THE EPICS, "GOES TO SHOW..." C/W "BLUE TURNS TO GREY," HBR-480 (REL. 8/1966)

1966 is the date of today’s offering, but its sound and songs belong to 1965. The Epics never rose above obscurity—three unsuccessful singles for UK labels—but had their second single issued in the US by HBR, the short-lived record company of Hanna-Barbera productions. The HBR catalog is a curious affair. After 49 kiddie-record releases, most connected to their world-famous slate of poorly animated TV cartoons, HBR embraced popular music, and issued garage bands, Northern Soul-worthy Black music, instrumentals (including a rendition, by Shorty Rogers and his modern jazz combo, of the theme song to Jonny Quest) and early psychedelia.

You can't make this **** up.

Much of these tracks were licensed from regional labels; some came from LA-based groups. A few odd hits, such as “I See the Light” by garage band The Five Americans, offset a sheaf of flops, including today’s single. HBR folded in early 1967; late in their catalog reside some of their most-wanted releases.

No one paid much attention to The Epics, who epitomize the faceless UK beat group. They relied on others’ songs (a surprise given the dominance of original songwriting in rock music) and performed them with sufficient skill and expression to get them a recording contract.

HBR wasn’t big on quality control, and for the A-side’s rendition of “Goes to Show (Just How Wrong You Can Be),” the composers are listed as “P.F. Sloman – S. Barri.” Regulars to this daily series will suss out this typo fast. It’s our pals Phil Sloan and Steve Barri in one of their most-covered songs that was never a hit for anyone. (We heard a 1966 rendition by Joey Paige a year or so back.)

The group follow Sloan and Barri’s demo version to the letter, down to Sloan’s guitar riffs. They simplify some of the lyric and alter the melody of the song’s expressive bridge (to its detriment); otherwise, their performance is earnest and workmanlike. It’s a record anyone of musical competence might make; it captures the mien of popular music circa 1965 and is an ideal anthropological specimen.

Hear it >>>>> HERE. <<<<<

On the B is one of Keith Richard and Mick Jagger’s most-covered songs that was a hit for UK faves Cliff Richard and The Shadows. “Blue Turns to Grey” was one of this notorious duo’s most pop-friendly pieces and on this side The Epics rise to the occasion. Their performance is more energetic and convincing here. Again, they simplify some lyrics, but they stick to the established melody and the band plays its parts with vigor and sincerity. Their three-part vocal harmonies also impress.

There were a thousand bands like The Epics who played town halls, youth centers, church dances, village fetes and city clubs throughout the UK. None of them had pretensions to conquer the musical world; few wrote original material or entertained its notion. They made music for people to dance to and enjoy. Nothing they did was memorable, but the music they made was reliable. To this day, the world accords plenty of space for their likes.

Hear it >>>>> HERE. <<<<<

The Epics’ Pye contract ended. Two years passed and then they made a final single for CBS Records, where they performed songs written and produced by Allen Blakely, who was part of the eccentric hits by the long-names Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich. The A-side, “Travelling Circus,” has one of the earliest uses of a drum machine on a pop record. Little good it did the musical world of 1968; the single died in silence and, with it, The Epics’ recording career, minor though it was.

Tomorrow: The Majority, another little-known UK group, via a super-rare US issue on London Records. A catchy song by Carter-Lewis coupled with a pensive group original on a more substantial outing.