After 18 years of dormancy, British pop band The Primitives — fronted by the platinum-coiffed Tracy Tracy and best known for their 1988 single, “Crash” — reunited for a series of live shows in 2009 and 2010.
After touring, The Primitives headed into the studio with original producer Paul Sampson. Last year’s Never Kill A Secret EP brought us a peek into those sessions, with a pair of new originals (“Rattle My Cage” and “Never Kill A Secret”) offered up alongside covers of “Need All The Help I Can Get” (Suzi Jane Hokom, produced by Lee Hazelwood) and “Breakaway” (Toni Basil, 16 years before “Mickey”).
Now on Echoes And Rhymes, such decades-old covers are the sole focus of The Primitives’ first full length since 1991’s Galore. The album is comprised of 14 songs from the ’60s and ’70s by semi-obscure groups with female lead vocalists, so unless you’re a dedicated record collector of a very specific stripe, most of these tracks will ring unfamiliar by title and artist. The Primitives have picked quite an interesting way to come back, with a ‘concept covers’ album.
“Turn Off the Moon” is the first single from Echoes And Rhymes, and the track does come with quite a hook of a backstory. “Turn Off The Moon” was originally the B-side of the single “Lolita Ya Ya,” from the soundtrack of Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita , both featuring the vocal talents of the 1962 film’s teenage lead, Sue Lyon.
For their take on “Turn Off The Moon,” The Primitives fuzz things up a bit, otherwise it’s a pretty straightforward cover. Tracy Tracy’s sweetly swaying vocals captures the innocence of the early ’60s era, though for her 21st century look, she’s turned off the blonde and gone red instead.
Other highlights on Echoes And Rhymes include “Till You Say You’ll Be Mine” (originally recorded by both Jackie DeShannon and Olivia Newton-John), “Single Girl” (Sandy Posey), and “I’m Not Sayin'” (Nico), which features The Primitives’ guitarist Paul Court on lead vocals.
Purchase The Primitives – “Turn Off The Moon” (Sye Lyon cover) via iTunes, Amazon MP3.
