MARCH HARE 1968 RARE UK freakbeat psych 45 KOOBAS HEAR
$
183
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Description
With all the rampant Alice in Wonderland imagery of the psychedelic late 60’s, it’s no surprise someone had to eventually call themselves the March Hare. This is the British band that got there first, in 1968, with their single “Cry My Heart” b/w “With My Eyes Closed” on the UK Chapter One label. And even though both sides are musically a lot less lysergic than you might expect from an Alice-inspired moniker – more like classic English freakbeat in the Honeybus/Koobas tradition – this particular March Hare waste no time in setting the Lewis Carroll mood in the opening lines of “With My Eyes Closed”:
“I’m not really dead,
I just go out of my head,
With my eyes closed.”
Which was just the kind of imagery audiences were looking for in 1968. And if the accompanying music wasn’t exactly Syd Barrett trippy, it was certainly a nice piece of Swinging London sunshine pop with a great freakbeat chorus. That comparison to the Koobas isn’t random, either, since the March Hare included former Koobas singer and guitarist Stu Leathwood as one of its members.
“Cry My Heart,” on the other hand, was all about the big British pop sound – big dramatic vocals, big sweeping orchestration, big classically-inspired grand piano melody, and big, pleading, weepy Left Banke lead vocals. The dramatic, slow verses simmer like Procol Harum’s “Salty Dog” or “Homburg,” leading into an unexpected, shakin’ salsa-flavored chorus with gigantic big booming orchestra crashes. Subtlety be damned on this one. Suffice to say, if you’re a fan of the Fading Yellow baroque pop scene, this little single won’t be delivered by your friendly postman if you win – more likely it’ll be flown down from the heavens by angels on high, and placed gently in your sweaty quivering palms. Any fan of Honeybus, Sheridan and Price and the late 60’s Hollies will likewise be lucky to catch a vision of this most holiest of vinyl miracles. And yet, strangely enough, neither side of this glorious single has yet to be comped. Heathens!
Original 1968 pressing on the UK Chapter One label. Vinyl looks flawless, plays EXCELLENT to NEAR MINT.
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