brilliant UK psych-the best 1967-1970
Truly an amazing band -- for those who haven't had the pleasure, a must listen before you die!
So highly regarded in Great Britain that they were asked to open Isle Of Wight, AND record the festival theme song as I Luv Wight.
Kaleidoscope...only known footage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee9w_7UYeiM
Kaleidoscope were an English psychedelic rock band that were active between 1967 and 1968. The band's songs were combining the elements of psychedelia with lyrics. The band were also known at various times as The Sidekicks, The Key, I Luv Wight and Fairfield Parlour.Having performed since 1963 under the name The Sidekicks, they became The Key in November 1965, before settling upon the name Kaleidoscope when they signed a deal with Fontana Records in January 1967 with the help of the music publisher Dick Leahy. The group consisted of Eddy Pumer on guitar, Steve Clark on bass and flute, and Danny Bridgman on drums and the vocalist Peter Daltrey, who also played organ and joined the band in March 1964. Most of the band's songs were composition of Pumer's music and Daltrey's lyrics. While the group did not achieve commercial success in its time, it retains a loyal fan-base and its recordings are remembered in high regard.
The band's first single "Flight from Ashiya" (b/w "Holidaymaker") was released on 15 September 1967 by Fontana Records, a little earlier than the band's first album Tangerine Dream. The song was telling about an impending plane crash. The single got quite an amount of radio airplay but failed to reach the charts. Years later, the song has appeared on many compilation albums, including Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969, the second box set of the Nuggets series and Acid Drops, Spacedust & Flying Saucers: Psychedelic Confectionery. Two months later, Tangerine Dream produced by Dick Leahy was released. The album included "Flight From Ashiya", "Please Excuse My Face" and "Dive into Yesterday" which are now considered some the band's best songs. Meanwhile the band were aired performing live on several BBC radio shows. A new single was released in 1968 called "Jenny Artichoke" (b/w "Just How Much You Are") that was inspired by Donovan's, "Jennifer Juniper". After the release the band traveled around Europe, and when in Netherlands supported Country Joe and the Fish at the Amsterdam Concert Hall. Faintly Blowing, again produced by Leahy, was released later, in 1969 by Fontana Records. This time the band's sound was heavier but the tracks still included psychedelic elements with notable lyrics but it failed to reach the charts. After the failure of Faintly Blowing, they released two more singles which were songs by other writers and, after a radio session in BBC Maida Vale Studios, the band never again appeared as Kaleidoscope.
Fairfield Parlour
By the end of the decade, failing with their last single "Balloon", the band moved on with their new manager DJ David Symonds, whom they met during the BBC sessions, as Fairfield Parlour, with the same line up. Despite the fact that they were now being called a progressive rock band, their music didn't change much and still included fairy-tale lyrics with psychedelic harmony. The band's first single as Fairfield Parlour, "Bordeaux Rosé", was released on 17 April 1970 on the Vertigo label. It got a considerable amount of radio airplay, but failed to achieve success. After releasing several singles, the album From Home to Home was released on 14 August 1970 with Symond's production.
While the band was getting ready to release the album, they again used another name for themselves, I Luv Wight, as they were asked to record the theme tune for the Isle of Wight Festival, "Let the World Wash in", which got released a week after the release of the album From Home to Home. They made the opening for the festival as Fairfield Parlour.
The band's second album, White Faced Lady, which they financed independently, was recorded in Morgan Studios in London. Attempts at finding a record company failed and the album was shelved until 1991 when it was released under the name Kaleidoscope on their own label. The band's last appearance was at a concert in Bremen, Germany, in 1972.
In 2003, the independent record label Circle released the Kaleidoscope and Fairfield Parlour's 1967 to 1971 BBC radio sessions recordings in an album called Please Listen To The Pictures.
Band members
* Eddy Pumer - lead guitar and organ (born Edmund Pumer, 7 October 1947, Woolwich, South East London)
* Steve Clark - bass and flute (born in 1946 died 1 May 1999 Chelsea Bridge, South West London)
* Danny Bridgman - drums (born Daniel Bridgman)
* Peter Daltrey - lead vocals and organ (born Peter James Daltrey, 25 March 1946, Bow, East London)
Discography
Singles
as Kaleidoscope
* "Flight from Ashiya" / "Holidaymaker" (Fontana 863, 15 September 1967)
* "A Dream for Julie" / "Please Excuse My Face" (Fontana 895, 26 January 1968)
* "Jenny Artichoke" / "Just How Much You Are" (Fontana 964, 6 September 1968)
* "Flight from Ashiya" / "(Further Reflections) In the Room of Percussion" (Netherlands only) (Fontana 906, 1968)
* "Do It Again for Jeffrey" / "Poem" (Fontana TF1002, 14 March 1969)
* "Balloon" / "If You So Wish" (Fontana TF1048, 25 July 1969)
* "Nursey, Nursey" (free with Bucketfull of Brains magazine) (1 May 1989)
as Fairfield Parlour
* "Bordeaux Rose" / "Chalk on the Wall" (17 April 1970)
* "Emily" / "Sunnyside Circus" (Australia only) (1970)
* "In My Box" / "Glorious House Of Arthur" (France promo-only) (1970)
* "Just Another Day" / "Caraminda" / "I Am All the Animals" / "Song for You" (24 July 1970)
* "Eyewitness" / "Epilog" (Japan only) (1970)
* "Bordeaux Rose" / "Baby Stay for Tonight" (19 March 1976)
* "Bordeaux Rose" / "Overture to White Faced Lady" (1976) (Australia only)
as I Luv Wight
* "Let the World Wash In" / "Medieval Masquerade" (Philips 6006 043, 21 August 1970)
Albums
as The Sidekicks
* The Sidekicks Sessions 1964-1967 (2003)
as Kaleidoscope
* Tangerine Dream (Fontana (S)TL 5448, 24 November 1967)
* Faintly Blowing (Fontana STL5491, 11 April 1969)
* White Faced Lady (The Kaleidoscope Record Company KRC 001 CD, 14 February 1991)
* Please Listen to the Pictures (Circle Records CPWL/CPWC 104, 1 September 2003)
If You So Wish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOl2OWJi9Pw
Love Song For Annie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joa_qeZBotM
Dive Into Yesterday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4f3M-1rbww
The Sky Children
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3xjq0XMhj0
The Flight From Ashiya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtORtE8oocA
Kaleidoscope was one of England’s purest and most beloved psychedelic bands. Prior to their ventures into psychedelia, Kaleidoscope had been known as The Sidekicks and then, The Key. These groups played a rather ordinary brand of British pop and R&B. Kaleidoscope debuted in 1967 with their fabulous Tangerine Dream LP. This disc featured some of the finest psychedelia England had produced up to that point. More than half the album is fleshed out with lost classics; check out trippy tracks such as ”Please Excuse My Face,” “Dive Into Yesterday,” “Flight From Ashiya,” “The Murder of Lewis Tullani,” “Mr. Small, The Watch Repairer Man,” and the superb “Further Reflections In The Room Of Percussion.” Many of these cuts are on par with the best of Pink Floyd’s early work. Kaleidoscope was making imaginative music featuring plenty of interesting chord progressions, jangley guitars, bizarre lyrics, and smart production trickery. Much of the rest of Tangerine Dream is very good too, but sales and critical recognition stiffed due to the adventurous nature of the group’s music.
Faintly Blowing (Fontana) came out sometime later, in 1969. While it may lack some of the key album cuts that made Tangerine Dream so special, Faintly Blowing is consistently strong and features influences as diverse as folk and hard rock. Some of the highlights include “Poem,” a soft folk track similar to “Please Excuse My Face,” the phased out hard rocker “Music” and the edgy psychedelic title cut. Abrasive numbers “Snapdragon” and “Love Song From Annie” represent Kaleidoscope’s new hard rock approach while still retaining the group’s clever edge – these cuts are both gems. Some songs’ lyrics, like that on the tuneful folk-rocker “A Story From Tom Blitz,” deal with morals and important life lessons to be learned.
The music on Faintly Blowing is a bit more professional sounding, lacking the reckless energy and psychedelic feel of the debut. But make no mistake, this is a very good album full of sharp ideas, fairytale lyrics, fine songcraft and pretty vocals. If you’re intrigued by psychedelic, progressive or folk sounds, this disc is not to be missed. --risingstorm.blogspot
