Boat International February 2024

Three CD set. Although the lushly-arranged, harmony-based late 60s Sunshine Pop sound is most readily associated with America in general and the sun-kissed California region in particular, the reality is that it was always an international phenomenon. What A Groovy Day is a thrilling four-hour celebration of Britain's contribution to the genre, ranging from household names (The New Seekers, Cliff Richard, Petula Clark, The Hollies, Herman's Hermits) to terminally obscure acts like Infinity and The Mellow Yellow, who failed to release anything at the time. Naturally our compilation includes contributions from the two uncrowned kings of the 60s British harmony pop sound, vocalist Tony Rivers (who provides us with our title song) and studio all-rounder John Carter, represented as both performer and songwriter. Other highlights come from posthumously-acclaimed Sunshine Pop maestros Design, a trio of music library recordings by the largely overlooked but hugely talented backroom auteur Barbara Moore and, perhaps most intriguingly of all, the first-ever release of The Sweet's first demo recording, cut when they were still known as Sweetshop.