Well, well, well, looks like the shaker is buried on the B-side this time. This group came out of the U.K. and this was one of their only 45s from about 1967, I believe. "Just One More Chance" was the intended hit and well, I gave it a chance and didn't think it deserved another. Maybe if you're into pop psych, you might get into it, but that's not my bag, y'know. It's not necessarily bad, but it's not something I want to hear all the time either. All right, now, flip the record over and dive into "Help Me Please," which gets cookin' right away with a Mitch Ryder-like groove. Pour in some jerky guitar, swirling organ, swingin' tambourine and roughhouse vocals and you got it, jack. The beat never wavers, only briefly for the pleas of "Help me, help me" but then it gets right back in gear and stays hot for the rest of the song. You aspiring mod DJs out there might want to get ahold of this one for your next shindig because it's a definite mover that ought to lead a few people out onto the multi-colored dance floor, if you know what I mean.
But then again, I thought "That Thing You Do" was a lousy movie, so what do I know?
4 comments:
'Help Me Please' is a great slice of UK freakbeat, one of the few that, thankfully, managed to get a USA release.
I like 'Help Me Please'(it reminds me of the early Spooky Tooth 45s) but 'Just One More Chance' is a long time fave of mine. The lead singer was Jeff Christie who went on to form the group Christie who had a big hit in the UK with "Yellow River".
You can't tell it from oldies radio's incredibly shrinking playlist but "Yellow River" was a top 20 hit in the States, as well.
I remember the days before they released this. We had them at a club where I used to DJ. From Leeds, if I remember correctly. The Outer Limits were one of those bands, particularl Mr. Christie himself, you thought might do somethting. They got a fair amount of air-play before the Pirates were well and truly sunk.
There's another band from Leeds who get over-looked. The Inner Mind were great. I got to know them very well. Hi, Ian! Wanna go to Shades? He'd know what that meant. Ian's bunch had a single out on Deram as well. Can't for the life of me recall its title!
There sure were some good bands based in Yorkshire. Another one to chase, from the same era, is Shape Of The Rain (aka Riley, Riley, Wood and Wagget). More West Coast influenced but, in their earlier days they played some real soulful stuff. I Take What I Want... That was a fave of mine.
Cool site, btw....
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