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TOWARD THE UNKNOWN REGION

The New Singles... for the 60's/70's

revised 22 January 2024

The Single - a 7, 10 or 12 inch vinyl disc usually playing at 45rpm (revolutions per minute)

Using the weekly trade publication 'The New Singles' (published by Francis Antony Ltd, East Hill, St Austell, Cornwall) each week at least 20 of the new single releases from the past are reviewed. We state the record label and sometimes play the B side. On 3rd November 2018 we commenced with what was at the time the first issue in the collection - issue number 252 which I had picked up in Campkins Record Shop (note their rubber stamped shop details in the above photo), Peterborough as an avid 13 year old collector in 1968; playing the releases of 1st November 1968.

My teenage bedroom
Click on above thumbnail to see full size image, circa 1969. Look carefully in bottom right corner and you will see my embryonic collection of The New Singles leaflets - with a small box on top of them (Boots record cleaning kit if you are interested), just below the Parlophone single.

We plan to review the releases week by week until we exhaust our cache of these publications. Until October 2020 that would have been around July 2024 (for July 1974 releases). However, thanks to generous supporters of this project, we now have ALL of these weekly lists dating from 1963 to 1986. So far, as of January 2024, we have reviewed the New Singles for 1967, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73 and most of 1977. We're currently exploring 1968 (when I would reach 13 years of age in April). In 2025 we will probably go back to cover 1966... It's a time consuming labour of love, and an education for those of us who seek to revel in bygone days...

click here if you want to know more

In April 1972 I was just 17... at the record shops, at the gigs, listening to the radio, reading the music press; Sounds, Melody Maker, Disc & Music Echo, New Musical Express, Oz.... Les Newman, my co conspirator, would be 19 in September 1972. Make a date each week as we take a trip down the tunnel of time. In 1970 50 years ago would have been not long after the end of the First World War. Somehow, our current '50 years ago' of 1968, 1969, 1970.. doesn't seem quite so long ago - although there was another war; this time in Vietnam. Younger music enthusiasts and bands are looking back fondly and embracing the music of the 60's and 70's. Yes, it WAS a great time to be alive, a great time to be together. in 1970 RNI (Radio Nordsee/North Sea International) and Radio Geronimo (via Monte Carlo) were launched. The embryonic Glastonbury had taken place. Groove along now to 'Let's work together' by Canned Heat released by Liberty records on 9th January 1970. Originally black and white this clip had been here since 2018 but was enhanced to colour recently and uploaded to this page on 22nd January 2024:

...oh, and by the way, we don't just play the hits - we play the ones you may have only heard once, or not at all. Some singles were used to showcase a new album release - with no expectation of single sales. Often there were no 'stock' copies released - just demo copies for media purposes. Occasionally a single was hastily withdrawn. On average there were around 60 NEW SINGLES released every week! This is NOT a chart show. Each week reveals some fascinating finds. For instance, that unwieldy instrument the mellotron, much loved by prog rock bands, found its way onto this 12th December 1968 release, on the Revolution label - a very long reggae version of 'Sitting In The Park' by Owen Grey & Maximum Breed (mellotron appears around 1:50)

60s/70s UK radio wasn't just an endless rotation of top 20 hits alone... and nor should it ever be...

Addendum, January - March 1971. Industrial action resulted in the first ever Post Office strike which lasted FOR SEVEN WEEKS. As a consequence just three issues of the New Singles were printed in that period: 22nd January, 12th February and 12th March. No list was printed for 29th January, 5th February, 19th February, 26th February and 5th March 1971. To produce a reasonably accurate reflection of what was actually released in the intervening weeks we have referred to www.45cat.com , Record Collector and Record Retailer...

Addendum, June 2022: As we play the new singles of 1977 we begin to notice 12" singles being listed. It's not always obvious that the listing is for a 12" single playing at 45rpm. It may also be that the 12" release is the ONLY release available. We won't ignore them... The first example we know of was The Congoes with Congo Man on BLACK SWAN BS1, released 10 June 1977. Occasional maxi singles had already been released with several tracks and played at 33rpm. We played them from the early 1970's listings and will continue to play 33rpm singles in 12" form...

        PLAYLISTS


This was... Chris Bent (1968)

contact: chrisb*@*towardtheunknownregion.com
please remove *asterisks* when emailing
asterisks are inserted to avoid spammers and email harvesters

Chris Bent (a.k.a. Chris B) can be heard on CWR 1476 (webcast: Carillon Wellbeing Radio ) from Coalville on 1476Khz every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 6.00-8.00 in the evening and... on Radio Seagull four times every week (that's 12 hours). On Friday and Saturday at midday and midnight UK time we head Toward The Unknown Region with an eclectic mix of recent releases and those tunes that may have escaped your attention. Electronica, Psychedelia, Folk, Prog, World... and, when the time vortex is open, we trip back to those Alternative Sounds of the 60's and the 70's

BROADCAST ONE
on Radio Seagull online
3 hours from 12 noon (UK time) Saturday
repeated midnight (UK time) Saturday into Sunday morning
 on various AM frequencies in the Netherlands

BROADCAST TWO
on Radio Seagull online
3 hours from 12 noon (UK time) Friday
repeated midnight (UK time) Friday into Saturday morning
 on various AM frequencies in the Netherlands


 

 

OLD NEWS:


Waxed Oop by Fast n Bulbous

Sure 'nuff and yes I do?


I can say no more than... please read the following taken from
http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/fast.html :-

"Captain Beefheart's music is the quintessential 'outsider art music' of the second half of the 20th century. Despite the fact that he retired from music over 25 years ago, his music resonates more strongly than ever as an influence on contemporary music. Fast 'n' Bulbous offer a unique slant on the songbook of one of contemporary music's most idiosyncratic musical figures. The band features seven great, well-regarded musicians drawn from the rock and the jazz worlds: co-leaders guitarist Gary Lucas (who was in the final incarnation of Beefheart's Magic Band) and saxist/arranger Phillip Johnston (of the Microscopic Septet) as well as drummer Richard Dworkin, and baritone saxist Dave Sewelson (both also of the Micros), trombonist Joe Fieldler (Ed Palermo Big Band and Satoko Fujii's big band), bassist Jesse Krakow (of Time of Orchids and Doctor Nerve) and trumpeter Rob Heinke (also of Doctor Nerve). With a strong, creative line-up like this, you know that you will be getting something more than just a 'cover band' and you indeed are. Heartfelt, exciting and it both rocks and swings!\

As with their first album Fast 'n' Bulbous take on a fascinating selection of songs from the Beefheart songbook covering albums from Safe As Milk through to Ice Cream For Crow.
The familiar tunes are redefined for a brass section and Don's voice is echoed by horns as the band grapple with the mysteries of the Beefheart rhythm and add their own compelling improvised embellishments taking the songs to a new place. And it's all done with an obvious love of the music and a sense of fun." – beefheart.com
 

"...a perfect fit for hungry Beefheart fans the world over...Fast 'n' Bulbous have painstakingly retooled the Captain's best-known works as big-band instrumental compositions. The results are fairly staggering...this collection is a masterful reinterpretation of rock's Grand Surrealist's best work. Brilliant!" – The Big Takeover

Your host...
Chris B.

Let's head Toward The Unknown Region - where pretentiousness and pomposity know no bounds...
Your host...
Chris Bent
at Radio
Monte Carlo
tx site

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let's head Toward The Unknown Region - where pretentiousness and pomposity know no bounds...

 

 


 

 

 

 




 
Album of the Year 2008
There is an awful lot of good new music around so I hesitate to suggest that album of the year for 2008 is a collection of rare recordings from Albert Ayler, who actually died in November 1970. This 10CD  limited edition deluxe box set with book and goodies was issued in 2004 and it took until December 2008 for the Unknown Region to obtain a copy. Albert Ayler Box Set - Holy Ghost - grab it while it's still available. Of course, the album of the year could just be the Fast Camels with their Magic Optician CD.


OK, this is Album of the Year 2008:
The Lovers "Pardon My French"
Featured extensively in the
25 Jan 2009 show


ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2007
On Planet Earth the Album of the Year for 2007 could well be Robert Plant and Alison Krauss with their collaboration on Raising Sand. In another universe, as we head Toward The Unknown Region, it would undoubtedly be The Songs Of Albert Ayler performed by a collective of musicians known as Healing Force.
Cuneiform Records give us the hard sell, "Seven major figures from the art-punk, free-jazz, brutal prog, improvisational and modern jazz world come together for a ROCKING tribute to the unfairly ignored, misunderstood and vilified late period works of Albert Ayler."

Producer and guitarist for Healing Force, Henry Kaiser, writes: “Albert Ayler's later works (Love Cry, New Grass and Music is the Healing Force of the Universe) seem to be generally reviled. Through meditations, dreams, and visions, the players on this project were given the message to once again attempt to send the people of earth a message of love, peace, and spiritual understanding. We selected a representative set of tunes for this material and essentially let it play itself through us. We hope you will be as surprised as we still are by the results of this invocational experiment. We hope you will like this record.”




 


Zappa-  big band style with Ed Palermo - Album of the year 2006? Visit Cuneiform Records

Chris McGregor's Brotherhood Of Breath

 have a couple of albums available on Cuneiform Records:

Click on the above pix to hear sample tracks
Toward The Unknown Region, courtesy of the Geronimo archives, has exclusive access to the Chris McGregor Memorial Concert recorded at the 100 Club, London, on Mon 30th July 1990.


Also on Cuneiform, the amazing FAST 'N' BULBOUS

Aficionados of Captain Beefheart will instantly recognise Fast 'n' Bulbous as a phrase uttered on the Trout Mask Replica album. Guitarist Gary Lucas, Magic Band member in the latter Beefheart musical years, has gathered together a fine set of musicians, including jazz saxophonist and improviser Philip Johnson, and presents us with 'big band' versions of classic Don Van Vliet hits from the past. The horn section replaces Uncle Don's inimitable vocals... Listen out for their superb renditions of 'When Big Joan Sets Up' and 'Kandy Korn'. Meanwhile, click on the CD cover to hear a sample from this album>>>>>>>>>>>


 
2CD compilation from Klaatu - alternate takes, demos and unheard symphonic mixes.o at www.klaatu.org



Electronic Erotica with guest appearances from Brian Molko, John Cale, Jean-Louis Murat, Cozette, Alison Shaw and Lian. Initially a France only release, this sensual collection from Trash Palace received a brief UK release in 2004 and has subsequently been withdrawn. Catch it if you can.

Moving sideways to Electronic Exotica, in the great tradition of duos such as Sparks and Erasure, imagine the original 60's Nirvana picking up White Noise and crashing headlong into Soft Cell...
Neveroddoreven from
I Monster is a great collection of songs.

 

Check out these I Monster quicktime promo vids:
DAYDREAM IN BLUE Broadband
DAYDREAM IN BLUE Dial up
HEY MRS Broadband
HEY MRS Dial up
WHO IS SHE Broadband
WHO IS SHE Dial up






Jem Griffiths from Wales is finally tasting the fruits of her thoughtful sampling and downright excellent composing skills.

   
Toward The Unknown Region will be continuing to feature Celtus and Karnataka

Let's not forget our friends, the Radio Caroline band in Baltimore, Maryland. It is they who have kindly recorded the Chris B jingles that can be heard at the start of each hour

The announcements you hear in the programmes are voiced by
Amy Bargeron




Talis Kimberley who, with Rika Koerte, sang her heart out for three hours from midnight
in an earlier programme. Recently Talis again performed live on air for us with 'Divine Strumpet'. Click on 'GALLERY' button for pix.
<Talis     MM chapter III>
Going back in time, the playing of tracks from Manfred Mann Chapter III (just two albums released in 1969 & 1970) has provoked a significant amount of interest. I'm pleased to report that these are now available on CD with bonus tracks. Well worth buying at just £9.77 + VAT from www.manfredmann.com  where you'll need to click on the Earthband links to find these elusive Chapter III albums.


in an old (deconsecrated) Police station..

Check out baroque cds
where many of the tracks played in 1970 on Geronimo can be found


 

 

Bama Winds - Windy (©Island ILPS 9096, issued 1969)
Filed under: Lounge, Exotica. This fascinating collection of orchestral versions of contemporary tunes of the day, circa 1969, is possibly THE rarest album on the Pink Island record label, although it has to be acknowledged it is not necessarily the most desirable.
Bama Winds are actually The Syd Dale Orchestra. It was Syd who was responsible for the orchestration on songs by the original Nirvana. Remember 'Rainbow Chaser'? Think Syd. This album consisted of well known tunes, like er, "Windy" and "Do You Know The Way To San Jose" along with lesser known songs, such as "Misty Roses" by Tim Hardin, and "Societies Child" from Janis Ian. BUT, what made Syd choose psyche-prog stable mates, The Smoke, "If The Weather's Sunny"?

Interested in the Mellotron? Want to check whether any of the songs played feature a Mellotron? Visit:     

The Ultimate Recordings List (probably)

Everything ripens at its time... and becomes fruit at its hour...