Abandoned Albums
Episode 4 — Baby Lemonade — 68% Pure Imagination
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Episode 4 — Baby Lemonade — 68% Pure Imagination
This episode begins a four-part series taking a peak at the genre of power pop. Now there is a lot of debate in, and around, power pop… and fans of the genre do have those debates.
However, I’m not gonna jump into the fray. There are people way more versed in the genre than I am (probably a wee bit smarter too).
That being said, in the book Go All the Way: A Literary Appreciation of Power Pop, and its follow-up Go Further: More Literary Appreciations of Power Pop, editors Paul Meyers and S.W. Lauden collected a series of essays from power pop fans.
One of the many great quotes in the books comes from Michael Chabon (yep, that one) who, in his essay “Tragic Magic,” said this of power pop:
“Power pop is a prayer offered by atheists to a god who exists but doesn’t hear.”
First up into the foray of power pop is the Los Angeles based band Baby Lemonade and their 1996 album 68% Pure Imagination.
Formed by childhood friends Mike Randel and Rusty Squeezebox, they teamed up with drummer David “Daddy-O” Green in 1992, laying the groundwork for Baby Lemonade. After replacing original bassist Henry Lui with Boys Named Sue’s bassist, Dave Chapple, the band buttoned up their line-up… and sound.
After their first gig, they were approached about what their name was. Not missing a beat, Rusty Squeezebox summoned the band’s love of late-60’s psychedelia to provide the band a name on the spot — no spoilers here, you’ll have to listen.
Baby Lemonade’s second gig was opening for 60’s legend Arthur Lee of the band LOVE. Lee was so enamored with the band that they became his backing band until he died in 2006. This would prove to be the most stable line-up of LOVE in the band’s history.
Baby Lemonade continued to pull double duty by working with Lee and gigging around the rabid Southern California power pop scene. After sending out their demo, they were approached by Long Gone John’s label Sympathy For The Record Industry (The White Stripes, Hole, Redd Kross).
After receiving an advance from Sympathy for the Recording Industry, the band purchased a sixteen-track reel-to-reel recorder rather than pay for a studio. After Rusty and drummer Green had mastered the intricacies of recording, the band gathered in Green’s garage to punch out the album.
Released in 1996, 68% Pure Imagination — no spoilers on the album’s title, you’ll have to listen — has been called “A gleefully silly romp through the more twee side of ’60s pop culture” by critic Stewart Mason.
The album has several stand-out songs, including the very power poppy “Shake the Shelter” and “Brooke and the Sandman,” as well as a sublime cover of LOVE’s “You Set the Scene.”
In Mason’s review, he mentions the band’s bend towards silly puns, like “Santanaclaus” and “Oblivion Neutron Bomb” — a nod to Olivia Newton John’s hit “Physical.” Mason writes, “…what child of the ’70s didn’t call Little Miss Physical “Oblivion Neutron Bomb” at least once?”
As children of the 70’s Randle and I discussed this, and neither of us had ever referred to Olivia Newton-John as “Oblivion Neutron Bomb”.
In 1996, Arthur Lee was sentenced to 12 years in prison on a weapons charge (the charge would eventually be reversed on appeal). During Lee’s incarceration, Baby Lemonade kept themselves busy, dropping 1998’s Exploring Music in 1998 on New York’s BIG DEAL label.
In 2000, Rusty and Mike released solo albums, Isotopes, and My Music Loves You -even if I don’t, respectively. In 2001 Baby Lemonade reconvened to release The High Life Suite.
Baby Lemonade and Arthur Lee picked up where they left off when Lee was released in 2001. This collaboration lasted until 2005, when Lee refused to board a plane for England. Undeterred, Baby Lemonade, along with original LOVE guitarist Johnny Echols, would carry on as “LOVE Revisited.”
Arthur Lee would succumb to acute myeloid leukemia in August 2006.
When Milan, Italy, wanted to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of The Beatles classic Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album, Baby Lemonade, got the tap on the shoulder to serve as the backing band. Along with The London Sinfonietta, the band backed many well-known and well-respected artists — again, no spoilers here.
Listen to Abandoned Albums Episode 4 — Baby Lemonade here:
Abandoned Albums on Apple Podcasts
Peeling back the curtain to try and figure out why some albums weren't as successful as maybe they should have been, or…podcasts.apple.com