City Dreamers

Freddie & the Dreamers were the clowns of the British Invasion, playing their pop music for laughs while the other groups of the time were dead serious. Lead singer Freddie Garrity began playing in skiffle groups in the late '50s, switching to rock & roll in the early '60s. After the Beatles broke the American market wide open, Freddie & the Dreamers followed in the flood of acts that tried to duplicate the overwhelming success of the Fab Four…

Daniel “Dude” Cervantes is a San Diego-based musician who certainly is a melting pot of all that surrounds the area. From the free nature vibe of Ocean Beach to the rugged inland textures of Escondido to the Latin-influenced vibes of the border towns near Chula Vista; Cervantes can be compared to America’s Finest City in the vein of what Lou Reed meant to New York City Yet Cervantes’ has a natural ability to cover vast musical ground in a song-to-song approach that makes each song its own unique statement where genre rules and vocal expectations are thrown to the side.

Spanning 55 years and 45 songs, a 2CD collection to ratify Manchester’s claim to be Britain’s second – if not at times, first – musical city. From primal beat through promiscuous punk, high 80s disco/soul and pure baggy to proud and proper rock, the evidence is all here.