Genre: psych
Rating: *** (3 stars)
Title: Paradise Now
Company: Discofoon
Catalog: VD 7063
Year: 1969
Country/State: Holland
Grade (cover/record): VG/VG
Comments: Dutch pressing
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 4708
Price: $200.00
Cost: $66.00
Outside of Holland and hardcore collecting circles these guys are all but unknown, which is ashamed given they were quite a talented outfit.
Ironically, while I was living in Belgium in the late 1970s I could have picked up copies of this LP (and their other two studio sets) for about $5 - $7 a pop. Unfortunately my money went to bands like The Doobie Brothers and Peter Framption ... what was I thinking?
Group 1850 (I gather the Dutch spelling is Groep 1850), morphed out of The Hague-based beat band The Klits (yes it was slang for clitoris). The original line up consisted of drummer Beer Klaasse, singer/keyboardist Peter Sjardin, lead guitarist Daniel van Bergen and bass player Rob de Rijke (who was quickly replaced by Rudd van Buren.
By 1966 the band was active on the Dutch club circuit, opening for a wide variety of English and American acts, including The Kinks, Pink Floyd, The Stones, The Troggs and even The Mothers of Invention. They also scored a recording contract with Paul Acket's small Yep Records, releasing an instantly obscure single 'Misty Night'' b/w 'Look Around' (Yep catalog number 1013).
Their growing popularity caught the attention of Philip with signed them to a contract, releasing a pair of psychedelic-flavored singles:
- 1967's 'I Know (La Pensee)' b/w 'I Want More' (Philips catalog number J333835
- 1967's 'Mother No-Head' b/w 'Ever Ever Green (Philips catalog number J333901)
Following the release of their 1968 debut "Agemos Trip To Mother Earth" the band collapsed. Klaasse, van Bergen and van Buren ended up forming Boots. Klassee then went on to join Finch. Within a year Sjardin reformed the band, recruiting a new line up consisting of guitarist Dave Duba, bassist Dolf Geldolf and drummer Martin van Duynhoven.
Released by the Dutch DIscofoon label, 1969's "Paradise Now" sports a sound that's quite different from the debut. Ditching the hippy-dippy, pop-psych sentiments of the first album, the sophomore album features a much tougher and darker sound complete with plenty of pounding guitar (courtesy of Duba). Musically the results aren't particularly focused, with the band thrashing around in a mixture of progressive, blues-rock and even Hendrix-inspired psych ('Purple Sky'). That said, the combination of heavily accented English vocals, totally nonsensical lyrics (check out ''Friday I'm Free') and the group's obvious enthusiasm for the material makes it kind of endearing and this one truly does grow on your the more you play it. While I don't have a large collection of Dutch music, I'll put this one in my top-5 list.
"Paradise Now" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Paradise Now (Daniel van Bergen - Peter Sjardin) - 5:22
2.) Friday I'm Free (David Duba - Peter Sjardin) - 2:54
3.) Hunger (Daniel van Bergen - Peter Sjardin) - 4:54
4.) Circle (David Duba - Peter Sjardin) - 1:08
5.) Lonelyness (David Duba - Daniel. van Bergen - Peter Sjardin) - 2:16
(side
2)
1.) Martin en Peter (instrumental)
(Martin van Duinhoven - Peter Sjardin) - 1:55
2.) ? ! (instrumental) (David Duba - Peter Sjardin) -
3.) Purple Sky (David Duba - Peter Sjardin) - 10:53