Information on this band is quite hard to get although a comment left on YouTube mentions that Frosty is Frosty Green, the keyboard player in the sunshine pop band, the Yellow Balloon. The single was produced by the legend that is Michael Lloyd, whose name should be familiar to readers of this blog. Made vice-president of MGM records at the age of 20, Lloyd handled production duties on loads of killer records including October Country and the Smoke (US) as well as being a founder member of bizarre psychedelicists, the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band.
"Organ Grinder's Monkey" ticks all the boxes for me. Bubblegum, psych, rock and pop are all represented within it's two minutes and twenty five seconds. Sounding like the Beatles at their most guitar heavy, circa 1968. A dancefloor filler with a percussion break to boot. The b-side "I Want To Know" ain't bad either, reminds me a bit of the Raspberries and will most probably make an appearance on a future volume of my Bite It Deep mixes.
Sing along if you like...
"Organ Grinder's Monkey" by Frosty
(Philips)
I know something you don't know, organ grinder's monkey
Toss a penny in his cup and he'll tip his hat
Organ grinder plays his song, monkey climbs your building
Pat his head and leave a snuff and he'll bite your hand
And he won't mind if you're unkind
Yes, he won't mind at all
Monkey doesn't say or do exactly what you want him to
Well if you want a treat it will cost you more than a candy stick I bet you
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah
He won't mind if you're unkind
Yes, he won't mind at all
Organ grinder's monkey
Yeah. Yeah, Yeah
Just found your blog - love it! So glad to see the list of you favorite music too: "Beatles, Beach Boys, Byrds, Left Banke, Honeybus, Emitt Rhodes, The Zombies, Big Star". It's as if I made the list myself! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear it Olov. It's nice to know that there are people with good taste out there!
ReplyDelete"Well if you want a trick it will cost you more than a candy stick I can bet you"
ReplyDeleteHello all! Sorry for the belated response, but I just saw this blog. Robert Phillips here. I wrote this song while in high school and recorded it with Michael Lloyd shortly after graduation. I played lead and bass guitar and sang the background vocals. Michael played drums and piano and also added a background vocal. My high school bandmate provided the lead vocal. Michael, Sean MacLeod (who wrote and provided lead vocals on "I Want to Know" (the "B" Side), myself, and a couple other bandmates became "Frosty" and performed around L.A. for a brief period after the record was released. Sean and I joined forces as a duo and became "Phillips/MacLeod." We recorded two albums on Polydor Records in the late 1970s. You can hear some cuts from these albums on YouTube. BTW, the correct lyric is "Pat his head and leave a slug and he'll bite your hand." Not the greatest lyrics in the world, but about what you'd expect from a highschooler. RP
ReplyDelete