(Y) The Music Encyclopedia of The Gravis Sub Humus

Yesterday's Children: (same) 1969 Map City Records (US, Italian & French Pressings exist)
Killer Heavy Rock classic from yet more super talented East Cost Axemen. Like the band Euclid, the members of Yesterday's Children originated within the fertile hotbed of the East Coast's Garage/Punk/Psych scene. There is not a bad song on their one and only album and certainly leaves one wanting MORE. It's a a true shame that we did not get to hear ongoing efforts from these great musicians as a group because their musical chemistry seems to be rare & exact. While it's a well known fact that the group were from Connecticut, unfortunately not much more is known about the musicians themselves. The music they recorded on their only album is powerful & diverse guitar oriented Heavy/Hard Rock. The label that they recorded on, Map City Records, contains some rich history to be found within it's commandeering & ownership. Peter Andreoli & Vince Poncia started the label in the late 60s. They had been a successful song writing duo for a number of years and were also members of several notable 60s groups as well. They wrote various pop song and soundtrack related material that artists as potential as Elvis would perform. Peter Andreoli, who later used the last name Anders, for the most part retired in the early 70s. Vince Poncia continued working in the recording aspect of the music business and became considerably "in demand" a as a Producer. Some credits for production appear on (of all people) Peter Criss's 2 solo record albums and two Kiss records to boot! He now does mostly movie soundtrack related composition. There are several CD/LP reissues available and I really cannot recommend this title enough.

(X) The Music Encyclopedia of The Gravis Sub Humus

(W) The Music Encyclopedia of The Gravis Sub Humus

Wit's End: Rock And By God Roll (Snow Drop Records 1979)

Wit's End was a local Dallas band that won a "Battle Of The Bands" contest at the Six Flags Over Texas Amusement Park with the prize being a recording deal that resulted in their one and only LP. The song "That's The Way" got local airplay. They broke up less than a year after the LP was released.

!!!!!A HUGE Thanks goes out to Rich Haupt of Rockadelic Records for the above information.

The music itself is Heavy scorching guitar oriented Hard Rock with every diverse aspect of this group's assembled talent being drawn on. The vocals are excellent as is the musicianship throughout the 9 recorded songs on the album. It's truly a shame they didn't do more! This is certainly one of the best obscure local Texas band efforts to come out of the late 70s. No reissues to date.

Wages of Sin: (same) Sant Records 1986

A killer offering from one of the very cradles of primordial Heavy Rockdom. Hailing from Ann Arbor Michigan and very much having that crusher "Detroit" sound , Wages of Sin were a three piece Heavy Rock/Metal group that released one record on the Sant label. Obviously a private effort, with the label name being the same as that of the Guitar/Vocals member Eugene Sant. Currently there is very little known about the group or if they they did much playing "out". The music itself is exceptionally impressive if not incredible, although just a bit subdued in the drums/bass department. The guitar, vocals & song writing in general are superb and are certainly the best private release effort I have ever heard from Michigan. The music sounds like a cross between The Hand of Doom meets Judas Priest. It has struck me midst heavy recent consideration, that this could be one of those "One guy does it all and releases the album like it were an actual band" efforts. The same as the White Boy & The Average Rat Band. Please check back for more details as I am currently doing my best to track and locate Eugene Sant.

(V) The Music Encyclopedia of The Gravis Sub Humus

Venom: (same) Venom Records 198?

Decent, nothing too stunning or energetic however. The music is straight forward and somewhat tight guitar oriented Southern (ish) Heavy Rock. 1 or 2 real winners amidst some mediocre tunes and some complete duds as well from this US band from Florida. The record is very short in length with the less than 30 minutes of music as a whole. This is one of those LPs that needs to be rated and priced for what it is rather than what it's mysteriously hyped up to be. No reissues to date.

(U) The Music Encyclopedia of The Gravis Sub Humus

Utopia: (same) Kent Records 1970

Utopia were synonymous with the group that would 4 years later go on to become Growl that basically re-released the same album on the Discreet label. The music itself is guitar oriented, somewhat "snotty" Blues based Hard/Heavy Rock. A decent effort to be sure and can be obtained via CD/LP reissue thanks to in most part, Clark Faville. Clark not only set up the reissue between the Lead Vocalist & the independent Italian label Akarma, he supplied the original Kent Album from which it was made. It's interesting to note that the original tin that contained the 1" master real tape of this album was found in an old abandoned warehouse by a curious garbage picker. As fortune would have it, the same tape contained a good portion of Bob Smith's "The Visit" as well! Obviously they both had been recorded within a very approximate time frame.

(T) The Music Encyclopedia of The Gravis Sub Humus

Think: Variety 1973

This album is great psychedelic nutrition for hungry heavy heads with a predisposed preference for multi-colored musical edification. Don't get the wrong idea though, this is NOT just some over rated, useless & busy cerebral background filler of an album. Neither is it one of those that has every possible Far East Indian string & percussion gizmo being played all at once. However, it is an amazing and somewhat if not completely, unique Heavy German Prog/Psych classic like no other. The group Think were comprised of Hungarian, German & Czechoslovakian musicianship. The end result of their amazing collaborative recording was to be completely unpredictable in a comparative sense. For me the results liken themselves to the very best US West Coast Psychedelic influenced Progressive Rock my ears have ever heard. Imagine an instrumentally diverse Rock & Folk version of Captain Beyond crossed with the group Bread. All the while being saturated with a very real lysergic aptitude. Now, with one ear's foot just outside your armchair bound spacecraft door, you are at least partly in a nearby musical universe! This album from start to finish is masterful to say the very least and represents one of the most fateful of musical assemblages ever. The group sadly only existed while the music was being recorded and is in fact shrouded in mystery as few acknowledged details exist. The musicians themselves were in part touring Germany within a Hungarian Orchestra troop when they were apparently struck with a streak of repressed rebellion and decided to defect. After talking with the label owner of the German based record label "Menga", the wondering musicians hooked up with another musician or two and proceeded to render their only known official release. This is a MUST for fans of the genre and reissues do in fact exist.

(S) The Music Encyclopedia of The Gravis Sub Humus


Solid Ground: Made In Rock 1976


Solid Ground were a group of young Swedish musicians that made one very "up front" Heavy Hard Rock album. The music completely guitar oriented to be certain with just the right amount of talented raw sincerity for this great group to have crafted a fine memorable piece of Heavy Swedish Rock history. A CD has been reissued on the Mellotronen Label and the sound quality is superb with the band having agreed to it's release.

http://www.solidgroundtheband.com/