The Twilights were an Australian 60’s rock group that had a guitar oriented pop sound pitched somewhere between the Beatles and Hollies. Down under they were a pretty popular band, releasing two albums and several charting singles. In the mid 60’s they mixed 50’s rock and British Invasion covers with garage pop/beat originals. Terry Britten, the groups guiding light, began focusing on writing group originals during the second half of the decade. With help from Norman Smith, the Twilights recorded in England, eventually releasing a string of acid pop gems.

Cathy Come Home is arguably the best of these singles and is usually cited as the group’s high-water mark. Other 45’s like Time And Motion Study Man, and Comin’ On Down were near classic efforts though, with a sound rooted in Australia’s burgeoning psychedelic culture. In 1968, the Twilights released their final album, Once Upon A Twilight. Once Upon A Twilight was a critical success though sales were very low, signaling the beginning of a downward spiral for the group. The album is consistent and full of brilliant production quirks, being one of the very few Aussie albums to have a classic British psych-pop sound.

It’s loaded with great songs, standouts being the minor key gem What A Silly Thing To Do (complete with Ringo drum fills and phased wah-wah) and the classic Stop The World For A Day. Even the softer numbers like Bessemae, Tomorrow Is Today, and Mr. Nice work really well, highlighted by very pretty string arrangements and strong melodies. Other worthy numbers are the sitar drenched Devendra, which sounds like a lost Dave Mason Traffic track from 1967, and the dramatic psychedelia of Paternosta Row. On the latter track the band feeds its vocals through Leslie cabinets. The lp’s only daft moment is the horrible cockney country-rocker, The Cocky Song.

Once Upon A Twilight is a classic pop-art album, that’s warm, friendly, and well worth a spin. A near mint original copy can cost you between $150 to $300 and was notable for its elaborate pop-up gatefold art. In 2006, Aztec Music released this great album on cd for the first time, in both mono and stereo sound.

“Stop The World For A Day”

CD Reissue | 2006 | Aztec Music | amazon ]
Original Vinyl | search ebay ]