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Barely anybody knows that by the time Pavlov's Dog's iconic debut album “Pampered Menial“ was released in 1975, the band had already recorded a full album nearly two years earlier. The untitled album, therefor just called the “Pekin Tapes“, was recorded in just three days in October 1973 at Golden Voice Stodio in Pekin/IL and was originally designated to become the band's debut album. But destiny had a different plan.
When ABC Records listened to the “Pekin Tapes“, they signed the band for no less than $650.000 and made Pavlov's Dog the highest signed newcomer artist ever since. But instead of releasing the “Pekin Tapes“, ABC sent the band back to the studio…

Although labeled a psychedelic band in their day, the Opera never sat comfortably in that strawberry field, partially because of the diversity of their sound, but also due to the simple fact they were just too far ahead of their time even for the psyched-out crowd. In fact, Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera continued to sound thoroughly modern for decades, while their myriad musical meanderings took them down wayward byways that later became stylistic highways - at least in their native U.K.. So it's no surprise then, that this band would have slotted perfectly into the Britpop scene, or going back further in time, into the R&B-drenched mod scene. The Opera's admiration for R&B is evident on "Intro," an homage to Archie Bell & the Drells, while their equal respect for bluesy jazz is showcased on a fabulous cover of Oscar Brown's "I Was Cool" which absolutely smokes…

Pavlov's Dog lead singer David Surkamp was everything that was wrong with the band's Columbia debut Pampered Menial. Tempered here by Blue Oyster Cult producers Murray Krugman and Sandy Pearlman, who also recorded the first disc, the sound is more appealing to the ear. The question is, where was it going? Too pop for progressive rock, and too progressive for Top 40, the music is driving and more focused the second time around. There are some heavy guests to add to the festivities, Roxy Music's sax player Andy Mackay along with drummer William Bruford and Arista sax player Michael Brecker, though the tracks they appear on are not designated. "Valkerie" has a great hook, of "bring back the good old days," and the production here is cleaner than the first time around, but there is something very left field about this group, extremely non-commercial, even on a pretty ballad like "Standing Here With You (Megan's Song)"…

…The King's Consort under the direction of Robert King perform the Overture-Suites from the Second and Third Productions of Telemann's anthology…I find the new issue delightful, both musically and from a performance standpoint. The players capture the spirit of the Overture-Suite in D major (Second Production) with pleasing tempos, crisp articulation, taut rhythms and fine ensemble. The trumpet has an important role in this Suite and here it is played with finesse by Crispian Steele-Perkins—resonant, authoritative but never overbearing. Oboes are kept busy, too, as indeed is the leader, Roy Goodman who gives a lively account of the several concertante passages for violin. His presence has contributed much to the ultimate success of this project.