Les Reed
Listen – Les Reed – Man of Action – MP3
Greetings all.
I hope the beginning of another new week on the sphere finds you well.
I had a busy weekend, traveling here and there, the opening ceremonies of Chanukah (during which much delicious pastrami and matzoh ball soup was consumed, including the mandatory half-sour pickles) and a quick getaway for the wife and I.
The tune I bring you today was a very recent acquisition, having been scooped up last week at the Allentown Record Show. Oddly enough it was pulled from a box of funk and soul 45s, and unless I’m missing a sampling hereof, this record fits neither of those categories.
I grabbed it – unheard – because I knew Les Reed from his soundtrack to ‘Girl on a Motorcycle’, and because the title ‘Man of Action’ was intriguing, and all that having been tallied, it was a cheapo, so I tossed it on the keeper stack and took it home with me.
Reed was a soundtrack/Easy/Library type cat who had a lot of success in the UK and elsewhere as a composer/arranger and recording artist, and is best known to diggers for the aforementioned OST. He got his start playing keyboards for none other than the John Barry Seven.
When I started digging up info on ‘Man of Action’ I was pleasantly surprised to see that in addition to being a cool bit of instro-pop, it was the longtime theme song for pirate radio station Radio Northsea International (anchored off the Dutch coast during the 70s).
Also cool is the fact that the jaunty pop melody is intersected twice by some groovy organ, which has a decidedly Hawkshaw-ian bent. I have not been able to confirm that the library master was indeed massaging the keys, but my ears suggest that he was.
If anyone knows for sure, drop me a line.
I’ll be back later in the week with something cool.
Peace
Larry
PS Head over to Funky16Corners for a new funk 45 mix!
1 Comment(s)
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Les Reed is the man, great track, and a US pressing to boot!