Thursday 1 April 2010

High Tide Formation - Fluffy [Single] (1970)

Tracklist:
1. Fluffy
2. White Walls











A cheery rarity – 7/10

High Tide Formation, though nobody in the here and now would know them, was the band Pim Koopman and Ton Scherpenzeel had played in before they founded Kayak in 1972. While they played guitars and bass respectively, they were accompanied by Ron van der Werf on drums and Chiel van Praag on piano. In the short existence of the group they released a sole single “Fluffy”, written by Van Praag, with b-side “White Walls”, written by Kayak mastermind Scherpenzeel. I must say, kept in mind that this is a kind of an early form of Kayak, it sounds rather surprising and not at all like they would later.

On their sole single, “Fluffy”, which is an instrumental piano-oriented track, based around a catchy rock ‘n roll melody. It really sounds 60s through and through. It’s really swinging and the melody is repeated on guitar also and features some more variations of the theme before they decide it’s time to call it a day. It’s not a very mind-blowing piece of music, but an enjoyable listen nonetheless. “White Walls” is a more mature song, with vocals by I think it’s Pim Koopman, because the voice sounds somewhat familiar to Kayak’s “Give It A Name”, but I’m not sure there. It starts off with a piano intro but quickly evolves into a cheery 60s song with some up-beat rhythms and a chorus with a bit of an epic feeling to it. The piano solos by Van Praag are quite enjoyable, yet we are glad Scherpenzeel takes control of the pianos in Kayak, for he sooths the ear just a bit more. Overall, it is a good, nice track.

In the end Fluffy is a nice single and a great piece of Kayak history, and it’s totally worth it to obtain this rarity, yet you must not expect an early See See the Sun, for it is nothing like Kayak. Still, this is a quite enjoyable single and highly recommended.

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