Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Brian Protheroe - Pinball -- Chrysalis, 1974









wow , well the story behind this lp for me. the song "pinball" was recently posted by per gessle of Roxette who is one of my facebook friends - he posted it as a song of the day thing. i had never heard the song & checked it out. i really liked it. . fast forward a couple weeks & i am browsing through some records at half priced books & came across the full length Pinball LP ! - its really amazing to me that there are still gems like this yet to be found. not a dud on this one. on the whole its very ambitious & takes from many influences , i hear - beach boys , beatles , bob welch , steve miller , 10cc , queen , bowie , nilsson , emmitt rhodes - et al , ha.
i think there will be a few folks REALLY surprised to see it , as i could see how this would be a great re visit ! -- me , i am hearing it for the first time !
i am calling lost epic here ! - love to hear your own stories !!
headphones ~ ....:)

" Prior to his career as an actor on the silver and small screen in Britain, Brian Protheroe was a pop singer/songwriter primarily inspired by Paul McCartney, something that he was not alone in during the early '70s. He sits comfortably alongside such British troubadours as Elton John, Al Stewart, and Gilbert O'Sullivan, and obscurities like John Howard, who along with Protheroe was revived on RPM's excellent soft rock installment in their Lipsmackin 70's series, 2003's Zigzag: 20 Junkshop Soft Rock Singles 1970-1974. Protheroe's exquisite "Pinball" opened up Zigzag, setting the wheels in motion for EMI's 2006 set, Pinball and Other Stories, the first CD compilation of Protheroe's work to see release on CD. Unlike Howard, who truly was a maverick, Protheroe was quintessentially English in his understatement and impeccable taste, borrowing the best from McCartney, whether it's his ballad style or his enduring taste for vaudeville camp. But far from being a mess of affectations and influences, Protheroe was a sharp craftsman of soft pop, blessed with a gift for melody and a wry wit, along with possessing a fondness for lush, layered productions that makes him a quintessentially '70s singer/songwriter, yet the craftiness behind his music means that this collection of highlights from his '70s albums is far from a mere artifact: the craft helps these songs transcend their era of origin even if the sound of the recordings effortless evokes its time. Which, of course, is a large part of the appeal of Pinball -- this smartly selected collection of highlights showcases Protheroe at his best as a pop craftsman, and even if he's hardly the genius of McCartney, or as commercial as either Elton or O'Sullivan or as eccentric as Stewart, fans of any of those four '70s pop songwriters will find this pretty close to irresistible. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine "

Released in 1974, Pinball was a very minor hit (number 22 for a week) in the UK. It had no chart action in the US. It is the title cut of an album also called Pinball, which like the non-hit single tends toward the quiet, introspective side of glam. Protheroe did two more albums and they stiffed harder than his debut. One of the reasons for Protheroe's lack of success is that he was at heart an actor and would rather spend his time on stage doing Shakespeare, Chekhov, and Pinter than playing the ol' sing song. Thus Pinball, as his other records, was made between acting gigs. Protheroe's last big theatrical splash? He played Saruman in The Lord of The Ring



Brian Protheroe - Pinball -- (Chrysalis, 1974) CHR1065
MP3@ 320 kbps - includes back cover / lyrics high rez scan !
[ cause these lyrics are kewl - ha ]
ALL TRAX FROM WAX - AKASHAMAN - 2010

1. Clog Dancer
2. Money Love
3. Moon Over Malibu
4. Mickey Dollar Dreams
5. Goodbye Surprise
6. Pinball
7. Kinotata
8. Changing My Tune
9. Monkey
10. Lady Belladonna
11. Fly Now
12. Interview / Also In The limelight
13. Wrong Kinotata

DOWNLOAD -- HERE --



28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much from Italy,you're come back.Is great!!

Unknown said...

Very nice

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the Protheroe - this is a wonderful pop record, and a genuine lost classic.

akashaman said...

thats what I thought ! , ha - your very welcome ; all is ask is turn it up !

aka

ge said...

hey if youre gonna post this you oughta post SON OF OBITUARY! -G.Gerdes-- haha
W-welcome back to d'fray.

I got this alvin as a promo when i wrote for a local arts rag in Boulder in the 70's!--- i recall just liking the title cut much---hey with early Roxy & Eno et al to be spun [what i was into]....!

akashaman said...

ha , dunno anything about SON OF OBITUARY ? another lost classic ?
ha , wow crazy u had this back in the day , maybe upon the revisit you will dig more of the trax !

thanks for feedback

aka`

Jim Allen said...

What a lovely surprise, thanks!

Anonymous said...

shaman! great to have you back -- and with a ton of great posts right off the bat. thanks! really looking forward to hearing this one. (I've been enjoying your blog for years. The first Blue record has become a real fave and I have you to thank for it. And I love the Willow record -- been looking for their 2nd record.)

akashaman said...

thanks bro : u need to get back to me on this one , cause its blowin` my mind ! ha
i am gonna cover the title track soon , will be fun

ya that BLUE is the best As is that willow ~

grab that planet p if u never heard it as well !

thanks

aka`

Mad Shadows said...

Thanks for another great selection. I could never understand why "Pinball" wasn't a huge hit! When I saw this on your blog, I went ga-ga. Until now, I'd only heard "Pinball" and the B-side("Money Love"). This record is filled with great songs; not a bad one on here. I've been listening to this and "The Very Best Of Orpheus" all day. Brilliant stuff.
Thanks again, Sean

Andrei said...

Hi, Akashaman,

Thanks a lot for Brian Protheroe, very difficult to find anywhere nowadays! I was lookin' for a long time. Don't you have other records by him?

Best regards,
Andrei

Anonymous said...

thanks for this great album...had the single back then but missed out on the album, so this makes amends!Keep up the great work!

Unknown said...

Hey, cool! I was looking for this one for a long time. Thanks.

Now for a small gripe: Is it possible that the rip is defective (Sounds like L-R because of loose ground connection)? I compared your rip to a (partial) torrent download and the stereo image seems much more defined, and the bass much clearer on the torrent files.

Anyway, yours are complete, so thanks again.

staqUUR

akashaman said...

hey jaf _ this may be one of the lp`s that got out of phase due to me mis wiring my new cartridge. DOH - i fixed the file & re uploaded it , let me know if this has been fixed ,
i believe it has !?

dont have his others yet guys , but seeking !

thanks

akashaman said...

uploaded new file !! fixed phasing probs : i hope ? let me now , thanks

Unknown said...

Well, after some digging around I figured it out myself, inverted one channel and wham! cool sound all around.

Thanks for the post, the repost and your prompt reply.

staqUUR

akashaman said...

that`ll do it! -- amazing LP huh ?
i cant stop listening to it. coolest stuff i have found in years ~

Anonymous said...

HI! I'd love to download this (I was looking for "I/YOU" but this is great too) and I keep getting directed to
http://www.flvdirect.com/
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks!
laurel

akashaman said...

not sure what u r doin wrong ; there are 9 different download links , surely one of them will work for you ?

Anonymous said...

Got it now; thanks! trouble with Safari; no prob on Firefox. Thanks for posting this - you've got great stuff here! (and if you have I/You... *hint*)
cheers,
Laurel

Unknown said...

It was way cool when it came out all those years ago and I was a kid. I still keep this one around; my (1970s) vinyl was really wasted.

Check out Clog dancer, Monkey and Mickey Dollar Dreams. they're my favorites.

BTW, I noticed your rip is missing two short (songs? odd bits?) whatevers, "Kino Tata" and "Wrong Kino Tata". Please email me to staqUUR(at)gmail and I'll send then to you.

Thanks again, akashaman

jaf

akashaman said...

thanks jaf , but TMI ! ha - those two songs are on the rip , just not labeled as such , they r at the end of their respective songs.

this is one of my fave lp`s ever now , ha - gonna try & cover mickey dollar dreams someday soon!

love it ! 5 stars

kedgeman said...

What a great album. A real blast from the past for me

Many Thanks

For those who wanted I-You. I found this link.

http://rapidshare.com/files/378382834/Brian_Protheroe_-_I-You.rar

akashaman if you don't like me posting it on your blog then happily upload it to your wonderful multi links

akashaman said...

kedgeman - imagine my surprise when i spun it for the first time never hearing it before just a year ago or so ! an instant classic ~
thanks so much for "I-You" link - hard to find as well !
um , you rok !

aka

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this - I adored the single when it was released - even though this album is all over the place I wanted to hear it again as soon as it had played out. Have also grabbed some other albums from you, again - thanks!

Anonymous said...

Basta in the Netherlands has his lps on cd in a boxset called "Brian's Big Box."

ps - thanks for the brian hyland.

zappahead said...

I really forgot about the track Pinball.....but listening to it made memories flood back.....excellent song and im hoping the album will be as good but im sure it will....thank you once again for your impeccable taste and your superb blog...cheers.

R.W. said...

Any chance you'd be willing to repost this one?