Whatcha think of this one?
Let’s review the ground rules here. The Mystery Date song is not necessarily something I believe to be good. So feel free to rip it or praise it. Rather the song is something of interest due to the artist, influences, time period… Your job is to decipher as much as you can about the artist without research. Who do you think it is? Or, Who do you think it sounds like? When do you think it was recorded? Etc…
If you know who it is, don’t spoil it for the rest. Anyone who knows it can play the “mockcarr option.” (And I’ve got a hunch at least one of you know this one.) This option is for those of you who just can’t hold your tongue and must let everyone know just how in-the-know you are by calling it. So if you know who it is and want everyone else to know that you know, email Mr. Moderator at mrmoderator [at] rocktownhall [dot] com. If correct we will post how brilliant you are in the Comments section.
The real test of strength though is to guess as close as possible without knowing. Ready, steady, go!
Considering it just endlessly buffers leaving me with silence (tried it with two different browsers), I’m going to take a wild stab and say John Cage 4’33”. Am I right?
Oh, good, I wasn’t the only one who it wouldn’t play for.
It’s fixed now. Sorry about that! Thanks for letting me know, and thanks for your enthusiasm over taking our Mystery Date for a spin. Go to it!
I’d say it’s old, not pseudo-old, about ’73. Sounds English and I think heard them singing about cricket. I’d presume the bass player is the boss, I mean how many pop songs have a lead bass solo in the middle. It also seems very Kinks inspired.
Is it me or are the lines in the verses crammed with too many words? The singer is barely tripping over his own tongue.
I agree with geo that the song is old but not beyond 1969. Other than that it could be a long lost reel of The Hollies trying out a new singer?
’69 is pretty close. A little earlier… But not much.
Sounds like something off of a Freakbeat or Rubble compilation. Less garagy than some of the earlier stuff, so definitely post Sgt. Pepper. I’m with Geo, that bass is very distinctive. Reminds me the most of The Attack. There were hundreds of these kinds of bands so I’m thinking one of these members went on to bigger things after this.
Yes! A member of a notable, though not huge, band.
I need to listen to it again, but I heard some seriously Bowie sections.
Oh did you now? Do tell!
There may be a reason why the singer trips over the words a bit, as apparently he is not singing in his natural accent – though it’s not an American pretending to be British, in case that seems like the natural conclusion.
Yeah, as the singer starts building up to the high notes on the chorus and then the backing singers join in I’m hearing the roots of Bowie, like a precursor to “Starman.” The bass part reminds me of something that would show up in a Move song. The slightly gruff quality of the singer makes me think he might be black.
Well played, you are correct! The most notable thing about this song is that it was written, but not performed, by David Bowie.
With that part of it nailed, is there more to say or should I reveal the name of this band?
And is it a coincidence that we have a Bowie thread going upstream?
Wow. I’m prroud to have heard the Bowie traces. Feel free to reveal, if no one else gets closer.
From a compendium of the comments and clues, including of course comments that may not even be true, I’m guessing Phil Lynott. I know next to nothing about Tin Lizzy but I do know he was the bass player, black and I think Irish, right? Must be a band he was in? Unless most of these “facts” and, consequently, my whole theory are completely wrong.
You guys are right – it’s the bass player who went on to somewhat greater reknown, but it’s not Lynott. This person is not Irish either, is still alive and spent most of the 70’s apparently (according to his wikipedia entry) running a shop where he sold his handmade leather boots.
Speaking of boots, I’ll cobble together (sorry) the answer later tonight, when I have time to organize it a bit.
No time to listen to the recording. I know for years Esther Mann, widow of Kal Mann, keep reminding my father, sister and I. How David Bowie was so shy when he recorded the “Young Americans” album he faced the wall instead of the recording crew. This was at Sigma Sound Studio formerly of 212 N.12st. Phila. PA19107. Kal Mann wrote the lyrics to “Teddy Bear” for Elvis and “You Can’t Sit Down ”
for the Dovells.