Top Ten... Alternative 60s

In the first of a new (mini) series of Top Tens, we're going to look over the alternative classic of the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s. So, what do we mean by alternative? Well, alternative, for the purposes of these entries, means anything that is critically derided, overlooked by the public or just generally under-rated. Ultimately, though, it all comes down to how we argue it, so if you disagree, let us know!

FILMS - By The Writer

1. Repulsion (1965)
A chilling horror from Roman Polanski, Repulsion features Catherine Deneuve at her best as a glacial virgin fearful of sex. Obviously, being Catherine Deneuve, she attracts the attentions of several men and the strain eventually drives her mad. Sophisticated and genuinely terrifying, it’s all held together brilliantly by Polanksi, as he effortlessly creates a nauseating, claustrophobic atmosphere that hasn’t been bettered by any horror director since.

2. Barbarella (1968)
Jane Fonda may try to brush it under the carpet, but her turn in this saucy space romp is amongst the best female performances of the 60s. She plays the futuristic minx of the title, who cavorts through outer space doing…well, very little really except for wearing an array of skimpy outfits, talking vaguely hippyish nonsense about angels and love and being tricked into an orgasm machine by Duran Duran (the bad guy, not the band). The sixties in a nutshell then….

3. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
It’s Deneuve again, but this time she’s singing in Jacques Demy’s bittersweet musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. The French actress plays Geneviève, a naïve young woman who shacks up with another man when the father of her unborn baby is shipped off to war. Typical kitchen sink stuff, you’d think. Not so, because Demy’s film is a Technicolor treat for the eyes and ears in which every line of dialogue is sung. It’s really quite magical stuff and builds to a climax that somehow manages to make an Esso garage look romantic.

4. Walk, Don’t Run (1966)
This quaint romantic comedy was Cary Grant’s final film and while it’s certainly not his best, it’s charming and funny stuff. The one-time Archibald Leach plays Sir William Rutland, an English businessman who attempts to set-up tightly wound tourist Christine Easton (Samantha Egger) with American athlete Steve Davis during the Tokyo Olympic games. Entirely predictable romantic entanglements ensue, but with Eggar looking gorgeous and Grant producing his usual irresistible charm, Walk, Don’t Run is a thoroughly enjoyable flight of fancy which is far from the disappointing final Grant film that many believe it to be.

5. Cat Ballou (1965)
It’s Jane Fonda again, but this time she’s on earth in this bizarre comedy western from 1965. She plays the titular aspiring schoolteacher who is forced to hire a gunfighter (Lee Marvin) to avenge her murdered father. However, rather than being a sharpshooter, he’s a lazy drunk and his ineptitude forces Cat to become an outlaw herself. Fonda is typically brilliant, but it’s Marvin who steals the show as he slopes around like your favourite drunk uncle at Christmas. An under seen and surprisingly modern gem.

6. Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
Jason and the Argonauts is already widely regarded as a hugely important piece of filmmaking, but mostly for Ray Harryhausen’s stunning skeleton army. Of course, like everything the stop-motion master creates, the boney boys are deeply impressive, but there’s an awful lot to love elsewhere in Jason’s fight for the Golden Fleece, not least the appearance of Medusa who is played by Nancy Kovac but voiced by Pussy Galore. A real childhood classic.

7. Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill (1965)
The jury’s still out on Russ Meyer. Brutal misogynist whose films often featured women who were subjected to terrifyingly violent ordeals, or misunderstood feminist whose films often featured strong, sexually voracious women who refused to submit to mens’ violent whims? By common consensus, Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill just about falls into the latter category as it features an all-girl biker trio who run riot through the deserts of America. Quentin Tarantino would be nothing without it.

8. Barefoot in the Park (1967)
Without wishing to sound obsessed, this is Jane Fonda’s third entry on this list - hey, she was GREAT back in the 60s. But no matter how impressive the charming Ms Fonda is in this sparkling romantic comedy, it’s writer Neil Simon who excels with a typically witty tale of two newlyweds who struggle to settle into their dilapidated new apartment. A sharp, but still romantic, classic from one of cinema‘s best writers.

9. The Haunting (1963)
The sixties marked a watershed for modern horror with the likes of Psycho, Peeping Tom and Night of the Living Dead all pushing back boundaries. Sadly, their fame has overshadowed some of the more traditional fright-flicks of the period, and The Haunting is just one of the casualties. Directed by Robert Wise, it follows four people who get holed up in a haunted house. Pretty standard stuff you might think. But The Haunting’s brilliance is all in its direction, with Wise using light, shadow and suggestion to build a fiercely oppressive atmosphere that is just as scary as the ones Hitchcock, Powell and Romero created in the aforementioned taboo-busters.

10. Dr No (1962)
Dr No is hardly under-rated, but it is often overlooked in favour of the more obvious Bond classics of the 60s like Goldfinger, From Russia With Love and You Only Live Twice. It’s a shame too, because in this first entry into the mega-franchise, Connery mixes charm and danger perfectly and, unlike most other Bonds, actually has chemistry with his leading lady. Add into that exotic locations, an enigmatic villain and real intrigue and you have not only a great, overlooked Bond film, but also a great, overlooked spy film.

ALBUMS - By The Editor

1. The Ronettes - Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica (1964)
Phil Spector (whatever his personal 'issues') is the greatest pop music producer of all time, but he's best known for singles rather than albums. This means that this ludicrously-titled LP has been long-since forgotten and unavailable, even though it features pretty much all of The Ronettes' best songs, like Be My Baby, So Young, Baby I Love You, You Baby, Walkin' In The Rain, etc, etc. Pure pop perfection, so why is it so overlooked?

2. Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood - Nancy And Lee (1968)
There's never been a more surreal and fantastic partnership than Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood. The beautiful daughter of a music icon working with a fairly dowdy and quirky songwriter with a voice deeper than the Grand Canyon. Somehow though, they have incredible chemistry, with their voices blending perfectly on playful tracks like Lady Bird and I've Been Down So Long, and reaching incredible and weird new heights on the classic Some Velvet Morning.

3. The Zombies - Odyssey And Oracle (1968)
Pet Sounds and Sgt Pepper's are always the ones that get mentioned when you talk about the great adventurous pop albums of the late 60s, and The Zombies tend to get forgotten. It didn't help that they broke up when they finished it (intending it as one last, lasting statement, which it was), having been on a downward spiral commercially. It was most ignored at the time, but has become recognised as one of the great psychedelic albums and no collection is complete without it.

4. Laura Nyro - Eli And The Thirteenth Confession (1968)
Another album that would feature highly in most serious music fan's Top 60s Albums lists, but is hardly well known, Eli And The Thirteenth Confession has three hit singles on it, but unfortunately for Nyro, it was other artists who had the success with her songs. She never really became famous, even though this is an incredible collection of songs that take in jazz, pop, soul and folk.

5. The Beach Boys - Friends (1968)
The Beach Boys are hardly great underappreciated underdogs of the 1960s, but their albums after Brian Wilson's Smile meltdown don't always get the respect and acclaim they deserve. They were already an irrelevance by this stage, having been overtaken by bands like The Doors and the likes of Jimi Hendrix, but Friends is a really mellow and spiritual record that showcases the talents of the rest of the band as well as giving Wilson the chance to make simple but beautiful music.

6. Tammi Terrell - Irresistible (1968)
Yes, I've noticed that all of these albums seem to have come out in one year... Tammi Terrell is best known for her gorgeous duets with Marvin Gaye (still the benchmark for pop duets), but her only solo album shows that she was arguably Motown's most talented female vocalists (with a better voice than Diana Ross or Martha Reeves) and it's full of great soul music. Tragically, she died at the age of 24, so was never able to build herself the kind of solo career she had the potential for, but this is a lasting tribute to her talents.

7. The Left Banke - Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina (1967)
The most obscure release in this list, The Left Banke are best known for one of the title tracks of their debut album, Walk Away Renee, which became a massive hit for The Four Tops. Not that they were a soul band, far from it, having been one of the best baroque pop groups in America in the late 60s. They didn't last very long and have been largely forgotten, but if you can find it, this is an album well worth listening to.

8. Vince Guaraldi - A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1964)
The soundtrack to a documentary about Peanuts (which was never actually released, but led to the start of the TV specials), jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi helped set the tone for Charlie Brown's animated adventures with a classy and fun score that includes the famous Linus And Lucy theme that became the signature tune of Peanuts. Probably the most enjoyable and accessible instrumental jazz record of all time, no matter how much any of the purists might sneer at its simple melodies.

9. Stevie Wonder - Down To Earth (1966)
Compared to what he produced in the early 70s, it's easy to see why Down To Earth is such an overlooked Stevie Wonder album. It doesn't even have any of the hits that he had in the late 60s, but it's an important step in his development, with his voice moving from 'Little Stevie' to the warm and rich one we all know and love. It soars on this album, even when just running through the predictable cover versions that Motown made him include, and despite not being a classic, it's one of his most enjoyable records.

10. The International Submarine Band - Safe At Home (1968)
Everyone knows and loves Gram Parsons' solo albums and his work with The Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers, but his first band's album tends to get forgotten. It starts with one of his best songs, Blue Eyes, and also has Luxury Liner, another classic. The rest is padded out with covers of Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, etc, but The International Submarine Band help Parsons start to take off here and it's a great album on its own merits.