ABCs of My Vinyl Collection (Letter D, Part 9)

Now for something from the psychedelic side of C86. The Dentists caught my eye 30 years ago for a silly reason. I liked the name of the album from which today's song was taken. I had no idea at the time 'Some People Are On The Pitch They Think It's All Over It Is Now' was a reference to Kenneth Wolstenholme's famous call at the 1966 World Cup. Hmm, I can't seem to recall who won that one. Take it easy. I'm kidding. You take notice when you're a kid and see titles like "She Dazzled Me With Basil," "Writhing on the Shagpile" and, of course, "Where's My Chicken, You Bastard?" from the brilliantly named 'You and Your Bloody Oranges' EP. You need to see the cover to appreciate it. Here you go.

I didn't follow the Dentists at all after 1987 or so, but the name Bob Collins from the band has continually popped up on other projects through the years, and the Dentists even garnered quite a respectable following here in America around the early '90s. I bring all of this up because Collins released an album under his own name last year I did hear, and it turned out to be a brilliant piece of indie pop. Give it a listen here. Now on to "I Had an Excellent Dream," a standout from the Dentists' debut album. To these ears, it owes much to "For Your Love" from the Yardbirds, particularly the background vocals, but that's not a bad sound to emulate.

"I Had an Excellent Dream"