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Robert Markley was a bizarre and eccentric musician of the 1960s who formed
the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band in Los Angeles in 1966 with
guitarists Shaun Harris and Dan Harris, and help from Kim Fowley.
Following a collection of covers titled Volume One (Fifo, 1966),
the psychedelic music of their second album, Part One (Reprise, 1967 - Sundazed, 2001),
fragile and dreamy, had little in common with the bands of their era
(Shifting Sands).
The third album would be released only 24 years later, as
The Legendary Unreleased Album (Raspberry, 1980).
The follow-up album Breaking Through Volume 2 (Reprise, 1967) was less successful in
recreating that surreal atmosphere, despite the lengthy Smell Of Incense
and the Fugs-ian satire of Suppose They Give A War And Nobody Comes.
The first two official album are summarized on
Transparent Day (Edsel, 1986).
The band released
A Child's Guide To Good & Evil (Reprise, 1968),
which increased the similarities with the Fugs, both in terms of agit-prop
satire (Until The Poorest People Have Money To Spend,
A Child Of A Few Hours Is Burning To Death)
and in terms of bizarre collage techniques
(Anniversary Of World War 3, with proto-glitch music),
Where's My Daddy (Amos, 1969) and
Markley A Group before disappearing.
A founding member of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
producer Michael Lloyd, assembled the musicians who recorded
October Country (1967) and the ones who recorded
The Smoke (1968 - Kismet, 2012), both studio project that never
had a follow-up.
The latter album includes
the Turtles-esque Self-Analysis,
the Beach Boys-esque October Country
Cowboys And Indians, clearly derivative of the Hollies and of the musichall of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band,
Odyssey, a melodic collage that toys with the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour and with horn-driven soul music,
and especially the
Frank Zappa-esque instrumental The Hobbit Symphony.
Lloyd was one of the most creative producers of the age of "bubblegum", of
the one-hit wonders artificially constructed in the studio.
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(Translated by Fulvio Ferlito)
Robert Markley è stato
un bizzarro ed eccentrico musicista degli anni ’60, il quale fondò
a Los Angeles nel 1966 la West Cast Pop Art
Experimental Band insieme ai
chitarristi Shaun Harris e Dan Harris, e con l’aiuto di Kim Fowley. In seguito alla collezione di cover intitolata Volume One
(Fifo, 1966), la musica psichedelica del secondo album, Part One (Reprise, 1967 - Sundazed, 2001) fragile e sognante,
ha avuto poco in comune con le band del loro periodo (Shifting Sands). Il loro terzo album sarebbe uscito solamente 24 anni dopo col nome di The Legendary
Unreleased Album (Raspberry, 1980).
L’album seguente Breaking Through Volume 2
(Reprise, 1967) ebbe meno
successo nel ricreare quell’atmosfera surreale, nonostante la lunghezza di Smell of Incense e
la satira à la Fugs di Suppose They Give A War And Nobody Comes. I primi due album ufficiali sono riassunti in Trasparent Day (Edsel,1986).
La band pubblicò
A Child’s Guide To Good & Evil (Reprise, 1968), che
rinforzò le somiglianze con
i Fugs, sia
per quanto concerne la satira agit-pop (Until The
Poorest People Have Money To Spend, A Child Of A Few Hours Is Burning To Death)
che per le bizzarre tecniche di collage (Anniversary
Of World War 3, con musica proto-glitch), Where's
My Daddy (Amos, 1969) e Markley A Group prima di
scomparire.
Uno dei membri fondatori della West Coast Pop Art
Experimental Band, il produttore
Michael Lloyd, mise insieme
alcuni musicisti che registrarono October
Country (1967) e degli altri
che registrarono The
Smoke (1968 - Kismet, 2012), entrambi i progetti non ebbero mai un seguito.
Il secondo degli album contiene la Turtles-esca Self-Analysis,
October Country Cowboys And Indians in stile Beach Boys, chiaramente
un derivato degli Hollies e del music-hall dei Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band,
Odyssey, collage melodico che
gioca con Magical Mystery Tour dei
Beatles e Soul a base di
fiati, ed infine il brano
strumentale, in stile Frank Zappa, The Hobbit Symphony.
Lloyd è stato uno dei più creativi
produttori dell’era del “bubblegum” e delle one-hit
wonder prodotte artificialmente
in studio.
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