Scorpion (1969 Tower Lp)

Scorpion were Bob Babitt (bass), Mike Campbell (vocals), Ray Monette (guitar), and Andrew Smith (drums). "A strong local Detroit, Michigan band's only album, containing hard rock with a funky edge. Bob Babitt and Andrew Smith became well-known session musicians in the seventies, playing on albums by Alice Cooper, Jimi Hendrix, Yoko Ono, Alexis Korner, Four Tops, Temptations and manyothers. Ray Monette joined Rare Earth for several albums". (Fuzz, Acid & Flowers)

Rustix "Come On People" (1970 Rare Earth Lp)

Rustix were Chuck Brucato (vocals), Ron Collins (bass), David Colon (drums), Bob D'Andrea (guitar), Vinnie Strenk (Hammond B3), and Al Galich (lead vocals). The band formed in 1967, and signed to Rare Earth Records, a Motown Records subsidiary named after the band Rare Earth. Prior to signing with Rare Earth, the group had been a popular attraction in upstate New York, opening for Jimi Hendrix and Soft Machine at one point. Among their singles were "Can't You Hear the Music Play" and "Free Again", both from the album Bedlam, released in 1969. Bedlam peaked at #200 on the Billboard 200. A sophomore effort, Come On People, followed in 1970; both of the group's first two records were produced by R. Dean Taylor. A third album was recorded in 1972 but never released, and the group disbanded later that year. (Wikipedia)

Buchanan Brothers "Medicine Man" (1969 Event Lp)

A little too dark to be pure bubblegum music. This group of Canadians have a very interesting sound that I can't compare to anyone easily. With their covers of The Contours, The Young Rascals, and The Rolling Stones, you would think that you could lump them into a corner and forget about them. Nope. The 2 singles: "Medicine Man" and "Son of a Lovin' Man" were written by the 3 main players in the group: Cashman, Pistilli & West. They are brooding rock with groovy harmonies ala. THE JAMES GANG or early BLUE OYSTER CULT (if they had to quickly finish the session and go out to run some errands). That's a very positive review I must say.

Keep your eyes away from the grossout cover where little nude kids nonchalantly walk around waving their disgusting pink worms! Many years before another pathetic naked brat did the same on NIRVANA's "NEVERMIND". Believe it or not, this lp was recently reissued on cd and lookie lookie--- NO CENSORSHIP! (Kupa99 RYM)

The Sugar Shoppe (1968 Capitol Lp)

A popular Toronto band during the late '60s, the Sugar Shoppe released several singles during 1967-68 and a self-titled debut album for Capitol in 1968. The group comprised pianist Laurie Hood and vocalists Victor Garber, Lee Harris and Peter Mann. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide

The Sugar Shoppe came together in Toronto as a studio project in 1967. Peter Mann had relocated from New York and met up with Laurie Hood, who was in her last year of a scholarship at the University Of Toronto's Faculty of Music.

They also teamed up with Lee Harris (who had three years of vocal training), and London, Ontario native Victor Garber who was acting in the University Of Toronto's Hart House and moonlighting in coffeehouses around Toronto.

At the time of the band's inception Mann had re-arranged Bobby Gimby's anthemic song "Canada" which the band released as its first single in 1967 on Yorkville Records. They had one more single in 1967, "The Attitude", before being signed to Capitol Records for a full-length self-titled album in 1968.

Sugar Shoppe would finally move to Epic Records briefly before folding.

Laurie Hood would go on to take an office job with Toronto Sound Studio working for Terry Brown and Doug Riley. She eventually became a well-respected session singer for the likes of Klaatu (1974's 'California Jam'), Shooter, Myles And Lenny (along with Sugar Shoppe bandmate Lee Harris), and eventually for such luminaries as Anne Murray in the '80's; Victor Garber would find fame as a stage and screen actor starring in the hugely successful Hollywood blockbuster 'Titanic' and in the television series 'Alias'. (Canadian Pop Encyclopedia)

Michele "Saturn Rings" (1969 ABC Lp)

Saturn Rings by Michele O'Malley, issued on ABC in 1969, is truly one of the lost psychedelic pop masterpieces. O'Malley was a member of the Ballroom, and was a session vocalist in Los Angeles, singing backup on Tommy Roe's It's Now Winters Day and Sagittarius' Present Tense. West Coast popster and legendary crazy man Curt Boettcher (leader of the Ballroom) was heavily involved, with arrangements by Michael Melvoin and session players including Lowell George (pre-Little Feat), Bobby Notkoff (pre-Rockets), Elliot Ingber, Gordon Alexander, and Bobby Jameson (aka songwriter Chris Lucey). Boettcher either wrote or co-wrote seven of the album's 11 cuts, and sings backup on the sessions as well. To say the album bombed is an understatement. It disappeared almost upon release, and O'Malley never made another one. While the sound here is dated, there are some truly amazing moments such as "Fallen Angel," with its beautiful sawing electric violin floating through the mix above the acoustic guitars, tabla drums, and electric bass. O'Malley's voice just soars and glides between Western melody and Eastern modalism effortlessly. Some of the psychedelic pop arrangements have the feeling of some stranger than strange nostalgia -- like a sound that is familiar, but its textures are strange and alien, such as on "Spinning, Spinning, Spinning," with a harpsichord and either an oboe or soprano saxophone and strings. O'Malley wrote "Song to a Magic Frog" for Sagittarius, and the arrangement on this version is lush, full of elegant textures and richly layered instrumentation. Her voice is where the real "magic" lies, however. She moves through the melody with a meld of passion and restraint and creates hooks where there are none. The truth of the matter is, that with bands like Belle & Sebastian out there, if Saturn Rings were released today it would be regarded as a quirky masterpiece. Its production and arrangement excesses for the time -- which made it inaccessible to the masses -- would now be heard as the work of genius. Three cheers for Fallout for making this little-known classic available again. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

Sally Eaton "Farewell American Tour" (1970 Paramount Lp)

Sally Eaton is a Wiccan High Priestess, liturgist, singer and actress, whose credits include creating and playing the role of Jeanie in the stage production of the hit Broadway musical Hair, and, as a member of Doric Wilson's professional theater company TOSOS (The Other Side of Silence), acting in the Doric Wilson plays Now She Dances! and Street Theater.

In the mid-70’s she migrated to the San Francisco Bay Area, becoming a third degree Priestess in New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn, and was heavily involved in the West Coast Craft Tradition and the California revival of the Ordo Templi Orientis. With these and many other organizations Eaton shared her knowledge of acting and stagecraft— writing and directing dramatic rituals and presenting workshops on Acting as Magick.

She contributed to many of the early ADF rituals and published material, and to the music and lyrics of the songs on the album, Avalon is Rising! Her eclectic magical background ranges from Golden Dawn and O.T.O. material to Wiccan and Druidic styles, and she has presented lectures, rituals and performances at Neo-Pagan events. Her Coven Willow Star has been active since 1986. She is pursuing studies in Santeria, and in 2005 was crowned Priestess of Ochun in a traditional Cuban Ilé. Eaton remains a professional singer, best known for her rendition of the song “Air” in the hit Broadway musical Hair, and sings the blues professionally. (Wikipedia)

Norma Tanega "Walkin' My Cat Named Dog" (1966 New Voice Lp)

Norma Tanega (born 30 January 1939, Vallejo, California) was an American folk/pop singer. She was a camp counselor in the Catskills when she signed to New Voice Records in 1966. Her debut single, "Walkin' My Cat Named Dog", hit #22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, but she never came close to charting again. She retains her one-hit wonder tag to this day.

The tune was a novelty song and was quickly forgotten, but Tanega continued recording folk and folk pop material, including an album for RCA Records after moving to the United Kingdom in the 1970s. When she returned to the U.S., she got her MFA in painting and began teaching art in Claremont, California. She also began working with ceramic percussion instruments, and recorded with Brian and Amanda Ransom. She was also a member of world music ensemble Hybrid Vigor. (Wikipedia)