Best known for their huge international hit single from 1965, ‘Concrete And Clay’, Unit 4 + 2 were a part of the British Beat explosion, with a strong emphasis on vocal harmony. Their guitarist was Russ Ballard, who later enjoyed further fame with Argent and as a solo artist.
The band four hits in total, the others being their debut 45 ‘Green Fields’ (No. 48, 1964), ‘(You’ve) Never Been in Love Like This Before’ (No. 14, 1965) and ‘Baby Never Say Goodbye’ (No. 49, 1966).
Unit 4 + 2 signed to Decca in 1964, enjoying notable success and recording a string of singles, an EP and an album for the label before over a three-year period…
Decca/London introduced Phase 4 Stereo in 1961. For classical music, the Phase 4 approach was based on miking every orchestra section individually, along with mics for selected instruments – up to a maximum of 20 channels, which were then mixed via a recording console. This resulted in a dynamic, in your face sound with relatively little hall ambience. The quality of the sound mostly depended on how skillfully the recording engineer balanced each channel – and the results were not always consistent. Thus, the Phase 4 sound was the antithesis of the minimally miked, “simplicity is wisdom” approach of the RCA’s early Living Stereo and Mercury’s Living Presence recordings, along with Telarc’s early digital recordings.
4 Non Blondes howled their way onto the charts in 1993 with "What's Up?" and then vanished without a whisper. Formed in 1989 with Linda Perry (vocals), Shaunna Hall (guitar), Christa Hillhouse (bass), and Wanda Day (drums), 4 Non Blondes had no problems attracting major labels based on live shows and local radio support from KUSF, but the labels didn't know how to market them. After Day was replaced by Dawn Richardson, the group was eventually signed to Interscope Records and released Bigger, Better, Faster, More? in 1992. Although Hall contributed guitar tracks and some songs, she left before the album was released (replaced by Roger Rocha for the tour). Dominated by Perry's high-pitched singing, "What's Up?" was slowly added to modern rock stations and then crossed over into the mainstream, peaking at number 11 on the Billboard Top 200…