Friday, August 14, 2009

Agnes Strange - Theme For A Dream (1972)

This heavy trio from Southampton, England, led by singer-guitarist John Westwood, somehow didn't make a splash on the early '70s boogie circuit despite their obvious similarities to beloved acts like the Groundhogs, Budgie and the almighty Status Quo. Despite some heavy names in their corner, including management company DJM (led by Dick James, who had made a mint off the Beatles' publishing) and A&R folks at Pye Records, some bad luck and inexplicable business decisions led them off course. Foremost among these was a fundamental misunderstanding of the term "pub rock," which led Pye to release Strange Flavour on a one-off label called Birdsnest, which was affiliated with a chain of theme pubs of the same name, owned by the beer manufacturer Watney's.

Track Listing...
Unreleased Masters:
01.Theme for a Dream - 2:23
02.Messin' Around - 4:58
03.Graveyard - 5:19
04.Rockin' in 'e' - 4:39
05.Dust in the Sunlight - 3:50
06.The Day Dreamer - 3:49
07.Book With No Cover - 5:54
Original Demos:
08.Failure - 5:51
09.Motorway Rebel - 3:46
10.Children of the Absurd - 7:17
11.Clever Fool - 3:31
12.Strange Flavour - 4:15
13.Odd Man Out - 3:45
14.Highway Blues - 9:41

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