The Open Mind – Magic Potion (Soundhog Edit)
Magic Potion needs little introduction and we’re delighted to finally be releasing this. Copies of the original exchange hands for phenomenal amounts and it is often championed as the very best example of psychedelic beat.
The original recording never made it to their rare LP but subsequent reissues and bootlegs established it high on the ‘Wants’ list of many psychedelic collectors.
This version of the tune is an exclusive edit and mix from alternate takes of the record by the enormously talented Soundhog (AKA Ben Hayes).
A pioneer of the bastard pop/mash-up craze of yesteryear Soundhog went to work on formulating sympathetic edits that magnify and extend the energy of the original 45.
Don’t just take our word for it though. The soundclip on the left will play on PCs and the full version is available to hear on the Spoke Records site on YouTube.
The Dakotas – The Spider And The Fly
We have a tradition at Spoke for reissuing B sides and this Soundhog double-sider is no exception.
By the time The Spider And The Fly was recorded as the B side to the 1968 single I Can’t Break The News To Myself, Robin MacDonald was the sole survivor of the original Dakotas line-up.
Ex-Pirates guitarist Mick Green had drafted in fellow Pirateer members and an unknown American sessionist was employed to provide vocals.
The track itself is a masterful hotch-potch of the Dakotas trad beat style, a heavier freakbeat rhythm, earworm guitar hooks and a big dollop of proto-glam. Soundhog works his magic again from 1/4″ tapes with a much heavier sound than the original 45.
