Mr Kinski's Music Shack

Patterns On The Window – The British Progressive Pop Sounds of 1974 is a new 3 CD set from Cherry Red, featuring big hits, intriguing misses and key album tracks from 1974 as well as a clutch of alternative versions and unissued-at-the-time gems. The set is housed in a clamshell box that includes a heavily annotated and illustrated 48-page booklet.

The collection features many songs I have not heard before, along with lesser known tracks from the more well-known artists of the era. 1974 was not a golden year by any stretch of the imagination. Along with the three day working week and power cuts in the UK, the best selling singles for the year included Mud with Tiger Feet alongside hits from Paper Lace, The Osmonds, Charles Aznavour and The Rubettes. Some classics did make their way into the top 20 best-sellers – including Terry Jacks Seasons In The Sun and The Hollies The Air That I Breathe, but luckily for us, Patterns On The Window digs a little deeper than the top 20.

Disc 1 in the 3 CD collection opens with Bryan Ferry’s The ‘In’ Crowd from May 1974, and is followed by the lyrically intriguing Hasta Mañana Monsieur from Sparks, who are still releasing fine music to this day. Cockney Rebel’s Judy Teen was a non-album 45, and remains one of the catchiest songs from the Steve Harley songbook.

David Bowie fans will enjoy hearing former Spiders From Mars bandmate Mick Ronson and the light-hearted Billy Porter. Be-bop Deluxe (featuring the mighty Bill Nelson) feature with the glam-influenced Jet Silver And The Dolls Of Venus from their Axe Victim album. The band really came into their own with the altered line-up that released Futurama in 1975.

Brian Protheroe’s Pinball has become a latter-day classic, due to its appearance on an 2004 Guilty Pleasures album, alongside more recent patronage from Noel Gallagher. The Poacher from Ronnie Lane is a perfect example of the progressive element that slipped into a lot of music in the mid-70s. Its a charming, warm song that sadly did not reach the Top 30. Philomena, Phil Lynott’s tribute to his mother, comes from Thin Lizzy’s Nightlife album, with their classic period arriving a couple of years later. The seeds of that future greatness are audible on this interesting arrangement.

The Spencer Davis Group track Another Day is like a time capsule from 1974, the bar-room piano, saxophone trills, accordion and rich harmonies instantly take me back to that period. I love the production on National Flag’s take on Tim Hardin’s If I Were A Carpenter, whilst UFO and Doctor, Doctor seems to have arrived fully formed from the future, with a sound that would really kick in from around 1976 with Rainbow and later period Thin Lizzy. Its a great pop / rock song.

Jona Lewie and the b-side Papa Don’t Go is a world away from the electronic driven You’ll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties and the Christmas staple Stop the Cavalry from the late 70s / early 80s, and shows Lewie’s more blues / boogie beginnings. Disc 1 ends with the West-Coast harmonies of Starry Eyes and Laughing and their late 1974 single Everybody, a track I heard (and really enjoyed) for the first time on this compilation.

An early highlight on disc 2 is a Roxy Music album track, A Really Good Time from Country Life. Ron Woods I Can Feel The Fire sees Wood sharing vocal duties with Mick Jagger.

Van der Graaf Generator leader Peter Hammill’s solo album cut Again, from In Camera, is a stark arrangement, initially recorded on basic 4 track equipment with layers added at Trident Studios. Again is a concise and moving performance.

Rough Kids from Kilburn & the High Roads, featuring a pre-Blockheads Ian Dury, is a vintage rock’n’roll / Rocky Horror sounding track, with little hints of Dury’s future direction in the new wave era. Brinsley Schwarz are represented on this compilation with The Ugly Things, a highlight of the second disc. Produced by Dave Edmunds, this Nick Lowe sung album track comes from the bands final album, The New Favourites of… Brinsley Schwarz.

My favourite track on the compilation is the Dr Feelgood classic debut single, Roxette, driven by one of Wilko Johnson’s most iconic guitar riffs.

Stackridge and the album track The Road To Venezuela, from the George Martin produced The Man in the Bowler Hat album, offers an enchanting mix of progressive and folk elements. Post-Stackridge, James Warren and Andy Cresswell-Davis from the band formed The Korgis in the late 70s, who are known for the wonderful single Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime from 1980.

Disc two ends with Prince Of Heaven from Irish band Fruupp. Some great guitar lines feature on this non-album single.

Marc Bolan & T.Rex kick off the final CD, with Venus Loon, the opening track from the 1974 album Zinc Alloy And The Hidden Riders Of Tomorrow. This catchy song should have been released as a single.

Unicorn deliver the country-tinged Ooh Mother from Blue Pine Trees, an album that was produced by David Gilmour, who also featured on pedal steel guitar / guitar on several of the albums tracks. The mid-70s saw The Pretty Things moving away from their psychedelic roots, with Is It Only Love from the Silk Torpedo album, featuring an early 70s staple ingredient, a brass / colliery band!

Ace are represented on this compilation with their classic How Long single. How Long is not a jilted love song, but a tale of bassist Terry Comer briefly moonlighting with rival band The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. A wonderful vocal from Paul Carrack and some of the finest Rhodes piano committed to vinyl propelled this song to no 20 in the UK and no 3 in the US and Canadian singles charts.

Manfred Mann’s Earth Band are an often overlooked part of the 70s musical landscape. The progressive rock of Be Not Too Hard from their self produced album The Good Earth features on Patterns On The Window. Make My Bed from former Merseybeats vocalist Billy Kinsley is another song I was unaware of before hearing this compilation. Its a well-crafted and addictive piece of mid-70s pop, that hooks you by the end of the first verse. A long-lost classic that will hopefully gain some love from people who discover this compilation.

Dave Edmunds Need A Shot Of Rhythm ‘n’ Blues features in the final disc, in the form of a previously released alternative version. A more reflective than usual song from Slade, Far Far Away, was still a big hit, reaching No 2 in the UK singles chart in late 1974.

The UK band Tranquility deliver one of the most memorable but least known tracks, with Midnight Fortune, a track that boasts strong harmonies, and reminds me of the sophistication of 10cc.

Patterns On The Window – The British Progressive Pop Sounds of 1974 offers an alternative look at the music released in 1974, and whilst not every track hits the mark, it does offer an alternative to the often light pop music that made up the charts that year.

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Disc: 1
The ‘In’ Crowd – Bryan Ferry
Hasta Manana Monsieur – Sparks
Judy Teen – Cockney Rebel
Billy Porter – Mick Ronson
The Man Who Couldn’t Afford To Orgy – John Cale
Jet Silver And The Dolls Of Venus – Be-Bop Deluxe
She Was Just A Young Girl (No Way) – Simon Turner
Pinball – Brian Protheroe
The Poacher – Ronnie Lane
Philomena – Thin Lizzy
Break The Rules – Status Quo
Cajun Kick – Medicine Head
Another Day – Spencer Davis Group
Poor Ditching Boy – Iain Matthews
If I Were A Carpenter – National Flag
Doctor, Doctor (Single Edit) – UFO
Lock And Key – Snafu
Papa Don’t Go – Jona Lewie
Put A Record On (Single Version) – Tramp
In My World – Chalice
As Long As You Want Me To – Rescue Co. No. 1
Everybody – Starry Eyed And Laughing

Disc: 2
When I Get To The Border – Richard & Linda Thompson
A Really Good Time – Roxy Music
Only You – Fox
Farewell – Stewart, Rod
I Can Feel The Fire – Ron Wood
Everlovin’ Woman – Georgie Fame
Na Na Na – Cozy Powell
One More Chance – Man
Again – Peter Hammill
River Of Sin – Kevin Coyne
Rough Kids – Kilburn & The High Roads
No More Whiskey – Compass
The Ugly Things – Brinsley Schwarz
Roxette – Dr. Feelgood
Curious And Woolly – Bridget St. John
I’ll Just Take My Time – Byzantium
Beyond The Pale – Procol Harum
The Road To Venezuela – Stackridge
Gemini – Holy Mackerel
Flamenco Fever – Carmen
Getting Through To Me (Demo Version) – Dana Gillespie
Prince Of Heaven – Fruupp

Disc: 3
Venus Loon – Marc Bolan & T. Rex
Tell Him – Hello
Touch Me – Fancy
Ooh Mother – Unicorn
Is It Only Love – Pretty Things
How Long – Ace
Be Not Too Hard – Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
Make My Bed – Billy Kinsley
Costafine Town – Splinter
Avalon – Deep Feeling
Bobby Dazzler – The First Class
Have Love, Will Travel – Prophet
Need A Shot Of Rhythm & Blues (Alternative Version) – Dave Edmunds
Shanghai’d In Shanghai – Nazareth
Tomahawk Kid – The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
Far Far Away – Slade
Midnight Fortune – Tranquility
There’s A Wall Between Us – Stavely Makepeace
Soho Jack – Paul Brett
Lemon Pie (Home Demo) – Dave Cousins
Everything Changes – Lesley Duncan
Gypsy Mountain Woman – Farm
Radio – The Medium Wave Band