"Teens, you'll like Wards....because Wards is really 'with it'...has been for over 90 years." People were "with it" in the late 1800s?
Other than this, there's no attempt made in the liner notes to sell young people on Montgomery Ward. Oh, and this: "Join the smart teens who belong to our Wendy Ward program..." Wendy Ward program?
"Join the 'in' crowd...stick with Wards!" A quarter century before the internet, and Wards was already disregarding traditional punctuation. I guess Wards really was "with it."
So, what about the music on this LP of then-current British Invasion hits? Is it "with it"? Mildly so, but there are a few too many clunkers (on the rhythm guitar, especially), and the musicians sound game but under-rehearsed. They certainly don't sound overly familiar with the charts, but maybe Ward/Wards figured that teens--even smart ones--couldn't tell a wrong chord from a right one, so why sweat it? This is several levels below Herman Clebanoff's teen-hits albums on Mercury, though I suspect much more rehearsal time went into those.
But it could be worse. It could be the Design label, for example. The unidentified group--let's call it Wendy Ward and the Montgomeries--has a fairly decent feeling for British pop, and the bass is appropriately fat and loud. And, as I type this, I'm listening to a spirited A Hard Day's Night, so maybe Side II makes up for its counterpart. The lead guitarist almost nails the famous George Harrison solo, and at a faster tempo, but... not quite. And the ending is too abrupt. But Side II is more together, with more energy--especially on It's Not Unusual.
Ah, but then we have a plunge into near-chaos with the Lennon-McCartney A World without Love, which sounds like a Pickwick reject, complete with distorted piano. Glad All Over, the next track, is nice and bouncy, but the drummer is speeding through the chorus, and the chord changes are going to pot. A sloppy Can't Buy Me Love ends the set, and what a shame. This could have been a camp gem. But I'm certain the musicians were rushed, so I'll give them an A for effort.
Liner notes: "We've been invaded! Its (sic) that swingin', dynamic British sound, which is their version of 'rock & roll.'" No, it's that swingin', dynamic British sound, Montgomery Ward. Not "its." I should note that the label, Majorette, also put out four Heidi LPs--as in, Remco's Heidi Pocketbook Doll, which I very vaguely remember. Never had one, of course.
"The prices at Wards are sized to fit a teen's budget," the liner essay informs us. Which is about what they put into this album, apparently. But I'm being too mean. This is a reasonably campy relic of its day, and what can we expect from a freebie designed to get teens into the Wendy Ward program? At least, I hope this was a freebie....
DOWNLOAD: British Beat-A-Go-Go (Majorette Records 305A; 1965)
