Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Back in 1963 a instrumental single was issued with one of the longest titles going, which was:

There Are Eight Million Cossack Melodies And This Is One Of Them.

It was credited to Group X and one reviewer in one of the popular musical papers of the time, indicated it could well be The Tornados (Telstar) trying to get another hit .

He was wrong Group X were in fact a little know band called The Mark Leeman Five but the former had more of a mystique.

The single bombed but I went out and bought and still think it is great 45 years on.

I gave up long ago thinking it would ever find it's way on to CD but a few years back it appeared on a rare compilation A Collector's Guide To 60'S Brit Pop Instrumentals.

Here in UK of course we've never been big on surfing, don't have the climate for it.

I reckon that if this had been released in US as say Ride The Wild Surf it could well ahve been a hit, hope you all take a listen because to plug my little bit, it is truly a Clough Classic.

You'll find it

here


For those not familiar with these links, no need to donload click on file and select play it will stream.

Very surfy and love the VOX/Farfisa organ. I'm going to run this one by Paul as we have been adding some combo organ to some tunes now...cool!

Roy: I completely missed this thread and find that the link does not lead to the track you describe. Can you make it available again? I hate to miss out on a Clough Classic.

re-instated link wiil work

I took a listen. It's a great tune. It should have been a hit.

Roy: This is a marvelous instrumental with a strong melody. It is a pity that it has a title that while cute is most forgettable. They missed the boat in this respect. How about "Hurricane" or even better "Surviving The Storm."

The theme is strong and I like the way the verse builds with the solo guitar and harmony guitar, followed by the organ solo and then back to the the guitar. The guitar ushers in a cargo ship being tossed at sea with the vessel coming close to the rocks only to veer away at the last moment as the organ solo erupts. The too and fro, ebb and flow between the guitar and organ heightened by the punch of the drums keeps the gale at its peak throughout the journey.

The switch between snare and tom reminds us of a couple of close calls before the ship heads away from the reef and safely out to sea.

I love this one and I am tempted to try a cover of it.

Yes Peter it is a great melody still excites me today 45 years on, the group issued one more single Roti-Caliope and that was it.

Are you mind reading, Roy?

Yes Peter here is Group X's second and last single

Roti Calliope- That Beethoven guy wrote some good stuff!


here

Thanks Roy. Fur Elise with a beat.

Cossack melodies. ... An unforgettable name, but I have not heard the track for years. However, your download sntu9 was not what I was expecting to hear. Downloaded the other track too and it was the same thing.

Heard it now thanks to YouTube, but would still like to download it, and Tenerife if poss. Can you help?

cheers

dave

Dave

SNTU9 etc is a weekly quiz type thing I do on Cloughs Classics, may not be today as going out shortly but I will send you the track as a mp3 plus Tenerife if I still have it.

I put the vid on You tube my first attempt, since got better.

Thanks man, that'll be a buzz. Look forward to it.

Never knew X made another, so never heard of Roti Calliope. Any good?

I always believed X was a group of session musos who came up with a good tune on their smoko (coffee break) and decided to lay it down, then I saw somewhere that they were aka the Martin Jae Five, now I see you have the Mark Leeman Five. Any thoughts?

dave

You are correct

Nice to be correct Roy, but which one is correct, or are they all relevant?

Group X aka Martin Jae 5 aka Mark Leeman 5, who were a group of session musos. Is that the full story?

Thanks again for your downloads - absolute magic!