Today is Donovan’s birthday!
Donovan pretty much represents the summit of what I’m looking for in a pop music experience. (What’s another way to say that? Oh, yeah: “First, there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is”) Of course, when I say “Donovan”, I’m really talking about his collaboration with producer Mickey Most between 1965 and 1969 that resulted in a mother lode of folk-psychedelic-pop hits. Once he broke with Most and went back to his folkie roots, the results were less compelling. But Donovan has such a way with a pop hook, often so simple, but so catchy (catchy like, I don’t know, “the wind”?)
If he sometimes seem laughable, in his favor, I can say more often than not the effect is intentional. People who use him as an excuse to make fun of “the sixties” really ought to choose a better target. I can’t think of one, though. You’re really talking to the wrong person. Cuz to me, a tune like this is really the acme of sound-generated pleasure inducement. That’s a double induce. I could listen to it on a loop 30 times in a row. (I have no idea who Colonel H20 is):
(Travalanche) 