The John Schroeder Orchestra - The Dolly Catcher (1967 uk, groovy orchestrated lounge psychedelic pop, Radioactive release)

Arranged by John Cameron, The Dolly Catcher, (the title refering to pulling "dolly birds", or girls) is widely recognised as an "easy" classic and Schroeder manages to merge fuzz guitar and organ with sweeping strings and brass producing an album that is always interesting, and at times, genuinely ground breaking.

We get some great covers versions (Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, San Francisco, Up, Up and Away) along with some storming original tunes.John Schroeder ("the British answer to Burt Bacharach") is probably best known for his production work, becoming assistant to Columbia Records label chief Norrie Paramor in 1958 and producing the Eurovision runner-up in the same year, Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson's Sing Little Birdie.

During his time at Columbia Schroeder discovered the 14 year-old Helen Shapiro, writing her first hit, Please Don't Treat Me Like A Child and sharing an Ivor Novello award with co-writer Mike Hawker for another Shapiro hit, Walkin' Back To Happiness.

After a short stint with Columbia, Schroeder spent 2 productive years at Oriole, at the time the UK's only truly independent label, before departing for Pye, where he enjoyed immediate success with the Rockin' Berries, the Ivy League and Sounds Orchestral, an instrumental orchestra that enjoyed commercial success with the song, Cast Your Fate To The Wind. During his Pye years, Schroeder wrote for and produced artists such as Status Quo, Geno Washington and renewed his association with Helen Shapiro.”

Tracks
1. The Dolly Catcher - 1:56
2. San Francisco (Flowers In Your Hair) - 3:20
3. Explosive Corrosive Joseph - 2:39
4. To Wendy With Love - 2:41
5. Epistle To Dippy - 2:28
6. She'd Rather Be With Me - 2:09
7. Softly Softly Catchee Dolly - 2:31
8. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds - 3:11
9. I Was Made To Love Her - 3:08
10.Up, Up And Away - 2:07
11.But She Ran The Other Way - 2:50
12.Things I Should Have Said - 2:13

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