The Sunshine Pop Thread

[Superfly]

Hello again Lads and Ladies Since the old, broken down, ready for the scrap-heap of cyberspace version of PE is going to the Great Gig In The Sky, I thought I'd better migrate my Sunshine Pop thread over here now. Through the old thread, I've discovered a few new bands, and hopefully so have you. So let's keep it going here.



One excellent recent discovery I made was an album by Brent Cash called: How Strange It Seems. It's very Carpenters meets Burt Bacharach meets 5th Dimension. As good as any of those? Maybe not, but he gives it one hell of a try and the album is well worth checking out.

[Rickenbacker]

Here's one I really like. Someone from that kids show Yo Gabba Gabba dug this forgotten gem up & did an updated version. But here's the original from '72. So sweet & pure...& the best part is, it wasn't done with an ounce of irony.

[Superfly]

Love the Free Design. I first heard about them in an interview with japanese musician Cornelius (who was also featured on Yo Gabba Gabba) and have been a fan ever since. It's mind boggling that they were not as well known back in the day as they are now. Better late than never I guess. While some of their work is pure fluff, the vocal interplay and the depth of the arrangments more than make up for it. And that original track - 1967!

[Progbear]

This song is simply gorgeous:



I can’t get into The Free Design, they’re just too corny for my tastes. I hear their stuff and I just think Up With People.

-------------
MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

"'Thin Thighs For Your Man.' But I don't *like* men with thin thighs" --Daria

N.P.:“All Through the Night”-Lou Reed/The Bells

[progholio]

i heard this gem on the radio last week (yes, real terrestrial radio)

[progeezer]

Nothing to post right now. Just checking in.

[Superfly]

All Geezers present and accounted for..check!

[Superfly]

I can’t get into The Free Design, they’re just too corny for my tastes. I hear their stuff and I just think Up With People.

There's nothing 'up with people' about this track, but I do know what you mean. Some of their covers are a bit on the fluffy side, as are the Carpenters covers, but beyond those, there are some true gems. Here's one of them.

[Superfly]

Seems like The Explorers Club (not the trent gardner band) has decided to bow out after the release of their next CD. A shame really, they've done two excellent albums, but a third will be most welcome. Music of quality and distinction.

[PeterG]

I think this Christian Ska song qualifies as both sunny and poppy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-NOZU2iPA8

[Superfly]

I think this Christian Ska song qualifies as both sunny and poppy

Ok...now that's just being cruel

[Luckie]

More Free Design love from me. I admit that commercial compromises occasionally led them to appear unremarkably whitebread, but Chris Dedrick as an original composer and interpreter of others' work was a masterly arranger. This is a prime example of them at their most poignant, Love Does Not Die:


and this is the best cover version of Light My Fire I've ever heard (the backing vocal arrangements are utterly audacious):

Like all the best Free Design tracks, they build in complexity as they unfold.

[mogrooves]

Lennon supposedly dug these guys:

[Cuz]

Here's another vote for the Free Design, who I first heard about on a Sunshine Pop thread on the old PE.

They are definitely corny, but their is something about them that I love. When asked to describe them, I told a friend that they make the Cowsills sound like the MC5.

[Wisdomview]

The posted 'The Millennium' song is fantastic! Thanks.

[Progbear]

↑I love The Millennium’s album. If you like them, you’ll probably enjoy Curt Boettcher’s earlier project, Sagittarius (two albums: Present Tense and The Blue Marble).

A rather late entry into the Sunshine Pop sweepstakes from Finland: “One, Two, Three” by Seija Simola & Paradise. Sounds like 1968 but is actually from 1973:



-------------
MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

"'Thin Thighs For Your Man.' But I don't *like* men with thin thighs" --Daria

N.P.:“Magisches Licht”-Karat/Schwanenkönig

[Superfly]

Here's one from the first Sagittarius (present tense) album, highly recommended if you liked that Millenium track:



Another band that I really love from this genre is The Sunshine Company. They came so close to making it with Jimmy Webb's Up Up and Away, but the 5th Dimension just beat them to it with a version of the song that sounds almost identical to TSCs. Here's a track from them that's well worth a listen:

[Mr. Grizzly Bear]

[bill g]

Doesn't get much better than this, from M Coast:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ViyBRAfJqI

[bill g]

Had a chance to listen to the clips posted. Some nice stuff there. The Explorers' Club I know already, nice song there reminds me of 'The Now People' somewhat, another modern Brian Wilson influenced band.

I'd never heard of the Appletree Theatre, but that was quite nice. I know the Free Design, have the 'Kites are Fun' cd, but there was a song back there I didn't recognize that was quite nice. And I love the chorus to that song my 'Milennium'. I hadn't heard them before either.

I wish there were more songs on youtube from M Coast, that really is a great album, albeit slightly more modern sounding than some of the above, but still overall falling under maybe a slightly progressive sunshine pop.

Edit: I checked out more songs from 'Millennium' and really like some of it, seeing Curt Boettcher is on it too, and pretty much like his songs on Millennium.

[progeezer]

M Coast might be at the top of my list along with High Llamas, and I can thank Bill G. for the recs., having never heard of either group before.

[bill g]

M Coast might be at the top of my list along with High Llamas, and I can thank Bill G. for the recs., having never heard of either group before.

Very glad you liked M Coast and the High Llamas. For those that haven't heard them, The High Llamas are like sunshine without the pop, if that makes sense. In a couple months the sun may come out here in the northwest, and I'll have to break out the M Coast again! I never tire of that album.

[progholio]

i heard the original '69 version of this on the radio today which in turn had me stumble upon this funky (in a Loveboat sort of way) but very cool 80's live version

[progholio]

The High Llamas are like sunshine without the pop, if that makes sense.

i'm not so sure, we've been spinning the Llamas a lot lately, there's still plenty of pop present, especially on Talahomi Way - like a good pop album it's over way too quick.

[Superfly]

Some Llama albums are more upbeat than others, but I like them all. Great chill out music. Are any of you folks into Belle And Sebastian? A band my son introduced me to several years ago who also share a bit of love for Brian Wilson. Very sixties pop influenced and some excellent lyrics infused with a lot of humor. Not all sunshine, but then few of the bands from the past were always sunny either. I think you may like these guys (or not . Recommended albums: Are You Feeling Sinister, Dear Catastrophe Waitress (produced by Trevor Horn) or The Life Pursuit. Here's a couple of samples: