Wizzard – “Angel Fingers” b/w “You Got the Jump on Me” 7" [Harvest (1C 006-05 437), West Germany, 1973]

I do believe Roy Wood penned this after rolling out of bed, sipping tea in the morning while looking in the mirror as he painted his face. From the first clang of the bell to the four sets of rolling mallets banging on the bass drums to the Bleach Boys harmonizing on backups we are treated to Roy stepping out of the electric light and into The Battle of a Teen Ballad, 1963. What this tune says about the power of collaboration peels the onion that was Dave Edmunds’s Subtle as a Flying Mallet – a mallet that Dave was tossing across the Rockfield studio at his lone reflection in the mirror at the same time Roy was orchestrating his own Spector-piece with twenty or so other dudes. With Dave, even after overdubbing his own backing vocals eighteen-bizillion times on “Da Doo Run Run,” I’m still left feeling that something’s missing. So when I want to feel alone, when I want to feel someone’s loneliness, I listen to Dave’s brilliantly flawed masterpiece; and when I want to feel not lonely, when I want to be reminded why people need people, I put the needle on this A-side. “Angel Fingers” – what a title! – opens smartly with: “As I was lying in my bedroom fast asleep/Filled with those famous teenage pictures that you keep … ” From there the song sinks knee-deep into the Shazam and “California Man” quicksand that is Roy Wood’s mind. Open up the gatefold of ‘74’s Introducing Eddy and the Falcons and you’ll be staring straight into the Wizzard’s gourd, ‘cuz that there is this here song realized.
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The Mixtures - The Pushbike Song LP [Fable/Summit (SRA 250-518), Australia, 1971]

The Mixtures surfed the foamy wave of Mungo Jerry-splotation bands like Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs and, er .... uh, Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs. Having charted in their native Australia with a cover of "In The Summertime" in 1970 The Mixtures soon followed with "The Pushbike Song." To compile their success, they belched out this LP in '71. "Hit Me on the Head" from Side 2 is a charmer.  It channels Kim Folwey's "Alley Oop," slam dunks Tommy Roe's "Caveman," and beats (pun intended) Jimmy Castor Bunch's punch drunk (cough, cough) "Troglodyte" by a whopping year.  I positively love the negative vibe and kookie, catchy chorus on this Adamberry-Southall composition.  Which somehow leads me to the question, Wonder what Chicory Tip whadda done with it? ... Hey, hold on! Wait a minute.

And if you're curious about the title song then here ya go ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX6MtWRGW3M&feature=related



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Finger 5 - "School Paradise" b/w "Finger 5's Theme" 7" [Philips (FS-1785), Japan, 1974]

When the Jackson 5 were charting in '74 with "Dancing Machine" their Asian brother doppelganger Finger 5 were raking their fingers across the chalkboard in Japan. The sleeve shot featured on this 7" captures the guys in the middle of an anatomy lesson. As for the reading lesson of the day, you can tell this band was intended for the tween market by the fact that the furigana is above the kanji to help out all the little tykes that can't read it yet. Anywho, the band put out a bunch of singles candid-ly camera-ing them in football helmets and "Finger 5" jerseys, floating on clouds, brown bagging it in the school cafeteria, etc. This A-side, "School Paradise," has a bit of the 60's Group Sound going on whilst the rest of their output leaned on Motown-wannabe, horny pop-schlock. The little dude in the glasses was later featured in a film about a killer rat ... I think.

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