Strange Light from the East

Both sides of all six of this obscure British group's 1966-1968 singles are included on this compilation, which adds a 1969 solo A-side by original Tuesday's Children singer/songwriter Phil Cordell and five previously unreleased tracks. In an essential sense, Tuesday's Children are similar to several other British groups of the time that managed to release several records for different labels without making the charts, or even making much of a reputation among collectors. Like numerous other such bands, they had enough talent to separate them from the innumerable groups that only managed to put out one or two flops (or nothing at all), but not nearly enough to put them on the level of the notable bands of the era. And like many such acts, they never developed or stuck to a certain style, or came up with that song or two strong enough to be an undeniable hit, despite numerous opportunities. They did write much of their own material, and the passable British pop/rock period sounds of this CD range from light trendy psychedelia ("Strange Light from the East," "In the Valley of the Shadow of the East") to Beatlesque mod rock ("Summer Leaves Me with a Sigh," "High and Drifting"), Walker Brothers-lite ("When You Walk in the Sand"), Baroque pop-folk ("High on a Hill"), a heavy psych adaptation of a Spanish ballet ("Ritual Fire Dance"), and good-time vocal harmony-driven pop with an American influence. Just because this is in the also-ran category doesn't mean that fans of these genres in general might not find something to enjoy here, as the material's sung and produced well. There's not much here that's going to grab non-specialists, though, with the jubilant, orchestrated light psych of "Bright Eyed Apples" counting as about their best moment.