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Sunday, April 10, 2011

Junior's Eyes - Battersea Power Station (1967-69 uk, awesome heavy psych prog blues rock)



Junior's Eyes are one of the more well-known unknowns -- if such an oxymoron can be applied -- of the late-'60s British psychedelic scene. Most people who have seen any reference to them at all are apt to know them only as an act that served as David Bowie's backup group briefly in the late '60s. Mick Wayne, Junior's Eyes' lead guitarist and songwriter, played guitar on Bowie's "Space Oddity" and some of Bowie's other recordings.

Prior to forming Junior's Eyes, he had briefly been in the Hullaballoos, a lightweight British Invasion band that had a bit of success in the States. He had also been in the Bunch of Fives with ex-Pretty Things drummer Viv Prince. As part of the Tickle, he wrote their sole 1967 single, "Subway (Smokey Pokey World)," one of the greatest obscure psychedelic 45s. He also played acoustic guitar on James Taylor's Apple album.

All of these interesting peripheral contributions might lead one to suspect that Junior's Eyes' 1969 album, Battersea Power Station, could be a hidden nugget of psychedelia. Other than Wayne, Junior's Eyes' personnel was variable during its brief existence. Members of some note who played in the lineup at some point included drummer John Cambridge, who went on to another David Bowie backup band, the Hype; guitarist Tim Renwick, who much later would play with Pink Floyd; and Steve Chapman, who later played drums with Poco.

After Junior's Eyes broke up in early 1970, Wayne went on to session work and a stint with the Pink Fairies. Battersea Power Station was reissued on CD by Castle in 2000, with the addition of three non-LP singles, four demos, and both sides of the Tickle's 1967 single.
by Richie Unterberger


Tracks
1. Total Power - 1:11
2. Circus Days - 3:42
3. Imagination - 6:09
4. My Ship - 2:47
5. Miss Lizzie - 2:53
6. So Embarrassed - 3:18
7. Freakin' - 1:51
8. Playtime - 3:55
9. I'm Drowning - 1:25
10.White Light - 6:38
11.By the Tree - 5:02
12.Mr. Golden Trumpet Player - 2:25
13.Blake Snake - 2:39
14.Woman Love - 2:39
15.Starchild - 3:57
16.Sink or Swim - 3:24
17.Circus Days (Single Version) - 2:56
18.White Light (Demo) - 5:14
19.By The Tree (Demo) - 3:52
20.Imagination (Demo) - 3:46
21.Playtime (Demo) - 3:57
22.Subway (Smokey Pokey World) - 2:39
23.Good Evening - 2:37
All songs by Mick Wayne
Songs 22-23 as The Tickle

Junior's Eyes
*Mick Wayne - Guitar, Vocal
*Tim Renwick - Guitar
*Graham Kelly - Guitar
*John Lodge - Bass
*John Cambridge - Drums

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18 comments:

  1. G'day Marios,hope all is well.
    Part 2 on both D/L sites not working.
    Anyway thanks in advance,this is a great album.
    Shall up some stuff soon just increased bandwidth.

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  2. Hi Hotroder,
    All links are working.

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  3. Thanks a lot my friend Marios, this is an amazing album.

    I understand Hotroder above.
    I had a hard time trying to get Hotfile to download, it would continue telling me that my turn had expired, even though no time had passed at all.
    I had to change to another computer..

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  4. I think hotfile had trouble the other night but all o.k now.

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  5. This passed out of my sight, but seems interesting. Hope both parts will work fine. Thanks a lot.

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  6. Got a chance to listen to it this evening and I think it's GREAT!

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  7. Excellent post sir! Thank you.

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  8. Μάριε πολλά ευχαριστώ για αυτήν εδώ την ανάρτηση!!!

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  9. Hi There

    Where can I but an LP (vinyl) version of this re-release.

    Cheers
    Peter

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  10. Casbahs,
    give the link I'll add it along with the other links (Lossless i presume, artwork including).
    Thank you.

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  11. I'm enjoying this very much. Thanks Marios!

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  12. The Links are dead, is there any possibility of a re-up, please?

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  13. Is that THE John Lodge of the Moody Blues on Bass?

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  14. Snosbig, no this is John 'Honk' Lodge no connection with the Moody Blues bassist,
    John "Honk" Lodge worked with David Bowie and Twink.

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  15. link down, please re-up, thank you......

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  16. Cañamón, "Junior's Eyes - Battersea Power Station", reloaded..

    ReplyDelete