Peephole In My Brain ~ The British Progressive Pop Sounds Of 1971

Cherry Red/Grapefruit's alernative chronology of the lower leagues of British pop/rock reaches 1971. This time they're focusing on what they call "progressive pop", which isn't and never really was any kind of genre but is a shorthand for "serious" artists making catchy/commercial-sounding records, whether or not these ever came anywhere near the singles charts, or were ever intended to do. That sort of thing accounts for a lot of the contents of these three discs, though some of it is just people doing what they do, be they singer-songwriters, studio hacks, or sixties hitmakers trying to make a comeback. There are also a few big names, a few names from the next level down, some reliable cult figures the now-inevitable trawl through the catalogues of labels like Ember, Dawn, President and Vertigo, and, of course, Grapefruit's inexpicable but oddly touching fondness for the ever-underwhelming outputs of Fickle Pickle/Morgan Studios. Also present: Jonathan King. Let's hope he's not getting much by way of royalties."Progressive pop" or not, the contents are remarkably diverse. You get, among other things, proto-glam, folk, singer-songwriter ballads, hard rock, prog-rock, CS&N harmony soft-rock, novelties (including Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs' "Seaside Shuffle", which I thought was the best record ever made for about three weeks when I was ten), and bands who sound like it's still 1967 in their brains. Some were actually hits, such as The Move's "Tonight", Curved Air's "Back Street Luv", and Atomic Rooster's "Devil's Answer".Possibly because of the diversity, and possibly because of improved recording technology leading to better sound quality (and, in line with that, fewer demo recordings), this is one of the more consistently enjoyable listens in this series of complilations. There are a few stinkers, inevitably, but there also some absolutely wonderful tracks here, such as Kevin Ayers' "Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes" (what the Velvets would have been like if they'd been British and addicted to Pimms rather than American and addicted to methamphetamine) and The Kinks' "God's Children", the best Ray Davies song most people have never heard of. Those are old favourites, of course. The track new to me that I liked best was Jackie McAuley's staggeringly great "Turning Green", which is worth the price of admission alone.Of course, your view on what's good and what needs to go out with the bins will be different from mine. The important point is that this set is so diverse and so consistent it's a probable twelve to seven that anyone with even the vaguest interest in it will love it to death.

I am an avid collector of compilations such as these as they always contain some great undiscovered musical gems. However as was the case of another recent collection 'NWOBHM Thunder', there was no clam shell box just a very flimsy cardboard slip case. The clam shell boxes made these sets seem that little bit special and looked great on a shelf. I am not sure if this is down to cutting packaging costs or related somehow to the current pandemic but it is a step back. It looks cheap. If anyone is still reading, the music is the usual mix of the great, the good, the misguided but nothing bad.

This is another well put together comp from Grapefruit and full marks for including a Pete Atkin track. However as others have said, where is the clamshell box? The flimsy card slipcase is frankly pathetic and let's down what is otherwise a quality item (I will also add that thin card sleeves do not deserve to be called "mini LP packaging").I still fully recommend this but would hope Grapefruit have a re think and re instate the boxes for future releases.

Having been an avid buyer of nearly all Grapefruit releases l was really looking forward to this set. I must admit l was a bit miffed with the cheap packaging when it arrived what has happened to the clamshell boxes? The music is great overall and a interesting mix of tracks. If you have not purchased this set yet just be aware that the music shines the packaging does not. A real Shame about the short cut with presentation very cheap and nasty all to save a little bit of money.

Back in the late '60's there was a genre of LP's that we called 'samplers', ie a collection of offerings, generally from a particular label, which gave a 'taster' of their up and coming signings (not so much their 'successes' as people bought thier stuff anyway), but they tended to be unpredictable. This accumulation of material tries to be a bit like that - and fails. OK it's not restricted to a particular label, but there is a 'sameness' among many of the tracks that pin them in a specific pigeonhole.... which is almost the direct opposite of what the progressive scene was all about back then. There are many good tracks among the 70 odd listings, but there's a predominance of poetic, pretty acoustic stuff - which is all valid and enjoyable, but, if I have a criticism of the 'Peephole' collection is that it ONLY captures that sound, it misses the out on sheer variety of what was on offer. It lacks the heavy, the determinedly inventive, the wild, the wacky and the embryonic geniuses, the novel, the downright weird, the PROGRESSIVE! I loved hearing some of this stuff again, I'd forgotten how good it was - but unlike the earlier samplers, which tended to be quite eclectic in nature, and the early '70's which were similarly diverse, it is unerringly predictable. For someone who listened to Sparks 'Woofer' and Bowie's 'Oddity', and Zep III (back then) - for the first time as they were released, it's a bit of anticlimatic nostalgia, but not much more.............

There is one of these collections for every year from 1966, and they're all excellent. The previous years all have a proper clamshell box but this one has been packaged in a rubbishy card sleeve which is going to last no time at all.A pity, because the choice of music is a little off the beaten track and you should still investigate this compilation despite the shoddy packaging.

Agree with a lot of people that the packaging is abysmal. 5 stars for the music and none for the slipcase meaning I've had to settle on 3 stars. I've now got 8 of these Grapefruit sets and 7 are in clamshell boxes-perfection. Another 2 titles in jewel cases but at least a lot sturdier than a slipcase. There's a few more titles on my wish list and I'm really hoping they'll be in clamshell boxes when I get round to ordering them.