Formed in the tropical climates of Barbados 1967, The Luv Machine were spotted by manager, Malcolm West who was visiting the island on vacation at the time. The band was a big attraction in the West Indies, where theyd had a string of hit singles and reached the number 1 spot with their psyched out rendition of the Foundations Build Me Up Buttercup! West convinced the guys to relocate to England, where they were to set up base in his West Midlands home for several years. The band slogged it out around Britains underground club circuit and played extensive tours of Italy (supporting The Sweet) and Germany. Their Hard Rock influences shocked audiences at first, as the typically white rock fraternity had not anticipated such heavy acid-fried freak-outs to translate over from Caribbean shores. Influenced mainly by Hendrix and The Cream/Blind Faith, they also found inspiration from the likes of Vanilla Fudge, Pink Floyd, King Crimson & early Black Sabbath. Luv Machine managed to combine elements of psychedelic rock with a contemporary progressive attitude. Added to this was the bands natural capability of fusing elements of soul with an infectious funky groove into their completely unique sound. As word about the band started to spread, West managed to secure them a major deal with Polydor Records. Following the release of their single, Witches Wand the band were getting offered more prestigious shows and were a hit at The Speakeasy, The Marquee (they shared the stage with Elton John & Uriah Heep in the same week) and The famous Cavern Club in Liverpool. The bands self titled debut album that was released for Polydor in 1971, has become a much-revered item amongst collectors and fans of the era. Original UK pressings of the album have been known to fetch figures exceeding £250. Unfortunately, due to various reasons, the band split before the album was actually released, which meant it was never actually given the publicity it surely deserved. Who knows what may of happened if the situation would have been different for them. Rise Above Relics have just re-released the classic anthem Witches Wand on a 7 Single limited to 500 copies. It features previously unreleased; Dont Let The Blues Take Over Pt.3. The full-length album Turns You On! (the original intended title for the bands 1971 self-titled release) is released in September 2006 on CD and limited edition double vinyl LP. Completely re-mastered from the original stereo quarter-Inch tapes, Turns You On! finally receives the treatment it deserves, after many years of badly reproduced counterfeit copies have been in circulation. Also unearthed for this release are no less than five previously unheard tracks and also includes original Witches Wand 45 B-Side In The Early Hours.
Rock music is littered with thousands of one-off projects and bands that for whatever reason never saw the light of day. Others acts saw a moment or two of the spotlight but burned out in blaze of financial disaster, drug overdoses and infighting. 1980's boxed sets such as "Nuggets" and "It Came From The Garage" were literal testaments to the wonderful but truncated glories of the Rock-n-Roll dream. As these audio snippets show many of these acts deserved their doomed anonymity but a select few leave you scratching your head in wonder that they didn't become full blown classics. Rise Above Records has come out with a new imprint, "Rise Above Relics" to high-light some of these lost gems and the first of these releases is the wonderful, "Turns You On" from the terribly named Luv Machine.
Rise Above (owned by Cathedral singer Lee Dorrian) is the premier British Doom/Stoner Rock label in the world. They have released classics from such bands as Electric Wizard, Orange Goblin and Circulus. In 2006 they formed the Rise Above Relics division to focus on the lost and forgotten forbearers of bands who serve as the antecedents to their current roster. In this case they have unearthed the only Lp from Bahamanian Heavy Rock Boogie combo; Luv Machine.
Luv Machine were victims to the classic business meets artist rip off paradigm and the band disintegrated almost as quickly as they came together. Thankfully they were able to record this wonderful album on the way and RAR deserve credit for bringing to our ears. The album is a wonderful boogie down fuzzed out rock feast. It combines elements of the sounds of Cream, 10 Years After and touch of Santana (during their initial psych-boogie incarnation). The music is punchy and filled with urgent soulful vocals and great harmonies. Main-man Michael Bishop wrote all of the songs and they manage to channel a funkified blend of Traffic era Steve Winwood with the propulsive rock of the aforementioned Cream. The disc is a treat from beginning to end. It leaves you wondering why these songs weren't instant classics of the era and didn't propel the band to superstardom. In particular tracks such as Lost and My Life is Filled with Changes present the diverse punch of the bands sound. The densely packed booklet that comes with this reissue is full of pictures of the band and a wonderfully complete bio written by Lee Dorian.
Luv Machine might have not scaled the heights of glory during their brief career but as this CD proves financial success doesn't necessarily equate with artistic mastery. Ultimately this thoroughly enjoyable CD leaves the listener wondering what other dusty gems are out there in the dust bins of history waiting to be discovered. It also gives us caution to pay attention to current underground acts due to the fact that we just might be ignoring a contemporary masterpiece.
1. Witch's Wand
2. You're Surprised
3. It's Amazing
4. Happy Children
5. Everything
6. Maybe Tomorrow
7. Reminiscing
8. Change Your Mind
9. Corrupt One
10. Lost
11. My Life Is Filled With Changes
12. Portrait of Disgust
13. Don't Let the Blues Take Over - (previously unreleased)
14. In the Early Hours - (previously unreleased)
15. Dark Clouds - (previously unreleased)
16. Do You Want My Love? - (previously unreleased)
17. Break the News Gently - (previously unreleased)
18. Don't Let the Blues Take Over - (previously unreleased)
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