This is the cover-mount from issue 82 of Mojo magazine from September 2000. It contains twenty tracks from the year where British music was at the centre of the universe and was evolving, in an explosion of drugs, fashions and philosophy from a more simple American styled rhythm ‘n’ blues template into a hundred strange, new and bizarre forms. Across the CD you can therefore feel the standard three-minute pop template still in place but with an overlay of everything from acid folk, psychedelic rock and proto-hard rock trying to burst through. The most interesting artists on the CD include a young David Bowie in teen-obsessed style delivering his best Anthony Newley pastiche; Donovan on the cusp of spiralling into becoming a psych-folk guru; the now almost lost and forgotten Fleur De Lys in powerful modish form; a psychedelic and Beatles-like Status Quo and Pentangle (listed as The Pentangle) sounding very much like the progenitors of the modern doom / occult rock revival. Best tracks on the CD are Chris Farlow's powerful and touching "Handbags and Gladrags", a tale of a young woman who takes all she has for granted, forgetting that someone else had to pay for what she's got and The Kinks' beautiful and emotive "Waterloo Sunset", the story of young lovers Terry and Julie; supposedly based around Terence Stamp and Julie Christie but long-since denied by songwriter Ray Davies. This is a decent compilation with plenty of interesting material. The full track listing is:
Small Faces – Get Yourself Together
John Mayall Bluesbreakers – I’m Your Witchdoctor
Mike Stevens and the Shevells – The Go-Go Train
David Bowie – I Can’t Help Thinking About Me
Donovan – Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness)
P. P. Arnold – (If You Think You’re) Groovy
The 5am Event – Hungry
Fleur De Lys – Circles
The Sorrows – Take a Heart
The Timebox – Soul Sauce
The Clique – We Didn’t Kiss, We Didn’t Love, But Now We Do
The Spectres – (We Ain’t Got) Nothin’ Yet
The Carnabys – Jump And Dance
The Poets Baby – Don’t You Do It
Billy Nicolls – London Social Degree
The Searchers – Popcorn Double Feature
Status Quo – You’re Just What I Was Looking For
Chris Farlowe – Handbags And Gladrags
The Pentangle – Light Flight
The Kinks – Waterloo Sunset ( )