While going through my massive piles of CDs that I haven't had time to listen to yet (at least not very much), I came across a release called The Best of Vanity Fare. I spotted this band on a bubblegum website several months ago and decided to give it a try.
Vanity Fare, originally called The Avengers, were a lot like the other British 70s bands like Edison Lighthouse and anything else connected to Macaulay and Macleod - sunny, soft-sounding, baroque-tingled, melodic, and often absolutely gorgeous.
This band released some really wonderful melodic pop singles such as I Live for the Sun (a minor hit for a Murry Wilson-managed American band The Sunrays) and Early in the Morning already in the late 60s. Vanity Fare actually hit it big with I Live for the Sun – it was a huge hit especially in America. Vanity Fare wasn't just a cover band, though. The band also wrote original material right from the start. For instance, check out You Made Me Love You from 1969, written by keyboardist Barry Landeman.
To be honest, one of the reasons I am writing this is to get myself to listen to this band more. Music with such great harmonies, lovely melodies and optimism is always a winner – and so is anyone who listens to it.
Enjoy Hitchin' a Ride, from Top of the Pops, 1970! The band is understandably misspelled by the uploader here.
2 comments:
Hitchin' a Ride was covered by Paper Lace later in the '70s. Have you ever listened to them?
Thanks for the comment! Yeah, I do have listened to Paper Lace. Not very much, though.. I think I'll check our their music more carefully very soon. It's amazing that so much great pop was made in the 70s. I can't get enough of that stuff!
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