Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

N is for…

Neon Pearl – s/t. Not an album as such, but a collection of demoes from 1967 retrospectively reissued around the turn of the century, point of interest being that Neon Pearl was Pete Dunton and Bernard Jink’s first band, they of the mighty T2. (Oh, coincidental connection with Sun Dial too, whose Acme label first put this album out) This is a collection of mostly moody psych pop songs, in fact downright gloomy in places, particularly given the year. No lost classics, though I think one track is a very early version of T2’s ‘Fantasy’, but Dunton’s strange, shivery vocal delivery is already fully-formed: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rIXHOP5nnC4