Riddles and Fairytales

RIDDLES AND FAIRYTALES

The Mainstream Records album, Enough finally came out in the fall of 1968; but Mainstream did nothing to promote the album or its lone single, “Riddles and Fairytales” b/w “I Wanna Touch Your Heart”, so the band broke up in late 1968.

If I find a garage rock song on one of the many compilation albums in my collection that I truly love, I will often try to track down a retrospective album by the band to see what else they have recorded. In this case, I found a 22-track CD on Distortions Records called Enough. Unlike many such albums, which are basically a collection of miscellaneous, unconnected songs, this Bohemian Vendetta CD really sounds like an album. Highlights include the early single “Like Stoned” (which has the feel of a Dutch “Nederpop” song with its offbeat tune and unusual vocal style), their last single “Riddles and Fairytales” (both the album version and the 45 version are included), “Charity Killjoy” (which was bumped from the Mainstream album in favor of “Satisfaction”), the willfully eccentric “Paradox City”, and of course “Enough”, a plaintive plea from a guy who is fed up with his girlfriend.

(April 2011)

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Perhaps the best song of all by Bohemian Vendetta, the more conventional “Riddles and Fairytales” can be heard at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gllqc0-4BYc . Additional songs can also be heard on YouTube if these are to your liking.

(April 2013)