The Soft Boys - Insanely Jealous

A real cult favourite from the Boys' second album, 1980's Underwater Moonlight. It's a remarkable track, showing off what a brilliant lyricist Robyn Hitchcock could be when he wasn't being insufferably clever;  musically it's haunting and atmospheric and builds into what must be the frenzied crescendo to end all frenzied crescendos. I was surprised to see that it's only a little over four minutes long - I would have guessed it much longer than that, not because it's boring or anything but just because there is so much going on it.

I'd go so far as to say this was the Soft Boys' (and indeed Robyn Hitchcock's) masterpiece.

The New Lines - Buildings to Photograph

Great spacey psychedelic pop from, where else, Brooklyn. This is the closing track of their 2011 debut album All That We See and Seem. It was also the first song I ever heard of theirs and I wondered at first if it had been uploaded at the wrong speed, but no, it's just beautifully languid.

The Rain Parade - Blue

Gorgeous little track from the Rain Parade's 1984 EP Explosions in the Glass Palace. Of all the Paisley Underground bands I always thought they had the most perfect sound.

Strawberry Alarm Clock - Incense and Peppermints

Always thought of this as a classic of '60s psychedelia, although a few years ago I read that Strawberry Alarm Clock were to that scene what Generation X were to '70s punk: a band that the real hippies looked down on. But so what? It's still a great song.

From 1967.

Young Prisms - Feel Fine

Blissed-out fuzz from San Francisco. Nice to listen to in the right frame of mind, though I think they're best taken either in small doses, or with a significant amount of drugs (if you're so inclined).

This is from their debut album, last year's Friends for Now.

The Three O'Clock - Marjorie Tells Me

Since I started doing this blog, I've been very pleased to see how many Three O'Clock fans there still are out there (judging by the number of people who end up here by searching for them). They were one of my favourite bands as a teenager - I was actually a member of their fan club, and I didn't join many fan clubs - but I could really count on my fingers the number of people I knew who seemed to have ever heard of them. It's heartening to know that I'm really not alone in my Three O'Clock love, even if this knowledge is about 25 years overdue.

This one's from the 1983 Baroque Hoedown EP. Not one of their better-known tunes, but isn't it just delightful?

Lilys - The Night Sun Over San Juan

Speaking of DC-based Slumberland bands - well, Lilys used to be one, but that was a lifetime (and a number of musical styles) ago. It's rare for a band to last as long as they have and keep putting out records and actually get better, but I genuinely think their last album - 2006's Everything Wrong Is Imaginary - actually does outshine most of their earlier releases. It's miles ahead of the MBV-wannabeism of their early years, less self-indulgent than their "Nanny in Manhattan" era and while there's still a strong psychedelic influence, it's really the closest thing they've ever done to a pop record and they wear that style particularly well.

I hope they haven't called it a day at this point. I'd love to hear what else they might have in store for us.

The Salvation Army - While We Were in Your Room Talking to Your Wall

The Salvation Army’s lone album under that name is basically a psychedelic pop record, but one that largely reflects their punk roots – it’s some distance from the fluffy pre-twee sounds that they would become known for as The Three O’Clock. This song is as close as they get to it, a trippy almost-ballad distinguishable from their Sixteen Tambourines period only by the sloppy production.

The Hollies - Pegasus

This one falls firmly into the "twee before twee existed" category. In fact, it out-twees most of the Sarah catalogue. You don't get much tweer than that! It's from the 1967 album Butterfly, when the Hollies were firmly in flower-power mode, and I've seen grown men collapse in giggles at it - particularly in the closing few seconds. You'll love it.

The Teardrop Explodes - When I Dream

The Teardrops at their bubbliest, from their 1980 debut Kilimanjaro. It's long been alleged that Julian Cope wrote this song about Courtney Love. He denies it, but I suppose you would.

The Eyes of Mind - Alice

A little-known treasure from the Paisley Underground vaults, the Eyes of Mind's entire recorded output seems to consist of Tales of the Turquoise Umbrella, which was mysteriously released as a six-song EP in their native US and a full-length album in Europe. Frankly, they could have released a double LP of this song alone and it would still be worth tracking down - one of the catchiest pieces of bubblegum psychedelic pop you'll ever hear anywhere.

Autumn Parade - White Sand

Another band whose entire recorded output was on the 1992 Expo1 compilation. Autumn Parade, I gather, were from the Cheshire area and had a sort of jangly psychedelic baggy sound along the lines of Spirea X or what the Soup Dragons were doing at the time. Actually better though. Not that that would be difficult.

Duncan Browne - On the Bombsite

Here's a real little treasure that not many know about. Duncan Browne was an English singer-songwriter who started off in a very laidback psychedelic folk vein, releasing a debut album in 1968 that might be described as Nick Drake singing Chaucer poems over a baroque orchestra. Or maybe not. Some of it is a little OTT, but this particular track is a lovely little pop song that really should have been a hit.

His music took a much more mainstream turn during the '70s and he might be slightly better known for some of that, such as his recordings with Metro, whose "Criminal World" was covered on Bowie's Let's Dance album. I don't find much of his work in that period very interesting.

He died in the early '90s, shortly after the debut was re-released to apparently little more notice than had greeted it the first time around.

Julian Cope - Kolly Kibber's Birthday

A wonderful track from his debut solo album, 1984's World Shut Your Mouth (which did not include the song of the same name, and was all the better for it). In typical Julian style I don't really have any idea what it's all about but it's a far more somber and brooding track than the title would suggest.

This is really Julian Cope at his best - a far rarer specimen than it ought to be.

The Mabuses - In the Long Run

The best way to describe London's Mabuses would be Syd Barrett fronting the Monochrome Set. That's a bit simplistic, obviously, but it does a good job of capturing their quirky/arty psychedelic pop sound. They released two albums in the early '90s, disappeared for yonks and then resurfaced a couple years ago. Not sure what they're up to now, if anything.

This is a relatively straightforward (by their standards) pop piece from their self-titled 1991 debut.

Donovan - Sunshine Superman

I post so much wannabe-sixties stuff here but very little actual sixties stuff, which I think is kind of remiss of me.

Here's one I've always loved, the title track from Donovan's third album. It's one of those perfect cheery summery sixties songs that always makes me wish I'd been around in that era. Until I realise how old that would make me now.

Jimmy Page on guitar, BTW.

The Three O'Clock - Seeing Is Believing

If you were hoping for something a bit more Irish today, forget it. I find St Patrick's Day an absolutely loathsome holiday, and always spend it hiding indoors from the drunken mobs that terrorise the city centre. And I don't mean the American tourists in leprechaun hats.

So here's something a bit cheerier instead. I've posted a number of Three O'Clock songs but it seems I've skipped over their first full-length album, Sixteen Tambourines. Released in 1983, it marks the point at which the Three O'Clock finally and firmly rejected their punk origins, instead opting for winsome psychedelic pop that could be placed as easily in the children's as in the indie section of your local music store (well, maybe not "A Day in Erotica").

I actually think of this album as twee before "twee" existed. It's a bit more slickly produced than you usually get in that genre. So, hi-fi twee, maybe. It's still a record that any self-respecting tweehead should own.

This is my favourite track on the album, mainly because the chorus sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it. Still.

Julian Cope - Beautiful Love

As self-indulgent Julian Cope records go, 1991's Peggy Suicide is possibly the self-indulgentest. Not really a lot on it that I would listen to, to be honest. But this is a great pop song.

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Julian Cope - Laughing Boy

Julian's post-Teardrop Explodes stuff is a mixed bag, but I do like a lot of the early tunes and I particularly loved this one from Fried, his second solo album. Warning, it's long and slow and not really a pop song by any means... and better listened to than watched. But it's quite lovely.

Music starts at around :24.

Robyn Hitchcock - Acid Bird

A lot of Robyn Hitchcock's stuff is too self-consciously clever for me, and crosses the line into novelty act territory. But this is a wonderful song, with the loveliest Byrds-like guitars. It's from his 1981 debut solo album Black Snake Diamond Role.