Browse by Artist: TARGAL, JEM

Artist:	TARGAL, JEM
Title:	Luckey Guy
Label:	OBSCURE OXIDE
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	OO 2601CD

"A Turkish-Leprechaun by birth, with a childhood fully immersed in music and art, Jem first made his mark as vocalist/bassist/main songwriter for the Detroit power-trio legends Third Power (Believe LP, Vanguard Records/1969). After the band drifted apart in 1972, a despondent Jem took up home recording, laying down hours of tape on a Teac 4-track (which he still owns as of 2005!) The best cuts were selected and Luckey Guy was self-released in 1978, with Jem pasting up the gatefold covers and handling all sales himself in true 'DIY' fashion. Never staying with one style too long, the album flits among spaced-out guitar ('Bumble Bee Drive'), tortured, dissonant piano ('Ring Out The Bells'), and a sparse, apocalyptic tale ('The Bomb Tune') with bits of childlike whimsy and Jem's eeeeeeerie harmonies woven throughout, and few cues to indicate its mid-'70s vintage. Were we to shamelessly namedrop we might mention Syd, Skip, Todd (solo), Brian Wilson and Gary Wilson as starting points...but we're above that. For its first ever appearance on compact disc we tracked down the mastertapes, miraculously still in storage at the original pressing plant, and created a mini-LP sleeve replica of the original album jacket, plus an insert booklet with liner notes and newly-transcribed lyrics handwritten by Jem."

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