Saturday 18 January 2014

And Now It's Here... the (completely unknown) Squash album from 1981 US




Not a well-known record but it ought to be.  Is anyone other than me surprised at the many albums from this period, from all over the world, that turn out to be hugely enjoyable?  Was there something supernatural or psychedelic going on in the creative acoustic areas of the brains of artists who lived in the era from the sixties to the eighties?

The last track features a wonderful little duet between an acoustic piano and vibes that really gives you a taste for the period when people cared about music being simply beautiful, not weighed down with labels like cool, danceable, million-dollar hit, etc.  It's called Jewels, divided into adagio and allegro:




And what about tribbles-- who remembers the trouble with tribbles?
When I was a child my brother and I grew up on Star Trek episodes, the old ones of course, with William Shatner.

"There's a place somewhere in space where the creatures known as tribbles grow
Furry funky creatures that are a friend to everyone I know
But there's only one thing you will notice you don't have to wait
Tribbles have a habit of reproducing at outstanding rates
Tribbles here tribble there i don't know how they grow..."

Wow, how it takes me back to childhood!

Of course when we were young we despised the slightly childish themes of Star Trek and preferred the more adult-oriented Space 1999 which had more mature themes woven in and for that reason was hated by critics and the average TV viewer.  These were more involved in the big ideas of death, of civilization, much more intelligent ideas than Star Trek, and once in a while a main character would even die in an episode-- absolutely unheard of back then on TV.  The idea of the moon travelling alone through space was so bizarrely lonely it was hard for the creators I guess not to highlight the terrible suffering of the humans left on space base alpha, disconnected from the earth.

But it was all a joke of course, the obsession with space travel in the seventies, there was no hope for humans to leave their planet, and I don't think there ever will be.  We will live and die with the planet we are currently wrecking.  No chance to ruin another.  Reality TV has made the mission to Mars a joke before it even begins.  What do you think is the chance a TV show will send people on a one-way suicide trip, televised?  Last time I checked, we don't yet have 'actual suicide' or deaths televised live, nor is it likely, since it's horribly against all human principles.  Well, the ancient Romans had no problems with it.  But they were less queasy than our current civilization obviously.
By 1999, we thought, there would be a base on the moon.  That's now 14 years ago!  instead, we have the news of China putting up the Chinese flag to stake a claim on the moon... wonderful

And just like the best music in my opinion is from this golden age, so it was that the golden age was the only time successful moon missions took place too.


Now hear Squash tell it:



More (scant) information here and here.


13 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. veri nice man your blog is stunning!!! keep up!

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  4. Thanks Julian!
    What about this album?? https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/albatros_f4/start/
    Does anybody know what kind of music does it contain??

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  5. wow, that's a bona fide rarity, I've never heard of it myself, I will ask around

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  6. youve done it again julian always coming up with great things that no one knows your the best keep it up great blog and for juan start is a german pop group all sung in german just pop rock nothing outstanding unless you speak german

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  7. Hi Julian, completely missed out on this one. Any chance of a re-up?

    All the best,
    Andy

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  8. new reup of squash:

    https://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/0hnozm

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  9. Thanks Julian.

    Why are there so many enjoyable yet unknown LPs from this era? One of my theories is today, we are much more open to the what the artists and albums were trying to achieve without the silly weight placed on the "pantheon" being created by the music critics of the day. To be fair it's easier now with historical distance. But at the time, if a major group was releasing a new LP in any genre, all the major media outlets covered it rather than seeking out lesser-known but worthy artists. The revelation of the web is now being able to hear the great regional artists and private pressings from all over the world. For me, blog sharing and reissues highlight the failure of the majority of music journalism to find what was cool but under-appreciated at the time. This was definitely true by the late '70s. It was highlighted to me when I bought the Encyclopedia of Rock in 1976. Written by a couple of British rock journalists, it went on to disparage many of the artists I loved (prog, fusion etc.) with silly sociological arguments. A music encyclopedia! What you and other generous bloggers are doing is helping to fill in the blanks in the continuing story of the development of music. As a musician who collects for experience, influence and above all enjoyment, I really appreciate what you're doing!

    All the best,
    Andy

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  10. I have this album and would like to know worth.

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    Replies
    1. https://www.popsike.com/SQUASH-And-Now-Its-Here-Stasima-PRIVATE-1981-RARE-JazzFunk-Fusion-LP-w-Insert/291479373265.html

      https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/3140819?ev=rb

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