Stoned and Dethroned

Today, as soon as I entered my job, I was given a free carrot cupcake. Not only was it delicious, but it uplifted my perspective of my office comrades. I thought they were all weird introspective, egotistical, timid losers; all on a passive agressive power trip and "out ta get me", and in reality, some of them (or at least one of them) wanted to give me a cupcake. So selfless! On top of all that I got a random spam email letting me know that the Kottonmouth Kings are coming to San Francisco, so I'm SUPER EXCITED and will devote the next couple of days to securing tix for me and my posse. Generally, I'm feeling good and I hope that my mood translates into my post.

I'll keep it short and sweet and a bit off the beaten disco/funk path. Instead, lets go into some psychedelic pop territory.

Del Shannon recorded Home and Away with longtime Rolling Stones Manager/Producer Andrew Loog Oldham in 1967 in London. At this point Del Shannon's teen rebel icon had entirely faded, and he was an old dog trying to be relevant in a psychedelic world. He wrote some amazing heartbreak pop in tunes for these sessions a la the Beach Boys or the Zombies around the same period, but the label decided to shelve the album, and it never saw an official re-release until a couple of years back.
Del Shannon - Mind Over Matter
Del Shannon - He Cheated

Next up, The Pretty Things, who among psychedelic obsessives are pretty well know for most of their early material/singles, and their landmark (and horribly recorded) album SF Sorrow. Seriously try to listen to SF Sorrow with headphones on; the panning alone, will make you want to throw up in your ears. I think I even got vertigo from listening to it once whilst tipsy on the liquor (regardless there are some great and innovative songs on that album, I don't want to come off as a total dick). However, it seems that they are not too well known for the Parachute album that followed, which I think is their ultimate masterpiece. Rolling Stone magazine actually prized it as the album of the year in 1970, and I guess its the only time that a Rolling Stone "album of the year" has undersold gold status. Another factoid to include is that this album was made in the same studio where the Beatles recorded (Abbey Road in London), and it was produced by Norman Smith, who was the Beatles' engineer.
The Pretty Things - Grass