Penfro Sounds

The Lucid Dream Hits Me Like I'm Stoned / Try A Little Sunshine Regal Crabomophone WINKLE 05 (2012) Originating from Carlisle in the north of England this band was formed in 2008 by Mark Emmerson and Wayne Jefferson along with Luke Anderson and Mike Denton. Although the majority of their releases were on Holy Are You Recordings, this was a one off  limited edition of 750 copies (375 on olive vinyl and 375 on blue)  released on the Fruits De Mer label subsidiary, Regal Crabomophone. The 7" single plays at  33⅓ r pm.  The a side features a Mark Emmerson composition and the flip is a cover of a 60s psychedelic track originally recorded by The Factory.  The Lucid Dream have been compared to the likes of Spacemen 3, Suicide and The Jesus and Mary Chain, along with comparisons citing The Byrds, Primal Scream and The Monkees.  Despite acclaim from the likes of NME and BBC6 Music, at the end of 2023 the band decided to call it day and parted ways. FLAC

Paul McCartney Hope Of Deliverance Parlophone CDRS 6330 (1992) This was Paul McCartney's 47th single released 28th December 1992. It entered the UK charts at #30 on 3rd Jan 1993 and peaked at #18. The single attracted luke warm reviews from the music press with Randy Clark from Cash Box writing "... is certainly not representative of the more brilliant musical work Paul has done over his 30-plus year career, although it's refreshing that he continues to enjoy the process. The intended inspiration of this track offers no solutions to the darkness that surrounds us, but it could be comforting for some to know Mr. Happy McMoneybags can still write a positive little pop song about anything." As was common at the time, the single was released in a variety of formats in this case 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, CD single and cassette single. The title track of this release later appeared on the 1993 album Off The Ground.   Track 3 & 4 only were issued on this CD single r...

Conor Oberst Hundreds Of Ways / Fast Friends Nonesuch 542125-7 (2014) Conor Oberst is perhaps best know for his output as Bright Eyes however he has played in several bands of note such as Monsters Of Folk, The Faint & Desaparecidos as well as releasing solo work.  He was one of the founding members of Saddle Creek Records along with his brother Justin. This particular 45 was released for Record Store day on 19th April 2014. A interesting snippet is that the Nonesuch label was originally started in 1964 as a budget classical music label but has developed over the years into releasing a wide variety of music genres.  The biggest change to its output started in the mid 80s under the leadership of Robert Hurwitz. The label is currently run by David Bither. FLAC

The Untamed So Long / Just Wait Decca F 12045 (1964) Born in 1945, in the west London district of Hammersmith, Lindsay Muir and family moved to the seaside town of Worthing in West Sussex in the mid-1950’s where Lindsay (vocals/guitar) performed his first gig in 1956 at the age of eleven. Duncan Pratt soon joined him on rhythm guitar while Nick Hallam played drums. Numerous drummers went through the ranks of the group, until Roger Dunbar was added as a member after answering an advertisement in a local newspaper. Graham Smith, who used the stage name of Graham Stewart, was recruited to play rhythm guitar, with Duncan deciding the group should be called The Untamed Four. In February 1964, the group won a South Coast beat contest at the Pier Pavilion in Worthing, with local rivals The Tremors placing second. Later in 1964 the group decided to turn professional, but Graham Smith quit as he didn’t want to play full time and guitarist Tony Everett replaced him.  At this point the band s...

 The Ivy League Funny How Love Can Be / Lonely Room Piccadilly 7N 35222 (1965) A fairly unaspiring 60s pop band that was formed in 1964 by John Carter, Ken Lewis and Perry Ford, all three previous session singers. Their debut single, "What More Do You Want" generated little interest but this 45, their second release, made the Top 10 here in the UK. Further hits followed, including "That's Why I'm Crying" and UK #3 "Tossing and Turning". Carter and Lewis left the band in 1966 however Perry remained with the group until 1975. Even after Perry's departure the band kept going with changing line-ups until 2017 when they performed their last show at a Pontins holiday resort in Pakefield UK. FLAC

Brenda Lee Brenda Lee's Tribute To Al Jolson EP Brunswick OE 9499 (1963) By 1963 Brenda was already a seasoned singer having first entered the UK charts in 1956 when aged only 12. This EP released just after her 19th birthday is Brenda's take on 4 classic Al Jolson songs.  Songs made famous by Jolson have for over a century been covered by many artists including the Everly Brothers, Frank Sinatra, ABBA and Aretha Franklin to name just a few. Although it was during the early 1960s that she had the most successful stage of her career, she continued recording well into the 1990s. In 2023 she celebrated the 65th anniversary of the release of her "Rocking Around The Christmas Tree".  It reached that year the US #1 spot making her at the time being 78, the oldest artist to have reached the top of the US charts. Although classed by many as a general pop singer, in 2023 Rolling Stone magazine ranked her at number 161 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. FLAC