I have had a listen to a few of the more obscure Lps and you guys might be interested in my opinion. Well maybe not but perhaps the albums may be of interest. There are no real reviews out there for either that I can find so here goes:

CHRIS AND PETER ALLEN Album no 1. This title sums it up. It is indeed album no 1 - and there was no number 2 or 3 because they called it a day soon after to live their own lives, Chris went to California to be a flight instructor and lead quite a dull life - and Peter, well he became a sort of Aussie legend. From here he went to marry Liza Minelli, and was caught by her in bed with another man 0n their wedding night (his stepdaughters husband of all people) - than went to be a sort of Liberace of the Aussie Disco set among other things and making the big time with a song about how he Honestly Loved us and other earache inducing hits and eventually dying of AIDS.


The LP itself was pretty disappointing on first listen. Sixties pop MOR crossover crap I thought - but on second and third listens it became quite a lot better. Not essential by any means but there are a number of good points - the opener 10 Below is a good swinging pop number well sung and preformed, Silent Symphony is probably my favorite sung with hushed harmonies and accompanied by harpsichords and flutes- its like falling into featherdown. There is a sunshiney pop version of last plane to London and a slightly interesting baroquish version of A baby’s coming accompanied by both tinkley and Klang Klang bells.

The rest is bland but for two things. Two intriguing medleys and the comically bad swinging update of Waltzing Matilda. The latter was probably done to stamp their aussie credentials on the record, or of one too many drinks. One of the two. But the two medleys are the most engaging thing about the album. That would be the first time I have ever said that about any medley on any LP.

Medley 1 (Which is actually after Medley 2 on the LP) features a great rendition of Come rain come shine with a minute of The Rain The park and other things stuck in the middle. Now to my eternal shame “the rain the Park and other things” is among my 5 all times favorite songs, and I have tracked down every version I could find out there and this is without a doubt the utter worst version of it ever. (not that it is unlistenable as it is totally impossible to make a unlistenable version of The Rain Park and other things) That it is joined to such a strong rendition of the other rain song is surprising and somehow beyond me.

Medley 2 is possibly the sole point of interest of psych fans here. Its a twinkling toytown sike version of (We're off to see) The Wizard of Oz with sitar and all sorts. And right in the middle is a version of Puff the Magic dragon - not as a separate song but sung as a counter harmony entwined among the Wizard of Oz. To my ears it works and is nothing like the mess that you would think.

ROY RUTANEN.

Roy Rutanen was supposedly a NZer (actually he was a American) who went to Aussie to stay and recorded this “Thoroughly amazing psych-acid-folk record from early 70s” Not my words and nor will they ever be because quite frankly it isn’t. I just find it slightly wanting in the songwriting department (and more than slightly on side two). That’s why I can’t give it a great review.

The LP starts quite well with the song Searchin’. Quite a reasonable rock song with acoustic flourishes. Than comes the humorous Plastic world which is almost really good. Almost. Its got a bit of a catchy melody and sidetracks into a few country styled passages. On repeated listening it is without a doubt my pick of the LP. The most complete song here is a 9 minute epic called “the trip song” and has a somewhat SF sound with some fuzz guitar, extended flute pieces and a good pastoral trippy vibe throughout the song.

From here it slowly descends into dullness. The Anti Stink song is, as we would say in the early 70‘s “a real stink song” and the acoustic The Old Man which has a bit of melody but just crawls and overstays its welcome. I see some people actually like this song. That’s individual taste really -some people like anchovies too.

Then there is the rest. Hitchin’ This is the pits - stinkier than the anti stink song. About as welcome as a Alien with a new anal probe kit at your door. It improves a bit with Sinful Man - which isn’t that bad and thankfully onto The Last song. Which you are thankful for as it is pretty uninspired. “Where are you going, what you gonna do? ” it asks - they may well have been asking themselves this as they played it.

Apparently the songs were presented to the band in the sessions where Roy would play through all his songs almost non stop as if doing a mini concert. The others would all join in, making up their own parts as they went along and Roy just continued playing without stopping to correct anyone. Occasionally they would all stop for a puff of pot and then get back to it. And it sounds like it. Add this to the fact that the label MCA was winding down its Australian operations and allocated just enough to the production and time to the LP to honour its contractual obligations. This meant that this was not to be as professional a LP as you could get. Such was the case. It could have been much better.

The Chris and Peter Allen LP was issued in the US and no doubt can still be had quite cheaply.

Appreciate the review of the Roy Rutanen LP. One of the tracks turned up on my Facebook feed, must have been "The Trip Song," which certainly bode well for the LP as a whole. But, alas, things are not always what they seem. Still, quite the scarce LP apparently and one which has thus far evaded reissue, to my best knowledge.