Dátar-Dátar (1966)

After sitting through the first six tracks of the abysmal garbage that was the album Horrified by Repulsion, I have decided to review something more decent. That is the 1966 debut EP by Dátar. This band were from Iceland, and they were one of Iceland’s two clones/soundalikes of the Beatles. The second Icelandic Beatles clone being Thor’s Hammer (not to be confused with the Polish NSBM band of the same name).

In a country with no television stations at the time, Dátar gained widespread popularity in Iceland through their recordings. Sadly, throughout the band’s history, all of the members have died except for one, their bass player Jón Pétur Jónsson.

I have in no possible way a copy of this recording in my possession, but someone uploaded all of the band’s songs on YouTube, in chronological order.

The tracks:

“Leyndarmál”-This song is more in the soft rock category, like the Beatles song “Till There Was You”. This is driven by both guitar and gentle Farfisa organ.

“Alveg Ær”-This is practically the most catchy song on the EP, featuring really bouncy organ and really interesting drum work. The harmony vocals also live up to their charm in this track. The organ solo is really something special, too.

“Kling Klang”-Not to be confused with the Kraftwerk song of the same name, this track goes in a more James Bond-style secret agent music approach, with the guitars, bass and organ going towards a more awesome approach. You also hear some chiming bells that stays with the theme of the song. 

“Cadillac”-The only English-sung track on the EP, this is a catchy cover of the song “Brand New Cadillac” by Vince Taylor and the Playboys. The song quickens in tempo at the end. The English vocals in this song have a tiny bit of an Icelandic drawl.

In conclusion, this is one of the best collections of Icelandic beat music recordings ever made. It’s an awesome listen, and it’s a good way to calm me down from that abysmal grindcore garbage!

To check out this, and Dátar’s second EP, check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx43wBFX4_M

The Rutles-The Rutles (1978)

The Rutles were a fictional Beatles pastiche/parody band created by members from Monty Python and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, first created for a parody program from the 1970’s called Rutland Weekend Television, before moving on to become the focus of a made-for-TV mockumentary called All You Need is Cash. Neil Innes, a member of the Bonzos and the creative force of the Rutles, actually appeared with his band in the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour film, performing the song “Death Cab for Cutie”. I bought the soundtrack for the mockumentary, also the Rutles’ self-titled debut album, on vinyl at a store called Thrifty Joe’s. I remember seeing bits and pieces of the original mockumentary, and after listening to the soundtrack, I would like to say that it is a fine piece of novelty rock and parody music that pre-dates “Weird Al” Yankovic.

Here are the songs, in order (note: this was the tracklisting from the original vinyl):

“Hold My Hand”-This song is a parody of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” and “All My Loving”. The original vinyl pressing, which is the one I have, begins with a collage of hairdryer noises and the Rutles tuning up. However, this was not included on the CD reissue.

“Number One”-A parody of “Twist and Shout” that is in a much quicker tempo, and slightly more rocking, than the original Beatles version. In fact, the melody sounds like they were also taking inspiration from “La Bamba” by Ritchie Valens.

“With A Girl Like You”-A clever parody of “If I Fell” that begins with the line “shoot me down in flames if I should tell a lie”. This opening lyric showcases the type of humor the Rutles has.

“I Must Be in Love”-A parody of “A Hard Day’s Night” that is also a bit more different than the original.

“Ouch!”-A clever parody of “Help!”.

“Living in Hope”-A parody of “Octopus’ Garden” that has a more country tone to it.

“Love Life”-A parody of “All You Need is Love” that features an orchestra that sounds like something out of a TV variety show compared to the baroque arrangements of the original version.

“Nevertheless”-A parody of “Within You, Without You” that sounds as raga-inspired as the aforementioned.

“Good Times Roll”-This parody of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” has similar psychedelic lyrics, but are more silly. For instance, there is a pineapple pie in the sky!

“Doubleback Alley”-This parody of “Penny Lane” has lyrics that sound way more average than the Beatles version.

“Cheese and Onions”-This parody of “A Day in the Life” sounds more laid-back and depressed, with the lead vocals sounding as nasally as they could get. The orchestral crescendo parody sounds more baroque, and the crashing piano chord is replaced with a very short note.

“Another Day”-A clever parody of “Martha My Dear” with rather baroque-sounding string and brass arrangements.

“Piggy in the Middle”-This parody of “I Am the Walrus” contains a backwards message (backed by an electronic noise) which, when played backwards, says, “This little piggy went to maaaaaaaaarket!”.

“Let’s Be Natural”-The original album closes with a parody of “Dear Prudence”.

If you want to listen to a true Beatles parody, go ahead and check out the Rutles. Their music is great!

“Where is the Edge” (“Где тот край”) by Sokol (Сокол), OR Could the Soviet Russians Have Invented Arena Rock in the 1960’s Without the World Realizing It?

Sokol, whose name is Russian for The Falcons, were the first Russian rock group to form in the Soviet Union (however, the very first Soviet rock group was a Latvian band from 1961 called The Revengers). Sokol were named after the district of Moscow where the band members lived. In a time where the communist government of the Soviet Union placed very strong restrictions on rock music to the point of almost banning it, Sokol performed underground concerts and recorded songs privately. Some of these recordings can easily be found online, particularly through YouTube. The band’s only practical official release was a couple of songs they recorded for an animated short film from 1968 called Film, Film, Film, which was distributed by the state-run animation firm Soyuzmultfilm.

Some recordings were released on compilation albums, but their legal status is not certain. I discovered a recording by Sokol that was dated to be recorded in 1965, and it didn’t sound like beat, rock n’ roll, or pop. Instead, the song, entitled “Where is the Edge” (Russian: “Где тот край”), consists of something that is so ahead of its time that it sounded like it came from the mid-to-late 1980’s. In fact, this means that the Soviet Union invented arena rock without the world realizing it!

I discovered this song as I was looking up stuff from Sokol on YouTube, and I clicked on the video with the song in it, and after listening to it for the first time, I thought it was the greatest Russian song I had ever heard. The music was full of killer guitar solos, like a cross between Journey’s Neal Schon and famed session guitarist Steve Lukather, synthesizer, stellar drumming, and typical mid-60’s rock instruments like Hammond B3 organ and acoustic piano. I even translated the video’s description from Russian to English, and it said that the song did come from 1965, and I even YouTube searched songs with the same Russian title, and three results for the same Sokol song came up first. I even noticed the recording quality, which sounds like it came from a reel-to-reel recording, which is typical by 1960’s rock music standards.

The whole song structure all makes sense because eight years before the song was recorded, in 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I into outer space, beginning the legacy of new frontiers in space travel. This also meant that the Soviets were constructing and innovating more and more electronic technologies.

You can check out the song here at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x3BxbtBxtw