Monday, November 23, 2020

Sit Down! It's The Colchester Sound!

The Caravans were a group from Britain, England. They hailed from the sleepy village of Colchester, along with The Pink Floyds and The Soft Machines, and soon the country was a' rockin' to the Swingin' Colchester Sound, which was like the U.K. version of the Bosstown Sound, only a couple of years later. The Caravans eschewed the vulgarity of the electric guitar, and were famous for sitting in comfy armchairs for gigs, being served cups of tea by "fags", who were not what you're thinking at all but well-turned-out young boys from good families taking part in an ancient English ritual ... oh.

Their signature extended melodic excursions quickly attracted a fanbase of pimply schoolboys and middle-class hippies. The Colchester Sound was like a gentleman's club, a place you went for a smoke and a snooze.

That's not to say the Colchester Sound was undemanding - both "The Softies" and "The Pinks" (as they were affectionately known by fans) could put out some pretty scary head-bending music - but The Caravans' comfort zone was alway agreeable melody, something a chap could whistle whilst pruning the roses.

This stuff is swell. Unique (until James Hatfield And The Norths came along), idiosyncratic, sometimes beautiful, with that trademark touch of Colchester whimsy, it's played at the annual Isle O' Foam© Croquet Club World Series, and goes down swell with cucumber sandwiches and/or a gigantic fucking spliff.

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29 comments:

  1. Farquhar Throckmorton IIINovember 23, 2020 at 7:19 AM

    Put on your cricket whites and struggle with that deckchair! The first three albums with the (actually rather bloody good) bonus tracks are yours for the asking!

    Simply state what you think of when you lie back and think of England ...

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    1. pmacNovember 23, 2020 at 5:03 PM

      A neighbor, Jon Cleary. From England, but the baddest man playing NO rnb today.

      Delete
  2. docart420November 23, 2020 at 8:32 AM

    mostly Sherlock Holmes, though PJ Harvey comes to mind too.....

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  3. Clarence PuneNovember 23, 2020 at 10:38 AM

    Charles Hawtrey.

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    1. Farquhar Throckmorton IIINovember 23, 2020 at 11:16 AM

      For those that don't know, Charles Hawtrey was the English Cary Grant, often co-starred with Barbara Windsor, the English Marilyn Monroe.

      Delete
    2. jonderNovember 23, 2020 at 7:37 PM

      And here I thought that Charles Hawtrey was the singer for the Deaf-Aids. Learn somethin new every day on this sceptered Isle.

      Delete
  4. Chris RNovember 23, 2020 at 11:49 AM

    When I think of England I think of the Kinks, Clash and Pistols telling me what a terrible place it is and why I should never, ever go there. Also the Pythons, the Bonzos, football hooligans, PBS in general and yes Sherlock Holmes.

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  5. AnonymousNovember 23, 2020 at 1:54 PM

    They're caftantastic!
    - Dr. Zhivago Feelgood

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  6. Piers the PlowmanNovember 23, 2020 at 4:04 PM

    Old maids bicycling to Holy Communion through the morning mist

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  7. Farquhar Throckmorton IIINovember 23, 2020 at 4:04 PM

    Here ya go, pals!


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  8. Farquhar Throckmorton IIINovember 23, 2020 at 4:05 PM

    Me: Emma Peel, E-Type Jag

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    1. oqueefNovember 25, 2020 at 5:45 AM

      Ms. Peel, please and thank you. Also, was there a British version of Ann Margaret? Emma doesn't count as she was in a class of her own (pant, pant). (Ed. pair of pants)

      Delete
  9. BambiNovember 23, 2020 at 4:52 PM

    When I lie back, before I can think of England, I fall asleep.
    The Caravans are great (and so bloody English), but I really like James Hatfield And The Norths, sort of a supergroup of the Colchester scene, Halfway 'tween heavens and Earths is all over Youtubes.

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  10. LopezNovember 23, 2020 at 7:31 PM

    Many thanks, Mr. III. Loves me the Caravans.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dave HeasmanNovember 23, 2020 at 8:05 PM

    Colchester, burned down in 60 AD, barely restored since. I didn't know the Caravans were from there, I spent years 11-18 there guest of the boarding wing of the grammar school. The only pop folk I knew of from there were Rod & Caroline, 3 singles, one crap appearance on RSG, and Twink of Pink Fairies not very Caravan-ish. When I think of England it's Priti bloody Patel that lurches to mind.

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  12. Dave HeasmanNovember 23, 2020 at 8:19 PM

    Oh Farq, you deceiver you, I didn't think you'd confuse me and Colchester with its parvenu imitator Kanterberg. Caravan known of by me but never knowingly heard.

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  13. HenkPNovember 23, 2020 at 8:32 PM

    A lovely Battle -oops, sorry- Batch Of Hastings, indeed. Thinking of England, here goes : Ye Nuns, Half Man Half Biscuit, anyone? And feast yourselves on some Jaffa cakes if you so wish. Any chaps & lasses playing Medway-based rock'n'beat (Toe-Rag, Bill 'Childish' Hamper, countless co-participants --I tend to file them under 'Happy Hamper Horror'). Believe I should mention Lenny Helsing as well. That'll do for now...enough of this jolly banter!

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  14. draftervoiNovember 23, 2020 at 11:02 PM

    I think of 1066.

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  15. HDNovember 24, 2020 at 12:25 AM

    Pimms Number One, and the Duckworth-Lewis Method. Wishin' I had a gigantic... and I'm fresh out of cucumbers, too, dammit.

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  16. GaryNovember 24, 2020 at 3:11 AM

    Pamela Barnes Wentworth, the Cambridge cutie

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  17. One Buck GuyNovember 24, 2020 at 4:35 AM

    People eating small bags of chips, which of course they call crisps.

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  18. BillNovember 24, 2020 at 6:42 AM

    Forgive me that I don't get the joke, but Caravan were a Canterbury band; not Colchester. I assume you deliberately made the 'mistake', but I am not sure why. Perhaps you could explain for the thick amongst us - after all I was born in THE NORTH!

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    1. Farquhar Throckmorton IIINovember 24, 2020 at 7:16 AM

      Not getting a joke is no crime, Bill, but explaining one is.

      Delete
  19. SitarswamiNovember 24, 2020 at 12:06 PM

    I think of Waterloo (Station) Lily which seems to be missing from this post. Martin Newell lives in Colchester if you can believe him.

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    1. Farquhar Throckmorton IIINovember 24, 2020 at 12:47 PM

      Martin Newell also claims to be buried at Stonehenge with Jimi Hendrix.

      "Lily" and "Plump" held for later. After that, I lost interest.

      Delete
  20. oqueefNovember 25, 2020 at 5:52 AM

    I'd like to add that, as I recall BITD, I saw Caravan play an event at Stockton University in NJ and they were delightful. They opened for Renaissance, who were also great, but Annie Haslam was a cunt after the show, dismissive of fans who wished her and the band well, etc.

    ReplyDelete

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