Review: The Mirage's 'You Can’t Be Serious: 1966-1968'

Between 1965 and 1968, The Mirage released a mere eight singles, one of which they put out under the name Yellow Pages, and no LPs. The Hertfordshire quintet still left behind a pretty terrific legacy. Yes, their first two singles for CBS —a cover of Betty Everett’s “Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss)” and a second rate Graham Nash composition called “Go Away”—were weak. Yes, the two singles they released under their own name and duress on the Page One label were downright lousy (their A-side as Yellow Pages, “Here Comes Jane”, is pretty good). But none of that matters on Guerssen Records’ You Can’t Be Serious: 1966-1968, because this compilation only collects the sides The Mirage recorded for Philips.

Between their stints as a mediocre pop group for CBS and a mediocre pop group for Page One, The Mirage were a tuneful and colorful power pop combo in the vein of The Creation and Powder. Although their best known track is a cover of The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” that treats Lennon’s song more like a pop tune than a foundation for outrageous experimentation, The Mirage happened to have an excellent in-house writing in drummer Dave Hynes. They also happened to house future Spencer Davis Group members Pete York and Eddie Hardin and future Elton John band member Dee Murray.

 

So how does one milk a long-playing compilation out of a period in which a band released just three singles? By supplementing those sides with a clutch of terrific outtakes. Tracks such as the folk-rocky “Is Anybody Home”, the psychedelic “Ebaneezer Beaver”, “What Do I Care” and “I Want Love” indicate that The Mirage could have assembled an ace LP for Philips. Although the sources for these outtakes vary in quality, they generally sound as solid as the officially released sides. Only “That I Know” and “One More Time” are a bit dodgy, sounding as if they were pulled from slightly warped test presses. Otherwise, You Can’t Be Serious: 1966-1968 is a seriously groovy set from pop’s most seriously groovy years.