Spanky & Our Gang

The Complete Mercury Recordings is a 4CD box set by Spanky & Our Gang, not bad for a group who only had one hit song. Okay, maybe two or three hit songs. This was released in 2005 by Hip-O Select via Mercury Records via Island Def Jam Music Group.

"Ticket to Ride" is the first studio album by American music duo the Carpenters. At the time of its initial release in 1969, it was issued under the title "Offering", with a completely different cover photo. It was a commercial failure and produced only one minor hit single, a ballad version of the Lennon-McCartney song "Ticket to Ride". After the Carpenters' subsequent breakthrough, however, in 1970 the album was reissued internationally under the name "Ticket to Ride" and sold moderately. The album is far more self-contained than other Carpenters albums; excluding the orchestrations, bass by Joe Osborn and occasional guitar from Gary Sims, most of the instruments were played by Karen and Richard Carpenter themselves - drums and keyboards respectively - and 10 of the 13 songs were written by Richard and his lyricist John Bettis.

It really was no accident that the Sunshine Pop genre arose when it did. Its roots lay in the largely white post rock’n’roll pop era when writing and production teams had firmly established footholds on both coasts of America, and when recording studios were starting to offer more tracks than the hitherto very basic four. Around 1965, a glance at the US charts revealed that harmony vocals were one of the few genres to withstand the British onslaught, and geed by that success record companies were eager to put money behind one of the few areas where indigenous acts could still outdo the Britons.

Margo Guryan Died in 2021. Her Music Keeps Getting Rediscovered. “Words and Music,” a new anthology, shines light on a little-known but increasingly beloved master of pop and jazz songwriting. In the late summer of 1970, Elton John arrived at Los Angeles International Airport for his debut U.S. shows and was greeted by another wildly talented piano-playing singer-songwriter: Margo Guryan. Her husband, David Rosner, worked for the company that signed John, and together they helped him get sorted in the run-up to his legendary performances at the Troubadour, kicking off a long, spectacular career. Guryan’s career proved less of a spectacle. After modest success as a jazz-pop songwriter, she recorded one album of her own, with Rosner’s encouragement. “Take a Picture” was alive with dazzling melodies, lyrical wit, strikingly intimate vocals and marvelously florid arrangements — a small masterpiece of the microgenre known as sunshine pop. But Guryan was a reluctant performer who refused to tour, and her album, released in 1968, was a commercial flop, after her label barely promoted it. And yet, in a unique twist on a familiar story, the 11 songs of “Take a Picture” became a shared secret around the world; pirate pressings overseas earned her the sobriquet “The Soft Pop Queen of Japan.” In 2000 the LP was officially reissued, followed by others collecting her demo recordings — lean performances that could pass for 21st-century indie-pop.

Margo Guryan Died in 2021. Her Music Keeps Getting Rediscovered. “Words and Music,” a new anthology, shines light on a little-known but increasingly beloved master of pop and jazz songwriting. In the late summer of 1970, Elton John arrived at Los Angeles International Airport for his debut U.S. shows and was greeted by another wildly talented piano-playing singer-songwriter: Margo Guryan. Her husband, David Rosner, worked for the company that signed John, and together they helped him get sorted in the run-up to his legendary performances at the Troubadour, kicking off a long, spectacular career. Guryan’s career proved less of a spectacle. After modest success as a jazz-pop songwriter, she recorded one album of her own, with Rosner’s encouragement. “Take a Picture” was alive with dazzling melodies, lyrical wit, strikingly intimate vocals and marvelously florid arrangements — a small masterpiece of the microgenre known as sunshine pop. But Guryan was a reluctant performer who refused to tour, and her album, released in 1968, was a commercial flop, after her label barely promoted it. And yet, in a unique twist on a familiar story, the 11 songs of “Take a Picture” became a shared secret around the world; pirate pressings overseas earned her the sobriquet “The Soft Pop Queen of Japan.” In 2000 the LP was officially reissued, followed by others collecting her demo recordings — lean performances that could pass for 21st-century indie-pop.

The fifth volume in the perennially excellent Get Easy! series is arguably the strongest retrospective of sunshine pop ever compiled – spanning two CDs and 40 cuts, the set combs the vaults of labels like A&M, Verve, Philips, and MGM to capture the essence of late-'60s pop at its most musically ambitious. Inspired and arguably birthed by the Beach Boys, in particular their landmark Pet Sounds album, sunshine pop married radiant vocals harmonies and lush orchestral arrangements that wonderfully evoked a beatitude and poignancy often forgotten amidst the political and cultural turbulence of its era. There were some major hits of note from acts like the Association, the Turtles, and the Cowsills, but by and large sunshine pop remains largely a cult fascination, and this wonderful collection is the perfect place to hop aboard for both its hits and its rarities – virtually every song's a winner, but standouts include the Hobbits' "Sunny Day Girl," Spanky & Our Gang's "I'd Like to Get to Know You," the Twinn Connexion's "Oh What a Lovely Day," Van Dyke Parks' "Number Nine," and the The Fun and Games' "Topanga Canyon Road."

Margo Guryan Died in 2021. Her Music Keeps Getting Rediscovered. “Words and Music,” a new anthology, shines light on a little-known but increasingly beloved master of pop and jazz songwriting. In the late summer of 1970, Elton John arrived at Los Angeles International Airport for his debut U.S. shows and was greeted by another wildly talented piano-playing singer-songwriter: Margo Guryan. Her husband, David Rosner, worked for the company that signed John, and together they helped him get sorted in the run-up to his legendary performances at the Troubadour, kicking off a long, spectacular career. Guryan’s career proved less of a spectacle. After modest success as a jazz-pop songwriter, she recorded one album of her own, with Rosner’s encouragement. “Take a Picture” was alive with dazzling melodies, lyrical wit, strikingly intimate vocals and marvelously florid arrangements — a small masterpiece of the microgenre known as sunshine pop. But Guryan was a reluctant performer who refused to tour, and her album, released in 1968, was a commercial flop, after her label barely promoted it. And yet, in a unique twist on a familiar story, the 11 songs of “Take a Picture” became a shared secret around the world; pirate pressings overseas earned her the sobriquet “The Soft Pop Queen of Japan.” In 2000 the LP was officially reissued, followed by others collecting her demo recordings — lean performances that could pass for 21st-century indie-pop.