Sky Saxon Presents “A Starlight Date With Richard Marsh”

The 2003 vinyl LP Sky Saxon Presents "A Starlight Date With Richard Marsh", released by Arcania, finally gathered all twelve of Sky’s known pre-Seeds singles in one handy place. Other compilations had included a few of them but this was the first time that Sky’s 1960 single as Dick Marsh, "What Chance Have I" b/w "There's Only One Girl", had been reissued. (Sky’s real name was Richard Marsh.)

Unfortunately, sound quality is a major distraction on the album. The compilers fed the audio through computers to remove vinyl pops and clicks. It worked, but it also sucked most of the sound from the tracks as well. What made it into these grooves is a pinched and muffled version of these needle-dropped recordings. The songs are still enjoyable and good to hear but this overzealousness is a strike against Sky Saxon Presents "A Starlight Date With Richard Marsh".

The title of the album is a reference to a never-heard song that Sky Saxon recorded in the mid-1950s called “Starlight Date”. According to the jive hipster (that is, difficult to understand) liner notes, young Richard Marsh had an acetate of this song made and it was played on local radio in his home city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The compilers of this LP hunted high and low for a copy but it seems to have been lost and/or destroyed.

Original copies of the 1960s 7″ singles can be pricey – some of them you almost never see for sale. The original physical copies are fun to have of course, but for those that don’t have deep enough pockets or maniacal enough completist requirements, this 12-track LP will have to do.

The Sky Saxon Presents “A Starlight Date With Richard Marsh” LP is readily available from numerous sellers and is the only way to get all of Sky Saxon’s recordings from before The Seeds in one package.

Track listing

1. "What Chance Have I" [by Dick Marsh, 1960]
2. "There's Only One Girl" [by Dick Marsh, 1960]
3. "Baby Baby Baby" [by Richie Marsh and The Hoodwinks, 1961]
4. "Half Angel" [by Richie Marsh and The Hoodwinks, 1961]
5. "They Say" [by Ritchie Marsh, 1962]
6. "Darling, I Swear That It's True"  [by Ritchie Marsh, 1962]
7. "Goodby" [by Little Ritchie Marsh, 1963]
8. "Crying Inside My Heart" [by Little Ritchie Marsh, 1963]
9. "Go Ahead And Cry" [by Sky Saxon and The Soul Rockers, 1963]
10. "They Say" [remake by Sky Saxon and The Soul Rockers, 1963]
11. "Trouble With My Baby" [by Sky Saxon and The Electra-Fires, 1964]
12. "Do The Swim" [by Sky Saxon and The Electra-Fires, 1964]

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