The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - Eighteen Is Over the Hill (1968)

It’s often been written that this band’s “leader,” Bob Markley, was only a member of the band because he was chasing the money, girls, and the celebrity status that came along with being in a popular band. According to rock historians and his bandmates, Markley wasn’t much of a musician and could hardly play a note. But luckily for him, he could at times be quite poetic and thus contributed his fair share to what would amount to very appealing music.

The song heard below was released on the band’s fourth album, Volume 3: A Child’s Guide to Good and Evil. If you’re bewildered about their albums’ naming conventions, you can find some insight on one of our previous posts. The album is widely considered one of the best to be put out by the band, but the song heard below doesn’t quite reinforce Markley’s ability to sometimes be poetic. Where the song really shines is in its melody and complex studio techniques.

The cover art for the album was created by renowned artist John Van Hamersveld, who most notably designed covers of albums for The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, among others. Although the album is now considered an accomplished psychedelic record, it sold poorly upon its initial release and failed to chart nationally.

The song heard below is what I consider to be the highlight of the album. The lyrics were written by Markley and the music was written by his bandmate Ron Morgan.



The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - Eighteen Is Over the Hill (1968)

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Lyrics:

Antique white lace
A plastic face
A tinfoil place
An empty space
You are so hung up on yourself
And nothing else

I like too much the rain
The power of my brain
The sunshine
And the open road
Ahead of me

Laughing because
It’s right to laugh
Dress up at night
In the right dress
You can’t change me
Into something
That I’m not

I like too much the rain
The power of my brain
The sunshine
And the open road
Ahead of me

I’ll hear your line
Some other time
When miming
Performance rhyme
The way you feel
It is so phony
And unreal

I like too much the rain
The power of my brain
The sunshine
And the open road
Ahead of me

I like too much the rain
The power of my brain
The sunshine
And the open road
Ahead of me

The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - Smell of Incense (1967)

If there was ever a phony frontman who was only in it for the girls and money, it was Bob Markley of this group. In 1965, record producer Kim Fowley attempted to match up musicians who had talent with Markley’s lyrics (and deep pockets). He threw the hopeful band a party at Markley’s home and hired The Yardbirds. Only after Markley noticed all of the young girls’ admiration for the musicians did he agree to join the group. Conflicts within the band were constant, as Markley was said to be egotistical, a bully, and completely talentless as a musician. The group released six albums, all spattered here and there with Markley’s nonsense.

Luckily, some of the material released by the group, such as the song heard below, was able to go unscathed by Markley and his ego. This song comes from the group’s third album, titled Vol. 2 (Breaking Through). (The first album, Volume One, had been primarily completed without Markley, and was therefore ignored when their second album, Part One, needed a name).



The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - Smell of Incense (1967)

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Lyrics:

She stood as still as the shadows of stone
She stood on the edge of my mind
I tried to push her away
I shut and locked the door
Her eyes grew large and asking
And the smell of incense filled her room

She stood in the ever present fullness of expectation
What happened to her childhood dreams?
The sidewalk smothers us tomorrow
And the smell of incense filled her room

She stood as still as the shadows of stone
She stood on the edge of my mind
I tried to push her away
I shut and locked the door
Her eyes grew large and asking
And the smell of incense filled her room

And the smell of incense filled her room
And the smell of incense filled her room
(And the smell of incense filled her room)
And the smell of incense filled her room
And the smell of incense filled her room
And the smell of incense filled her room
And the smell of incense-
And the smell of incense-
And the smell of incense-
And the smell of incense-
And the smell of incense-
And the smell of incense-
And the smell of incense-
And the smell of inc-