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History teaches us not every artist that deserves to make it big gets there, and the Mirage were a band who seemed close to major stardom more than once without quite grabbing the brass ring. One of the countless British groups who emerged in the 1960s, the Mirage had impressive instrumental skills – they had side gigs as studio musicians while making the rounds of London clubs – and could harmonize beautifully. They also had some fine songwriters in the group, and their best work was lovely psychedelic-infused pop with a dash of rock & roll muscle, and when they felt like emulating the Beatles, they did so with a skill and accuracy that falls just short of the Rutles. Single sides like "The Wedding of Ramona Blair," "The World Goes On Around You," and "Go Away" still sound like they should have been hits, but record company indifference, bad timing, and simple bad luck met them at every turn. By the time they finally got to make an album, the Mirage had mutated into a country/psych outfit called Jawbone that broke up shortly after their sole LP stiffed in the marketplace. The Mirage are just the sort of band that gains a cult following among lovers of U.K. rock of the 1960s, and Grapefruit Records has delivered the last word on their career with 2022's The World Goes On Around You: The Anthology, a three-disc set that collects all seven singles they released between 1965 and 1968, as well as discs they released under the aliases Yellow Pages and Portobello Explosion. Along with their official discography, The World Goes On Around You includes a large selection of demos and studio outtakes, and it's clear the Mirage had more than one good album in them if someone had only had the smarts to release them. A few lively tracks from live-in-the-studio BBC sessions are featured (sadly taken from acetates and off-air recordings, as the original tapes are lost), and the set closes out with the Jawbone album in full. The album is sequenced chronologically, which doesn't always make for the best listening experience – the Mirage were often saddled with mediocre material for A-sides while their far more interesting originals were confined to the flips, and hearing them back to back only makes clear their A&R men didn't get it. And as great as "The Wedding of Ramona Blair" is, only the most obsessive fans will need all four versions that appear on this set. But considering how much of the Mirage's best work was seemingly lost to history for so long, it's good that David Wells (who compiled the set and wrote the splendidly informative liner notes) has chosen to offer the most complete picture possible, and short of the discovery of the long-lost BBC tapes, this set delivers everything you could ever need from a fine, unjustly overlooked band.
© Mark Deming /TiVo
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Rudy Clark, Composer - The Mirage, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1965 Ray Mynott Ray Mynott
Doris Payne, Composer - Gregory Carroll, Composer - The Mirage, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1965 Ray Mynott Ray Mynott
Tony Hicks, Composer - Graham nash, Composer - Alan Clarke, Composer - The Mirage, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1965 Ray Mynott Ray Mynott
Tony Hicks, Composer - Graham nash, Composer - Alan Clarke, Composer - The Mirage, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1965 Ray Mynott Ray Mynott
John Lennon, Composer - Paul Mccartney, Composer - The Mirage, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1966 The Mirage/Ray Glynn The Mirage/Ray Glynn
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 2014 RPM Records
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1967 Ray Mynott Ray Mynott
Dee Murray, Composer - The Mirage, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1966 RPM Records
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1966 RPM Records
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1966 RPM Records
The Mirage, MainArtist - Colin Fay, Composer - Larry Stein, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1968 Ray Mynott Ray Mynott
Dee Murray, Composer - The Mirage, MainArtist - Kirk Duncan, Composer - Peter Hynes, Composer - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1968 Ray Mynott Ray Mynott
Yellow Pages, MainArtist - Brian Keith, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1968 Ray Mynott Ray Mynott
Yellow Pages, MainArtist - Colin Fay, Composer - Larry Stein, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1968 Ray Mynott Ray Mynott
The Mirage, MainArtist - Colin Fay, Composer - Larry Stein, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1968 Ray Mynott Ray Mynott
Dee Murray, Composer - The Mirage, MainArtist - Kirk Duncan, Composer - Peter Hynes, Composer - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1968 Ray Mynott Ray Mynott
Jawbone, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1970 Cherry Red Records Ltd
Jawbone, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1970 Cherry Red Records Ltd
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 2022 BBC BBC
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 2022 BBC BBC
Doris Payne, Composer - Gregory Carroll, Composer - The Mirage, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 2022 BBC BBC
Anonymous, Composer - The Mirage, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 2022 BBC BBC
Sam Cooke, Composer - The Mirage, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 2022 BBC BBC
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 2022 BBC BBC
DISC 2
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1984 Ray Mynott Ray Mynott
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1966 RPM Records
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1966 RPM Records
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1966 RPM Records
The Mirage, MainArtist - Ray Mynott, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1966 RPM Records
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 2017 Cherry Red Records Ltd Cherry Red Records Ltd
The Mirage, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1967 Cherry Red Records Ltd
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1966 RPM Records
The Mirage, MainArtist - Kirk Duncan, Composer - Alan Duncan, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1966 RPM Records
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 2016 Cherry Red Records Ltd Cherry Red Records Ltd
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1966 RPM Records
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1966 RPM Records
Anonymous, Composer - The Mirage, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 2007 Ray Mynott Ray Mynott
Tony Hicks, Composer - Graham nash, Composer - Alan Clarke, Composer - The Mirage, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1966 RPM Records
CHIP TAYLOR, Composer - The Mirage, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 2022 Ray Mynott Ray Mynott
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 2006 The Mirage/Ray Glynn The Mirage/Ray Glynn
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer - Ray Mynott, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1966 RPM Records
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1966 RPM Records
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1966 RPM Records
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 2006 Ray Mynott Ray Mynott
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 2022 Ray Mynott Ray Mynott
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1966 RPM Records
The Mirage, MainArtist - David Hynes, Composer
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 2022 Ray Mynott Ray Mynott
DISC 3
Jawbone, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1970 Cherry Red Records Ltd
Jawbone, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1970 Cherry Red Records Ltd
Jawbone, MainArtist
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 1970 Cherry Red Records Ltd
Album review
History teaches us not every artist that deserves to make it big gets there, and the Mirage were a band who seemed close to major stardom more than once without quite grabbing the brass ring. One of the countless British groups who emerged in the 1960s, the Mirage had impressive instrumental skills – they had side gigs as studio musicians while making the rounds of London clubs – and could harmonize beautifully. They also had some fine songwriters in the group, and their best work was lovely psychedelic-infused pop with a dash of rock & roll muscle, and when they felt like emulating the Beatles, they did so with a skill and accuracy that falls just short of the Rutles. Single sides like "The Wedding of Ramona Blair," "The World Goes On Around You," and "Go Away" still sound like they should have been hits, but record company indifference, bad timing, and simple bad luck met them at every turn. By the time they finally got to make an album, the Mirage had mutated into a country/psych outfit called Jawbone that broke up shortly after their sole LP stiffed in the marketplace. The Mirage are just the sort of band that gains a cult following among lovers of U.K. rock of the 1960s, and Grapefruit Records has delivered the last word on their career with 2022's The World Goes On Around You: The Anthology, a three-disc set that collects all seven singles they released between 1965 and 1968, as well as discs they released under the aliases Yellow Pages and Portobello Explosion. Along with their official discography, The World Goes On Around You includes a large selection of demos and studio outtakes, and it's clear the Mirage had more than one good album in them if someone had only had the smarts to release them. A few lively tracks from live-in-the-studio BBC sessions are featured (sadly taken from acetates and off-air recordings, as the original tapes are lost), and the set closes out with the Jawbone album in full. The album is sequenced chronologically, which doesn't always make for the best listening experience – the Mirage were often saddled with mediocre material for A-sides while their far more interesting originals were confined to the flips, and hearing them back to back only makes clear their A&R men didn't get it. And as great as "The Wedding of Ramona Blair" is, only the most obsessive fans will need all four versions that appear on this set. But considering how much of the Mirage's best work was seemingly lost to history for so long, it's good that David Wells (who compiled the set and wrote the splendidly informative liner notes) has chosen to offer the most complete picture possible, and short of the discovery of the long-lost BBC tapes, this set delivers everything you could ever need from a fine, unjustly overlooked band.
© Mark Deming /TiVo
About the album
- 3 disc(s) - 60 track(s)
- Total length: 02:31:59
- Main artists: The Mirage
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Grapefruit
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock
© 2022 Cherry Red Records ℗ 2022 Ray Mynott, BBC under exclusive license to Cherry Red Records
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