Thursday 18 July 2013

Frosty - Organ Grinder's Monkey (1970)

I've been after this record for quite some time now, since hearing it on Paul Martin's Pop Cycles Volume 6 compilation. A DJ friend of mine almost bagged me a copy a few months back but I just missed out and since then I've been on a bit of a mission to get one. Thanks to trusty old Ebay, I am now a proud owner of "Organ Grinder's Monkey" by Frosty.

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


3 comments:

  1. 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!

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  2. Glad to hear it Olov. It's nice to know that there are people with good taste out there!

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  3. "Well if you want a trick it will cost you more than a candy stick I can bet you"

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