeBriars, Edgar joined the group The Music Machine, which also featured Doug Rhodes on bass. The Music Machine scored a Top 20 hit with the song "Talk Talk" before disbanding. Boettcher had also formed a group called The Ballroom, which featured Sandy Salisbury as a vocalist. Lee Mallory had worked as a songwriter and solo performer, and Boettcher had produced some of his recordings, including a cover of Phil Ochs' "That's The Way It's Gonna Be." The group also featured support from session musicians such as Jerry Scheff.
The Millennium recorded one album, Begin in 1968. Before disbanding, the group recorded one follow-up single: "Just About The Same" b/w "Blight," as well as several tracks that were later released on compilation albums. Boettcher went on to make several attempts at recording solo albums (only one was released during his lifetime, There's An Innocent Face), as did Salisbury and Joey Stec. Michael Fennelly would end up in the early 1970s group Crabby Appleton, who signed with Elektra Records and released two albums, scoring a Top 40 hit with the single "Go Back."
Stec founded the record label Sonic Past Music in the late 1990s, and this label has subsequently released previously unavailable albums from The Millennium, Boettcher, Salisbury, Mallory, and Stec.
Curt Boettcher (Vocals, guitar, producer)
Lee Mallory (Vocals, guitar)
Sandy Salisbury (Vocals, guitar)
Joey Stec (Vocals, guitar)
Michael Fennelly (Vocals, guitar)
Doug Rhodes (Bass, harpsichord, piano) and
Ron Edgar (Drums, percussion)
Albums
Begin (1968, Columbia Records)
Box Sets
The Millennium At Last (2012, Sony Music Japan)
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Old hippies never die, they just ramble on.
-lk |
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The MILLENNIUM-supergroup 1968 sunshine pop-psych
