Hello Old Thing, Hello Even Older Thing: 1

Secos & Molhados: Amor (Continental, 1973)
This is a brilliant, brilliant track I've purloined - shamelessly - from this uh-mazing compilation. There's a piece about S&M here that goes some way to explaining their wonderfulness, but, suffice to say, they were a bit like James Brown's band playing the hits of The Pentangle with a recording budget to shame The Beatles and a look that would out-smart Kiss. Does music actually get any better than that? Well, I'm not sure...

The Stained Glass: My Buddy Sin (RCA, 1966)
... But this would come pretty close. The Stained Glass formed in San Jose in 1966 - their first release was a cover of The Beatles' If I Needed Someone, which gives you some idea of where their heads were at (man). Anyway, their second single was this little beauty and there's something about the idea of a group of long-haired Californian teenagers making a record (when making a record wasn't anything like as easy as it is now) that was so obviously and gloriously influenced by English folk and church music (The Stained Glass, clever) that it makes me glad to be alive. Especially on a day as sunny as today. I mean, how where they even aware of this stuff? Anyway, I hoiked the image from eBay, while the track itself comes from this truly lovely compilation.

Enjoy!