Bubblerock Is Here to Stay 2: British Pop/ Var - Bubblerock Is Here To Stay Volume 2: The British Pop Explosion 1970-1973 / Various

Three CD set. Second volume of early '70s British studio pop hits, misses and oddities. Issued in 2020, Bubblerock Is Here To Stay shone a spotlight on the lost and often murky world of early 70s British Pop, a scene largely controlled by old-fashioned, Denmark Street- based production/songwriting teams as the Rock world concentrated on the album market. Bubblerock Is Here To Stay Volume Two treads the same neglected path to deliver more mouldy old dough from the era's backroom boys: crack songwriting teams, hit-or-bust producers, session singers, and writers-turned-performers. Featuring a number of hits that define the era but have long been swept under the carpet of critical/collector cool: Slade's first major single, Brotherhood Of Man's anthemic 'United We Stand', Lieutenant Pigeon's novelty chart-topper plus Top Ten 45s from de Paul, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Middle Of The Road, The Pipkins, Greyhound, Judge Dread, Marmalade and Blue MinkIncluding numerous fascinating obscurities: Jesus Christ Superstar lyricist Tim Rice channels his inner Del Shannon, the mysterious Kidrock pick up the kinder-pop baton from Mark Wirtz, Raw Holly cut an LP of Buddy Holly songs in a more contemporary musical setting, and a Midlands-based harmony pop act look to break their chart duck by raiding The Grateful Dead songbook. Joined by late 60s underground renegades attempting to snag a hit single (Fairfield Parlour, Velvet Opera) and sundry one-off studio aliases (Smoky Forbes, Helicopter, the Elaine Paige-assisted Hooters), Bubblerock Is Here To Stay Volume Two is another opportunity to wallow in the sounds of what one reviewer of the first volume warily described as "dubious pop". Dubious pop?! Gimme dat ding!