Friday, May 30, 2008

THE BITTER SWEETS - What A Lonely Way To Start the Summertime / Mark My Words - Cameo - 1963

All the credit for my owning this amazing record goes to Tyler Robert Farren, who not only introduced this song to me, but is also directly responsible for my purchase of it.

He came over to my humble home shortly after he had bought One Kiss Can Lead To Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found, the 4 disc Rhino collection that comes packaged in a vintage hat box, and skipped through some of the tracks that he liked the most, pointed out the Bitter Sweets song "What A Lonely Way to Start the Summertime." On surface value alone, this track sounds like a pretty typical girl group song with it's layered harmonies, pop stylings, and teenage melodrama subject matter, and even if it was a standard girl group track though, it's first rate, complete with stellar production and a looming darkness hanging above. But this track sets itself apart before it's finished. The song starts to build into a climbing crescendo, and just when you expect it to go back into the chorus, or some key change to happen, the song just cuts off, ending abruptly with just the slight reverberation on the track echoing after. It's a curious production decision, but the effect is quite amazing. Someone named Brute Force is credited as the writer, and I seem to recall him being responsible for the production as well, and I wish like hell that I could track down some more information about him. Seems like an interesting character.

The B-side, "Mark My Words," unfortunately lacks the unique production qualities of it's flip and pales in comparison. It's still a good listen, still sad and dramatic, but nothing to shit yrself about. Probably just as good as most other girl group stuff that came out around then, just no "Lonely Way."

Luckily Tyler searches ebay for records he already owns (for whatever reason) and came across a copy of this one, told me about it, and I got it for a fraction of what it's worth to me.
So, thank you, Tyler.

And.. If anybody has any more information about Brute Force, or 'Cave Sound Production,' PLEASE contact me. I gotta know what it's all about and I'm not finding anything.

Cheers,
PsychedelicElvis

1 comment:

werts said...

Yo, I think Tyler is an expert on all things or most things Brute Force. Holla at him. Also, I'll let you know on the Werts zine. It actually has to be done pretty soon.