The Charade...lost gem of an album from Australian vocal group from the late 1960's

A regular reader and contributor of this blog was kind enough to share this rare gem of an album, and it's been sitting on my hard drive for some time, almost forgotten. Unfortunately, I don't have much information on the group themselves, but if anyone out there knows any other details I would be more than appreciative.

The Charade released this one album on EMI back in 1969. They were a vocal group consisting of the following personnel: DAVID COOPER gtr vcls, BRIAN O'TOOLE gtr vcls, SIOBHAN SHEPPARD vcls. The album was produced by Gus McNeil, and arranged by The Charades and Gus McNeil. It was engineered by David Woodley-Page and John Taylor.

Several of the tracks on the album were written by Paul Williams/Roger Nichols, 3 of which were from Paul Williams' early band The Holy Mackerel. There are also covers of "Cinderella Rockefella", "Classical Gas", "Windy" and Gene Clarke's "Train Leaves Here This Morning". The vocals and instrumentation of the group are nothing short of superb, and the production of the album is as good as anything similar from the era. 

Their sound is akin to the likes of The Seekers, Peter, Paul and Mary and The Mamas and The Papas. 

1.BITTER HONEY
2.THE LADY IS WAITING
3.CINDERELLA ROCKFELLA
4.L.A.BREAKDOWN
5.TO PUT UP WITH YOU
6.WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE
7.CLASSICAL GAS
8.PEACE OF MIND
9.TRAIN LEAVES HERE THIS MORNING
10.HAND-ME-DOWN MAN
11.CYCLES
12.WINDY
13.OUT ON THE SIDE
14.LOVE SO FINE
15.SONG TO RAYMONDO
16.TAKIN' LIFE EASY

click here for more information

There is also a podcast link from Southern FM which tells the Charade story as told by Charade member David Cooper.

This first video on YouTube is them performing "Keep the Customer Satisfied" on Australian Bandstand. The line-up is noted as Linda Keene, Brian O'Toole and David Cooper.

This second video is "Hand-Me-Down Man" from the album

There are several other videos on YouTube including their covers of "Melting Pot", "California Soul" and "Carpet Man". Just search on "The Charade Live on Bandstand".

There are also several clips of Linda Keene and Brain O'Toole performing at the memorial concert for Greg Quill.