for Sunday 10th July 1966

Very little is known about Odyssey. The sleevenotes for Strike Records' 'Best of Strike' compilation imply that the band's vocalist was Brindley D Spender, aka Ken Smart, but whether the singer's real identity was Brindley, Ken or something else altogether, the notes admit that this is information that has vanished somewhere in the vinyl vaults. Ken Smart had a solo single issued on Strike, The Company I Keep, which credits the songwriter as B D Spender. The song was also released on the Domain label under the name of Brindley D Spender.

A drummer called Dave Preston is also alleged to have enhanced the Odyssey line-up, but nothing else is known about the band. However, one thing that has now been confirmed is that the long-held belief that there is some connection between Odyssey and Sons of Fred is false. The rumour has now been quashed by the Sons's bassist Pete Sears

The only picture of Odyssey that we have been able to track down is on an EP sleeve issued in France on the Zag label (below left). Beware (the b-side of the UK release) is being promoted as the main track. This is assuming that the photo genuinely is Odyssey. As we know, the wrong photos were sometimes sent out by record companies or mixed up at the printers. Although the sleeve gives the impression that the EP features four songs by Odyssey, the French website Vinyl Vidi Vici reveals that the only other Odyssey track is How Long is Time and that the other two cuts are Love Me Right and I Can Go Down, both by Jimmy Powell and the Dimensions. At least we can be pretty certain that the band shown on the sleeve isn't Jimmy Powell and the Dimensions, as there are six of them and only four guys in this photo!

Many thanks to Claude Picard for allowing us to reproduce the EP photo from his site. Claude is the webmaster of Vinyl Vidi Vici an interesting encyclopaedia of singles and EPs released in France between 1960 and 1975 – both French and overseas pressings.

Singing the Blues was a Joe Meek-produced reworking of the old Guy Mitchell/Tommy Steele hit. Jason Eddie was the stage name adopted by Billy Fury's brother, Albie Wycherley. However his name is spelt differently on the CD Joe Meek: The Alchemist of Pop - Home Made Hits and Rarities 1958-1966, as Jason Eddy & The Centremen. (The CD features several other obscure Fab Forty tracks.) Like most rare Meek releases, the original vinyl is highly collectable, with a pristine copy valued at £125.

Infamous as the worst-behaved member of those Kings of Unruliness, the Pretty Things, drummer Viv Prince quit the band in 1965. As he had played with the somewhat-less-controversial Carter-Lewis and the Southerners prior to joining the Pretties, John Carter agreed to co-produce The Light Of The Charge Brigade, Prince's one solo instrumental release.Mint copies can command in the region of £35. (Click on the picture for an Amazon link to more information about the Record Collector Rare Record Price Guide.)