At The Groovy Cellar: RPM Reveals "Another Splash of Colour: New Psychedelia in Britain 1980-1985"

At The Groovy Cellar: RPM Reveals “Another Splash of Colour: New Psychedelia in Britain 1980-1985”

June 17, 2016 By Joe Marchese — 1 Comment

Mention psychedelia and chances are you’re transported to a certain patchouli-scented period in the late 1960s, a hazy period of high times and boundary-breaking musical creativity. The spirit of psychedelia didn’t die with the advent of glam, hard rock or disco, however, though it may have been submerged for a time. In 1981, the 13-track album A Splash of Colour chronicled Great Britain’s “New Psychedelia” with ’60s-influenced cuts from The Mood Six, Miles Over Matter, The High Tide, The Marble Staircase and others. Cherry Red’s RPM label has recently reworked and reconfigured that landmark LP into a 3-CD box set appropriately entitled Another Splash of Colour: New Psychedelia in Britain 1980-1985.

Most of the tracks from the original collection are here, but the purview has been greatly expanded for this new set. Born in clubs such as The Groovy Cellar and The Clinic, the New Psychedelia movement espoused beliefs of peace and love that few were willing to express in 1981 London, and took a page from both fashion and the underground music scene of the mid- to late-1960s. DJ Clive Jackson, a.k.a. The Doctor, presided over The Clinic (naturally!) with a full-blown happening of flowers and candles. Color and flamboyance were proudly displayed in both music and dress. Early proponents of this new/old style represented on Another Splash of Colour include The Mood Six and Miles Over Matter; soon various other influences were being incorporated into the New Psychedelia. The Earwigs brought a punk sensibility, while The Silence created their own riff on New Wave. The Marble Staircase and The Barracudas both bore the strains of the “mod” sound. The Times leaned towards pre-Swinging London pop. Nick Nicely, well-versed in both electronica and psychedelia, utilized an embryonic form of scratching on his cult favorite “Hilly Fields (1892).” The New Psychedelia could accommodate all of these disparate influences, as heard on the 64 eclectic tracks on Another Splash of Colour.

The New Psychedelia movement didn’t last long; Neil Taylor’s comprehensive liner notes essay describes a critical backlash to the release of the original A Splash of Colour compilation in 1981, with many critics at the time feeling the subgenre was all hype. Yet as this box abundantly proves, the ’60s-inspired tracks recorded by many of these bands today feel more timeless than much contemporary music of the same 1980-1985 period. “New Psychedelia” didn’t last long, but the psych flavor continued to reverberate via the music of Echo and the Bunnymen, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, and others. Creation Records, early home to The Jesus and Mary Chain, indulged some psych-influenced bands too including label founder Alan McGee’s own Biff Bang Pow! (heard here with “A Day Out with Jeremy Chester”). (Cherry Red anthologized Creation on a splendid 2015 box set, Artifact: The Dawn of Creation Records.) Across the pond, the Paisley Underground scene (The Dream Syndicate, Rain Parade, etc.) drew its own inspiration from many of the same sources as the British New Psychedelia.

Many eclectic names can be found on this set. Robyn Hitchcock, whose career continues to thrive today, is heard on this set with his solo “It’s a Mystic Trip,” and his band The Soft Boys is also represented with “Only the Stones Remain.” Post-punk hero Julian Cope offers the raw 1984 single “Sunspots.” Elvis Costello might not have represented the neo-psych movement, but his band The Attractions (a.k.a. Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas and Pete Thomas) got into the act with their own brand of ’60s-influenced pop rock. Their B-side “Slow Patience” is featured here. Science fiction/fantasy author Michael Moorcock has often dabbled in music, collaborating with the likes of Hawkwind and Blue Oyster Cult. His band The Deep Fix gets a slot here with “Brothel in Rosenstrasse.” Most of the songs on the box are originals, though Naz Nomad and The Nightmares’ cover of The Electric Prunes’ “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)” is a highlight. Though The Doctor with his band The Medics had a chart-topper in 1986 with a cover of Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky,” that recording falls out of the timeframe of this set. Instead, the Medics are featured with a demo of “Barbara Can’t Dance.”

Another Splash of Colour is housed in a compact clamshell box, handsomely designed by Andy Morten, with each disc packaged in its own mini-sleeve. The original A Splash of Colour labels have been nicely adapted for each CD. Simon Murphy has remastered each track. Neil Taylor’s sterling essay in the colorful, thick 40-page booklet is a definitive account of the New Psychedelia movement and its aftermath; all that’s lacking in this splendid presentation is more detail about each of the artists as well as discographical annotation for each track. This mind-expanding anthology is available now from RPM Records at the links below!

Various Artists, Another Splash of Colour: New Psychedelia in Britain 1980-1985 (RPM BX 530, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

Dancing in My Mind – The High Tide
Just Like a Dream – Mood Six
Something’s Happening Here – Miles Over Matter
It’s a Mystic Trip – Robyn Hitchcock
Watching the World Go By – The Barracudas
49 Cigars – Nick Nicely
I Helped Patrick McGoohan Escape (Single Version) – The Times
Slow Patience – The Attractions
Keep Your Voice Down – The Earwigs
Night of the Jackal – Charlie Harper
The Long Weekend – The Marble Staircase
Work – Blue Orchids
Love Letters – The Silence
Gigolo Aunt – Knox
Further Thoughts – The Chicanes
I See Everything – The Vandells
Stomping All Over the World – Kimberley Rew
Don’t Cry Your Tears – Delmontes
On the Thirteenth Day – The Monochrome Set
Connect – Future Daze
Only the Stones Remain – The Soft Boys
The Festival of Frosty Muggament – Firmament and the Elements
No Reflexes – The Von Trap Family

CD 2

Hilly Fields (1892) – Nick Nicely
Electric Blue – The High Tide
Pass Myself – The Third Eye
Park My Car – Miles Over Matter
No Time Tomorrow – Squire
Still Dreaming – The Marble Staircase
Inside Mind – The Barracudas
A Red Light for the Greens – Deep Freeze Mice
Strange – Paul Roland
Brothel in Rosenstrasse – Michael Moorcock’s Deep Fix
Wivenhoe Bells II – Cleaners from Venus
101 Dam-Nations – Scarlet Party
Waltz of the Fool – Le Mat
The Haze – The Dream Factory
Waving at the Aeroplanes – The Legendary Pink Dots
Fiction and Literature – Modern Art
And We Dance On – The Jetset
Forever – The Heartbeats
Hazy Darkness… – Purple Hearts
Raspberry Rainbow – Pink Umbrellas
The Dream Inspires (Live) – TV Personalities

CD 3

Flowers in the Sky – The Revolving Paint Dream
I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) – Naz Nomad and the Nightmares
Sunspots – Julian Cope
Magic – The Jasmine Minks
Nirvana – The Icicle Works
Do I Have to Be Here? – The Way Out
Reaching My Head – The Prisoners
In Your Eyes (Live) – Playn Jayn
Where Are You? – The Primevals
Strawberries Are Growing in My Garden (And It’s Wintertime) – The Dentists
Barbara Can’t Dance (Demo) – Doctor and the Medics
A Day Out with Jeremy Chester – Biff Bang Pow!
Plastic Flowers (Psycho Version) – Mood Six
Man’s Laughter – Freight Train
You Know Everything – The Onlookers
Doctor Ben – Direct Hits
Two by Two – The Green Telescope
Wide Eyed and Electrick – Magic Mushroom Band
Endless River – The Brainiac Five
The 4 Marys Go Go Dance All Night at the Groovy Cellar – Captain Sensible

Categories:

News

Formats:

Box Sets, CD

Genres:

Pop, Rock

Tags:

Julian Cope, Robyn Hitchcock, The Attractions, Various Artists

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.