While Bob Segarini is a hero to pop obsessives thanks to his bright, rollicking work with the Wackers and his superb solo album Gotta Have Pop, his recordings with his early group the Family Tree are a different and more sophisticated kettle of fish. The Family Tree's sole LP, 1968's Miss Butters, was a concept album at a time when that was still a very novel thing, and the LP boasted intelligent, beautifully crafted songs bolstered by polished, thoughtful production from Rick Jarrard and imaginative arrangements by George Tipton…
Wayne Horvitz is a musician with many sides. Here, he goes a bit electronic and hyper; lots of effects and frantic beats without getting totally abstract or avant garde. Miss Ann was recorded in 1993, four years before Zony Mash 'Cold Spell'. The bassist is the same, though, and the vibe is similar (with a little Mylab thrown in). I've listened 4-5 times and still feel like I need to dig a bit deeper. And, it will be a pleasure to do so.
Although they're only remembered today for their 1964 hit "Hippy Hippy Shake," which charted on both sides of the Atlantic – the Swinging Blue Jeans were actually one of the strongest of the Liverpool bands from the '60s British Invasion; and, indeed, the Blue Jeans' earliest incarnation goes back about as far as the roots of the Beatles as the Quarry Men. "Hippy Hippy Shake" – a cover of an obscure '50s rocker that was actually done much better by the Beatles on tapes of their BBC performances – was their only Top 30 entry in the U.S.. But the band enjoyed some other major and minor hits in the U.K., including a top-notch Merseyization of Betty Everett's (and later Linda Ronstadt's) "You're No Good," which they took into the British Top Five in 1964.