The Secret Life of Harpers Bizarre (1968)

The biggest hit these California songbirds, Harpers Bizarre, purveyors of sunshine pop, ever scored was a cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "Feelin' Groovy" that went top 20. It's a song I have not needed to hear for some time because oldies radio etched it into my brain as a permanent earworm. (My cats can verify as they have heard me querying them for years, "Hello lamppost, whatcha knowin'? / I come to watch your flowers growin'.") (they're the lamppost) That song is not on this album, but songs by Randy Newman, Bacharach/David, Frank Loesser, and others are, including a cover of "Battle of New Orleans." I had a hard time getting a bead on The Secret Life. It came to my attention originally on the downloading circuit and yet it is so charged up with super-sweet mainstream Broadway showtune glitz, which I normally resist, and often do here too, to tell you the truth. It's a case of cognitive dissonance all up and down the 17+ tracks. The Bacharach/David number, "Me, Japanese Boy," is one for the dustbin of history for self-evident reasons, yet it can be quite affecting. "Battle of New Orleans" was a goofy novelty hit for Johnny Horton, so Harpers Bizarre turns it into ... a Broadway showtune? In no way is "When I Was a Cowboy" a song about cowboys. These paradoxes go on and on. In my YouTube wanderings this past month I stumbled on a 1966 Andy Williams Christmas special, and suddenly this 1968 album made more sense. People used to love this corn syrup. I should also note it's somewhat spoiled by the streaming experience now, as it is another suite of songs that are supposed to flow together seamlessly but which streaming services insist on inserting silence between. The interlude pieces here are generally less than one minute, often less than 30 seconds, with lovely and surprising little turns, for example repeating a single musical figure of some kind from another song for emphasis. Alas, in the end it is all too Broadway showtune for me, in spite of favorites like "Me, Japanese Boy" and "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat" (the Loessor song). YMMV. The people who loved it on the DL circuit really, really loved it.