Blue Ash “Dinner At Mr. Billy’s”
Formed in Ohio in 1969 by bassist Frank Secich and singer Jim Kendzor, Blue Ash toured hard, wrote constantly, and chased the perfect three minute pop single. They hit the public consciousness with the power pop classic “Abracadabra (Have You Seen her?)” in 1973. These tracks were recorded between 1970 and 1974 the original lineup worked with DJ Bob Mack on these tracks that were never released at the time.
It starts out uneven, but the good stuff emerges. Songs like “Dangerous Dynamite,” “It’s Alright by Me,” and “Say Goodbye” highlight the band’s core strength, bright melodies, and tight arrangements. Each song carries an emotional resonance even when the style shifts from chiming guitars to heavier rock. One real gem here is “She Isn’t There,” recorded at Peppermint Productions in 1979. Secich recalls Greg Shaw hearing it and immediately wanting to sign the band. The performance sounds confident, polished, and radio ready, proof that Blue Ash never lost their songwriting focus.
Dinner at Mr. Billy’s works as both excavation and celebration. Longtime fans get a vault opening packed with prime material that reinforces the band’s cult status. New listeners get a clean entry point into a catalog built on hooks, harmony, and Midwestern grit. With hundreds of songs still unreleased, this collection feels like the start of a long overdue rediscovery for power pop fans.
The Iveys “Miniskirts And Rainbows”
Before they were Badfinger, they were The Iveys. And with the continual discovery of the bands lost material, its not unexpected that these demos would surface. The band in 1967 had Pete Ham (lead guitar), Ronald “Ron” Griffiths (bass guitar), Tom Evans (guitar) and Mike Gibbins (drums). ‘Ivy’s Anthology 5: Miniskirts and Rainbows’ collects 19 tracks recorded between 1966 and 1969, built almost entirely from home demos and rehearsal tapes. This is archival material, unfinished in spots, but it opens a detailed window into the Ivy’s songwriting before the Apple era. Four tracks are early demos of known songs, three are alternate versions, and 12 songs never surfaced before.
The biggest surprise comes from manager Bill Collins, who wrote “Good Boy” and “All the Fun of the Fair.” Fans never knew he ever wrote material, the latter song being written for singer Mary Hopkins. Pete Ham’s demo “I Love You” ranks among the strongest cuts. Elsewhere, Tom Evans fills the record with hooks and personality on tracks like “Cleopatra in a Miniskirt,” “That’s Okay,” and “Girl Next Door in the Miniskirt.”
This set plays like a raw scrapbook from the Ivy’s early years, packed with hooks, experiments, and flashes of brilliance that point straight toward Badfinger. You hear a young band pushing melodies to the front, chasing harmonies, and throwing every idea onto tape. The sound stays rough, yet the songwriting shines through and for longtime fans, the key tracks earn instant replay value.
