Weekend In London
1: COME HOME / We'll Be Running / Blue Suede Shoes / Hurting Inside / I'll Never Know / 'Til the Right One
Comes Along / 2: I'm Thinking / Your Turn to Cry / Little Bitty Pretty One / Remember It's Me / Mighty Good Lovin'
ALBUM REVIEW (By Frank Young III)
This was the DC5's fifth American LP, built around two of their stongest 45's. COME HOME
is a powerfully-moving 50's-styled pop ballad, with good harmonies and some of Mike Smith's most passionate vocals.
I'M THINKING, in strong contrast, is 1:29 of punguent garage-rock, with some of Clark's
most insanely aggressive drumming. This track, (actually a b-side), is one of the DC5's little gems, full of fire
and wild energy! Smith's vocal sounds on the edge of sanity here!
The album fills out with a variety of unusual tracks, including two of the most experimental moments in the
DC5's career. TIL THE RIGHT ONE COMES ALONG has the distinction of being the only
early DC5 recording with NO percussion. A nice Beatlesque ballad, it's built around the simple strumming of an
accoustic guitar, with a strangely woeful piano providing an instrumental break. The group's vocal harmonies are
striking here...a great improvement from similiar efforts on "American Tour". The Piano coda is identical
to the close of "Satisfied With You". . .must have been one of Smith's favortie licks. REMEMBER
IT'S ME has to be one of the most unusual DC5 tracks ever. The heavily reverbed plunking of a single piano
key, answered by the bass guitar, give this song a chilling, mysterious mood from the start. Atonal harmony singing
and eerie chords lead to a stirring "Wall of Sound" chorus. The piano from "Til the Right One. .
." makes a phlegmatic return here. While I first found this song somewhat unpleasant, it has since become
one of my favorites, simply for its eccentric flair. I wish they had done more of these!
Other strong tracks here include the gently soulful HURTING INSIDE, the punchy
minor-keyed I'LL NEVER KNOW (with the cool sound of a
double-tracked harmonica), an ace cover of LITTLE BITTY PRETTY ONE (from the pen of
"Over And Over"s songwriter), and MIGHTY GOOD LOVING: a strong, mid-paced
beater that anticipates the originals on the "I Like It Like That" album. A reasonable but expendable
rave-up of Carl Perkins' BLUE SUEDE SHOES and two lesser originals WE'LL
BE RUNNING (with its curious theme of avoiding people?) and the pleasant paint-by-numbers YOUR
TURN TO CRY round out the LP.
While not their most solid LP, WEEKEND IN LONDON has some genuinely unique moments, catching the group in an
experimental mood. This is a hard-to-find LP, but worth the trouble to track down. - FY