TAGES Extra Extra 1967 ORIG SWEDISH MOD FREAKBEAT PSYCH LP Zombies Beatles HEAR

$

93

TAGES!  "EXTRA EXTRA" LP

ORIGINAL 1967 LP ON THE Swedish PLATINA LABEL, STEREO PALP 3003

COVER IN VG++ shape, nice, small bit of tape on bottom right edge

VINYL plays VG, noise mostly under music

VERY RARE ORIGINAL 1967 stereo pressing of the Tages "Extra Extra" LP on the Swedish Platina label.  How many times do you see this one, if ever?  The title of the album implies some breaking news, and it's right.  Listen as Sweden's finest beat soul bands (they were around since 1963 playing mostly r&b/beat covers) grows by leaps and bounds on this album.  Here the band gives us 6 originals and 6 covers - an improvement of the previous album, "Tages 2" - and the originals show the band incorporating some very creative influences.  The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" is a clear influence on some of these songs, as is the Small Faces - elsewhere, you'd swear the band was influenced by "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Odyssey and Oracle" until you realize that those albums hadn't even been RELEASED yet!  Which makes the Tages accomplishments on this little-known album even more remarkable.  The opening song "Mohair Sam" is less like Mustang Sally's brother and more like a combination of "96 Tears" and "Hey Bulldog", with a pounding piano line like the latter and some swirling organ like the former.  It ends with some trippy backwards effects, ushering in the psychedelic scene to remote Scandinavia, which cross neatly into the next track, the utterly trippy "Secret Room".  The backwards cymbals that ended "Mohair Sam" provide the rhythm for "Secret Room", much like Jimi Hendrix did with "Are You Experienced?" (again, the Tages were FIRST!).  The song glides along on this trippy bed with a nice chunky freakbeat bassline, while the melody is strikingly similar to the Zombies "Care of Cell 44" (don't even need to mention that the Zombies were still at least a year away from writing that melody).  The gentle baroque orchestrated nursery rhyme melody that anchors "Gone Too Far" continues in the "Odyssey and Oracle" style, while a straight cover of the Small Faces "Understanding" provides a link to their soul-influenced dancefloor past.  Even the old rockabilly rave-ups like "Howlin' For My Baby" are tripped-up in the early Who mod freakbeat style - this one opens with some sounds-great-on-headphones cuckoo clock sound effects, followed by an ear-piecing scream and the sound of either something breaking or someone falling down the stairs.  The Tages save the best for last - the almost-title track "Extra" is a beautifully-realized, extremely intricate Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" homage that sounds like the Dukes of Stratosphere's "Pale and Precious" 30 years earlier.  The Tages replicate Brian Wilson's sound perfectly - the metronome-like rhythm, melodies that change constantly and hinge on some very intricate, lush vocal harmonies, faroff clattering percussion including some dramatic tympani, big church organ, some odd early synthesizer touches - it's all very "Heroes and Villains/Good Vibrations", and it's all very, very good.  Possibly one of the finest Brian Wilson-styled creations NOT created by Brian Wilson.  And all this from a Swedish band way back in late 1966/early 1967.  And while Jimi Hendrix, the Zombies and the Small Faces might not EVER cite the obscure Tages as an influence, in many ways, the obscure Tages got there first.  Extra Extra, indeed.  Hear all about it right here.  

PLEASE NOTE I NO LONGER SHIP TO ITALY DUE TO A CORRUPT POSTAL SYSTEM (THERE, NOT HERE).  BUYERS FROM ITALY AGREE TO PAY FOR GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL INSURED ONLY!

The less exciting stuff

Media mail shipping with delivery confirmation starts at $4.00 in the US, with each additional record only $1 additional shipping.  Overseas shipping has, unfortunately, gone way up in the fast few months, which translates to $15 for the first LP to Canada ($3 each one thereafter) and $24 for the first LP everywhere else in the world, with each add'l LP an extra $5 (so it pays to buy more, nudge nudge wink wink).   I accept payments through Paypal. 

I try to grade as best as I can, and I list as many blemishes/imperfections I can find (writing, ringwear, scuff marks, etc.) – Also, please note that I DO listen to these albums – I may not listen to every track, but my grades are based on LISTENING, not just looking at it, since chances are you’ll be listening to the record you buy, not just looking at it.  Most of the albums I sell are the ones I’ve enjoyed for years – and I treat my records with kid gloves.  But sounds speak louder than words, so check out the sound clips below – they’re from the actual record you’re bidding on. 

SHIPPING AND PACKAGING

Listen, I buy a bunch of records too (when I’m not getting outbid at the last second, which is more often than not) – and I know what it’s like to get a rare, one-of-a-kind album packaged dangerously in a flimsy bubblewrap package.  I hate that too.  So rest assured, I ALWAYS package albums with stiff cardboard reinforcements, same for 45s.  And yes, the records are removed from the sleeves (for albums).  I ship out once a week, every Friday, because I have a regular day job.  But I’d be willing to give that up if you’d all be so kind as to bid my items up to stupidly high amounts. 

 For more security and international tracking, you may request GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL - but bear in mind the cost of this service is upwards of $30.  For expensive items, however, it may be well worth it.  Unfortunately, there isn’t a cost-effective way of tracking parcels to foreign countries yet, and shipping times vary depending on your country’s postal system.   Italy in particular seems to be really bad at delivering packages quickly, or delivering packages at all, now that you mention it.  I will always email you when your package ships, but once it’s on its way, please don’t ask me when it will arrive because I don’t know.  If the world’s postal systems can ever agree on a universal tracking system that’s affordable, I’ll be the first to use it.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN…

I will always leave positive feedback for successful transactions, and would appreciate the same in return.  All I ask of you is the following – please pay for your items within 14 days of the close of auction.  Compared to other sellers, that’s a generous amount of time, so if you don’t pay within 2 weeks, then I have to assume something’s wrong.  You’ll get an Ebay payment reminder at that point, and possibly a decapitated horse head in your bed.  If, after 30 days, you still haven’t forked up the cash, I’ll relist the item and yell at you if I ever see you in town.