During the 80s there was a huge and thriving melting pot of musical styles and flavours consisting of many types of bands who played music influenced from the past yet interpreting it in their own way to make a truly (for the times) modern sound and statement, as was the case similarly during the 70s Punk explosion a decade before, the 80s underground music scene was full to the brim with a whole host of ecclectic bands who had one-off 7" singles released on small record labels, many of these bands are virtually unknown beyond a small fan-base around the particular genre or scene and remain to a lesser or greater degree 'hidden gems'.The Springfields were an American jangle-pop group with obvious influences from the 'Paisley Underground' scene which came five or six years before, their 7" single of which I am going to review and share - 'Sunflower' was released in the summer of 1988 on cult British 'Indie' label 'Sarah Records' and is one such musical 'hidden gem', I feel this is one of the most beautiful releases during the late-80s.
Packaged in a alluring hand-folded sleeve with dazzling and wonderfully designed labels, the record not only sounds the part, it also looks the part too.
The Springfields were -
Rik Menck - 12 String Guitar, Tambourine, Drums & Vocals
Wes Lachot - Bass
Paulie Chastain - Bass, Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals
Eric Petersen - Acoustic & Electric Guitars
The Springfields mainly revolved around the talents of the band's leader Rik Menck.
Below I have added two songs from the 7", the A-side 'Sunflower' which is a wonderfully rich sounding recording with Byrds-like jangle and textured harmonies, it's a really great song and I feel a really interesting piece of song writing especially for the late 80s.
The second track is one of the two B-sides, the song of which I am including on this post is a cover version of The Hollies track 'Clown', The Springfields version sounds very much like it could have been a B-side on a 60s garage band 45.
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