(Soft Machine 1967 - high priests of Psychedelia)

Tonight it's what is considered to be the first psychedelic-era single to be released in England. Recorded in January and issued by Polydor in February of 1967, Love Makes Sweet Music by The Soft Machine pre-dates Pink Floyd's legendary See Emily Play by a month.

Not that it really makes much difference in the bigger picture. It's not a case of who got there first, but who got there at all. Popular music was going through massive changes at the time and there was a lot of resistance to anything as patently bizarre to the average listener as this was. Soft Machine were the tip of the iceberg that transformed the musical landscape in a period of months, almost weeks. Think of it - Soft Machine, quickly followed by Pink Floyd, quickly followed by Jimi Hendrix, and Traffic; all of them literally exploding on to the music scene. It made for some very interesting changes of mind. And frankly, it was one amazing amount of fun.

Before Soft Machine settled into becoming one of the premier Progressive bands in the later 1960s, they were one of the more experimental units to arrive on the scene. This first single, the only one they released for Polydor before linking up with Chas Chandler to produce their landmark first and second albums, was a combination of high energy pop with a flipside (Feelin', Reelin', Squeelin') that was pure psychedelia.

And from that point, there was no going back.