Thank you for purchasing Drowned Out, the only compilation album to document the important musical contributions previously overlooked in the wake of the British Invasion. While the world's youth stood transfixed by bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Who, dozens of talented acts went largely ignored by both critics and music fans alike. They went unheard. They went unheralded. That is, until now...
Technicolor Hindu Love Triangle - I'm Completely Ripped
The psychedelic masterpiece from this seminal Welsh quartet features droning odysseys like "I Don't Feel Normal," "My Hand is Melting," and "Call An Ambulance." Recorded in a sheep barn outside of Cardiff, I'm Completely Ripped captures the hopes, dreams, and fears of four severely impaired musicians. Guitarist Bertie Bolan comments, "There were these blokes called the Billboard Liberation Front, who went around modifying large advertisements in clever and subversive ways. They asked us to make a real revolutionary record. So we did this one. My brain hurts."
Wee Willy and the Wombles - The Lass I Fancy (Doesn't Fancy Me!)
This oft-neglected EP from the Southampton skiffle band offers such rainy-night classics as "Tears On Me Trousers" and "Me Heart's Been Run Over By a Lorry." Stung by a long succession of romantic rejections, lead singer Willy Quimble decided to set his bruised ego to music: "One morning, I went to see a very strange art exhibit by Mark Ryden that had all these curious children looking lonely and lost. That night, a girl who I was very fond of poured her pint down me trousers. So I got the Wombles together and recorded my pain. Can I 'ave yer banger?"
Lindsay Thistlethwaite's All-Day Excursion - Meet Me in Brighton Next Tuesday
Owing equal due to the spacey vocal stylings of Donovan and the raw animal power of Janis Joplin, ex-perfume-counter-girl Lindsay Thistlethwaite paved the way for later acts such as Pat Benatar, Ani DiFranco, and LeAnn Rimes. Thumbing her nose at the old boy network that long controlled the British music industry, Lindsay broke new ground by playing multiple instruments (bass guitar, tambourine, zither), managing her own fledgling record label, and self-promoting her grueling European tours. Unfortunately, most of her music remained inaccessible due the simple fact that it was, in the end, completely awful. Still the plaintive, warbling "(We Ain't Gonna Be Your) Net Slaves" recalls a very early Eric Burdon and can be heard from time to time on small-market classic rock radio.
Yogesh, Kamlesh, and Kaushik - Y and the 2 Ks: Live at the Khyber Pass
Emerging from the sleepy town of West Chesterfieldshire-Upon-Pudding in early 1963, Indian ex-pats Yogesh, Kamlesh, and Kaushik Rhys-Jones-Appleby shocked Queen and country by going straight to number one with the single, "I Found Two Quid in Me Jumper (Now I'm Off to Buy Mum a Curry.)" A phenomenon dubbed "Y2K Culture" soon swept across Great Britain--haberdasheries couldn't keep up with the demand for the lad's trademark woolen hats and tartan trousers. The band's management later released the single in America, re-naming it "Yea, Yea, Yea, Yea!" Despite brisk sales in the deep South, the song ultimately failed to catch on with the rest of the country. But don't rule out a resurgence: A near-mint copy of the original UK single recently sold on eBay for $5.75.
The Picadilly Willies - Gotcher Nose!
Today's groups like The Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, and 98 Degrees all owe a debt of gratitude to the original boy band: The Picadilly Willies. Arriving on the music scene decades before their time, these six pubescent, pimply boys from Chelsea found little success in their own era. One critic said, "Inexplicable thing, really. They hold their instruments convincingly and face the right direction when playing to the audience. However, it would have been advisable for the manager to find six lads that looked a little more like Tom Jones and a little less like lawn gnomes." Drowned Out features the Picadilly Willies first single, a mod-influenced tune titled "Mind the Gap, Derek."
The Beetles - Colonel Mustard's Lonely Souls Collective Band
Unfortunately, proper spelling couldn't save these Dover dance-hall dandies from being eclipsed by the mop tops from up north. This particular album serves up a host of familiar favorites, including "Loretta in the Clouds with Amethysts," "Patching up the Roof," and "When I'm Thirty-Seven." Was the record a homage or a rip-off? Drummer Bingo Twit responds, "We were inspired by a collection of Victorian trading cards, adverts for stomach tonics and the like. Those bloody Liverpudlians stole our ideas and our haircuts. Are you finished with that cabbage?"
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