The Kurse Of The Kaftan

Ignoring their mothers' advice, The Tokens ate a bunch of blotter after their It's A Happening World album (already FoamFeatured©) made them the psychedelic darlings of absolutely nobody, and delivered the riskily-titled Intercourse to their label, confident it would carry them to the top of the charts on a wave of lysergic bliss. They should have listened to their mothers. And their management. And their label, who, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, ushered them gently out into the street and changed the locks.

The album runs through seventeen song fragments in twenty-seven minutes, averaging 1.6 minutes per fragment. Sporadically issued and re-issued since, it's inevitably been hailed as a lost psychedelic classic. It ain't that. It's a pleasant curio you'll play a few times, enjoying the Smiley Smile vibe. Good enough.

Meanwhile, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart saw The Monkees on their Head trip and decided to do their own, releasing It's All Happening On The Inside (man) to mild indifference from both their teenybopper fanbase (well-served by two superb previous albums) and the hippies. The same pleasing-no-one career move as The Monkees, and The Tokens. And The Happenings. And just about any other pop group struggling into a kaftan before it got out of style. As you'd expect from these guys, you get professional audio entertainment. Good enough, and sometimes good enough is just swell.