In recent months, Cherry Red's Grapefruit imprint, dedicated to the psychedelic and garage era, delivered two complete anthologies for a pair of pop-psych bands straight out of swinging London.

Five's Company was formed in the Chelsea area of London in fall 1964 by Eddie Broadbridge (lead vocals/piano/organ), Dave Jones (not that David Jones...or that Davy Jones, either, on guitar and vocals), Chris Robson (harmonica/vocals), Bob Brunning (bass/vocals) and Ian Pearson (drums).  In their live set supporting such acts as The Mojos and Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, they played covers of Motown and Beatles songs while honing Broadbridge's original melodies.  Friends and Mirrors: The Complete Recordings 1964-68 chronicles the band from its very first, self-produced recordings through a major-label affiliation with Pye and beyond.

Tragedy struck the R&B-rooted band when Chris Robson died of a heart attack prior to their audition for Pye.  The remaining quartet recruited Colin Jordan to replace him, and Jordan proved to fit the bill.  The new Five's Company was signed to the label.  The band recorded six sides for three 45s released on Pye in 1966, showing off the band's various sides: from Broadbridge's Dylan-esque folk-rocker "Sunday for Seven Days" (with more than a touch of "Eve of Destruction" in its DNA) and jaunty "Some Girls" to covers of Ray Davies ("Session Man," from The Kinks' Face to Face) and songwriter Les Vandyke ("The Big Kill").  A fourth single was mooted, and the band recorded "Friends and Mirrors" from American tunesmith Bobby Russell of "Little Green Apples" fame, but Pye rejected the lightly psychedelic track.  The band soon went its separate ways, with Bob Brunning notably joining the early Fleetwood Mac for a brief spell.  But it was Brunning who got Five's Company back together.

In mid-1968, Brunning, connected with budget label Saga Records, tapped Broadbridge to pen a "concept album" in the shadow of Sgt. Pepper, Days of Future Passed, and the like.  Colin Jordan was enlisted to join Brunning and Broadbridge as the reconstituted Five's Company for The Ballad of Fred the Pixie.  The LP was a one-off, however, and the band members soon returned to their own individual careers.  Friends and Mirrors is a comprehensive chronicle of the rock, pop, R&B, and psych of Five's Company, from their earliest self-produced tracks (including covers of Leiber and Stoller and Allen Toussaint) through the recorded-on-a-shoestring Fred the Pixie, which nonetheless is enjoyable because of its ambitions and kooky, melodic charms.  The 26 tracks here have all been remastered by Simon Murphy, and compilation producer David Wells has contributed the copious liner notes.

Joining Friends and Mirrors is a 2-CD anthology from The Spectrum.  All the Colours of The Spectrum: 1964-1970 has 40 recordings from the band best-remembered as a would-be British answer to The Monkees.  But The Spectrum wasn't assembled by the anxious folks at RCA's U.K. division; the band members had first come together as early as 1960, and as Group Five had recorded a Merseybeat-style album for the French market.  (This album has been included on this set as a fun special bonus.)  As The Spectrum, they had released a single on U.K. Columbia, as well.  In 1967, the band was discovered by Harry Roberts and Cyril Black, the latter affiliated with The Monkees' U.S. television production company, Screen Gems.  Black negotiated a deal with RCA U.K., seeking a Monkees-style group.

The connection to The Monkees was underscored by The Spectrum's first RCA single.  "Samantha's Mine," referring to Micky Dolenz's then-girlfriend and future wife Samantha Juste, was on the A-side, while the flip went to David Gates' "Saturday's Child," a song previously recorded by The Monkees on their debut album.  Soon, the band caught the attention of producer Gerry Anderson who signed them to tie in with his children's sci-fi television show, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.  Soon, The Spectrum (who, coincidentally or not, shared their name with an organization depicted on the show) were clad in costumes resembling those worn by the program's marionettes.  Unlike The Monkees and their eponymous comedy, however, The Spectrum didn't actually appear in Captain Scarlet.  (They were heard singing the show's theme over the closing credits on each episode.)

Captain Scarlet only lasted for one series, but RCA retained The Spectrum; subsequent singles included songs by Paul Leka ("Little Red Boat by the River"), Carole King and Gerry Goffin ("Just What I Was Looking for Today," also recorded by The Everly Brothers and Status Quo) and The Beatles ("Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da").  While  Spectrum album hadn't materialized in the U.K. RCA's branches in Spain (where "Ob-La-Di" had gained popularity) and Venezuela released LPs from the band;  the unique tracks from those releases have been included here.

After surviving various other personnel changes, a blow had come to The Spectrum when founding lead guitarist Tony Atkins left to work in A&R at RCA.  A Spectrum album finally was released in the U.K. on the label's budget Camden offshoot; the unique tracks from The Light is Dark Enough are also featured on this collection.  The album reflected the band's progression from pure pop to heavier sounds, but it also marked the end of The Spectrum.  All the Colours accurately captures the various sounds and styles from the group;  simply listening to it, one wouldn't necessarily think of The Monkees at all, but rather of a fine pop band struggling to find its footing and identity in one of the most creatively fertile periods of popular music.   David Wells provides the detailed liner notes, and Simon Murphy has remastered.

Both titles from Five's Company and The Spectrum are available now at the links below!

Five's Company, Friends and Mirrors: The Complete Recordings 1964-68 (Grapefruit CRSEG037, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. Sunday for Seven Days
2. The Big Kill
3. Some Girls
4. Big Deal
5. Session Man
6. Dejection
7. Friends and Mirrors
8. I Ain't Got You
9. Little Egypt
10. Dejection (Alternative Version)
11. Pain in My Heart
12. We Love Us (The Happiness Song)
13. Dejection (Alternative Alternative Version)
14. Jazz on a Summer's Day
15. Darling I've Got Something to Tell You
16. Prayer Before Birth
17. I'm a Big Boy Now
18. The Ballad of Fred the Pixie
19. The School Boy
20. If This Is Love
21. Break My Heart
22. Have You Seen?
23. I'm Still Hoping
24. Now I'm 64
25. Happy to Be Here
26. Time to Pop Off

Tracks 1-2 from Pye single 7N 17118, 1966
Tracks 3-4 from Pye single 7N 17162, 1966
Tracks 5-6 from Pye single 7N 17199, 1966
Track 7 from unreleased acetate, 1966
Tracks 8-11 from unreleased EP acetate, 1964
Tracks 12-13 from unreleased acetate, 1965
Track 14 from unreleased acetate, 1966
Tracks 15-26 from The Ballad of Fred the Pixie, Saga FID 2151, 1968

The Spectrum, All the Colours of The Spectrum: Complete Recordings 1964-1970 (Grapefruit CRSEG038D, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. Samantha's Mine
2. Saturday's Child
3. Portobello Road
4. Comes the Dawn
5. Headin' for a Heatwave
6. I Wanna Be (Happy) with You
7. London Bridge Is Coming Down
8. Tables and Chairs
9. Let's Live for Love
10. Little Red Boat By the River
11. Forget Me Not
12. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
13. Music Soothes the Savage Breast
14. Just What I Was Looking for Today
15. It Doesn't Seem to Matter
16. Cool Water
17. Free
18. The Tale of Wally Toft
19. Glory
20. Nodnol
21. Captain Scarlet (Closing Theme)

CD 2

1. Mr Jenkins' Brand New Boots
2. The Walrus and the Horse
3. Mandy
4. Jacqueline
5. The Light Is Dark Enough
6. Little Girl
7. Asking You
8. Roll Over Beethoven
9. Bye Bye Bird
10. Please Mr Postman
11. You Really Got a Hold on Me
12. What's That?
13. Sweet Little Sixteen
14. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
15. Hide and Seek
16. My Babe
17. Dance in the Street
18. Shoppin' Around
19. Lover Please

CD 1, Tracks 1-2 from RCA Victor single RCA 1589, 1967
CD 1, Tracks 3-4 from RCA Victor single RCA 1619, 1967
CD 1, Tracks 5-6 from RCA Victor single RCA 1651, 1967
CD 1, Tracks 7-8 from RCA Victor single RCA 1700, 1968
CD 1, Track 9 from The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom: Original Soundtrack, RCA Victor LP LSP-4060, 1968
CD 1, Tracks 10-11 from RCA Victor single RCA 1753, 1968
CD 1, Tracks 12-13 from RCA Victor single RCA 1775, 1968
CD 1, Tracks 14-16 from The Spectrum, RCA Victor (Venezuela) LP LPV 7783, 1969
CD 1, Tracks 17-18 from RCA Victor single RCA 1853, 1969
CD 1, Tracks 19-20 from RCA Victor single RCA 1883, 1969
CD 1, Track 21 rec. c. 1967, previously unreleased
CD 2, Tracks 1-5 from The Light is Dark Enough, RCA International/Camden INTS 1118, 1970
CD 2, Tracks 6-7 from Columbia single DB 7742, 1965
CD 2, Tracks 8-19 from En Direct De Liverpool, Barclay (France) LP 80230, 1964