Dedications: My four late friends Rory, Stan, Bryan, Jeff - shine on you crazy diamonds, they would have blogged too. Then theres Garry from Brisbane, Franco in Milan, Mike now in S.F. / my '60s-'80s gang: Ned & Joseph in Ireland; in England: Frank, Des, Guy, Clive, Joe & Joe, Ian, Ivan, Nick, David, Les, Stewart, the 3 Michaels / Catriona, Sally, Monica, Jean, Ella, Anne, Candie / and now: Daryl in N.Y., Jerry, John, Colin, Martin and Donal.

Thursday 14 May 2015

Design: 1970s 'sunshine pop' (& '90's Innocence)

Colin sent me a link to this intriguing and very tuneful cover of Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move" by a group, Design - it is so very 1973, this is exactly how we looked then (like me and my first colour television, right). But how come I never heard of Design before? 
There is another video clip too, showcasing their great vocal harmonies:  
Their website looks intriguing , with all the details .... http://www.designvocalgroup.com/
Its like going back to those heady days of TAKE THREE GIRLS on the BBC.

A CD of two of their albums has just arrived - I suspect Colin had something to do with it. The notes include "Tripping the light fantastic of breezy west coast harmony pop mixed with atmospheric melodic folk pop - here are the third and fourth albums by the UK six piece vocal group whose sound was described as "the perfect musical accompaniment to a garden party in the blazing sunshine". Get ready for summer then ..... 
The group were together almost 8 years, they recorded more than 150 radio shows and appeared on more than 50 television shows. They also released five albums and thirteen singles. Sadly, a foundling member, Geoff Ramseyer, died aged 25 after leaving the group in 1976 - he is in the clip above, in the floral shirt. The rest of the group later disbanded and did different things - moving to Australia etc, but got together for their reissued recordings in 2011. Thanks again, Colin. 

In a way it reminds me of this great vocal track from the 1990s, by another harmony group Innocence, and it also mixes in a hint of Pink Floyd ! Chill out then.
Comng soon: TEN SONGS OF  MY LIFE - as based on Martin's Facebook item. I think it will be more than ten though, at least twenty ... 

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