The Toy Box: 1967

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Retro Spins: David Bowie - David Bowie

My favorite David Bowie song is so obscure, that nobody would ever guess it. Despite his many hits throughout the 1970's and 80's, which are great, you won't find it amongst your Space Oddity's, China Girl's or Magic Dance's. Nope. You would need to go all the way to the 1992 soundtrack for the title track, Cool World, to find my favorite.

Though he had achieved major success far prior to this, my introduction to Bowie didn't occur until 1983. In retrospect of my childhood, it's funny how when you don't know about an artist until your particular era, that you can't fathom they had been around long before that. To me, artists like David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins and even Fleetwood Mac, were new artists in the 80's. They didn't exist prior to me hearing them for the first time with their, at the time, current hits.

Bowie consecutively released albums from 1967 through 2016, with very few breaks in between. Throughout his career, he evolved from hippy, to glam rock, to full suits and ties, and on. No one era can truly define his legacy as an artist. He managed to do what so few musicians could, evolving seamlessly from decade to decade, staying relevant throughout as one of the front line forerunners.

Tragically, he passed away just two days after the release of his 2016 album, Blackstar. Bowie had been suffering from liver cancer, but kept this out of the public's eye. I respect that. He wanted people to remember him for who he was. Not be bombarded with unwanted attention and focus for his illness.

I pay my respects to him by going back to his 1967 debut for today's Retro Spins. As the album started up, I picked up on the psychedelic rock style, reminiscent of the era the album is from. It's on par with the like of The Doors, Big Brother And Holding Company, The Who and so many more staples of the late 60's.

I found myself grinning to the lyrics of the first track, Uncle Arthur. I feel he and I would have been great friends amongst the lyrics, "Uncle Arthur, still reads comics. Uncle Arthur, follows Batman." That's my kind of people.

Bowie has a unique voice, that regardless of the song he's singing, sucks you in, and this is what I found kept happening to me. I enjoyed everything, not necessarily for the music or lyrics, but his voice. It's funny how when you listen to older albums that the artists sound different, because of their age. For example, you can definitely tell that James Hatfield was in his early twenties when you hear Kill 'Em All, vs. being in his late twenties for the black album. His voice changed that much over eight years. However, with Bowie, he sounds exactly the same at the age of twenty as he did in his sixties.

Unlike many of the debut albums I've been listening to as of late, I would totally recommend this one. It's pretty good. It makes me want to hear more from him, and as we all know at this point, that's the ultimate goal of these Retro Spins.

It was interesting to learn that Deram, the label Bowie released his debut album on, dropped him among poor sales. What they failed to acknowledge was that in 1967 he was contending with the likes of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper. Their loss I suppose, as he would go on to release his second self titled album in 1969 featuring Space Oddity. So they can go ahead and file that one under, "Oops."

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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.

Retro Spins: The Grateful Dead - The Grateful Dead

Photo goes to the right.

My exposure to The Grateful Dead has been an unwilling forcing upon by a co-worker who lives and breaths by the band. He's what they call a Deadhead. He follows the band around to this day, going from show to show, buying every bit of music he can get from them. He's a hippy to his core, and I don't think I've ever seen him get angry. Even when pushed to what many would consider the limit. That just wouldn't be groovy.

I myself have pushed and pushed him about his love for the band, reminding him that he's a burnout and making fun of his love for Jerry Garcia - As guys often do to their friends. It was because of this, I immediately texted him to let him know that I was firing up their first album to finally give them a fair chance.

Look, I could sit here and try to hammer out a history of the band to lead into my listening of the album, but at this point in their history, I would probably do them a great disservice in trying to do so. Instead, I would suggest anyone looking for any information on them to find a better source.

As for the album, or rather, my opinion of it, in terms of sixties music, I suppose it wasn't bad. It wasn't mind blowing by any means, but then again, as a child of the 80's I don't necessarily have the perspective of their impact of their time. Kind of like how The Beatles are considered to be such a revolutionary band, but in today's terms, it's just classic rock.

Did I hear anything that made me want to hear anything further from The Grateful Dead? No. Did I hear anything that got added to my shuffle list? Also, no. While I'm listening to a lot of classic rock as of late, the truth of the matter is that this style of music isn't my favorite. I'm an 80's child, and that's my sweet spot when it comes to the sounds and songs. Still, I want to give some of the sixties and seventies icons a try to see if any of them can change my perspective.

At the very least, I'm trying new things.

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Retro Spins: The Doors - The Doors

Ah, The Doors. Them's those chaps what was in that Oliver Stone movie starring Iceman from Top Gun and Sally. That's about all I knew about them, with exception of the hits which have transcended the decades.

The Doors are one of those bands who I collected the majority of their discography before even getting around to firing one up. I've collected their entire studio works from their debut album through 1971's L.A. Woman, which is the last album to feature Jim Morrison, but not the last in the band's catalog. Due to their positive critical reception, I may have to get 1971's Other Voices and 1972's Full Circle.

For now though, let me dive into the band's self titled debut album. Like I mentioned above, with exception of the hits and Stone movie, I know little to nothing about the band. So this is relatively all new territory for me.

The album starts with the hit, Break On Thru (To The Other Side), and this set the bar way high for the rest of the album to achieve to. As the songs continued on, I admittedly found myself very surprised. They were indeed meeting this expectation. It was also at this time that I realized the item was on shuffle, and with exception of the first song, the others were not playing in sequence. It was disappointing to realize I wasn't getting the experience as the band originally intended, order wise, but still, the music was good.

As I continued my play through, it was great to hear additional Doors staples, Light My Fire and The End. These helped to only more so impact how great the album was. And yes, I suppose by the end of it, I was a new inductee into The Door's fandom. Well, maybe not fan, but intrigued and entertained enough to want to check out the next album. That's something I'm definitely looking forward to.

While the hits definitely stood out on the album, more so for their timeless rotation on radio stations than anything else, I didn't hear any songs that I would classify as "bad" - Even in shuffle mode. The Crystal Ship, Alabama Girl (Whisky Bar), and Take It As It Comes were three stand out tracks that I felt could have easily been top singles from the band.

That's going to be it for me on this one.

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Retro Spins: Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

As I continue to listen to the music of the late sixties, I can't help but think that Elvis Presley was on to something. This music is weird. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure if you're blitzed out of your mind on some form of conscious altering medicinal that the music makes perfect sense. However, for those of us not riding white dragons, it's just odd.

What I think is really interesting about this particular era of music is how influential Indian music is. You hear a lot of sitars and in general a very Hindu style intertwined with the psychedelic sounds. Pink Floyd captures this perfectly, if you could call it perfect, in their debut album, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn.

My exposure thus far to the band has been to their album, The Wall, which I think everyone should listen to at least once, and a slight dabble in their album The Dark Side Of The Moon. Essentially, their two most popular recordings.

Though all of the members of Pink Floyd were crucial in their success, original guitarist, Syd Barrett, may have been the driving force of the band during its early years. Barrett not only developed the sound of the band, but was also the major contributing writer of all of their material. Sadly, the guitarist / vocalist had a deeper issue, one which would see the decline of his mental health over the course of 1965 - 1968. This would lead to issues with other band members, and the decision was made to let him go. Unfortunately, this also resulted in the band being fired from their label, who felt Barrett was the creative talent among them. The label retained Barrett, who sporadically continued on with a solo career until 1972. However, his declining mental health ultimately led to him stepping out of the spotlight. Despite this, the band ensured he continued to receive royalties for his work up until his death in 2006.

As for the remaining members, and the band itself, Pink Floyd is regarded as one of the most influential group of the 60's and 70's, helping to shape the era known these days as Classic Rock. In 1996, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Rick Wright, Roger Waters and even Syd Barrett, as Pink Floyd, were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Interestingly, neither Roger Waters nor Syd Barrett attended the ceremony.

Listening to A Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, I immediately could tell this was going to be on par with the sounds of the era, odd lyrics and all, such as:

Lazing in the foggy dew
Sitting on a unicorn
No fair, you can't hear me
But I can you

Watching buttercups cup the light
Sleeping on a dandelion
Too much
I won't touch you But then I might

Yeah, true lyrics to the song, Flaming. In hindsight, it's so cliche to the 60's. It's the kind of words that would be used in a Dewy Cox song. Knowing the history of Syd Barrett, it also paints a clear picture of a man who was on the edge of a mental collapse.

The album was both intriguing and unimpressive at the same time. Some songs really sucked me in, while others I shrugged off as your typical fare of the era. I did enjoy it enough that I felt it was an album I would want to add to my collection, but not necessarily as any sort of priority. So instead, I purchased an original pressing of Culture Club's Kissing To Be Clever, to replace my remastered edition. Still, I enjoyed it enough that I wouldn't mind hearing more from the band.

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Retro Spins: The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced

As the guitar riff for the opening to Purple Haze fired things up, I could feel a sense of energy. I had heard this song countless times before, but as I looked to hear the whole album from start to finish, things felt very different. Perhaps it was because I was delving deep into artists of the past, and as such, was hearing an evolution of music that perhaps I hadn't noticed before. Maybe it was because it was hot on the heals of my last Retro Spin of Elvis Presley that this evolution was all the more prevalent. Whatever it was, The Jimi Hendrix Experience had power behind it that was making me take notice.

Now before I go any further, it's worth noting, and something similar to what I failed to mention on my review of The Rolling Stones debut album, is that there are two versions of this particular album. The original UK release features not only a different cover, but the tracks between it and the US version are very different.

For example, the UK edition doesn't contain the tracks, Purple Haze, Hey Joe and The Wind Cries Mary. Meanwhile, the US edition doesn't contain the tracks, Red House, Can You See Me, This May Be Love and Remember. I don't know what the reasoning is behind the two different versions of the album, but it's a common occurrence with albums from this era. Especially during the earlier years of the artists. Especially as it pertains to UK artists who release albums in the US either consecutively or later in their careers. It's kind of annoying. I shouldn't have to buy two albums to get the full experience, no pun intended.

The album cover shown above is the UK version, while the one below is the US released version. In comparing the full track listing on each album, I think the UK definitely got the short end of the stick, missing out on several of Hendrix's more popular songs.

I have to be honest. I made it to about track six of this album, and it started to feel like a wall of noise. This baffled me, as I was really into it at first. I dare say that Manic Depression is my new favorite song from Hendrix, a song I had never heard until today. But it just kept getting louder and louder as the album progressed, actually giving me a bit of a headache. Mind you, this wasn't a volume issue either. I keep my music relatively low in that regard.

Ultimately, the take away from this was that there were definitely good tracks to be found on the debut album of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, but for me, it wore thin. No, not wore thin. Perhaps, became overwhelming, is a better explanation.

There's no denying that Jimi Hendrix was an amazing musician, but I don't think I'll be personally calling myself a fan. I actually got about half way through fire, AKA, track eight of eleven before saying to myself, "I just don't think I want to hear anymore." I then popped two Advil.

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