Fading Yellow

Jörgen Johansson is the maker of the acclaimed FADING YELLOW comp series, first volume was released 2002 and in February Volume 16 is out, both on cd and vinyl.  We love a maverick at Dropthebiscuit and when we contacted him he said, ‘I would love to do a mix of tunes from the series ie late 60´s mostly and some early 70´s. Here´s 20 trax picked from the first 7 volumes’. In the summer of 2002 I was in Stockholm’s Gamla Stan, taking in the cobbles, the brightly coloured facades and, as is my wont, any second hand record shop I spied. After flicking through many racks of nothing but Brewer & Shipley albums (what do they sound like, anyway?), I was about to leave when the proprietor put a record on. The effect was like Gregorian teen garage: a most melancholy minor key pop which surged like the Searchers in their pomp. What Will The New Day Bring by Disraeli is what it turned out to be, a modern murder ballad. It was remarkable, and turned out to only be the opening track on a cd called Fading Yellow Vol.2, all of which was knee-deep in harmonic atmospherics, American pop with the vapours. “Oh, there’s more” said the round-faced Dr Sardonicus behind the counter, and produced Vol.1 – all Anglo variations on the same. Bored with antiseptic placebo trips of compilations, this really pulled the rug out: Dean Ford & The Gaylords sent me running for a tartan hankie; Phil Cordell’s startling Red Lady found him both inspired and possibly pissed in charge of a sitar; Mike Batt’s title track was hushed and dusted with magic. So I was hooked, needed more of the same, and scoured racks over the following months for 1971 Parlophone 45s that sounded like blackbirds wheeling and chuckling over string quartet and/or twelve-string (best show-off find – the What’s New EP in a tichy shop in Bordeaux). And every so often JJ would stick out another volume to save me the effort. We ended up as penpals, swapping notes on late period Brian Hyland and lost Deram laments. Now I have two boxes of 45s – between one marked ‘Chocolate Soup’ and one marked ‘RGM’ – which bear the legend ‘Fading Yellow’. I could pay JJ no higher compliment. Fading Yellow is a genre all of its own, mysterioso pop bathed in Pears soap and baby shampoo by candlelight, at once new and old, at once heartbreaking and beautiful. Like the Batt man said “The world’s been spinning round for a year or two” – how magical is it that such astonishing music is still out there waiting to be discovered. Bob Stanley Aug 2010 Tracklist Kate – Strange girl -UK Mike Batt – Fading Yellow -UK Steff Sulke – Oh what a lovely day -Swiss Jon – Is it love -UK Orange Bicycle – Competition -UK Phil Cordell – Red lady -UK Ronnie Bird – Sad soul -France The Aerovons – World of you -US Elliots Sunshine – ´cos i´m lonely -UK The Bliss – Lifetime -UK Disraeli – What will the new day bring? -US The Happy Return – I thought i loved her -US The Giant Jellybean Copout – Look at the girls -US The Network – The Boys and the Girls -US Gracious – Once on a windy day -UK Vigrass & Osborne – Forever autumn -UK The Peppermint Trolley Co – Pat´s song -US The Gordian Knot – Carraway stream -US John Randolph Marr – Raggedy Ann -US The Sunshine Trolley – Cover me babe -UK   To follow Fading Yellow go to https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fading-Yellow-and-beyond/164905943559867   Except from Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills (review from http://www.marmalade-skies.co.uk/fadingyellow.htm ) ‘This is a fine example of not only compilers, but also the buyers increasing appreciation of the more pop-sided aspect of music that arose after the Beatles caught  “A Ticket To Ride”. Running the gamut from jolly mid-60s beat-pop through to heavily orchestrated affairs from ’69, “Fading Yellow’s” overall concept of ‘pop-sike’ and mo